Cheeseburger, hold the Cheese?

This has been in my head for several weeks now. It's not really a post, not really a question, not really an observation (not an educated one, anyhow). It's simply a train of thought. I don't know where this train is going, but I felt inclined to board it. Call it a runaway train or a train wreck. Destination unknown. I'm just exploring, meandering. Your thoughts or feedback are, as usual, completely welcome.

The other day, Bill Kinnon had a great post that I'm sure you have come across either directly or in linkage by now. Titled "The People formerly known as The Congregation".

[Yes, the title of Bill's post has me wondering if we need some weird unpronounceable symbol to represent us. Anyone?]

It's an incredible post that speaks to me in numerous ways. But one part really jumped out at me:

"We are The People formerly known as The Congregation. We have not stopped loving the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Nor do we avoid "the assembling of the saints." We just don't assemble under your supposed leadership. We meet in coffee shops, around dinner tables, in the parks and on the streets. We connect virtually across space and time - engaged in generative conversations - teaching and being taught."

In other words, we are the Church without the church.

So here's the thing I'm thinking about - rolling around in my head - how can we (The People Formerly Known as the Congregation, or PFKC) best have community? Or more specifically, what if we don't have any sort of PFKC community nearby? Where can we find that without going back to church? How can we maintain our newfound non-congregational freedom and still be part of something bigger than ourselves? Do we have to venture out and create it ourselves? Do we have to join with something that still isn't a good "fit"?

Should we take Jesus out of religion (i.e. Unitarian Universalism) or take religion out of Jesus (i.e. informal 'everywhere' church)? Is that even an either/or question? Are both equally valid?

We have a UU church very near our home that seems to be growing in popularity. I don't know that for a fact - it just seems that I hear this church's name more and more often as they hold an increasing variety of classes and events, inviting special speakers, etc. I can't say that I haven't wondered from time to time what's "goin' on in there?". I well know that some from the ranks of Christian exile are retreating into Unitarian Universalism, and if so, I'm thankful they have found a place that welcomes them.

My brother sings at a UU church - he's not a member - not really religious at all - but he was hired to be their lead voice for the choir. My parents, lifelong Christians, have visited the church to hear him sing and said it seemed just like church without Jesus.

However, personally, even as I am liberalizing my faith and have grown into a religious freedom some call heretical, I just can't seem to remove the essential element of Jesus from the equation. That's just my belief - no reflection on anyone else's beliefs.

I have never attended a UU service, so I'm not speaking from experience - just making some generalized observations. It seems that UU churches have met a need by taking Jesus out of religion. Making religion be whatever a person wants it to be, and creating a religious gathering place for these people. There certainly are benefits to this system - people are welcomed and affirmed no matter who they are or what they believe. However, it's still religious. Or shall I say, ritualistic. It seems they have held fast to the 'religion' and abandoned the Jesus. Please know I'm not disparaging these churches. I'm thankful for any place that exhibits this trueness of grace.

But if the problem many of us have (PFKC) isn't with Jesus, of course, it's with religion, then what? Can we hold fast to Jesus and abandon the religion? I don't want religion anymore. I'm finding that the practice of my faith lies in coffee shops, pubs and living rooms; no longer in any building with a stage, altar and pews. There is no longer any regularly scheduled programming for my faith. It's more like an amalgam of the content of 200 channels of cable TV (Community Access included) than it is like the predictability of the Big 3 Networks.

However, I have to admit that I miss some sense of a "centralized gathering of the faithful". Where should I turn?

I affirm many of the beliefs of the UU body - the grace and love and acceptance. I want all that. However, I don't want a church that is still a church just minus Jesus. Must I sacrifice my belief that Jesus is the Only Way in order to find such a welcoming place? Must I accept that faith requires ritual "church", even if it doesn't require Jesus, in order to have a place to belong?

Can I reverse the process? Can I take the religious elements out of my relationship with Jesus? The elements of a weekly, planned service where we sing, light candles, hear a message, pray (or whatever) pat each other on the back and go home; instead having a gathering that is random and flowing and unceremonial, and still end up with something that looks something like "church"? And by that I mean a centralized gathering of the faithful, not "church".

Is it possible to reclaim Jesus from the damage religion has done to His message without abandoning Him altogether? Can we sift out the Goodness, Grace and Love from the religious judgmentalism, fundamentalism and rituals and yet still be left with Jesus in the end? Will this thing we end up with even look anything at all like Jesus? Or will it just be some mushy, watery substance that used to be Jesus? Does Jesus require religion?

I don't want to have to accept religion without Jesus in order to be able to love people unconditionally without being called a heretic.

