Still Crazy After All These Years...

Yesterday was my 25th anniversary... it was my wife's 25th too. That may sound like a silly thing to say, but it resonates in my heart and brings out a flood of thoughts and emotions.

Only 27 years ago, we didn't know each other existed. We each had hopes of finding that "special someone" but we were fully unaware of the actual existence of that person. Now as I sit at my cluttered desk, in the home we share with our two boys, I can't imagine what life would have been without her.

During our 25 years together we've finished our college courses, built careers, shared vision and done extraordinary things with God and with people we met and learned to love.

We buried Heidi's mom just a couple years into our marriage, after a two year battle with cancer. The questions, differences and recriminations surrounding that season tore apart the fabric of her family in a way that has never been mended.

We've been through financial stresses, largely as a result of my passion for excellence in ministry and my endless pushing for better, faster, and bigger tools and goals to bring people closer to God. We've opened our home to friends and freeloaders at all stages of their journey toward (and sometimes, sadly, away from) wholeness.

We've survived my own battle with kidney cancer... When the ER doc said "get your house in order" and it seemed like what we'd had 'till then was all we'd get.

We've navigated the pain of past sexual abuse and of bringing that out in the open with hope of healing... only to have it further destroy family relationships and lead to litigation and estrangement.

We've parented two amazing sons who, in spite of our best efforts to screw up, have turned into fine, responsible young men. Guys just bursting with a desire to explore and conquer the wisdom of the world around them and in their own hearts. As a family we've been renovators and builders... militants and pacifists... we've been confident and confused... ecstatic and dejected... Purposeful and aimless... triumphant and beaten down... indigent and comfortable...

She's been the mirror for my soul at times when my desire was to hide and blame... asking me the tough questions that burrowed through the anger or ambivalence to find the heart of my struggle... And to tease my heart and soul into seeking clarity instead of expedience... purpose instead of my familiar "knee-jerk" responses.

She's made hard decisions easier by nudging me to follow my heart and listen to God. She's saved me from countless, "personal excursions" into areas of interest that might derail me from my calling.

Together we walked away from the religious denomination of our origin... with all it's comfortable, familiar structures and social networks... it's neatly packaged theology... and simple answers to everything (except the important questions WE wrestled with...) Into the unknown of life with God outside of man-made religio-political machinations. We've faced incidental and monumental questions of faith and integrity, truth and dogma, purpose and practice, meaning and madness, failure and success... and learned to seek God in defining and right-sizing all those realities.

At times I still feel like I barely know her... Life hands us new twists and turns every day that alter our perspective and stretch us out of our comfortable shapes. When those things happen, she responds in ways that sometimes explode my "pigeon-holed" idea of what she thinks or who she is. But one thing that I've seen... one thing that has been the touchstone of our days together and our hope for the future is love... not always, in fact very rarely, that soft-focused romantic feeling that movies do so well at portraying... most often it's the solidity of knowing that someone will always be "for" you... on your side... wishing for your best outcome.

Heidi is a giving, gifted, complex and super-intelligent woman. She can articulate her feelings and thoughts with passion... grow and tend plants and people with equal joy and care... build teams and lead them to complete complex tasks against insurmountable odds. She's an artist... a builder... a visionary... an accountant... a painter... stonemason... carpenter... auto mechanic... chef... tutor... healer... motivator... laugh leader... gentle critic... and so much more. She is goal oriented and tenacious... she'd have to be to stick with me ;-)

We started our relationship by just hanging out and accomplishing things together... 25 years later that's still our biggest joy. Meeting the challenges... and experiencing the adventure TOGETHER... is what has made each new day worth finishing.

I can't thank her, or my God, enough for what has flooded into my life and heart over the last 25 years. I can't be worthy of it... Like grace, each day has been a gift! My greedy heart wants every day to be more of that adventure, and is so glad for a friend and soul-mate who has made every step of the journey with me.

Here's to you, baby! I'd like another 25...

What about "Feeding the Flock"

 I re-read my post from Monday... It's Wednesday now, the "mellow middle" of the week, and I have to qualify my assertions a bit. I want to say that I'm not anti-shepherding as it relates to churches. I don't think that churches are evangelism machines... just dragging people who are far from God across the line of faith and running out to grab some more.

You've heard the quote...

"Some people want to live within the sound of chapel bells,
but I want to run a mission a yard from the gates of hell." - John Wesley

That resonates with me on many levels... but it's not fully how I'm wired. It's not exactly what my heart envisions.

I think "a yard from the gates of hell." is the best place to reach lost people, people far from God. It's also a great place to encounter people lost in the miasma of good intentions... (i.e. "the road to hell is paved with good intentions") You know them... people who say "I'm a good person... God will save me because he knows my heart and I'm really a good guy..."

Here's how I'd explain my passion... I'd like to run "the testimony/praise service in a converted dance-hall a yard and six inches from the gates of hell." As i envision it, when people on the road to hell are approaching the gates, they'll hear the excitement they might not be able to help but stop in and check it out. When they see themselves in the countless stories of "good people," who were grabbed only inches from disaster, they may just stay and listen. Over time they'll come to realize that there was only one "Good Person" and turn to the One that can save them like he saved those who came before them.

I know that's splitting hairs to some extent. Witnessing is always "one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread." I guess I'm just wired up to focus on the celebration when the "lost sheep comes home."

But I think of the parable of the lost sheep, and the lost coin... The shepherd LEFT THE SHEEP who were in the fold and sought the lost sheep. The woman thought of nothing else but that lost coin... she swept and searched... and searched and swept until she found it. She thought of nothing else until that coin was recovered. I see Christ, in these parables, revealing his priority for shepherds and for the kingdom of God.

Fishers of men... seekers of lost sheep... searchers for the lost coin... fathers of prodigals... people who "GO" into all the world... I find myself so drawn to them that I scarcely have a though for the guy who he left the sheep with... Or the son who stayed behind while the prodigal roamed and rioted.

Perhaps I'm adding my own bias to the back-story, but I don't see either the shepherd who stayed with the flock, or the son who stayed behind while his brother roamed, as feeling they had the plum job. But both were necessary for the story. There was continuity to be maintained... sheep to be fed and calves to be "fatted."

A few years ago I was involved in a church-based seeker ministry... We did a weekly service targeted toward people who might be "kicking the tires" on a relationship with God. We were offered an opportunity to take our ministry team to the UK as an example of what might work in churches there... But we were also committed to holding a service at home every week so that we'd always be there when a seeker might show up. This meant we needed to leave a team behind to carry on while we "went into all the world." We would have gone anyway... regardless of weather we had a second team or not... But we valued the team that filled our places while we were gone. That being said... I wouldn't have chosen to stay rather than to go. It would be like Indiana Jones only getting to teach... he's made for so much more than that.

Keith Green used to say "Jesus commands us to 'Go...' it should be the exception to stay..."

I guess what I find strange is that we seem to have an awesome opportunity in our culture right now to intersect and make a difference right from our churches, and many are reluctant to embrace it. People today are actively seeking God's touch and many are looking in the the logical or traditional places first... Churches. If you can't experience the presence of God in a church, where can you experience it.

