anoallasso

The Collective

2005-11-14T19:08:00.000-08:00

Reading this back, it's a bit scattered. But lets just go with it....

A friend and I are discussing the formation of a creative collective. I don't know if/how it would end up but I've been giving it some thought. It's caused me to really nail down what my vision is. Elements of it have changed from time to time but the core has always been there, if not always close enough to the surface for me to be able to articulate it.

Creative and artistic people are, in my guess, among the most hurt in the church. I don't think that the church knows how to deal with them that effectively. The creative person is highly quirky, I'll be the first to admit. And probably among the easiest offended also.

The prophetic person is also easily offended and does not easily assimilate into church life. Could it be that there are similarities? Are they one and the same type of person? Possibly. Probably.

The prophetic person hears from God and needs to articulate it to someone. The creative person hears from God and needs to articulate it somehow.

Art is prophetic. Prophecy is art. Or it can be at any rate. When the artist commits him/herself to the Work or the Creation, what springs forth is communication from the Spirit. The Work itself is alive and has an agenda. The Work itself can speak to the soul and spirit in a way never intended by the artist.

I think the church doesn't know what to do with the artistic or prophetic because neither are safe. They both can be a conduit for God and unfortunately, a conduit for pride. They both will have things to say that may not be popular, and both may get things wrong.

Every other gift or ministry is encouraged or practiced. Gift of helps? Serve here and there. Gift of mercy? Get plugged into our hospice ministry. Gift of teaching? How about leading a cell? Gift of prophecy? How about serving with our kids or ushering?

If prophetic are not always the most controlled and accurate, maybe it's because they don't get trained and allowed to practice. Also, we tend to treat prophets with Old Testament judgment (stoning for a missed word) and not New Testament grace. If a pastor misses it, a teacher errs, no problem. But if a prophet gets it wrong, the ushers are running to get the covenant stones in the lobby for a good OT stoning.

Granted, there needs to be accountability. But there also needs to be understanding and grace. And the word of the prophet should be a piece of a puzzle, never a whole picture. We also need to leave room for the change of heart. If God says "Repent or the city will burn" and the city never burns, could it be that the people repented? We are so quick to say "See the city never burned! False prophet! Crucify him!".

Paul says in 1 Corinthians "desire earnestly to prophecy." So then, should we not do that? Before that, just after the love chapter, just after "the greatest of these is love," he says "Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy." Since there are no chapters in the original text, it can be read as:

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.

So what does this have to do with anything? Where does that bring us? To my vision I suppose. I want to engage culture. I want to see excellence in art, virtue in beauty, and strength in community. I want to see the creativity of the Creator displayed in creation. I want to see prayer effect our time. I want to see the prophetic gifts explored and functioning. I believe that the prophetic nature of art and the artistic nature of prophecy are very closely linked.

I value excellence, beauty, community, integrity, love, compassion, truth, mission, intercession, teaching, humility, joy, and influence. I want to impact, engage, and infiltrate. I want to see God reflected in a collage of color, shape, sound, and sense.

The creative collective, then, incorporates all these things. Perhaps this is anoallasso.

To train the creative of God to listen to the voice that directs us in creation, speaks to us of beauty, commands us to speak, write, dance, and play.

To create an atmosphere where skills and talents can be sharpened without fear.

To promote excellence in every endeavor of God's people.

To infiltrate culture with the Gospel of Love through the arts.

To establish a house of prayer that receives the hurting and broken and sends the restored.

To finance the spread of the Gospel to the nations through entrepreneurial endeavors.

To recognize the Creator through creation and break the bonds of tradition that would define creative apart from the Creator and awaken the creativity of the Creator in each of His creations.

So that's it. That's a lot. But that's my vision. Rather, it's His vision that he has entrusted to me for the time being. Unless of course I've missed it once again. If that's the case, I pray I find a place like I just described that I might be a part.

What's the Cost of Love?

2005-10-05T15:20:00.000-07:00

I've been a die hard Republican for almost as long as I can remember. And that works because I conveniently forget that time in grammar school that I somehow supported Dukakis by knocking down Bush Sr. signs.