Instead, I want Jesus as my religion, hold the religion.

Is that possible? Or does that just turn into a Cheeseburger without the cheese - in other words, no longer a cheeseburger at all?

Wherefore and Whatnot

Google Maps recommends swimming across the Atlantic ocean to get from Chicago to London. Also to get from San Francisco to London. Does not yet seem to recommend swimming the Pacific ocean to get from Seattle to Honolulu.

An Astronaut will run the Boston Marathon in Space.

New Tolkien book coming April 17. The Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien. Illustrated by Alan Lee (Yay!).

Carnival Cruise Line bans bringing liquids onboard, but not why you think.

One of my new favorite-est posts: Bill Kinnon on The People Formerly Known as the Congregation.

In other news, we are back from vacation. Aside from a) my boys being at each other's throats in a confined space for 6 straight days, b) my husband falling off his bike and injuring his back, and c) our car breaking down...we had a good time.

The mantra for the week? "Are we having fun yet?"

In all honesty, we had three completely sunny, gorgeous, laying-out-by-the-outdoor-pool days, which is nothing short of a miracle of miracles on the Oregon Coast in March.

Emerging/Missional Link Love

Brother Maynard has started a meme of sorts:

"Here’s what we’re going to do. Think of between 3 and 5 blogs which you think are under-rated, under-appreciated, or under-valued. More people should be reading them, in other words. They need to be blogging largely on EMC themes and topics, and they should not be on the list of leading blogs on these areas, say 150ish+ links on Technorati. Got your list? I’ll wait. If you come up with 7, that’s fine… you can borrow 2 from someone else. ;^)

You’ll find below a list of blogs that I feel deserve more attention. Yes, some are compadres, but others are people I’ve never met, I just read their blogs. To participate, copy this list into a new post on your own blog, and add the names you have to the bottom of the list, and encourage others to do the same. Your list will be about twice the length of mine, and people who follow you will have lists three times this length. It could get fairly long, but that’s part of the point — each link will help boost the undervalued blog’s profile… and you might even get some link love from it too! Include these instructions (this and the preceding paragraph). When you’ve done that, leave a trackback or comment below, or link to this post so we can keep track of who ends up participating. Sound like fun for the weekend? Okay, here we go, in no particular order:

• Emerging Grace
• Robbymac
• Lily a.k.a. Erin
• Nathan Colquhoun
• John Smulo
• Who’s Next?

If you follow the links in the comments at Brother Maynard's post, you'll find long lists where person after person has added to the list.

Honored to be in Brother Maynard's 5, I have taken the time to participate even while away on vacation. But I didn't have time to hunt down the longest list that's out there to add mine to...the wi-fi is sketchy here and I want to get this up before my connection dies again.

So without further ado - here are my additions:

• Gary Means
• Pam Hogeweide
• Traillady
• Cindy Bryan
• Bruce/YBMT

Oh, and a resounding welcome to anyone who found their way here via the list. Thanks so much for stopping by - please leave me a comment so I know you were here!

Taking a Spring Break

We're taking the kids to the coast for the week. We do have wi-fi there now, so I'll be checking in from time to time, but I don't expect to be posting until after the 30th.

Have a great week everyone!

Wired on GodTube

Yesterday Wired magazine covered GodTube.

[Some of the following quoted content has been edited appropriately for this blog.]

"Amongst the legions of YouTube knock-offs that have sprung onto the Internet...there are some which are so disgusting and fetishistic that they really [are] Not work safe and very disturbing.

"On the other side of the spectrum, there's GodTube, a YouTube clone that is dedicated to Christian-themed videos. And while many of the videos GodTube has to offer are no more offensive in their pervasive stupidity than the majority of YouTube's slack-jawed amateur offerings, there is something a bit insidious about them.

"For the record, what is disturbing about many of GodTube's videos is not that they are done by Christians, or enthusiastically discuss topics like Intelligent Design, the immorality of homosexuality, etc. What is disturbing about GodTube is that it is an observable microcosm of the way that fundamentalist Christians have shut themselves off from any outside perspective. The result is mental and creative poverty."

"An observable microcosm..."

"...fundamentalist Christians have shut themselves off from any outside perspective".

"...mental and creative poverty"

So tell us something we don't know.

I have not checked out GodTube yet, now I'm inclined to see what's going on over there.

Anyone have any thoughts? Seen anything good there? Anything bad?

If you have time, read the comments at the Wired article. As of this writing they are intelligent and generally not mean-spirited. An interesting conversation.

Feed

Sorry, guys, my feed contains old items. I have been adding tags - supposedly if you add them from "Manage Posts" they aren't supposed to update in your feed. In the past this has proven to be true, but for whatever reason, this time they updated in the feed.

