First Baptist Downtown

follow the link, see how this particular seeker sensitive outreach approach has been recieved. interesting.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v4/sub/MarketingPage?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061026.wxbcmason26/BNStory/National/home&ord=1161933919799&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true

Till Death Do Us Part

"Why do the Christians - male and femails, well-born and common, slave and free -in extremis, just before being killed, exchange the kiss of peace (Passio Perpetuae 21)? How different were they from the rest of the population" - Krieder

There was one disturbing trait in the early church that is vacant in Christianity in North America. Their beliefs carred them to death. Some will say that we do not have the opportunity to demonstrate that we would do the same, for we live in peace and freedom. However, it has been said (although I don't know by who), and well-said, that if you can't live for Christ, you certainly shouldn't expect to find the strength and courage to die for him. The argument of spiritual fervency in martyrdom must therefore be tightly related to the argument for spiritual fervency in the Christian life. Those who sacrifice much to follow Christ are better prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. Those who carry many attachements into the Christian life, be they relationships, ambitions, materials, etc. often are just that: attached. One may wonder at what the big deal is with martyrdom and being willing to die for what one believes. To that I'll just quote Christ: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me . . . ." (Mt. 16:24)
Luke 14:2626 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-- yes, even his own life-- he cannot be my disciple.(NIV)

Strong words. Can we live up to them? Or better yet, if we cannot, what does that mean for us? Obviously, there are many examples of Christians who could. What does that mean for us? Are we a different breed? Perhaps we should find the personal answer to that question.

Reach: I Surrender All

Reach: I Surrender All

I Surrender All

So there you are. You've been invited by a friend, and you weren't exactly sure what you were getting into. "Come check it out, it is awesome!" Awesome sounds good. Better than sitting at home, eating cheetos and watching reality TV. The preacher stands up, and he convicts you. What just happened? Wasn't expecting that. His words are sizzling, stabbing, and confusingly stirring, as they touch themselves upon your ears and wind their way down your cerebral stem, heading down into your gut. You can feel it down there. Something about Jesus, and that he isn't just a picture on a wall anymore. There is some kind of power there. He loves you. Really? Just like that, Jesus loves me? That sounds good too, but what does that mean? He died for you. Ouch, I think if someone jumped in front of a train for me, I would feel guilty for the rest of my life, because that train was meant for me. Why would he do that? He created you, formed you, commanded you, and then let you go. Go? Where did I go? I didn't go anywhere. I'm right here! You went into sin. I did? Okay, I'm not going to dispute that. But what in particular are you referring to, preacher? Draw a card, because if a card is a sin, I have at least fifty-two. Before you were born. What? You sinned in Adam. Stinker. That is not my fault. But you are Adam, and Adam is you. If you were there, in that Garden, you would have done it too. You were there, in Adam, and therefore you did it too. That is not fair! Wait-maybe it is - somehow I know it is true. Ok, it is true, but I don't know how. Do I have time to think about this? How am I going to understand this? An invitation is given unto you. And, oh, you want it. You don't want to be Adam anymore do you? Categorically no. I don't want that. Jesus has something in his hand. Will you not take it? Um, sure. Give it to me. It is forgiveness.

And then the famous song plays, "I surrender all, I surrender all." The organ is going, the piano is playing, the song leader's eyes are dreamy and serene. It is so beautiful. And it is coming into my ears, working its way down my throat, winding itself around that lump in my chest, that numb pain, that little voice that is saying, You want this. But what is it that I want? If I go up to the front, if I get on my knees, if I extend my hand to that of the preacher, will I get it? Do I believe? Do I understand the Gospel? It felt like a high-pressure sale. I just got here, I don't even know these people, but they have something I want. Do I have it? Did I believe enough? Do I really want to turn away from my sin? I mean, I don't want to be Adam, but I sure still like to . . . . nonetheless. There are all these sticky emotions. They tell me it is the Holy Spirit. But I just don't know.

Repentance isn't a used car sale. It is something you do, not feel. It is a well-thought out commitment, based on an established conviction and a thorough understanding of the Gospel of God based on the accepted authority of the words of the Apostles. When someone comes forward to the words of a song, a service carefully constructed and choreographed to lead to this very moment, why have they come? If the window-dressing is so strong, how do we know what is inside? Out of all the people coming forward, singing I surrender all, how many are still singing it two years later? Are you? What is real?