Yet many churches are more tied to their traditions or their customs that they are to reaching out to the people that God is sending, or would send, through their doors if He thought they'd find a connection with Him there.

I really believe shepherding is important... sheep get restless, they bicker and bite each other... and shepherds are needed to maintain order. But sheep do far less fighting when they're on the move. They need to be LED as much as they need to be FED. Congregations do far less fighting, and are far less needy, when they have a mission and are working TOGETHER toward a goal.

Army commanders have far fewer morale and discipline problems when the troops are on a mission than they do while the army is encamped and awaiting their next move. Sheep interact better when they're walking than when they're grazing or in the pen.

It would seem that maybe churches would need far less "tending and feeding" when they are "on mission" as well.

The life-cycle of a christian is akin to the life-cycle of a human being... you're born helpless and need feeding and training... and your diapers changed. As you get older you start to take care of yourself until eventually you're producing children/disciples.

When I was a baby, my parents fed me... My dad did "the airplane" and brought the food swooping in for a landing in my gaping/waiting mouth. But as I grew older, I began to feed myself. He still provided the food but I did my own eating. Now that I'm an adult, he still asks me if I've eaten... but he assumes that I'll say "yes" because I'm a self-feeder. In fact, he has watched, with great pleasure, as I've fed my boys... enjoying the passing of the torch and regaling us with stories of when he fed me.

I think spiritual development is very similar. When we're new Christians we need to be fed. As we grow our spiritual mentors teach us to feed ourselves. As we reach maturity they watch us give birth to children... by leading others to Christ... and feed them until they can feed themselves. Mature Christians NEED to be "making and raising babies" not laying back and being fed. It's a part of THEIR development as much as it is a benefit to the new Christian.

It's a pathology for and adult to still need to be fed by their parent. When that happens it's because of an accident or medical/mental condition that has kept the child from developing. We would be uncomfortable seeing a 30-year-old being spoon-fed by his mom or dad. We expect mature individuals to take care of themselves.

Do you know anybody who is a mature adult, but still lives with their mother. it's sad isn't it? They never know the joy of building a relationship and a family... never experience the wonder of raising a child of their own. These stunted adults are rarely happy or fulfilled, and they are certainly not reaching their full potential. So it is with Christians who have stopped growing shortly after conversion. They're taking in the food of the faith, but never putting it into practice. Eventually they get to be like the 700 pound guy who can't get out of the house without a forklift... unwilling to move and unable to care for themselves or contribute to the good of the church.

Shepherding IS a noble calling... but when it becomes enabling instead of teaching... passive instead of leading... it damages the shepherd, the sheep and the sheepfold.

We'll always need people with gifts of mercy to come alongside hurting people, at whatever stage of maturity they're experiencing, and bear part of the burden for a season. But in a church where there are mature Christ-followers that doesn't need to be the main focus of ministry. Armies have doctors and chaplains, cooks and janitors... but the main focus is not the camp, it's THE MISSION. The community that built while we're "On the way" will take care of much of that aspect of shepherding.

People will give time, and talent... dollars and passion... to seeing another lost person come to Christ. But the longer the time-span between those "blessed events" the more the sheep grow restless and begin to bicker. They were made to make disciples and to feed others... not to be force-fed and entertained.

Let's feed the little ones.. and motivate the adults with a mission... namely seeing one more "lost guy" find His Savior.

Christ said "my sheep hear my voice..." and when I read the gospels I keep hearing Him say "Fish... seek... disciple... rescue those in darkness... bear much fruit..." I think I'm hearing him clearly.

I recently heard a pastor put it this way... "Our mission is to bring them in.. train them up... and send them out to do the same." I resonate with that... it keeps me focused and energized... I need brothers to keep me accountable and to "get my back" in tough spiritual struggles... I even need a hint on where to find bread quite often...

But I can feed myself, thanks.

What do you think? Let's hear opposing viewpoints or stories of your struggle... I'd love to spur some thought, evaluation and dialogue.



Here's what I'm reading today...

Do I Have To Be "Seeker Focused?"

I’m in a period of searching right now. I don’t think it’s mid-life crisis as such... (if it is I must be up for the Guinness World Record for the longest mid-life crisis... i’ve been in mine since 1972! :wink:) I think it’s just the way I’m "wired up"... a perpetual quest to give all that I can give in return for the blessing of being alive, and being accepted by Christ. As an amateur philosopher, I believe that the "WHY" informs, and likely even drives the "HOW" and the "WHAT." So I try to keep coming back and refreshing my understanding and vision of the "WHY."

I’ve been evaluating "what it’s all about... and why I’m here" issues recently and I’m discovering, albeit too slowly for my taste, what MY core values and motivations are.

I’ve been involved in music, mainly performing Christian music, for 37 years this month. About 20 years ago I finally discovered that it wasn’t so much music that I was enamored with, but worship... involving a congregation in seeking the "face of God." At about the same time I became aware that the only purpose for the church was to continue the work that Christ left us... to seek and save the lost and to make disciples of all who were becoming saved. To put that in a more modern vernacular is to say ’to help people, who are far from God, move closer to the true purpose they were created for... fellowship with their Creator."

I don’t have a bent toward evangelism in the traditional sense... where we try to convince others that the theology, or eschatology we’ve found is the "best or the only." But I am wired-up, at my core, to see people find their God connection and I am drawn to do all I can to get them started on that journey. I guess in that sense I am. at my core, seeker focused. But what does that mean?

I grew up in a denomination that was doctrine-centric and demanded strict conformity to their understanding of that doctrine... right down to the tiniest point.

In the denomination your heart was "your own business", but your behavior was EVERYBODY’S business. It was rigid, authoritarian, dictatorial and drove most of my generation far from the church. At the same time, the indoctrination in the denominational schools (which we all attended) reinforced the fact that to leave the denomination WAS to forsake God and the "special light" we’d been given. Consequently, when my peers discovered themselves worn out and broken from running up against the unscalable wall of "sinless perfection" many just jettisoned the whole deal and began to doubt the existence of a God who demanded what "no man could produce." Most of those who didn’t leave moved to a theology of choice where the hide their lives from their fellow church-members and put on the "Sabbath Face" when they’re together.

As I began to see this all play out, I realized that "Church" was a double-edged sword. It can so easily leave it’s reason for being (to be fishers of men, places of refuge and healing, and an environment to disciple "future fishermen") and travel along a continuum toward being self-focused and impotent. Instead of entering into and engaging culture like Christ did, they seek to create their own culture... insulated from the influences of "apostasy" around them.

The individuals in those churches look to their leaders for direction and permission to do what they themselves had been created for... to share Christ with a broken world as His disciple. They miss the joy of leading someone to Christ... the paid pastor does that. They miss the joy of baptizing their friends or their children... the paid pastor does that. When it reaches it’s logical conclusion, the only need the church has for the individual is to access them financially every week and to hope they create enough "new members" (kids) to keep the machine alive. That’s worst case, but there are some congregations that are desperately close to that end of the spectrum.