Sigh.

Beat Music is Satanic

There's a video going around at a number of places in emerging circles - I'm sure you've seen it, but if not, check out this post at Bob Hyatt. (Bob also has another vid up by the same guy, talking about women and their roles in the church. )

This video is an interesting analysis of the emerging church; in truth it's so strongly worded one might think it's deliberately meant to be humorous. The emerging folk seem to be taking it as serious, so I'm going to follow suit. In any case, even if this guy isn't serious, the attitudes he conveys ARE for real.

Sooo...my husband's birthday was last week, and for his birthday I got his car set up with a subwoofer. He has always had a sub in his car, every car he had, until a couple years ago when we sold his car and the sub was the dealbreaker, so we had to let it go. We intended ever since to set up a sub in the car he drives now, but it wasn't going to be cheap because of a number of factors. So we never got around to it, there were just always other priorities in our finances.

But we happened to have some extra money that we had earmarked to do something 'frivolous' with. You know, get the all the carpets cleaned or a put a new clutch in one of the cars. But I made an executive decision and decided to spend it on something really frivolous. You see, my husband commutes 250 miles (in traffic) a week, and I knew it would make it more tolerable for him if he could enjoy his music thoroughly.

Of course, a subwoofer is primarily for the purpose of emphasizing the bass - usually the "beat" of music. My husband is partial to rock and heavy metal, so it gets a good workout.

Anyhow, back to the video. So this guy has some pretty strong feelings about music:

"It's universally known and understood that the whole sexual revolution - in other words, the total sexual degeneracy that went on in this land since the 1960's particularly, was driven by beat music and rhythm music."

"Everyone knows that demonic pagan religion is all whipped up by beat music and rhythm music. I mean every pagan satanic cult on the planet uses beat music and rhythm music to whip up demons...and there's a reason why pop music has that effect on the young and stupid - it drives them forward in more and more whoring and more and more fornicating."

"Beat music and rhythm music is satanic in origin. There's a reason why demonic and satanic religion uses beat and rhythm music - 'cause it's opposite of God's way. God's way is melody and harmony, and not the thrashing and bashing and crashing that we see going on with the young and stupid in Christian circles."

One thing I'm not clear about is whether his view is that all drumbeats are evil, or only certain types of beats. I know that drums are never specifically mentioned in the bible - even though other kinds of percussion instruments are. I read somewhere drums were common in pagan culture during biblical times. By logic, this means if drums were widely available at the time, but never mentioned in the Bible as being used for worship, we are to assume they are not to be used. Right?

I believe God can use anything He wants - anything under creation. Taking that ability away from God is like saying He has to play by our rules. Saying God would never work through drumbeats because they "are not mentioned in the bible" is like saying "God would never work through hymns, either. After all, to the best of my knowledge, they didn't sing 'Onward Christian Soldiers' in the biblical times."

I found this article by David Hopkins in the May 1999 issue of Next-Wave (emphasis added).

"I went to the Ichthus Christian Music Festival in Wilmore, Kentucky where a hard-core rock band played. The noise, the distortion, and the beat pounded into my chest and rattled my stomach. Usually I just nod my head to the beat as my hearing leaves me, but this time, it was different. In that moment, I truly worshiped God. The power of the moment attacked my senses as a shadow of the experience the Apostle John had when he encountered the risen Christ in Revelation 1. John heard Christ’s voice as a loud trumpet (v.1:10) and as the sound of rushing waters (v.1:15). John fell down as though dead (v.1:17). His moment was power above power. And at that concert, I tasted a sample of this power through the medium of music. It was more than the drums, but the beat ushered in a higher spiritual experience."

If a good drum beat can create a 'higher spiritual experience', why are we letting the 'pagans' and 'satanists" have all the fun? In the end, it's this absurd sense of "we're so scared of satan that anything remotely associated with him in any context is therefore automatically satanic throughout all of it's other, non-satanic contexts."

There is a spirit behind everything - and that spirit is either of God, of the flesh, or of satan. Drumbeats may be used in pagan religions to create an altered state of consciousness, but who's to say that fact invalidates our ability to use drumbeats to add power to our worship of God?

The abuse of something doesn't negate it's ability to be used for good. Some people abuse alcohol, but that doesn't mean all churches have abandoned it's use of wine in the worship of God. In some places it's not appropriate, but in some places it's common.

So, I wonder if this guy has a pine tree in his house in December?

Healthy

That's what I want to be - someday.

