Weekend reading: Atheism, space, and Vietnamese art

I have a lot I want to write about, but until I do, here are a few things other people are saying that stood out this week …

+ Rick Warren and Sam Harris talk about Christianity and religion in Newsweek. It’s a great conversation worth reading.

+ Ryan Bolger talks about how our concept of “space” is changing, and what some possible implications could be for church and missions.

As Christian leaders, we spend the bulk of our time thinking about serving those with whom we share physical space. However, if physically proximate space is the only sphere in which we think missiologically, we might leave much of our social world untouched and ’secular’

+ Becoming Missional linked to an article from CNN about people using their vacations for volunteer work. Christian or not, people want to serve. Let’s give them the chance!

+ Presentation Zen has a good run down on Barry Schwartz’s ideas about the “paradox of choice” – the idea that the more options we have, the less likely we are to make a decision or be satisfied about the decision we make. You can read the book, or you can check out his post (complete with some video links).

+ And finally, when Grete and I were in Vietnam last summer, we saw some of the art of Dao Hai Phong in some of the art galleries. We love his style. So now you get to experience it.

Talking about your faith

Ed Stetzer just posted some great info on “Beginning a Conversation about Christ.” He looks at ways to start those conversations that can go beyond “If you died today…”

Many seem to have lost confidence in that gospel. It is easier to tell people to come to church and live a good life, but that is not the gospel. The gospel is about words that can make us uncomfortable: creation, Jesus, sin, repentance, forgiveness, and transformation, to name just a few. Hard words, but harder still to forget them. To share Christ, we have to go beyond formulas that fit on napkins. The Gospel is not a doodle. Isn’t God’s story of redemption and reconciliation for His creation bigger than what can fit on a napkin? People are searching—but they are searching for something more than fire insurance or “five steps to financial freedom.”

Read it here.

Using money for a global impact

Check out this video from Francis Chan’s church in Simi Valley. According to his site, it explains the reason why Cornerstone decided to build an outdoor amphitheatre instead of a new sanctuary.

It’s a powerful video, done in the style of an earlier Sarah McLachlan piece. It’s amazing how a global perspective can change how we view our resources …

via Ben Arment

The environment’s place in church

There’s a shift happening in culture. And churches that care about relevance and connection should watch, understand, and participate with the same gusto with which they seek out new music trends or useful sermon topics.

Every day, more people are becoming concerned about the environment and how our consumption affects it. On one end, many people were already there. But it was always more of a “niche” concern. Now, ask almost any college student or recent graduate, and they’ll show some level of concern. They’re altering eating habits, curbing consumption, and reusing what they can.

It may be happening only in certain areas of the U.S., but it’s beginning to happen everywhere. Seth Godin’s recent post gives an example:

“I was at the Union Square Market last week, buying some local eggs. A well-dressed woman marched up and handed two empty cardboard egg trays to the farmer, for reusing (a step better than recycling).

Suddenly, $40 an ounce for raspberries flown in from Chile isn’t so sexy any more.

Now, people look at someone driving a Chevy Suburban the same way they look at a fit person parking in a handicapped space. “Why,” they wonder, “do you need to do that?” It’s sort of a mix of suspicion and pity.”

But many evangelical churches see causes like the environment as distractions from the main thing. We’re called to share Jesus’ love. Focusing on trees and air quality misses the point!

Tim Stevens at Granger Community Church recently posted similar thoughts on his blog:

My eye stopped on the article called: “Indy Church Focuses on Global Warming as Vision to Make Difference.” Now, I have nothing against helping save the environment. That’s all good. But it angered me to realize our conference is raising this church up as a great example, a church to follow. …

I have a thought. How about if they make a goal to introduce someone to Christ this month? What if they educate their people on sharing their faith so they can reverse their decline? What if they set a goal of seeing marriages restored? How about helping their people become followers of Christ in a way that would impact their community? Maybe the objective for 2007 could be “Make Disciples.”