If you can speak the gospel without knowing someone, telling them a string of words, linked together by one common theme called the Gospel, and then walk away without getting into the sticky, dirty lives they lead, have you done anything? Can they even know if they are "saved"? Do they really believe? Shouldn't we know the answer to that question before we get them dunked in the water, all baptized and shiny? Maybe Philip in the Acts of Apostles was an anomaly. Maybe most of those in the New Testament were baptized, literally right after they confessed, because they were mostly Jews, who already new plenty about sin. It was no coincidence that, in the centuries that followed, the time between belief and baptism was extended to three years, for the purpose of training and instruction, and for the trainee to make good and sure he was willing to be baptized into the church. It could cost him his life, so he better really believe.

In North America we no longer have a Christian culture to draw people from, already convicted about their sin, ready to make a commitment. Most people singing I surrender all nowadays don't have a good picture of what it is they are surrendering. Saying the words, singing the song, praying the prayer, doesn't make one a Christian. People can jump through all those hoops and not know what it all really means. Having the right information no longer works like magic.

Crucifix

Hang me on the wall in chains
Oh my screams and oh my pains
Hang me upon the wall in bleeding
All my rage and all my seething

Let them come and look on me
I am the martyr, let them see
Feel the heat flows through me there
Come close to me if you dare

Contemplate my tortured soul
As I hang to make you whole
Spiritual Truth bleeds through my veins
Stains and pains, life's truthful soul

I have your sin within my system
Circulation from the start
I have your sin like poisen flowing
Heads straight through me to my heart

And I am dying on my tree
Make you stand there, forced to see
Think about your final fate
As I walk through this death's gate

Don't mourn for me and do not cry
I like being here, I chose to die

But bring them here to this wall
To this room, down the hall
Museum of me for them to look
Make them shattered, get them shook

Linger here and think of love
Think of Jesus, God above
How vile it looks when it pays
How beautiful it is, when it stays

Come to me you weary soul
Drink my blood and be made whole.

The Change of Conversion and the Origin of Christendom

The Change of Conversion and the Origin of Christendom, by Alan Kreider.

Money, Sex, and Power. I have heard it said that these three reasons can be tied to the subconcious motivations for the majority of people who become pastors. At first, like many who would hear this, I thought it to be the most absurd statement I've ever heard. But I've been thinking about it ever since. If you think back to the previous articles, Money and Power, themed big in the modern church. Where does sex play into it? Just pick up 100 recent popular newpaper articles on the church, and you'll find a disturbingly high amount of articles about sex.

What was more surprising was that this phrase was originally coined by Justin, the early church father. As re-appropriated by Kreider, "Justin urged the Christians to resist the demon's power in three areas to which across the centuries pastoral theologians have been attuned - money, sex, and power . . . " (Pg. 5 of his book). It seems these three themes are closely attuned to the trade. This quote is in the context of a discussion about Justin's view of Christian conversion.
And so the church most therefore be weary of these three things, for they seem to be married each to the other.

My quesiton is, has the modern church fought these shore-line sirens or embraced them? Yes or no, the next question is, how can the church move to a position where these themes are no longer such a threat? Is it possible? Can you imagine a church where the statistics of pastoral infidelity are actually decreasing? Where churches don't increase in wealth and size, while at the same time surrounded by communities who remain poor and oppressed? Where a pastor's average income is not significantly more than the average income in the parish, on par with that of a CEO?

2 Cor 8:13-1413 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality.14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality,(NIV)

1Thes 2:5-105 You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed-- God is our witness.6 We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else. As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you,7 but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.8 We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.9 Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.(NIV)

Gal 2:1010 All they asked (the apostles) was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.(NIV)

But Justin goes on to describe what conversion means to him: "We who once took most pleasure in the means of increasing our wealth and property now bring what we have into a common fund and share with everyone in need." Imagine that! Ha! I can picture the people of "my" church, each with their debit card, walking to the front of the alter, and DRAINING it, into a green machine, while on the other side, there are poor single moms, also with a debit card, making withdrawls for groceries that week. The reason why our nation has welfare is because the church stopped taking care of the poor in the modern era. The reason why the nation doesn't talk to us about the poor anymore is because the state is doing what we used to. Why should they? The Salvation Army collects more in shopping mall lobbies for the poor than the average Sunday morning offering. We have, after all, to pay for all that brick and mortar.