Health has been an uphill battle since my diagnosis about a year ago. You have to understand that my eating and (complete lack of) exercise habits were formed over thirty-some years. Heck if they are going to go away overnight. Or over a year. And Type II is notorious for not wanting to let go of fat.

So I have lost 30 pounds in about 10 months. What's that average? 3 lbs. a month. That's surely not the results the diet/exercise gurus say you should have. But I have been there, done that. WW (3), Jenny, Nutri, Atkins, Zone, Sugar Busters, Weigh Down....I bought the XXL t-shirt for each. And each time it was still XXL.

I find this dieting and exercise thing suddenly making sense to me. Yes, I do have about 20 more to go, but that's Ok, I have no agenda other than to keep at it. I realize I have failed at every attempt at weight loss because I was constantly comparing my success to the "shoulds". You should lose 2 lbs a week. You should drink a gallon of water per day. You should work out 30 minutes every day.

Ok all that is pretty idealistic; in the sense that someone who has lived their lifetime choosing twinkies over carrots and doing 100 reps of remote-control lifts per day isn't going to change quickly. It doesn't help that I was a cheerleader (keep your snickering to a minimum, please) in high school and I tore my right hamstring from my butt to my ankle and blew out my right knee. I have struggled with any kind of exercise most of my adult life, between my being heavy and my injuries, which of course feed off each other.

But I got off my butt and started in on the treadmill. A little at time. And I mean a little. Now, I'm getting pretty good at it. I realize I will never be a real runner, my knee just won't take it, at least not this side of 120 lbs. But I am a pretty speedy walker these days...now when we go shopping, my friends are telling me to slow down, instead of the other way around. I wouldn't be lying to say, size 2 or not, I'm in the best shape of my adult life - and getting better all the time. But it's been a battle.

It's just now, a year later, that I think I'm beginning to get this thing down. I understand my limits, although I don't always stick to them. I know how much I have to work out to keep the numbers (and the scale) down. Granted, with Type II, and especially as we age, what works today may not still work tomorrow. Still, it's nice to begin to have a handle on it, if only for now.

Embarrassingly, there is one completely NEW thing I have recently learned (go ahead, call me slow). When they tell you junk food will just make you hungrier, they weren't kidding. But it's taken almost this long to detox my body from what it thinks it wants to eat. I changed my mind overnight about what to eat. My body didn't. I still found myself eating crap even when I didn't realize it. I thought, oh, I'll stick to the carbs and still eat the junk, just less of it. Right? Well everything in moderation and it's all well and good to eat a cookie now and then. Well, of course. But try telling that to a notorious carb and junk food addict. Yes, I know it's the truth, but putting it into practice sucks. It ain't easy.

It takes a long stinkin' time to relearn a lifetime of bad habits. Ask a former smoker. Some people don't like to say food is an addiction - they should just try to quit eating stuff that isn't healthy. It's a craving with a will and a life of it's own. It's taken me a year to even begin to lick it.

Recently I had a revelation. It came from being sick of staying within my carb parameters that my Doctor set, but still being hungry all the time. But I'm getting my carbs and protein and fiber...? Why am I still hungry?

SOO...I started reading the labels of what we were eating. Not the nutrition facts - the ingredients.

Whoa, if you aren't in the habit of that, try it. See how much of the ingredients you can pronounce - much less identify - in that cereal your kids eat - even the stuff that's advertised as "healthy". See what's actually in those meal bars or lean frozen lunches that you eat.

Ok, so this very well might NOT be news to you. But what a shocker for someone who didn't realize it. What the heck is in there? If not whole grains, soy protein, real fruit, then what the heck is all that junk on the ingredients list?

It's not that this never occurred to me, I just never cared before. But now that I have realized, I feel a lot better and eat less.

And the exercise has nearly become habit. The winter months have been hard - it's not the weather (I work out indoors) but the SAD that has robbed me of motivation some of the time. But it's all about just getting better on an ongoing basis; it's not about ever being perfect.

I don't know why I'm sharing all this. I guess it's just what's on my mind.

Some of you, I'm sure, can relate. And I'm sure some of you have never struggled with your weight, but I'll bet there's something else you've battled.

For each of you, just remember: long time habits take a long time to unlearn.

Rainlight

the light on the pavement
the rain still falls
a glimmer of hope and nothingness
meet in the dark alley

where are you going? dark says to light
winter is still here and i must still fade
it's still my job to tease
but never be caught

i danced today, i don't know why
the music was so quiet
facing the sun like a crocus
and yet like the pound of the downpour

radiance and rainlight
sit together on my porch
waiting
soon.