A couple weeks ago I had the honor of baptizing my oldest son. What a miraculous experience that was... To be that close to a great kid, who I’d spent more time with than with any other human being in my life, as he made his public stand for Christ.

It couldn’t have happened in my denomination of origin. I’m a music minister and team leader, but I’m not a pastor. Not ordained, not licensed, not credentialed in any way except that I’m a Christ follower and am called to the great commission. I’m called to go into the world and make disciples AND to baptize them... What Christ left me as his last instructions, most churches say I’m not qualified to do. What’s up with that?

I think that the hijacking of the great commission, with all it’s rights and privileges, by the clergy or denominations is the reason that our mission is in such a state of being misunderstood and overlooked. Christ asked us to go into all the world... we’ve been taught to give our money to missions so that missionaries can carry the gospel into the far corners of the earth. On the face of it that’s great, and shouldn’t be neglected... but isn’t my neighborhood part of the world. Foreign missions become a smoke-screen that separates us from the call to do the work of missions in our own town.

Engaging and attracting potential Christ-followers ourselves is a biblical concept. Jesus instructed the disciples to go to "Jerusalem, Judea... and to the uttermost parts of the earth." Notice he listed the city and state first! I’m beginning to realize that it could be because they’re our first priority!

I guess I’m slowly coming to the realization that the "church" as we know it is in danger of becoming an anachronism... "a tool without a function." It could be that this decline is because we’ve come through a period in time when institutions sought and maybe even demanded our loyalty. Over the last few decades we’ve seen countless institutions reward that loyalty with disenfranchisement, disinterest, and even abuse... the day of the institutional church is nearing an end.

Brace yourself for the expansion of the organic church...
The organic church is led by the common people...
The organic church involves ALL believers in ministry,
according to their gifting and passion...
The organic church is outwardly focused... Not a Christian club or theme-park!
The organic church is seeker targeted...
The organic church is not afraid of pain, or risk, or fun...
The organic church is made up of active participants... Not bystanders or patrons.
Tho organic church is focused on mission...
to bring people far from God into relationship and service to God.

I’ve tried it both ways...
I've been in situations where we said "we’re going to do what we do... focus on our flock and any outsiders are welcome to participate if they find their way here..."
I've also been a part of movements where we’ve said "our main thing is to be ’Fishers of Men... baiting our hooks to attract people who don’t know God yet’ and we’ll put all our efforts into doing that authentically and vigorously. He’ll grow us and our community along the way."

My bottom line...
As for me and my house, we wouldn’t give another dime or a moment of our time for the first, but we’d give everything we have and are for the latter.

I guess I "HAVE TO BE" seeker focused... it’s the only thing that gives me the impetus, focus, joy and energy for service!

Tell me where your heart is or what you think... Does any of that resonate with you?

Dan Fogelberg -- Too Soon Gone

Dan Fogelberg passed away from prostate cancer Sunday the 16th of December.

I saw Dan at a local outdoor venue here in Dayton, Ohio a few years back. It rained "cats and dogs" and he and the band just kept going... His band contained a bunch of great sidemen and former one hit wonders like Jim Photglo. They played their hearts out while we sat under tarps and blankets and soaked it in. I'll never forget it... but I'll never remember it as vividly as I'd like to.

Perhaps it was a sign of Dan's sense of humor, but he never played "Rythym of the Rain" that night, even though a well lubricated fellow fan next to us shouted a request for it between every song. It would have been so perfect "In the moment." He probably knew we couldn't take that much perfection.

His songs grew up alongside me and were never far away. At every major life-event he had a new hit that seemed to define, signal or cushion the change. I'll miss him... and the chance to share him with my kids in a live setting. But you can bet that, like Rich Mullins, I'll share his music with my kids, my friends and anyone who'll listen.

Living Water - How the West Was... 1

When I last left my story I was about to start a new job in California.

I began working at church headquarters in Pleasant Hill, CA on October 1, 1978. i'd taken some graphics classes in college and was about to learn printing "On the Job." My official title was "Graphic Arts Clerk," but I got to operate the press, the huge Xerox machine, learned cutting and padding skills, did layout, design, illustration, typesetting, and a bit of graphics camera work that I learned from John McFee in Walnut Creek. John was the father of famed Doobie Brothers multi-instrumentalist John McFee, so I became a fan of their music during those hours in the darkroom. It was one of those great opportunities that push you to learn so much in a very short time. I learned that I had a knack for layout and design and that I liked taking on impossible challenges and deadlines and trying to exceed expectations.

Although I had a supervisor, she was a bit of a recluse and rarely came out of her office. I got to do the customer service aspects as well as the actual production work. Then, when she was off work for 6 months with an injury, I got to run the department by myself. I found I really enjoyed being my own boss, and making the impossible look easy. I still do...

While I worked there I also got involved with the youth ministry council at the local SDA church. I made some great friends on one hand, but I also became more sure than ever that being politicaly savvy was more important than either talent, commitment or passion. I saw both pastors I began with, guys with hearts for people and service, "flushed out" by the system and replaced by "Corporate Climbers."

Charlie stayed with us until about Thanksgiving and then moved up to Angwin, CA to live with a former academy dean who was now employed at PUC, the church college in Northern California. He struggled with depression and discouragement over the next few years and was in and out of the band, by his own choice, often during those years. But we always stayed friends, and he always came back. I think God had a hold on His heart, and wouldn't let him go.

In the spring of 79, I was finally able to put together a group and do a concert at Rio Lindo Academy where my sister was a student. The kids that joined worked hard and gave up Sundays to drive from PUC (St. Helena) through the Napa/Sonoma hills to Healdsburg, practice all day and then head home to study. We were about half high-school age and half college aged kids.

The academy kids were: Sheri Caviness-soprano, my sister Julie-alto, Dan Blower-tenor, ARP Synthesizer and trombone, Paul Dickson on sound, Jimmy Ressiger-transportation, and Pete Stimple-logistics and laughs.



The college kids were: Alline Roderick-soprano, Mike Hinrickson-Bass, Gary Peters-tenor, Bob Grady-bass guitar, and myself on piano and singing lead.


We had a good concert, but with so many new kids, and no real road-testing or close community, we couldn't hold the group together over the summer. The next year I left my graphics position at church headquarters and went back to school, this time at PUC, in the beautiful Napa Valley.

Over the summer I'd made friends with a guy named Bart Vogel who was heading to PUC as well. When we got there we immediately started jamming together with some of his friends. Charlie, Gary and Julie were still interested in carrying on where we'd left off, and Bart introduced me to Gary Brady, Skip Johnson, and Dee Silber. Bart, Gary B and Skip were all songwriters so we started doing features at on-campus services with players and singers sitting in as the songs required.

We bounced around with various line-ups until in early November when we added Bernie Osborn on drums and trumpet. I met Bernie when we both had the early-morning custodial shift in the college library. He was an Oakland native who'd come back to school to study for the ministry after some years of military service. He got us a couple gigs at churches in the Bay Area and by Christmas we'd formed a group that was an amalgamation of kid's we'd brought from Michigan: Julie, Gary P, and myself, plus some "west-coasters" - Bernie, Gary B, Val Leno singing soprano, and Brian Wilcox replacing Charlie as the bass singer.