Again, I have nothing against fighting global warming. Or saving whales. Or rescuing lonely butterflies. But let’s keep first things first and keep the mission of the church crystal clear.

I understand! Some people have looked so closely at external issues, they seem to have forgotten Jesus all together. Many churches have reacted against this, focusing solely on proclamation of the word. But social issues are important for the evangelical church for two real reasons.

How we care for this world matters.
We should care for creation. God made it, and we should value it. I don’t think we all need to be vegetarians (I know others feel differently), but we should care for what God left us. We should use it wisely.

How we care for this world matters in the eyes of the world!
While many churches talk about quality and excellence, they turn a blind eye to an area of stewardship many churched, unchurched, and dechurched people care deeply about. By recognizing that how we treat our neighbor and the environment matters, the church could do a lot to break down the same type of stereotypes that the “relevant worship” movement broke down 10 years ago. Then, people assumed the church was irrelevant and out of touch with culture. By updating our worship and preaching styles to fit with a contemporary context, some people’s expectations were shattered and they saw God’s message from a new, life-changing perspective.

Now, it’s time for the church to realize that talking sympathetically about the care of our world and taking small steps to “live lightly” can make the same difference. How many churches actually recycle? If you’re in a building, can it be more energy efficient? What can we do to have a positive effect on the environment as a part of our mission to have a positive impact on the community as a whole?

Something like environmental stewardship should never be THE message, but it should be a part of our pursuit to honor Christ in our communities and the world.

Thursday linkage: taking off, purple cows, and feeling alone

So Thursday linkage was going to be a regular thing. But I’m late. And today is Saturday, which means it’s time for some belated Thursday links!

+ We live in a weird media world when this pastor can become a top search on Technorati. But I like learning from people who are running hard, and he has some good things to say here. “Don’t you think every mammoth concept was downright laughable until it was a reality? Inherent in any vision that has the possibility of really taking off is the possibility of really tanking, right?”

+ Seth Godin retells the story of how he promoted his book, Purple Cow. Seth consistently blows me away with his creativity. He seems to instinctively know how to connect with a group and say the exact thing they need to hear to inspire them to act. Take this ending to a Fast Company article about this book, for example: “If you want a copy of Seth’s new book for free, send $5 to cover shipping and handling and if there’s any left, he’ll send you one.” It just oozes cool. I don’t need you to buy this, but if you want to get in on something special, here’s your chance.

+ A good buddy of mine talks about Craig Groeschel’s book, Confessions of a Pastor, and how we all struggle to feel connected.

+ Drew Goodmanson writes about how the language we use to welcome people at church may actually seem self-centered. His whole blog is great – worth checking out.

+ And finally, you’ve got to check out this Apple ad from the UK.

Why I … blog

I’m a practical person. Sometimes too practical. Things have to live up to the “so what?” measure.

What’s the point? Why are we doing it? What are we saying? Why?

So, why blog? Here are a few of my reasons. I’m honestly still learning.

• to put thoughts into words – clarity
• to connect with others who care about the same things
• to learn
• to share ideas

So why do you blog? Or, why don’t you blog? What do you enjoy reading in blogs? Ever want to ditch them and just go read a book?

Two-way teaching

We held the first of two sessions of our newly revamped new leader training for small groups today, and I had a great time getting to know some people who I know will launch some amazing groups.

We’re trying something a little different than the church has done in the past. Our small group training is done in a small group. Instead of piling 30 people into a room and lecturing, we’re gathering six to 10 people around a living room and talking about the vision, values, and practices of small groups.

Here’s one observation from today’s training. Our time is always more engaging and interesting when everyone gets the opportunity to participate. People learn more when I ask a question than they ever do when I pontificate on a point. Listening to a lecture (or even an excellent presentation filled with examples and stories) is just about absorbing something. When people answer questions, they’re forced to process and create. The group comes to life.

Funny thing is, I’m scheduled to teach at church in a week and a half. I like speaking. But you just can’t beat the interaction that happens in small groups that goes above and beyond information transfer.

How do you handle time?