The Athlete and the Artist

I've been thinking lately about complaining. I complain a lot. About a lot of things, but about church probably more than anything. I want to complain less, I really do. I have more posts in me about that, but there is something I want to complain about at the moment.

There are so many kinds of people, so many personalities in this world. What would ever lead us to believe that one expression of faith would be right for everyone? It's not that I think one kind of church is bad and another is good. I used to, but I have learned the error of that belief; it was born of pain and experience, it isn't reality. But I just can't get my mind around why it matters so dang much what kind of church you "do".

An athlete's gifts require discipline, training, knowledge, power. His accomplishments are tangible, measurable.

An artist is all about emotion, life, expression, experience. His accomplishments are fluid and vague.

The athlete cannot appreciate the artist because art doesn't require discipline.

The artist cannot understand the athlete because athletics don't allow room for perception.

All I really want is for these two people to concede they may never see eye to eye; but each of their gifts are equally valid.

All I want is peace, love and harmony.

I'm a INFP, what can I say?

"There's no good guy, there's no bad guy, there's just you and me and we just disagree."

Peace out.

Mad

OOOH I am so freakin' mad! So stinkin' pissed!

I swear I don't think I have ever been so angry. I'm sure I have, but not that I immediately remember the details of.

Shaking so hard I can't stand still, too infuriated to even cry...

I can't really say anything about this situation except we were at a family gathering tonight and horrible words were said about the character of someone I love. Just to be clear, my husband was neither the giver nor the receiver of said judgment. (I don't want you to think I'm mad at him.)

It's not the first time this has happened but by far the worst. Sometimes it's been so close to home that I might as well have been personally attacked. This time, for the first time, I blew my top.

And then they wonder why people like me don't want to go to church with people like them anymore. Uh, no brainer, that one.

Conversations with a 7 year old

It was inevitable.

Last night, after several weeks of complaints from our resident 7 year old about how we always "boss him around" and "make him do everything around here" (how's that for drama?), I finally had HAD it last night. I have tried in recent weeks to have reasonable conversations with him about how asking him to take out the trash or clean his room or unload the dishwasher does not translate into "mean".

So last night our conversation - which began with me yelling "I'm your mom and you will do what I say!" - evolved into a conversation about how good he really has it, including a healthy dose of reality for me.

Maybe some of you will think 7 years is too young for this conversation. Maybe some of you will think badly of me as a parent. But this is the honest truth. These quotes are just the gist of the conversation, not verbatim:

"Be thankful you have trash to take out and a house to take it out of. Some children in this world eat trash and live in boxes."

"Be thankful you have to do the dishes or unload the dishwasher, because it means we have food to eat."

"Be thankful you have a mom and dad to 'boss you around', because the alternative is so much worse. "

"Be thankful you have a room to clean and toys to clean up. Be thankful you have a bed to have to make."

"Be thankful you get to go to school each day, because some children go to work in a factory in order to be able to eat."

I went into long explanations about poverty and drought and famine an child labor. About dictators and war and refugees. Aids even got a mention.

I know it smells manipulative, but it really wasn't. Honest.

It's more for me than for him, anyhow. I need a painful reminder every so often of just how unfair this world really is. It makes my heart break that I don't do more...I have so much to give and yet I complain that I can't afford a car newer than a decade, that I can't afford to pay my health insurance deductible. I complain that I have to do the dishes or laundry or mop the floor on a regular basis. And awhile back there was something called the Pantry Challenge going on among some bloggers. The point was to go as long as you could without buying any food other than staples like milk, eggs or butter. Then live off the food you had in your pantry, freezer, and cupboards. The winning couple made it 18 days. Nothing to make you think like realizing how much food I have in my house. I complain "there's nothing to eat," when I know it's not the literal truth.

So, I remember having this same conversation with my 11 year old when he was 7 or so. Even so, he listened last night, enraptured and asking "Is all that really true?"

Yes, unfortunately. We are so sheltered here. I mean I will be the first to admit (since I volunteer in the school) that some of the kids in my children's schools don't have enough to eat or are abused. I don't know of any who are homeless, but I'm sure there are. It's heartbreaking. My kids are aware of this and we do try to make a difference in some children's lives. But my children can't even imagine children living in a box, with no mom or dad, no food, no clean water. It's just not something we see in suburban America.

And so my 7 year old asks with huge tears in his eyes and trembling lips, "But Mommy, why does Jesus let it happen...?"

"Oh honey, I sure wish I knew."

I hate that the reality of the world around us could make my 7 year old doubt the love and power of Jesus.

I told him, "We are to be Jesus to the world and we aren't doing a good enough job. I'M not doing a good enough job."

I shook with the feelings of humility and helplessness.