Bart had decided, with our blessing and encouragement, to style himself as a solo act. So, although we still hung out... writing and and playing together often, he didn't join the group as such. He did go out on gigs with us most of the time as a guest artist, and added a lot of joy, comaraderie and laughs both onstage and off. I still remember a little ritual I'd brought west with me... "Spazzin' Out" that Bart adopted, made his own, and made into an artform of "global proportions."

Bart's sister Julie Vogel came onboard as our sound engineer. Julie still stands out as having some of the best "ears" of any sound-person I've ever worked with. She took all the changes in style, equipment and personnel in stride and made us sound better than we deserved or expected to sound.

In December we added Rob Elliot on electric guitar, and imported Jeff Jones, (a high-school kid who Gary B knew from Tennessee,) to play bass guitar. Gary flew from Fresno to Memphis over Christmas break and drove back to Angwin with him.

Through all that time and all those changes, we were still called Living Water.

With a lot of hope and excitement, we returned to school early from Christmas break to rehearse... Before we'd finished our first day together we found that we had major musical and philosophical differences.

Val had come to PUC to travel with the Heritage Singers on the weekends. That hadn't fully worked out, but she was afraid to commit to our band because we had a "heavier" approach to music than she thought the market would bear. She was afraid it would ruin her chances with Heritage. She did go on to tour with them in the late 70s-early 80s.

Brian, a quartet man at heart, had never sung with drums and electric guitars before and was, frankly, freaking out.

We'd added another soprano named Mary who'd done well in the audition but just wasn't finding her way or fitting in. She had mystical and (she felt) prophetic tendancies and just couldn't focus on the goal.

Before the day was out we'd replaced Mary and Val with Debbie Sjoren, who was dating Gary B. She had been our "designated photographer" but, as it turned out, was a really solid singer and a great team-player. We'd also talked Brian into hanging with us and giving it another try.





That lineup, pictured in these promo shots, (shot on Bart and Julie's parents deck in Walnut Creek) took us through February 1980, when we fired Jeff for not showing up at rehearsals.

We replaced Jeff with Jon Yoshida, an awesome all-around musician who had lots of focus, drive and experience. Jon could play anything we threw at him with style and passion. Through his playing, prodding, friendship, support and coaching we grew by leaps and bounds musically.

In March, Bernie left school and Rob dropped out of sight as well. Jon's brother, a student at Fresno Academy, came onboard to play drums and a couple of their friends, also brothers, joined on keyboards and electric guitar. Charlie came back and replaced Brian and we began to cover a lot of the Imperial's material from their "One More Song For You" album. We did "Water Grave", "I'm Forgiven", "Higher Power," "I Just Want to Know What I Can Do For You," and a host of others...

The distance between Napa and Fresno made rehearsal sporadic and by June, our electric player had joined the military in hopes of paying for dental school. Weighing all the factors: distance, time, other comittments (Jon had gone back to Heritage as thier part time bass player) we decided to go our separate ways. The irony of it all is that our tightest music ever, music that would have been powerful and inspiring to audiences, was never performed live because we were too focused on perfection.

I accepted the apparent end and went home to enroll in cosmetology school. We thought Living Water was done...

Next time: How the west was... 2: the Bart Vogel and Living Water era, complete with downloadable MP3s.

        

Is Seeker-Worship an Oxymoron?

Let's take a bit of a break from my journey to ponder some thoughts about worship...

In the seeker focused church where I serve, most of our short worship section each week is, seeker-focused, presentational, celebrative or declarative. Fast, loud and energetic...

The theory is that seekers can't authentically worship, so what we do has to include enough presentational elements to be entertaining as well as participative. It also needs to be short so that we allow enough time for the main event, teaching/preaching. I understand the theory but find it somewhat simplistic. It seems to ignore some very pertinent questions that underly our spiritual journey, and what worship really is.

• Do we ever stop being seekers?
• Can a person "in process" be a worshipper?
• Are there multiple "layers" of connection to Christ that can be expressed in corporate settings through worship?
• What is our definition of worship?
• Can the expression of adoration toward God precede our full internalization of God's connection to us?
• Is worship an emotional or intellectual exercise?
• Are worship forms emergent from congregation culture, or do they form it?
• Which of the above is more valid, emergent or formative?

All these questions seem to have at their root a quest for demarcation. When are we in fully "IN Christ", and when are we still outsiders?

In reflecting on my journey, as I have begun to do in this blog recently, I see massive sweeping changes (both in understanding and practice) in my connection with God. Was I incapable of worship back then? I don't think so.

I like Paul's analogy to seeing "as through a glass, darkly" as it applies to Christian growth, and understanding. That metaphor allows for some advancement, some increase of awareness, but never an "arriving" until we're face to face with God. In the truest sense we're all seekers.

This allows us all, no matter where we are in the process, to have real expressions of submission, thanksgiving and adoration to a God we're all only beginning to see and know. We're moving toward Him in an imperfect way, as imperfect people, but seeking a connection to Him in ways that are honest and authentic.

I think we lose integrity when we adopt a form of/for worship that is alien to us. If worship is defined as "the actions of a creature acknowledging and venerating His creator" then how can one believer critique or even evaluate the worship expression of another? All we can do, to be true corporate worshippers at any stage, is align ourselves with communities whose worship reflects the outpouring of OUR hearts.

This where I'm going to have to break some eggs to make this omelet. Worship in my upbringing, particularly in the denomination of my origin, has been subject to evaluation and critique based on it's FORM not on it's function. Some forms have been approved and others have faced various levels of disapproval. This has caused great hurt and alienation between people who would normally agree on many facets of their faith. This "form vs. authenticity" struggle has ended up causing many of my peers to be ostracized or disinherited by their communities of faith. The disunity has led to broken relationships and fractured many churches and denominations. Many of my peers have left churches altogether because they couldn't participate with integrity in a setting, and style, that were alien to them.

Let me use myself as an example... Nothing in my life or experience leads me to express my worship today in a monastic, classical or high-church form. It's as alien to me as a latin sermon, or a greek new testament. I would be disingenuous, a pretender, if I were to be an active participant in such a service. I visit them occasionally as I might visit a museum or graveside, to experience a connection with a past that, although it was fresh and vital at one point in time, has died and is no longer with us. I relate to that style as I do to an artifact that has been superseded by newer, more functional ideas and methods. Classical and high-church are not reflective of my heart or journey, but bring me in touch with another time and place. I can visit and learn but I must leave and resume my own life and identity.

Likewise the spontaneous, "run what you brung" style church service is alien to me because one of my personal "core-values" is excellence. I try to give excellence to my clients in all the work I do, and to my friends in how I relate to them in community. A "spontaneous-style" in worship seems too unplanned and haphazard to reflect the reverence I feel, and the idea of bringing the best I have to God. Excellence reflects MY true heart in worship.