I believe in trickle down economics. I believe that if you cut taxes people and companies spend more. I philosophically believe that cutting taxes and regulations for businesses means more janitors are hired at the bottom. I believe that the poor should work and not get a hand out. Hand up not hand out and all that jazz.

I believe in the sovereignty of America. I think the borders should be closed and illegals deported. I think, I think, I believe, I believe.

It's fairly easy to think and believe. It doesn't really require that I do anything. I just have to sit in my cozy house, thinking and believing.

Thinking about the border issue, I wondered why I want closed borders. Why, is it important. Of course the terrorism threat is a big deal, so that's one. What's two? Jesus, what's two? And I realize that Jesus really wouldn't care that my tax dollars are going to pay for an illegal immigrants education or healthcare. In fact, He may even think that works for Him. He told me to "give to anyone who asks." No qualifications there, just...give.

I suppose He might take umbrage with the illegal that is breaking the law but that is an issue between Him and them. My issue is one of taxes and borders, and ultimately, love.

The federal government must help people out because those who are supposed to aren't. That should be our job, the church. WE are the ones commanded to give. WE are the ones commanded to love. WE are the ones commanded to lay down our lives.

I think that we even feel like we are obeying Jesus when we give above our tithes to a "good cause" at church. But the reality is, we are passing by the wounded traveler, perhaps to send help once we get to town, but passing by all the same. We've gotten so good at giving that which costs us little. We've gotten good at staying removed and clean.

But my salvation cost a lot. I had a debt I couldn't pay and was released from the slavery I deserved. My freedom cost a lot.

Shouldn't I give a lot?

Or, shouldn't I give what costs a lot?

Maybe it's money. Maybe it's time. Maybe it's pride, something I should have given away a long time ago but, like a bad gift, it keeps coming back. Maybe it's my Republicanism. Whatever it is, it should cost me.

What cost me a lot?

a.

The Vision

2005-09-26T08:22:00.000-07:00

If you are under 40 and have not read Red Moon Rising by Peter Greig, do so. Not that the read is all that stellar, but the content is. The story of what God is doing with 24-7 pray is phenomenal and contagious. Tell me this doesnt stir somethign in the heart of the emerging church....

THE VISION

So this guy comes up to me and says "what's the vision? What's the big idea?" I open my mouth and words come out like this…

The vision?

The vision is JESUS – obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.

The vision is an army of young people.

You see bones? I see an army. And they are FREE from materialism.

They laugh at 9-5 little prisons.
They could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday.
They wouldn't even notice.
They know the meaning of the Matrix, the way the west was won.
They are mobile like the wind, they belong to the nations. They need no passport.. People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence.
They are free yet they are slaves of the hurting and dirty and dying.

What is the vision ?
The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes. It makes children laugh and adults angry. It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago to reach for the stars. It scorns the good and strains for the best. It is dangerously pure.

Light flickers from every secret motive, every private conversation.
It loves people away from their suicide leaps, their Satan games.
This is an army that will lay down its life for the cause.
A million times a day its soldiers choose to loose that they might one day win the great 'Well done' of faithful sons and daughters.

Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night. They don't need fame from names. Instead they grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and again: "COME ON!"

And this is the sound of the underground.
The whisper of history in the making,
Foundations shaking,
Revolutionaries dreaming once again.
Mystery is scheming in whispers,
Conspiracy is breathing…
This is the sound of the underground.

And the army is discipl(in)ed.

Young people who beat their bodies into submission.

Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms.
The tattoo on their back boasts "for me to live is Christ and to die is gain".
Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes. Winners. Martyrs.
Who can stop them?
Can hormones hold them back?
Can failure succeed?
Can fear scare them or death kill them ?

And the generation prays...
like a dying man
with groans beyond talking,
with warrior cries, sulphuric tears and
with great barrow loads of laughter!
Waiting. Watching: 24 – 7 – 365.

Whatever it takes they will give:
Breaking the rules.
Shaking mediocrity from its cosy little hide.
Laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs, laughing at labels, fasting essentials.
The advertisers cannot mould them.
Hollywood cannot hold them.
Peer-pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late night parties before the cockerel cries.

They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive inside.