And I cried too.

Ever have a day where...

You feel like everything you say and do is wrong?

I just let down a friend - I double booked an evening without realizing it. I hate it when people do that to me and so I do it very rarely. I try to be thorough about checking my calendar before I commit to something.

But in this case something slipped through the cracks and I had to cancel one engagement.

My apologies seem empty to this person and I don't know how to communicate more effectively that it was just a mistake and not a personal slight. I understand how it feels, and I always try not to take it personally when it happens to me, but I always do. It's just human nature, I guess. I feel bad and I will probably wallow all day in the hurt I have caused this person.

On another note I have been commenting less lately because it seems I am quite adept at saying the wrong thing. In one case I made a mistake and owned up to it. In other cases I made comments that other readers misunderstood. Nothing I said in clarification seemed to make any difference. For being a writer I sure have trouble communicating my intent sometimes. I know that limiting my commenting is insecure and immature. But some days maybe it's better to keep my mouth shut.

When you double book a day by mistake, how do you decide which commitment to keep? Is it based on which commitment you had first, based on who will be most hurt if you cancel, or based on which thing you would rather do? I try to weigh all of these things, but sometimes it comes out wrong no matter what.

Did you ever have a day where you can't communicate what you really want to say? Do you ever feel like you shouldn't comment on other blogs because everything you say seems wrong?

Sigh.

Recent Reading

Here are interesting posts from people who are both new and not-so-new to my blog neighborhood.

Jim at Coming out of the Prayer Closet: "I am a Religionist"

"An alcoholic is a person that is addicted to alcohol. We know what alcohol is and understand how serious an addiction to it can be. But what is religion and what does it mean for a person be addicted to it?

John Smulo: "Outside of the Box"

"I have three questions for you:

1. When you think of the local church, what are the bare essentials that you believe are involved in making a church a church?
2. What would you prefer to have added to most expressions of church?
3. What would you prefer to have subtracted in most expressions of church?"

At Calacirian: "Love or Something Like That"

"Perhaps the question is more basic than this. How does one exist in a community without manipulating others? How do I exert my rights as a human being without impinging upon yours?"

Dan muses about the church he's "Talkin' Bout":

"...there would be a kitchen with a big counter and there would be tables and chairs and couches and whatnot (big living room, dining room) and t.v.'s and video games and pool tables and all that whatnot."

Emerging Grace: "Senior Pastor"

"I've sensed some tension lately in the emerging/missional conversation about the role of pastor and about ministry as a profession in particular....The clergy/laity mentality is being deconstructed, and rightly so. However, in that process, the role of pastor is being redefined. Many pastors themselves are leading the way in promoting a more participatory model of doing church."

Micah78 at Letters From Leavers: "Why we leave - it's not Jesus' Fault"

"...for the last two thousand years the church has been industrious in its attempt to sew the temple curtain back together."

Leaving Church - Part 4b - Why Church?

Leaving Church - Introduction
Leaving Church - Part 1 - Those Left Behind
Leaving Church - Part 2 - How Not to Leave
Leaving Church - Part 3 - Why Leave?
Leaving Church - Part 4a - Why Church?

I have been looking into what people typically say the purpose of church is and why we have to meet together. I have been struggling with this post all day, so please bear with me if I'm unintelligible.

Some people say we need church:

To fellowship with believers
For corporate worship and prayer
To receive sound biblical teaching
To receive absolution
To receive the sacraments
To evangelize the lost
To maintain a public testimony
To edify or build up one another

..and so on...

In asking this question, you could ask 100 different people and get 100 different answers. Granted, there are numerous passages of the New Testament that highlight the purpose of 'church', all of which are important. The things I listed are certainly all things that take place in church, things that happen there. But are they really the purpose of church and do all those things have to happen in order for a gathering to be 'church'?

Here's a concise view from the New Testament, which I'm sure you're all familiar with:

Acts 2:42-47 NIV "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

Or, in other words:

Acts 2:42-47 MSG "They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers. Everyone around was in awe—all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person's need was met. They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved."

So to keep it simple:

Teaching
Life Together
Common Meals
Prayer
Signs & Wonders (The interpretation of which is up for debate.)
Harmony
Everyone's needs are met
Worship
Celebration

Notice how little is said about when, where, and how? The who (followers of Christ) and the why (to praise God) are obvious, but only the what seems important enough for a mention.

A few questions form in my mind:

1. Could any place where all these things are done be considered to be church?
2. Conversely, could a place where not all of these things are done be considered NOT to be church?
3. Is there any specific method to these things?
4. If they are not done by a commonly accepted method, does that invalidate it as a church?

