imagining how the church can reorient around mission

I love this verse from Psalm 45:17.

“I will perpetuate your memory through all generations;
therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever.” read more

I am reading the book, The Household of God by
Lessile Newbigin.  The below is a seminal thought about the church and its
role in the world.

“It is surely a fact of inexhaustible significance
that what our Lord left behind Him was not a book, nor a creed, nor a system of
thought, nor a rule of life, but a visible community. He committed the entire
work of salvation to that community. It was not that a community gathered round
an idea, so that the idea was primary and the community secondary. It was that
a community called together by the deliberate choice of the Lord Himself, and
re-created in Him, gradually sought – and is seeking – to make explicit who He
is and what He has done. The actual community is primary; the understanding of
what it is comes second.” The Household of God (p.20) read more

Just a short note: I am fasting from Facebook and Twitter for Lent. If you normally interact with me through either of those, you may want to call or send an email.

If you are reading this on FB or Twitter it's because I can send things to both through my blog.

“Do not have your
concert first, and then tune your instrument afterwards. Begin the day with the
Word of God and prayer, and get first of all into harmony with Him.” -Hudson Taylor

“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (Lk.
5:16) read more

 When introducing yourself as a Christian you may sometimes be greeted in a strange manner. Some people assume that being Christian also means you are an extremist. This is because some of the only interactions they may have had with a “Christian” is someone yelling about God’s wrath, or picketing on a street corner. They think we all abide by some strict controlling cultist style life. However, we know this to be false. We must do our best to correct this misled view of our collective group of believers. Religious extremists, cultists, and
hate-mongering groups are destroying the good name of Christ, by standing behind it while they speak nothing of the love and grace of God.

One such group would be the Westboro Baptist Church, who interestingly enough has no association with the Baptist Church, nor should it even be considered a church. This particular gathering of beings is completely misled by their leader, and believe themselves to be spreading the word of God. This word, however, is that God hates pretty much everyone, that he is destroying and will continue to destroy the world and everyone who does not agree with him. The list of people the WBC claims God hates consists of: Homosexuals, Transsexuals, Military, Muslims, Obama, Police, Government, Immigrants, and many more. read more

My mom has had cancer for almost five years.  She prays that she will live to see her three
daughters get married.  Last summer, the
first one of us daughters had her wedding in our front yard.  My mom wept: It was like God was giving back,
gift-wrapped, her deepest desire that she had surrendered fully to Him.

 
read more

    There is something heartfelt and immediately piercing about praising God with
movement. There is a part of ourselves, our physicality, that we have neglected in our
worship. And because of it we have lost touch with our emotional souls; our movement
and our emotions are intricately linked. It is hard to lie and keep the world out when you
are engaged in authentic movement. I have found that some of my most honest and
vulnerable moments have been when I have used movement as a form of worship.
    Our bodies, our movements, I think, are that last piece in our worship; the piece
that connects it all together. I cannot express how freeing it is to use dance and
movement to pray and worship God, and at the same time, I cannot express how hard it
was to get to that place. It is not natural for us to be open and vulnerable with each
other. It is not natural to be uninhibited in our emotion and movement. So we have
learned to worship unnaturally: keeping everything inside locked up tight. But I don’t
think God wants us to worship only with our voices; I think we glorify Him most when we
are authentic and honest with each other. And I think that we could do that better if we
all learned to move a little more; to dance a little more. David danced, after all, as did
Jesus. So why can’t we?

Zach

Sample dialogue for any
conversation ever right now
Well-meaning person: well now, and what are you
going to do after graduation? 
Me: *turns into a monster taco and eats them*
Okay, actually I mumble something about looking
mainly for internships and a few jobs, mostly in churches. But inside that
panic attack is kicking into high gear. I’m not making assumptions for the rest
of the senior class, but I have no clue where I’m going to be after graduation.
What I’m going to be doing. Where I’ll be living. 
Hello, terror. 
Worst of all is that feeling that I won’t end up
in the right place, that I’ll suddenly discover I hate what I’m doing and now
I’m stuck with it. for me, that confusion is compounded, because I’m about to
switch to only a music ministry track and what if I suddenly decide music
ministry is just not for me? or I’m really bad at it? I can barely stumble
through the prayers of the church on Sundays, and I want to lead services? 
Okay, step back for a second, Anna’s just writing
a post about general graduation freakout, we’re in a class called missional
church, how do these connect? 
Well, they sort of do in my mind. When I track my
terror to its source, it’s that I’m not sure I’m going to end up in the right
place. And oh, God’s not going to guide me to the right place? God has no plans
whatsoever? great. Once again, my anxiety is really just me pushing God away.
No big deal, I got this, I’ll panic about it on my own thanks very much. 
Wherever I end up in four months, God’s going to
have work for me to do there. And this is the big takeaway for me from this
whole class: I’m on mission for God wherever I am. Whether I’m living in my
parents’ basement or working at a megachurch (or both), I’m living out God’s
mission. And as long as I spend a lot of time prayerfully asking for guidance,
I can’t go too far wrong. 
Can I?

Anna

Then
Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite
your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors;
if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you
give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and
you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the
resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:12-14)

             The great
eighteenth-century hymn writer and ex-slave trader John Newton marveled at the
far-reaching impact of these words spoken by Jesus in Luke. “One would almost
think this passage was not considered part of God’s word, nor has any part of
Jesus’ teaching been more neglected by his own people. I do not think it is unlawful
to entertain our friends” he says, “but if these words do not teach us that it
is in some respects out duty to give preference
to the poor, I am at a loss to understand them.” Looking at the current state
of the American church, one can’t help but wonder if the “luncheon or dinner”
Jesus was referring to could be what we call our church service today. We spend
so much time catering our churches to our friends, brothers, sisters, relatives
and neighbors, that we completely disregard those Jesus is calling to invite
join us in our “banquet.” read more

    I walked in the
front door of my church at 9:55 and headed to a college bible study class. We
pored over Romans 6, prayed together, and dreamed about how to serve our church
body and the surrounding community. Then, at 11 we wrapped up and joined the
congregation in the sanctuary for worship and the sermon. We sang, heard the message,
and prayed together, and if the church part of my day had ended here, I
wouldn’t have been disappointed in any way. I had learned, praised, and
fellowshipped with my church family and now I would head back out into the
world renewed by some time with God.

BUT WAIT! DID
SOMEONE SAY IT WAS POTLUCK SUNDAY?!?! read more