Defining what Modern is

Let’s engage in an exercise together. I am going to create a list of underlying philosophies that drive the practical manifestation of the Modern Church vs. the Missional Church. The following is taken from a chart in Michael Frost's book, The Shaping of Things to Come. It is found on Page 9:


Apostolic and Post-Apostolic Mode (A.D.32 to 313)
Didn’t have dedicated sacral building. Often underground and persecuted.
Leadership operating with a fivefold ministry-leadership ethos (? I’ll find this)
Grassroots, decentralized movement.
Communion celebrated as a sacralized community meal
Church is on the margins of society and underground
Missionary, incarnational-sending church.


Advance and Triumph of Christendom Mode (313 to current)
Buildings become central to the notion, and experience, of church
Leadership by an institutionally ordained clergy operating primarily in a pastor-teacher mode
Institutional-hierarchical notion of leadership and structure.
Increasing institutionalization of grace through the sacraments
Church is perceived as central to society and surrounding culture.
Attractional / “Extractional”


(Emerging) Missional Mode (past 10 years)
Rejects the concern and need for dedicated “church” buildings
Leadership embraces a pioneering-innovative mode including a fivefold ministry leadership ethos. Non-institutional by preference
Grassroots, decentralized movements.
Redeems, re-sacralized, and ritualized new symbols and events, including the meal
Church is once again on the fringes of society and culture. The church reembraces a missional stance in relation to culture.
Missional, incarnational-sending church

When I think of the Modern Church, particularly that represented by what I see today, there are a number of thoughts that come to mind. These are underlying philosophies that are, well, controversial to talk about. Which says I'm barking up the right tree.

1. Philo-Culture. The modern church has become very comfortable with the Western world that it finds itself in. From the time of the Renaissance, the Reformation (yes, those two words are interchangeable) the culture and the church have been operating by the same principles. These are lifted out of McLaren's Shaping of things to Come. For an in-context explanation of these points, go to Chapter 2, pg. 16-18.

1. Modernity was an era of conquest and control. Think about the following words. Columbus. Colonization. Slave-Trade. Religious representatives on the same boats as Conquerors. Culture wars. Militaristic Economic Capitalism, enculturation, assimilation.

2. It was the age of the machine. industrialization. reproducing nameless replicas. the dissolution of individuality. automatic. remote control

3. It was an age of analysis. we took everything apart. no wonder, no awe, no myth. everything in the universe was dissectible.

4. It was the age of Secular Science. Science outside of experience. cold rationalizations. deductions made about broad religious beliefs based on the accumulation of facts gathered over a few hundred years. the assumption that all the universe was knowable, understandable, and conquerable.

5. It was an age aspiring to absolute objectivity. the arts have no place in reliable knowledge.

6. It was a critical age. fight. conquer. control. resist. what withstands that is all that is worth keeping. Social Darwinism

7. It was the age of the modern nation-state and organization. need I say more. governments that operate like the pathological corporations that fill their lands. priority number one is what is good for the state/corporation. self-preservation. oppression of others for the political, economic, and material benefit of the organization. the only rule is winning. morality is second place to the acquirement of power and success.

8. it was the age of individualism. john wayne. "i did it my way" (I like that commercial). a breakdown of family. a breakdown of the community. isolation. divorce. denominationalism. competition.

9. It was the age of Protestantism and institutional religion. organization for the purpose of numerical success, financial "stability," increased manouverability, exposure, elevation to influence-level of Government and Big Business.

10. It was the age of consumerism. increasing. acquiring, conquering. getting more stuff, bigger building, better name brands, status, image, success. Power. debt. in past days, you flew the flag of the Lord or king that ruled you. now you wear the colors of the corporations who own your money. what Lord to you swear allegiance to? What corporation are you a citizen of?