What do you think?

Which Wal-Mart Demographic are you?

The Consumerist is posting leaked slides from Wal-Mart's new demographics campaign, otherwise titled "Wal-Mart Shopper Segmentation".

According to Wal-Mart, there are 3 types of shoppers:

Price-Value Shoppers
Brand Aspirationals
Price-Sensitive Affluents

Wal-Mart has gone to great lengths to define and identify each category of shopper:

Price-Value - The poorest among us. Loyal to Wal-Mart, to a fault. Primarily young, rural, Baptist women. Uneducated beyond high-school. More worried and in poorer health than average. Watches Lifetime and ABC Family. Reads Better Homes & Gardens. Drives a used car which he/she still owes money on.

Brand Aspirational - His/Her image does not fit with the reality of his/her economic situation. Often a racial minority. Less technologically savvy than other demographics. Sports oriented, with a skew towards the NFL. Watches Fox Sports and reads automotive, athletic and fitness magazines.

Price-Sensitive Affluent - Highest income category. White, male, over age 45, highly educated. Very technologically savvy. Will compare products on the internet then purchase them for a better price in a retail store. Watches PBS and The History Channel. Reads National Geographic. Owns a completely paid for vehicle that is a newer model and was new when purchased.

Here's my take:

Price-Value - Needs the most bang for their buck in order to survive. Can afford to eat healthier and clothe their children more effectively by shopping at Wal-Mart. Don't care where a product comes form if it's cheaper. Doesn't care that Wal-Mart employees are not paid fairly because these shoppers often work for minimum wage themselves. Only has Cable TV because their neighbor does. Game show - Deal or No Deal, because "It's OK to dream, isn't it?"

Brand-Aspirational - Can't afford to shop at The Gap or A&F, so they buy cheap knock-offs at Wal-Mart to boost their self-esteem. Doesn't care where a product comes from if it looks like a more expensive product. Doesn't care about Wal-Mart's treatment of their employees, because "It's, like, their fault they work at Wal-Mart". Owns a newer car that he/she owes more money on than it's worth because he/she rolled over the balance owing on his/her trade-in. Game show - Wheel of Fortune - "Because it's, like, soooo easy."

Price-Sensitive Affluents: Can afford whatever they want, but like to buy it cheaper so they can have more of it, even at the expense of child-labor and Wal-Mart's poor employment policies. Drive their 2006 Mercedes to Wal-Mart to save $65 over Amazon on an approximately $1800 50" Wega HDTV. Game show - Jeopary - "Because anything easier insults my intelligence."

Gah!

I might never set foot in Wal-Mart again. They have shattered my image of myself. I'm so ashamed.

New Neighbors.

Some of our neighbors just moved out and put their house up for sale. We haven't known these people very well, but our kids have played with their kids a few times. We are sorry to see them go, but the circumstances behind their move are beyond their control.

So now we are faced with the upcoming event of having "new" neighbors move in one day. Isn't it funny how, when faced with the prospect, we will daydream about those "perfect" neighbors who will move in next door or down the street?

The truth is, they won't be perfect, no matter who they are. My best friend could move her family in (not going to happen, I'm just making a point) and it would be cool for awhile, but eventually we would begin to see our differences. Does it really matter? Should our differences supersede the fact that we live on the same block? Do those differences free us from the obligation of really knowing each other?

We are all in this together, even if our only bond is that we live on the same street. We should be "community". Yes, there is one big hurdle - cars. We live a suburban life, so we don't shop at the same stores, our kids don't go to the same schools, we don't participate in the same activities. So we have to be intentional about knowing our community; or sometimes we have to be forced into it.

We all can remember what happened in the days following 9-11. Suddenly our sense of community was bolstered by tragedy. We came out of our houses, blinking like moles in the new light of community, after years of hiding behind our busy private lives. We were fresh in the staggering realization of the commonality we shared because of those events; we are Americans first and foremost. Only after that are we white or black, Christian or Atheist, rich or poor, young or old.

We stood together in the street, in awe of the silent skies (we live in the flight approach path of an international airport). We watched together, awe-stricken, as the British Parliament sang our national anthem in a show of solidarity. We realized on one fateful day that when push comes to shove, when all hell breaks loose, we may have to rely on each other as neighbors and as friends, not only out of a sense of community, but for our very survival. In those first days, we didn't really know what had happened, and we feared it was only the beginning.

Much of that has faded away, and in these 5 years that have passed, we have forgotten how much we meant to each other. Now, we will have new neighbors who were not part of our community in those early post-9/11 days. They won't share that history with us. But I hope they will be welcomed as if they were always here.