The scriptures are not so much a policy book as they are a narrative of people seeking God. God desires to write just such a narrative into each of our lives. He uses knowledge, and experience, revelation and redirection, gentle nudges and hard shoves, to give us an ever growing picture of grace, and forgiveness. By doing this we come to know Him better. Our worship "in spirit and in truth" should be worship that is from our hearts and genuine. The form that genuine and engaging worship takes varies based on a multitude of geographical, cultural, generational and socioeconomic factors. For example: Worship among Augustinian monks in upstate New York will vary greatly in form to worship in a small West-Texas Baptist church.

Only rarely does a worship song or hymn achieve cross-cultural acceptance. We used a song this past weekend at church that broke some new ground for us. It was a merging of old and new..

We did a very simple version of Chris Tomlin's adaptation of Amazing Grace. Check it out at the itunes link I've included here...


What made this song so moving is that it contained elements of extreme familiarity and elements of simple freshness. In today's musical vernacular, we have grow accustomed to some variation of a verse chorus structure. Often the verse contains or builds the tension, both musically and conceptually, and then the chorus comes along to provide the release and response to that tension. It feels to me like it's an "If->Then" type relationship. Amazing Grace for all it's richness and familiarity has no chorus, just narrative verses. What Chris did is add a response to the narrative... Something that brings the story into the immediate. It's inspired, simple and extremely memorable.

"My chains are gone, I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me.
And like a flood His mercy reigns,
Unending love, Amazing grace."

Using "Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)" this past weekend has added a more intimate and vertical element to our seeker focused worship. I hope it's a trend that will continue...

How would you answer the questions I posed above? What does authenticity in worship mean to you? Have new worship styles been a bone of contention or a source of joy in your experience? What was your most memorable worship moment (good or bad)?

       

The Tale of a Revolutionary (Pt. 3)

Living Water Across America... Maybe?

At the end of my last post we'd gotten our bus engine working and were ready to set out for California.

We packed everything we owned in to the bus and a 1968 Corvair my uncle had given me. We said goodbye to our college friends who were just getting back to start school and drove away...

Not very far away because the battery on the bus was pretty old, we had no money to replace it and were hoping that the generator would charge it better as we drove along. Sadly that was not the case... Every time we stopped at a stop-sign we had to pull out the jumper cables and start "Dave Thurston" as we now called the bus.

       

After the fifth jumper-cable outing, and about an hour-and-a-half we weren't even out of town yet. Since I had to be at my new job just one week later, and at the rate we were going we'd still be in South Bend, Indiana (about 30 miles away) by that time, We needed a plan B.

We dicided that I would rent a U-Haul and put Charlie's stuff, my stuff and our PA in there and head west. Gary would get the bus back to a parking spot and see what he could do about the battery situation. I offered, again, to buy the bus from him and let him get on with life... Being young and daring, he wasn't ready to admit defeat. He'd just get the bus running and join us in a little while.

I only ever saw Dave Thurston one time after that night, but that's a story for another time...

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As an Aside... Here's a picture of the real Dave Thurston Family (circa about 1976.) We found it on the bus as we were cleaning it out over the summer.


       

They were a southern gospel group out of Battle Creek Michigan and they owned the bus before we did. The younger Dave Thurston still runs a southern gospel group out of Holt, Michigan. Check them out at: www.thethurstonfamily.org if you enjoy southern gospel.

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The next morning Charlie and I set off for the San Francisco Bay area where my folks were living. We had some friends along the way so we had plans to stop and see them as we went. Shelly Solomon had gone back to Union College that year so we stopped in Lincoln, Nebraska and slept the night on her living-room floor. The next morning we got up grabbed lunch with her in the school cafeteria, took a tour through the church (where we hoped to do a concert someday) and pushed on.

For those of you reading in other countries, the topography of the US is such that when you leave Lincoln, Nebraska and head west you're going uphill most of the way. It's a fairly gradual climb but fairly constant. Then there's quite a dip into Salt Lake City, Utah and then you climb again into the high plains of northern Nevada until you crest in the high Sierra range and then descend into the California central and costal valleys.

The Corvair has an air cooled engine and needs lots of fresh air rushing through it's cooling fins to stay at safe operating temperatures. We were pulling a trailer uphill across the high plains and the engine was running very hot. At a gas stop on the Nevada state line, we checked the oil and decided to leave the engine cowling open to help it cool more efficiently and pressed on. A few hours later, as we were climbing a long hill, we heard a loud BANG! and we began to loose power immediately. We pulled off to the side, the engine was clanking like mad, but couldn't see anything wrong in the engine compartment. We shut it off and, when we tried to start up again, it wouldn't re-start. It had thrown a rod deep into the cylinder wall.

Late September in Nevada is still fairly warm most days, but at night it gets pretty cold. It was night we were stranded on highway 80 about twelve miles east of Battle Mountain, Nevada. It was about 2am Saturday morning and we weren't seeing any traffic go by at all. We could have just pulled out our cell-phones and called triple-A, but cell-phones wouldn't be readily available for about 12 years so we sat, and shivered, and laughed, and waited. At dawn, a car went by. We decided that we'd take turns hitch-hiking to see if one of us could get into town. I took the first stretch of about 30 minutes and nobody stopped. Charlie got out and within a few minutes a guy in a pick-up stopped and gave us a ride into town.

He dropped us off in front of the Owl Club Saloon and Casino and we went in to make a call. I called my dad, caught him just as he was getting up for church, and told him what was happening. He said "sit tight and I'll make some calls." We sat down at the bar near the phone and waited.


       

The Owl Club, in 1978, was like a picture from the old westerns. Built along the railroad tracks before the roads went through, it has a long rich history as the hub of Battle Mountain social life.

A huge wooden bar, with mirrors behind, ran the length of one wall and was strewn with stools and a big brass foot-rail. Feeling a bit like Butch and Sundance, we ordered our diet Dr. Peppers and turned around to survey the scene. A few of the local denizens were still playing cards and one guy of indeterminate age, obviously a hard drinker, was sitting at the bar. He called out loudly to the bar-keep, "Mike, you know I could be working today if I was in Lovelock, but I'm *!&%$ing stuck here in Battle Mountain." Then he turned to us and said "You're not from around here." It wasn't a question but a statement of fact. I said "no we're just passing through..." I couldn't believe this was happening, TV dialog coming to life and we were in the middle of it. He said, "Sounds to me like you've got some trouble." So we told him our story as we sat and waited for our call. When I ended up by saying "I've called may dad and he's going to send help," he turned and looked straight at us. "As long as you have a dad you can call you'll be OK."

Just then the phone rang...
My dad and uncle were bringing a motor home to take us and our stuff the rest of the way.

We bought a six-pack of Diet Dr. P , said goodbye to our new friends, and set out to find the sheriff's office. We thought maybe he'd give us a ride back to the car and trailer, but he said he'd only take us as far as the edge of town. "Stick out your thumb and I'll check back on you in a couple hours. If you haven't gotten a ride, then maybe I'll take you out..." he said. And with that he took off.