The Emerging Church Stigma

One of two common charges made about the "Emerging Church" movement, articulated by writers such as Brian McLaren and Leonard Sweet, is that it is deconstructionist in its nature, without any reconstruction as a counter-balance. I agree with this. It is true that it is in vogue today to deconstruct the modern church, criticize, and recommend a renovation. But while many do this - there is an increasing chorus of voices in this choir - the alternative has been quiet. If we do not want the modern church, what is it that we do want? There are a few who attempt to answer this question in varying degrees of depth. But how many churches do we see practicing an alternative model to the modern church? Michael Frost, in his Shaping of Things to Come, provides a much needed theological and philosophical foundation to the movement. But a holistic practical manifestation of this framework, is still yet to be seen. I am making a statement, that, while many neo-churches out there contain elements of a cohesive Missional church, there are none to my knowledge that incorporate what can be said as a holistic philosophy of ministry. For any out there reading, if you have some recommendations to counter this statement, please mention them in a reply.

I would like to differentiate between "emerging church," and a "missional church." I feel that the Emerging church now has associations and conjures up assumptions that I no longer wish to deal with. Either people write them off as rebellious, or lacking in a theological framework for their statements. That is an argument that I no longer wish to engage in, not because I'm lazy, but because I'm not sure I can - it would take a lot of work that I don't want to do! What I have found, is that many of the popular Christian criticizers express opinion on these Emerging church writers, without actually doing an in-depth reading of their works. How can we express opinions on something without reading it? It is nothing short of literary gossip, just as ignorant, and I come across it on almost a daily basis.

One of the philosophies that does come out clear in these writings is the idea that information can no longer be delivered in large chunks of objective thought. Commentaries and Christian books, therefore, must be taken as "fodder," or loose material to be sifted through, picking out the tasty parts, while barely noticing the distasteful. I have turned that advice against writers such as McLaren. There are many things that are "tasty" in what he says. There are many parts that are not, for many people. Take what is tasty. Leave the rest. Surely if you love olives, but hate the salad, you're not going to throw the whole salad out. Pick out the olives. Leave the rest.

When I say "missional" I believe I am talking about a rising (because I can no longer use the word emerging) ecclesiastical philosophy that may, for the first time in an era, be a serious challenger to the modern church movement. By the modern church movement, I mean something perhaps more broad than you think:

1. philosophies that began with the renaissance era
2. are trans-denominational
3. are linked back to a time when church and state were closely intertwined, and therefore retain structures that mirror government and its value systems (denominations that behave like political parties towards each other, or, "them over there")
4. have morphed and varied over the centuries of the modern era, but nonetheless maintained the true, inner core of the philosophy
5. is ending with the American (and Canadian) Evangelical Religious Right movement, and the Mega Church / Purpose Driven model for ministry.

When I say "beginning" and "ending," I mean all things loosely. Surely there is no fault-line between the Reformed Church and the Medieval Church, but there is a smudge. One color is the Medieval church, while the other color is the Reformation. Surely there are traces of each color in the other. Therefore, I am talking generally. It is the same now. There is no fault line between the missional church and the Mega church. But they are two different colors.