In the end, what I really hope for is people who are open to getting to know us, people we can engage with in some way on this journey called 'life'.

Do you know your neighbors? How well do you know them? A passing "Hi" on the street? On a first-name basis? Been invited into their home? Watched each other's kids? Weekly coffee/dinner dates? Brought them meals when they were sick? Grieved with them at the loss of a pregnancy?

How important is it to you to know your neighbors?

Witches are Real People, too.

My friend Pam has written an article interviewing Phil Wyman, the "friend of witches" Pastor.

The article is at the Doable Evangelism site. Check it out.

Phil was a long-time Pastor with a particular denomination; which happens to be the same denom. I left behind. He was ousted by this denomination about a year and a half ago for the crime of "fellowshipping with darkness", because of his ministry to the pagan culture in Salem, Massachusetts. You can find a good article about his experiences at Next Wave.

He Pastors a community called The Gathering, in Salem.

Phil is what Pam calls a "prolific writer". He also writes here and here and here.


Edit: Oh, yeah, I forgot a couple links...

You can read an interview that John Smulo did with Phil here and here.

Also, Web Kline writes about meeting Phil here. [HT to Rick Meigs for this link.]

They Sure Burst My Bubble

What a bunch of hype. Or to be more technical, some darn bad eisegesis.

Do you remember the baited breath we held one night in April 1986, while we ever so patiently waited for Geraldo Rivera to open Al Capone's vault?

Do you remember how cheated we felt the next day when we realized we had wasted an entire evening on this nonsense, when we could have been watching Kate & Allie or something?

You all know I'm a pretty open minded Christian. I'm also a dutifully scientific person. I subscribe to National Geographic and I'm not ashamed to admit it. In my evangelical heyday, I used to hide my NG so my friends wouldn't know, lest they think I believe that "garbage".

I am unable to categorically dismiss the finds of science - even if they contradict Christian faith as it is traditionally understood. God created the natural world, with all it's history, laws and critical thinking. Just because science is true doesn't mean God doesn't exist. The two are not mutually exclusive. After all, people used to be executed as heretics for believing the universe was heliocentric.

I am not afraid of the possibility that Jesus' remains could have been found - assuming it could be scientifically verified - it would change nothing, as far as I'm concerned. It's like the issue of creation vs. evolution; I don't really care how God goes about things, I trust He knows what He's doing. Just because the earth wasn't created in 7 literal days, doesn't mean God didn't create it. Even if it could be proven that Jesus didn't rise from the dead in bodily form, it doesn't mean He didn't die for my sins. Now, I'm just speculating here, not necessarily making claims. I'm just saying I firmly believe God exists outside the formal boundaries of science.

But this really was ridiculous. They must assume everyone watching isn't Smarter than a 5th Grader; incapable of seeing the silly scientific leaps they have made in order to draw their conclusions. If they are only looking at it from the angles they want to see, it can't help but create in me a certain doubt as to the real extent of their scientific objectivity. Like John Stossel says, "Give me a break".

At the end, a thinly veiled disclaimer:

"We invite viewers to apply their own judgments and interpretive skills."

I turn to my husband, shrug my shoulders and say "Okay, so what?"

What did you think?

Slugginess

That's what I am today, a slug.

We have slugs in Oregon. If you are a native you know exactly how to kill a slug (with salt). You likely own stock in Corry's Slug and Snail Bait. And if you garden, you likely have a healthy appreciation for the little nasty things.

Tell me what you will, but slugs are gross. They are slimy, ugly, grody things. Yes they eat rotten leaves and other dead stuff, to some this may seem practical, to me it just seems more gross than ever. They are slow and squishy and leave sick little slimy trails on my sidewalks.

It's 4:30 PM and I'm still in my jammies. I have been lazing around all day. I had the best of intentions: work out, do some laundry, pay some bills...at the moment I'm in bed with my laptop. I'm tired. I got plenty of sleep, it's just one of those days where you wake up tired to begin with. It doesn't help that I'm having allergies and my eyes sting and water and feel puffy and heavy, and that my nose is stuffed up.

I've been working on another "leaving church" blog post all day, but it's not coming together like I would like, so I saved it and let it go for the day.

While I've been lying around, hubby vacuumed the entire house, the boys cleaned their rooms and did the dishes, and now they are all out on a bike ride (encountering slugs, no doubt). The boys have a friend coming for a sleepover in a little while.

So back to slugs. We are all slugs, you know? Ugly, slimy, squishy, slow things. We do have a purpose, but often our ugliness causes people to rush to judgment about our value.

I was going to say more spiritually profound stuff about slugs, but I imagine y