We waited for just a few minutes when a carload full of guys stopped and said, "Whatcha got in the bag?" We told them it was Dr. Pepper and that we were headed back out to our car. "We'd hoped it was Coors," they said. "Hop in we'll give you a ride."

Have you ever done something and almost immediately begun to regret it? As we sped away, throwing gravel, I realized that these were the same guys who'd spent the night drinking and playing cards at the Owl Club. They'd had a lot to drink and were feeling no pain.

It turns out hey were a crew that went across the whole of the US working on the railroad tracks. They drove a big old Cadillac, they called it their "Cataract, because it's an eyesore." We stopped by their home on wheels, a train of cabooses that they lived in while they were working, and picked up some "doobie.' Then we all sped out to our car weaving and lurching. I'm sure we spent nearly as much time in the median as on the road. For a kid from Christian college, not very worldly-wise it was a white knuckle ride, but we got there finally, with me praying all the way.

About six hours later my dad showed up with my uncle and his motor-home. They brought a friend who came to pull the trailer to the next town with a U-Haul station to drop it off.

We loaded everything into the motor-home and hit the bunks while my uncle drove us on to California. We'd been up for about 48 hours and were dead on our feet. Although there were some adventures between Battle Mountain and Pleasant Hill, where my folks were living, we slept through them all. We crossed the Sierras into California sound asleep. We'd wake to a new adventure the next day, my first day at the new job.

I never forgot what the man at the bar said... "As long as you have a dad to call you'll be OK." Now that I am a dad, I know that those calls are ahead for me too. I'm beginning to feel what my dad might have been feeling when he got a call for help. It also helps me understand a bit of what God feels when we call on Him. He doesn't ignore us but moves every agent at His disposal to do what is best for us. Knowing that makes me want to be an "agent at His disposal" for others who are in need.

Let me in on some of your stories of change and growth. Click on the comments link below, next to "posed by allan clarke, "and leave me a note or story about your memories of "God moves" in your life.

The Tale of a Revolutionary (Pt. 2)

At the end of yesterday's post, I'd decided to quit school and do what I thought I did best... travel and sing Gospel music.

Bob Velting, our baritone, Jim Feldbush, our very talented bass player, and all the girls had decided to remain in school. With Gary Peters as our tenor, Charlie Gilbert singing bass, and me on lead we still had the basis of a good sound. We looked around for the best female vocalists who were up to the challenge and added, what were probably, the two best female singers from the college to form a new touring group. I think it was about this time we changed our name to Living Water. We'd have that name for years to come in many incarnations...

We did some rehearsals together, took some promo pictures, and did a mini-concert at a local youth meeting before the girls both took off to work at summer camp. Gary and I stayed at the college, working in the grocery store, to earn some capital and get the bookings solidified for the fall. Charlie went home to work for a masonry contractor for the summer. We were jazzed, this was going to be great!

       

Gary traded his car for a bus so we'd have something to travel in. We got it towed from Kalamazoo to Berrien Spring because it had a seized piston. We didn't see that as a big issue, we had a diesel mechanic who'd let us pick his brain and access to the college motorpool shop for the summer. We worked days at the store and split the evenings between sending out letters to seek concert dates and working on the bus engine.

       

We got out a map of the US and planned a tour. Then we looked up denominational churches along that route and sent promo packets to every church remotely close to that itinerary. We told them what we were about, that we were college students wanting to "do something special" for the Lord and offered to do a program at their church for a love offering.

Then we kept working on the bus...

       


Pretty soon the letters started coming in from churches on our planned tour route. Churches we'd been in before were glad to have us back, but something else was happening that we hadn't anticipated. Some of the churches had checked with campus ministries and found that we were "not school sponsored." Because of that they were "reluctant to offer us their platform." Even though we were good students in good standing and active in on-campus spiritual organizations... Even though we were the children of denominational employees, we were still being blacklisted by the University.

We were crushed. but still hoped that tide would turn. As the summer progressed, it became clear that we had no Fall Tour. We'd be lucky to have 10 dates booked. The girls checked in from time to time and as the news continued to degrade, they decided to return to school.

Charlie finished up his summer work and joined us back in Berrien Springs. We grieved and schemed, planned and dreamed, but we had no group and no tour. Then my parents called from their new posting in California and asked how it was going. I had to be honest. we were at an impasse, and I felt responsible. I felt I should buy the guys out and just give up.

My folks told me there was a job for a printer at denominational headquarters in Pleasant Hill, CA. I prayed about it and decided to take the job. I talked to the guys and offered to buy them out, but they wouldn't hear of it. They'd wrapped up all their affairs in Michigan and thought they'd come to California with me. We could build the rest of a team out there and still do weekends. Gary's wife had lined up a nursing job in St. Helena, CA and Charlie was going to stay with me at my parents house in Pleasant Hill and find a job.

So there I was leading my first cross-country ministry move. What and adventure.

It's only recently that I have come to realize how much life changed for those guys I was doing life with. How important it is for a leader to "look out for" the people he leads, and how loyal people will be if they know you're "for them." That's a big responsibility, and a great honor.

We got the bus engine finished and the night came for us to leave. I'll take up the story again in part three.

Have you ever seen a dream twisting in the wind? Have you ever thought you were on the edge of something you'd always hoped and planned for, only to have it die while you looked on helpless? Have you given everything for a good cause, only to have it thwarted by another person's political ambitions? But God hasn't left you... He grieves with you for those dreams. And he always has another plan, another job, another chance... another dream designed just for you.

Share your "dream stories," and what you learned through their pursuit, by leaving a comment here. What is God stirring in your spirit now? What's your next hill to climb with God?

        

The Tale of a Revolutionary (Pt. 1)

Are you a passionate follower of Christ who finds "religion" a drag? Do you feel out of touch with, or always trying to pump some life into your local church? Do you ever wonder who said excellence, creativity and authenticity where "not wrong but we just don't do" them? Do you, through a supreme effort of will, still attend church because you feel it's something you must do? Have you just drifted away because the whole "church thing" doesn't challenge or engage you anymore?

Yet you still read the Bible, you pray before meals and when you feel the need for God, which you'll admit is almost all the time. You serve the poor or donate generously to feed the hungry. You've taken on the responsibility to "work out your own salvation..." by knowing the mechanism and the person, Christ, through whom your salvation is assured.

Then according to George Barna you may already be, or have the makings of a revolutionary. After reading his book "Revolution," I think I've been one for a long time.

Barna says of Revolutionaries...

"They have no use for churches that play religious games, whether those games are worship services that drone on without the presence of God or ministry programs that bear no spiritual fruit. Revolutionaries eschew ministries that compromise or soft sell our sinful nature to expand organizational turf. They refuse to follow people in ministry leadership positions who cast a personal vision rather than God's, who seek popularity rather than the proclamation of truth in their public statements, or who are more concerned about their own legacy than that of Jesus Christ. They refuse to donate one more dollar to man-made monuments that mark their own achievements and guarantee their place in history. They are unimpressed by accredited degrees and endowed chairs in Christian colleges and seminaries that produce young people incapable of defending the Bible or unwilling to devote their lives to serving others. And revolutionaries are embarrassed by language that promises Christian love and holiness but turns out to be all sizzle and no substance.."