Happy Thanksgiving

You know who you are. Let these words grasp a stranglehold on that numb, mindless pain, that which you have lived with for so long now. It really has been that long, hasn't it? Like a finger, dipped into the dish, into the stew that lay undisturbed, forgotten in the rear of the fridge, for a few too many days. On the surface it appears much like it did the day it went in. It has a crusty layer, glazed over and hardened. But underneath, oh wow, the stink and the rot that lies within. It is blocked from the air, the cool preservation that is openness. But within the heart that is the fridge, it festers, until one day you dip a spoon in, to see what kind of stew it is. Were you surprised at what you found? It is not the yummy recipe it was long ago. I don't think you want it in your fridge any longer. Will you not take it out? It is so repulsive that great effort is needed even to reach in, stick your nose in there, to smell the rot and get near it. Grasp a hold of it, draw it out, take it to the counter, and prepare that pain for burial. I know you don't want to, but now that the reminder has been delivered, now that you know about the rotting stew, how can you leave it back there? Reach out. It is not very far away. It lies just beneath the surface. We are broken vessels. To say it is very cliché, but to know it, as Adam knew Eve, is ever evasive. We wake up Sunday mornings and go to our closet. We take our clothes, all carefully folded and creased, and dress them upon our unflattering bodies. We hide our skin because our skin hides the rotten stew in our tummies. And we put our game face on, grab our keys, ride our plastic toys to the Steeple, and enter in. We sit in rows, lined up like toy soldiers, with pasted smiles on our faces. Stand up now, sit down now, sing it now, hear it now. And then we go. We wander home, regretfully leaving the chit-chat of the lobby, the spiffy clothes, the glib compliments. What were we looking for back there? Did we find it? On the drive home, like an uncomfortable little splinter, we remember the fridge of our heart that we return to. Yes, there will be hot, steamy turkey on the table, but in the fridge there is rotting stew. Are you tired of the pretentious religion? You want to throw it out, as do we all. But something keeps drawing us back, like a creature-instinct for survival, we draw near to the Steeple time and again. We are searching. We are reaching. Maybe the church isn't the place for all the plastic toys and the spiffy clothes. Maybe the church is the place where we should bring our rotting stew. Perhaps we all should just coordinate one day, you know? We'll all show up with our stew in our hands, and we'll have a good old cremation, right there, before the alter. We know we are full of brokenness. We grow, in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, and we find peace in the changing of our hearts. We like to talk about that. We like to pretend it is the end of the story. I fear sometimes we believe the illusion that there is no other reality. We ought to cease the pretending. The stew won't go away. We think that being "Saved" is like a bank-account that Jesus took out in our name. Grace is a currency deposited within us in staggering amounts. However, we believe there is interest attached. We think that our bad dept, if not managed by us, will accumulate against the capital of Grace. We fear that one day we'll find our bank account depleted by the dept. The fridge is empty of anything but stew, and we're terrified. How broken are we? Does He know? Does Jesus know about my rotting stew? It went into the fridge, even after we met. It has been rotting there ever since. What will he do when he finds out? What will the people of my church do when they find out? Surely I can't bring my stew to church - but I don't know where else to throw it out.
The Apostle Paul says we have treasures in our hearts, and we “have this treasure in jars of clay” (1 Cor.4:7). In other words, it is ok to be cracked, dry pottery. It is ok. The bank account is full of Grace. The one who made us and loves us has no illusions. He is not uncomfortable with us. He will still come near.
The church is the place for a broken people. It is for the hurting to experience love. They come broken, no matter what shrink-wrap they come packaged in. If they are rich, then they are broken. If they are poor, they are broken. If they smile, they hurt inside. Jesus has his dinner plate. He sits there, in the church, eyes wide, in anticipation of a meal. He is so beautiful. He smiles. He has a spoon in his hand and he is hungry. Bring Him your stew. He is in the church. Bring Him your stew. While you eat turkey, He'll eat your stew. Happy thanksgiving. "The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation." – Thoreau

Good Friday

I saw a man get crucified
His arms not hanging at his side
His eyes not looking straight, but high
His waist is shaking above his thighs.

I saw a man get crucified
I saw him beaten, I saw him tied
I saw the man upon the tree
Break sweat as he gazed down on me.

I saw a man get crucified
I know his words; I know his life
I walked down roads right by his side
But alone I saw him crucified.

And as he hung there on that tree
I thought his life, his words, were me
I thought he mixed pure soul with mine
Come off your tree, and enter thine.

I saw the man get crucified
I saw him leave; I saw him die
I knew his soul began to glide
I knew his soul rested on high.

And as he stood by heaven's side
His gaze, the one beside him, stares down at me
The two there standing, glancing down
To Calvary's tree, where I now cry.

Watch them regarding that body
Watch me see death hung on a tree
I think it's moving, I think it sees
I think it's coming after me.

I saw a man die in shame
And now his body calls my name
Seems to reach, to 'scape its binds
Crawl to my soul, pulls back the blinds

I saw a man get crucified
And now my soul to his is tied
Not just him, it is I who died
Bound to his fate, we three abide.