On the outside? They hardly care.
They wear clothes like costumes to communicate and celebrate but never to hide.
Would they surrender their image or their popularity?
They would lay down their very lives - swap seats with the man on death row - guilty as hell. A throne for an electric chair.

With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days,
they pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on them.

Their DNA chooses JESUS. (He breathes out, they breathe in.)
Their subconscious sings. They had a blood transfusion with Jesus.
Their words make demons scream in shopping centres.
Don't you hear them coming?
Herald the weirdo's! Summon the losers and the freaks. Here come the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes. They walk tall and trees applaud, skyscrapers bow, mountains are dwarfed by these children of another dimension. Their prayers summon the hounds of heaven and invoke the ancient dream of Eden.

And this vision will be. It will come to pass; it will come easily; it will come soon.
How do I know? Because this is the longing of creation itself, the groaning of the Spirit, the very dream of God. My tomorrow is his today. My distant hope is his 3D. And my feeble, whispered, faithless prayer invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking great 'Amen!' from countless angels, from hero's of the faith, from Christ himself. And he is the original dreamer, the ultimate winner.

Guaranteed.

Stirred? Lets get it done.

a.

Love is...

2005-09-21T11:26:00.000-07:00

Love overcomes the dirt. I was about to say that love is dirty. That it sacrifices, it gets beaten, it is broken, it dies a thousand deaths. It is found in gutters and alleyways with bums and addicts.

But it's not dirty. It is clean. It sanitizes, washes away, covers, and paints over. It washes the inside regardless of the stench on the outside. It causes us to get dirty, but makes us clean in the process. It is absolutely essential to life, more than air, more than drink. I can't grasp it, but I can touch it. It refuses to be placed in the box I made for it. It breaks it's bounds and grows swallowing me whole.

It waits when I want to go.
It is soft when I am hard.
It rejoices when others have what I want.
It is quiet when I want to shout.

It does not think about me but you.
It values what others have to say.
It yields.

Nothing gets on it's nerves.
It holds no grudges.
It hates injustice.
It basks in truth.

It stands tall when weighted down.
It looks foward to a bright future.
It takes beatings without a word.
It lives forever.

The Desperate Cry

2005-09-15T11:22:00.000-07:00

I can't imagine anything that God responds to quicker than a desperate cry for help.

I have three of the most beautiful kids in the world. It's true, ask their mom. They look just like her. Both Zoe and Ezra have, at times, had night terrors. Ezra had them more often than Zoe did. Night terrors are awful, they are like a nightmare that you cannot wake up from. Our sleep will be broken by horrific screaming which will send one of both of us flying, wide awake down the hall to comfort the screaming child. With terrors, they aren't awake and it may take 20-30 minutes to get them awake and calmed down.

I think God, the Father, Abba, is like that. When his child cries out in desperation he comes running. And I don't think he comes running faster if you are a Christian, as opposed to non-Christians. We're are all His kids. In fact, it's entirely possible, that as a Christian, we possess all the necessary tools to fend off desperation. It's entirely possible that God responds quicker to the lost soul.

I believe I've been called to intercession. That sounds like such a noble thought, a grand role, but today I was broken of that notion. I wake early (or try to, this week has been better than others) to read the Word and pray. Today, God started showing me pictures of people in desperation. Not a comfortable thing.

I saw a woman huddled in a corner after having been raped. I saw a girl looking in the mirror, hating herself for the abortion she was about to have. I saw a Goth staring at the self-inflicted wounds on his arm. I saw someone at a kitchen table, writing a suicide note. I saw the sorority girl in bed, covers pulled up over her head, weeping over feeling used. I saw prostitutes crying for a way out.

And as I starting asking God to meet them in their desperation, I broke.

I felt a modicum of His heartbreak over the lost, the desperate. I felt the Father weeping over his screaming and pained child, unable to wake them, unable to comfort them until he could wake them up. I felt a very very small fraction of His desire to lift those out of desperate circumstances. And it broke me.

I tend towards the sensitive as far as movies, sentiment, and worship are concerned. But this was more than sensitive. This was burdened. This was intercession. This was standing in the gap between God and desperate man. Connecting the two through prayer, feeling the pain in each. Melting down like a wire unable to conduct the surge of power coursing through it.