Barna goes on to say that the seven passions of Revolutionaries are:

• Intimate Worship
• Faith-Based Conversations
• Intentional Spiritual Growth
• Servanthood
• Resource Investment
• Spiritual Friendships
• Family Faith

Do you resonate with any of those? I sure do!

My earliest memories of church were me sitting on the pew wondering why things were so haphazard... Did they make this stuff up in the office before they came on the platform... I was 5 years old.

In our church we had one microphone for the speaker and one for prayer. Both were controlled by one volume control from a hallway just outside the sanctuary near the back. It was a large black phenolic knob (we'd call it a "retro" looking knob today but this was the early "60's so it was very Now-Tro then...) It just stuck out of the wall about 6.5 to 7 feet above the floor (so the kids wouldn't "mess with it....") I turned around that morning when the system feedback caught my attention and saw the shortest adult male deacon in the church straining to reach that knob to operate the PA. At five I wasn't sensitive to people's desire to serve or sacrificing to help the church... I just couldn't believe they had the shortest adult I knew, trying to work that knob which seemed to be miles above his head. I didn't know about spiritual gifts but I had an instinctive sense that people should be matched with their strengths not their "SHORT" comings. I distinctly remember thinking that we should do better than that.

To be fair, I also remember a baptism weekend where the singing was spirited and joyous... Where we sang old hymns like "Power in the Blood" or "Rolled Away... Every Burden on My heart is Rolled Away." I could just feel the power, excitement and joy as another fresh new soul came up out of those waters. I remember asking my father why we didn't sing like that all the time. he told me we "weren't that happy all the time." I thought to myself, "When people got baptized we're happy... the rest of the time we were bored, quiet and sad. Maybe if we were happier, more people would get baptized... then we'd be happier and more people would get baptized." Seemed like an excellent church growth strategy to me at 5!

But as I grew I began to see that church was "what it was." It had no real interest in being dynamic, or a force for change... not in it's community, or anywhere else. In fact the adults seemed to love quoting the "I am the Lord, I change NOT" mantra.

I'll admit there were people who lived "on the God edge..." Missionaries, those who cared for the poor (on Tuesdays between noon and 3PM) and guys who sold denominational books door-to-door, we called them colporteurs. We'd pray every night that God would "Bless the missionaries and colporteurs..." I remember thinking that one day maybe I'd like to have an adventure with God, but I knew when we heard their stories that I was not likely to ever be that bold, quick thinking or crazy. Those guys were the "berzerkers" of our denomination, they were too independent to work their way very far up the organizational ladder. But as a pre-teen, I didn't even understand the ladder...

I think I was wired from birth to look at what was, and see what could be... My mother always said that I was a good kid, but I seemed to live by the motto "It's easier to get forgiveness than permission." I was the kid that would talk the other kids into following me on some grand scheme, or adventure.

At eleven I sold popcorn at the local denominational boarding High-School and bought a guitar. Then I talked a couple of my friends into begging their folks until they got guitars too. We got some of the girls from our class and formed a small contemporary/folk group (circa 1970) to perform for evangelistic meeting in our area.

I was hooked... I didn't need anybody's permission. If I had a mission, and could pull together a team, I could get support from adults. If we worked hard we could really contribute! I formed and toured with groups all the way through high-school. We'd perform in churches on the weekends, and even do small to medium sized tours of the midwest, northeast and eastern Canada.

Here's one of those high-school groups, The Sonlight Gospel Singers, pausing for a photo at Niagara Falls on March 27, 1976.

       

I went to a denominational college and formed a group there my freshman year. We sang for chapels, vesper programs, campmeetings, and churches all around the midwest. We even recorded a 6 song cassette to sell at our concerts. I had a mission and was feeling a sense of God leading. I was a young leader and pretty green, but I loved the kids I worked with and through their patience and honesty they taught me a lot about leadership and about community... about doing life together.

       

       

Then someone or something "flipped the switch!" My sophomore year we re-formed and thought we'd have another exciting year... but we "couldn't get arrested," on campus or in the churches close-by. They were polite and thanked us for our ministry last year... but "No" they didn't have any open dates for us this year.

I asked a friend who was on the student ministry council what was up... He told me that he'd gone to bat for us but the sponsors had just said "We've got to support our own." It seems that the college had formed their own "witnessing team." and was actually PAYING them to do what we'd already been doing at no cost to the school. Despite our working together with them the previous year, they had taken our idea and format and asked a returning student-missionary to form a "clone group" to ours.

I eventually lost a good friend and great tenor singer because his brother was the "returning student-missionary" and he couldn't stand the tension at home. I'd seen my first volley of church-politics up close and personal. We had to seek ministry opportunities further from the campus. Since we were paying our own way by doing part-time jobs while going to school, it was a hard year. We did a lot of concerts that year though, and even a ten-day spring tour across Ontario, New York and Pennsylvania. But we never got to sing on campus because we were not "school sponsored."

That took it's toll on us... We went through more personnel that year than any before or since. I think we had 5 different line-ups between September and January. Then in February we formed this lineup. These kids were all leaders and great singers. In spite of the "blacklisting" God gave us the gift of some of the best times on the road I've ever enjoyed.

       

       

As an interesting aside, the school sponsored group did buy a big sound system, (spending about $25,000 1978 dollars,) they did get paid, and they did actually do ONE chapel performance. That was IT! I learned an important lesson from that whole event... You value what you work for... Pet projects often fail for lack of something to strive against (like extinction!)

As my Sophomore year was winding down, my parents were looking for a new job. My father, an ordained minister, had been the Bible-teacher, assistant principle, and pastor at the boarding academy I'd attended. The conference had decided to cut staff and since my dad was ordained and had his masters degree in secondary Ed administration. They thought he'd have an "easier time getting work" at another academy. The other bible teacher wasn't ordained and had no advanced degree... so he was less marketable.

Problem was, they made this decision late in the school-year and all the others schools had done their hiring already. The brethren had yanked his job, because he was "so qualified," and left him hanging.

My dad was crushed! He did find a job for the next year on the other coast, a very poor fit both for his skills and passions(teaching grade school instead of High-School) and his culture (he was just to conservative to "fit in!")

I decided to quit school and "go on the road" full time with my gospel group. I thought a lot about what had happened over those two years in college. I was preparing for the ministry with an additional major in music. I just couldn't go on preparing to work for an organization with so much intrigue. I needed some time to hear from God.

And I believe He spoke to me... He said, "I didn't let you go, the church did." They weren't unhappy with either of my dad or me, they saw that we tried to be men of integrity and dedication. In the end, they just wanted "company men" in those positions. Ironically, I think my dad was a much stronger "God seeking" man, and more loyal to "the company" than the guys that made the decision. I have to admit that although I had been a company man... I wasn't any longer, and never would be again...

I think it was at that point that I became a borderline revolutionary. I realized that God didn't make those decisions that had hurt us so deeply. he didn't de-value our service... men did. I decided to do my best from that point on to "cut out the middle man..." the organized church. I started to look to God for my marching orders.