I was listening to one of the Catalyst podcasts while working out this morning and heard a brief interview with relationship guru Les Parrott, who writes books with his wife Leslie (I love it when marriages give people “cute” name combos). He mentioned a quick assessment that will tell how you handle time. It basically boils down to whether you’re future or present oriented and whether you’re structured or unstructured.

So Grete and I popped on over to the site and took the free assessment. It took maybe 3 minutes. Tops. I found out – no surprise – that I’m future-oriented and maybe just a little unstructured.

The Dreamer: The results of your assessment reveal that you approach time as a Dreamer. This means you tend to relate to time more subjectively than objectively. In comparison to other people, this makes you more unscheduled than scheduled. You’re not nearly as “up tight” about staying on task and you’re rarely accused of being regimented.

You are also more oriented toward the future than the present. In other words, you love what is about to happen. You have a vision for it. You derive energy from it. And like a visitor from the future you can tell others (especially your spouse) about the excitement that is just around the bend. No matter that the vision may not be realistic, you want to try it on and simply imagine. You love what could be.

It says more, but I won’t bore you. I know you’re much more interested in how you handle time. So go take the assessment for yourself.

It’s an interesting way to look at how people relate and how they handle expectations and events. They take a different approach than the standard personality profile. It was interesting for Grete and I to compare how we view things.

Now, I guess I’ll now have to go read the book to see what this all really means for how we relate.

Thursday linkage: house churches, justice, and wufoo

A few things around the web that caught my attention …

+ TIME Magazine writes about the spread of the house church movement.

+ churchrelevance.com summarizes a podcast with Gary Haugen of International Justice Mission. This guy’s involved in some powerful stuff. From the summary: “We can point [hurting people] to God through the way we live because the way we live – what it is we believe – is going to be manifested by the way we actually act.” Just another example of how the Christian life involves both proclamation and action.

+ And finally, a resource I’ve been loving. If you ever need to do a survey or have a sign up form (I use it for our small group ministry), check out wufoo.com. It’s an easy way to set up online forms. You get a few free ones (with a max of 10 fields), but they have pay options as well. Here’s an example of one I’ve been using. Just don’t fill it out unless you’re ready to lead a small group in Southern California!

For the record …

In my last post, I said about 30 days. It’s been 36, so I’m not that far off.

But, I’m back! It’s amazing how time away from something can help you refocus.

So here’s the deal. I was actually planning to come back with an announcement of changes to this blog. They haven’t happened yet. Crazy things like life, work and school got in the way! Instead, I’ll give you a sneak peek and get your advice.

I’m considering starting a new blog. I’ll keep this one to post the random things that only my mother and friends would care about. The new one will focus in on the stuff of ministry – with a few guiding points. Here are a few of them.

• Communicate the diversity of the kingdom. Can I share with you a little pet peeve of mine? Blogging has helped us connect across the globe like never before. There are ideas and resources available everywhere. But it seems that the more information is available, the more we tend to focus on our own niche. God is at work in every area from the mega church to the house church – from the traditional church to the emerging church. I obviously have preferences within those, but we can learn from every part. We’re on the same team, headed in the same direction. Even though life sometimes feels too busy and crowded to think beyond the one way we’re doing things right now, there’s a benefit that comes from listening to differing voices.
• Emphasize what’s been done. A lot of people love sharing ideas for what “should” be. I want to share what’s happening. In other people’s ministries and lives. In mine. Sure, ideas will still be out there (hey, I’m full of ‘em!), but the focus will be what God has done and is doing in the lives and ministry of people.
• Be real. In the midst of all of this, I still have some core convictions. The church must be missional, relevant, creative, and authentic. We need to be active in the community and in the world. Being an attractive place to outsiders is important. It’s also important to be in all parts of our cities – to redeem every part of God’s creation.

So that’s where I am right now. The biggest holdup is that I can’t think of a dang name for the new blog. I have a huge list, but nothing has clicked.

What do you think? Should I keep the blog as one? Or divide out the two? What would you call it?