He had them for me too! Not always when and where I expected them, and not without some cost. There are a lot more stories between that day and this one. Stories of how God changed me, bit by bit, from a passionate (but disillusioned) young man into the "Revolutionary" I think I'm becoming. Tune in tomorrow for Part 2.

Share some stories here about your journey. Have you had to choose between your family and God, between your denomination and your family, between your denomination and GOD!? Tell us what God did for you... and in you, during those times.

       

Is It Just "Boomers?"

As I talk to friends, former classmates, and people who have long-ago disengaged from their inherited church, I hear some of the same things... Across all age groups!

• "Church doesn't seem to have a purpose."
• "It's an inwardly focused agenda. 'How can we build up our franchise,' not what can we do to share Christ."
• "They don't seem to need me, or my ideas, just my money."
• "It's all about disengaging from my culture and getting in tune with some retro-culture that I can't relate to."
• "My friends would be bored at best and more likely freaked-out by our services. I could never bring them."

From some of my friends in progressive "Seeker-Targeted Churches" I hear...

• "We use elements of our current culture but we still don't have much time for the people IN the culture."
• "We engage our culture through music and the arts, we talk about God, but we never ENGAGE or encounter God."
• "It's kind of like a 'Preacher's Kid Variety Show" where we see how close to the culture we can get without sinning"
• "We get fresh new ideas in programming, but the mission get's fuzzy. What are we suppose to be DOING?"
• "It's all programmed and ready to go. We're in, we're out, next service is starting... What about community."
• "We've dropped the ball on 'making a difference' we're putting all our effort into 'The Show' each week."

Do you resonate with any of those statements? What could a "NextChurch" do to fix what seems to be broken?

Let's just start with some "What If's..." Totally in dream mode...

Let me paint a picture of a new future that's beginning to form in my heart.

What about "church" as a group of people who gather together and worship God in authentic ways., Who look to Him, through the Spirit and the Word, to find... not some over-arching answer for a global ministry cabal, but the light on their path for that day or that week.

What about a congregation that was built on community (doing life together), and focused on their community (those still far from God.).

What if we built a congregation on values instead of policies?

What if we didn't wait to have all our "ducks in a row" but viewed the whole thing as a journey. When we fail, we fail forward... When we're wrong we change and ask forgiveness... When God speaks to one of us, we trust that He's speaking and listen.

What if we could realize that God speaks to all of us at our point of need and accept the part of conviction that points to our weakness or strength and not make each impression a church policy.

What if we didn't build the church to last forever, but empowered and encouraged the people to live for today and to hunger for the eternal.

What if every new church partnered with another church, new or established, in another part of the world. Members could be encouraged to make friends via email and instant messaging. Teams from one church could visit the other for special outreach projects or church events. Resources, mentoring and prayer for one another could widen our perceived world and give us "new Ways" to view ministry, community, service, and worship.

Pick those ideas apart... What resonates with you? Do any of those ideas get your creative juices flowing?

I really believe that if we can hammer out the WHAT of a NextChurch philosophy, then the how is just going to happen one step at a time. They may be big steps and then hard fought inches, but progress is measured best in light of a goal!

Dream with me,
Allan

Here are a few more resources that have inspired my thoughts...

Stories of Emergence: Moving from Absolute to Authentic Edited by Mike Yaconelli

Uprising - A Revolution of the Soul by Erwin McManus

Emerging Churches - Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan K. Bolger

Who's Got The Wheel?

I've been having some conversations recently with some of my college friends. I've been excited to see what life has brought us all and where we are in our "Quest" for God's will in our lives. We're at about the same stage in life and from the same generation. We're "boomers."

We've all tried to stay hip, committed and involved in our local churches but we're really feeling that something is missing. The conservative churches are still stuck in the 50's era, and the progressive churches are targeting the "milliennials." We really can't plug-in to either group altough both have elements with which we resonate.

I've been reading a book Emerging Church.Intro recently that explains what emerging churches or "NextChurch" as I like to call them look like and what they're doing.

One thing I found interesting is that the author recognized that those of us boomers who are in, or have come from, "inherted churches" feel like we never really got to "take the wheel" of our church. What we got from our parents was not really an expression of church that fit us, either in architecture, decor, worship style, or mission, but we were powerless to change it. If we were church employees our jobs demanded that we conform to the "old ways" and if we were lay people we were marginalized by "the machine."

So here we are in our 40s and 50s still feeling like we're on the outside of our inherited churches looking in. Or those of us that have gravitated toward progressive newer churches see them targeting the "millennials" just as we're beginning to "get it" and hit our stride.

We've done the "windshield time" with God to know He's really there... to have a sense of His presence, but how do we turn that into a viable expression of church when we're kind of "tweeners..." ahead of the past but not ready or able to authentically jump into the "millennial" church.

How much does worship style factor into that?
I'd say that the style factor varies with the individual. But that's true within generations as well as across generations. What we appreciate as art, and in the arts, is widely varied. Just wander through your local Best Buy and you'll see a wider range of styles, genres, and sub-genres than ever in history. Maybe the new wave will be niche churches based on worship styles, or mission focus, as well as theological flavor.

Let me hear your thoughts on all of the above...

Allan

Here are some reading resources to spur the discussion

The Church on the Other Side by Brian McLaren

Aqua Church by Leonard Sweet

Leadership On the Other Side by Bill Easum

Present Future: Six Tough Questions For the Church by Reggie McNeal

I've read them all over the last year and they are excellent! Check 'em out.

        

Well... I'm Back!

Since my last post I've...
• Volunteered heavily at my local church, Southbrook Christian Church, here in Centerville.
• Survived kidney cancer. One kidney left and the cancer all gone!
• Re-connected with some old music/ministry friends from long ago.
• Become increasing interested in planting a "New Kind" of church.

A "New Kind" of church is what we'll focus on here over the next little while.
Drop me your feedback, ideas and comments on:
• Your experience with church.
• What church could be.
• What we can do as individuals to make church stronger and more relevant.
• How we can reach our generation (whichever generation you happen to be a part of...)

In my next post I'll share some "where are we coming from" type thoughts and questions.

See you then...

Allan

A Glorious Day Here in the Midwest

The clear bright days of fall are some of my favorite days to be alive.
The sky was so blue and presented such a seamless background for God's fall decorations. Bright red and yellow leaves danced in the cool breeze as the school-busses brought giggling children home from school.

I just had to get out with my camera and capture "some of this day" to save
for the long winter months.

Even though we've already had "frost on the pumpkin," our pumpkins
looked great... Let me share one with you.





All the world was a symphony of praise today,
Stormwatch

Let's Get Started...

Hi,

If you're here you have some interest in worship, and are likely hip to the term "Emerging Worship."

My take is that worship is growing as a force for heart-change... and that is leading toward church and personal renewal.

If you have stories of the impact of worship in your life, songs, or tips on becoming more attuned worshippers...

Share them here!

Let the passion begin,
Stormwatch