And through it all, I was ashamed. Society, and Robert Smith have told me that boys don't cry. And then I was ashamed to be ashamed. It's one thing to break over your shortcomings. Its entirely another to break over someone else's. I expect more breaking tho. And I welcome it.

Someone else I know did the same thing. And He suffered more than I ever will.

This anoallasso stuff is hard. What was I thinking?

a.

Jacob's Dream

2005-09-14T16:35:00.000-07:00

I'm totally stuck on this piece. And it wasn't intended to "say" what it "says" to me. But that's good art.

This artist has lots of cool stuff. Please check him out and buy something. I'm going to buy this piece for my office/prayer room. His name is Robert Scott. His website is www.robertscottart.com.

Robert Scott has called this Jacob's Dream. To me, it sums up prayer. It sums up the Emerging Church. When I look at this, I see a 20-30 something average joe. He's thinking, reflecting, praying and being answered.

In Jacob's dream "he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it." Jesus also said "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

That's what this says to me. Angels ascend with the prayer and descend with the answer. And prayer isn't limited to church, the prayer closet, the dinner table. We are to pray continually. At work, at play, on walks, everywhere.

This piece shows me. Praying anywhere.

And angels are on the way with the response. The writer of Hebrews says it this way about angels...

Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

I'm an idiot

2005-09-13T15:14:00.000-07:00

For 30 years, 30 STINKING YEARS, I have been tying knots. WRONG. This image to the left, this is wrong. Note the bows lie more along the show than across the shoe?

I've been trying shoes for the better part of 30 years and i've been wrong the whole time. Now I am trying to (to quote a mentor of mine "unlearn what I have learned". Its not easy.

This image shows how the shoe SHOULD be tied. Many of you (both of you) may find yourself in the same dilemma. Thankfully, Ian will show us how it's done, along with some fancy new knots. And, and, and.... new ways to lace a shoe too.

You gotta love the internet. The great leveler. Sure, you can ridicule a guy who is this into knots, but once you realize how right he is and how wrong you are...all self righteousness fades. And where else can you practice a hobby as obscure as knot tying.

Gotta love it. Site is here.

Are the rocks crying out?

2005-09-08T14:59:00.000-07:00

But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out."

I have a theory that all these natural disasters we have experinced in the last few years are in fact the rocks crying out. We are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and praise the same way. Basically, we are to worship Him with all that we are, give Him everything we have, pour out all that we possibly can before Him. We are to give Him our very best.

So what does it look like when nature does the same because we don't or won't?

When waves give Him their best it's a tsunami. When wind worships with all it has, it's a tornado or hurricane. When the earth praises with all it's strength, it's an earthquake.

Maybe instead of asking if Katrina was God's judgement, or asking if it was satan's wrath....maybe it's our own fault. Maybe if we learn to praise Him like He asked us to we would see fewer natural disasters.

He did say if we wouldn't, they would.

If you like, then try...

2005-09-07T11:06:00.000-07:00

A while ago, God dealt with me on some issues pertaining to music and Christianity. I've been putting them into a book. The book will basically be 9 essays with these being the essay "promos" if you will. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

In the Beginning, God CREATED!
The first thing we learn about God is that He has always existed. The second thing, is that He is creative. We are created in His image. We are creative. Whether you are a painter, a dancer, a singer, a thinker, a marketing genius, an ad wizard, or, yes, even good with numbers—you are creative. We have been taught through various means that 1) creativity is not Godly and 2) that creativity is what we hear on the radio. But we were created in the image of the One who has been from the beginning and who is a creative genius. That same genius is in us. Create Oh Creation…Create!

The Swine That Threw the Pearl Back
Do not cast your pearls before swine the scripture says. What about when the swine is the one throwing the pearl back at us? There are books, movies, plays, songs, etc. that are created by the unregenerate that express the heart of God, cry out to the heart of God with desperation, and stumble on truths that we in the church have horded so as not to improperly throw them in the mud. I love to find the pearls that the swine threw. I love to polish them and see the image of the Creator reflected in them.

Make a Joyful Noise…Command, Suggestion, or Happy Thought?
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. Psalm 95:2

If it is a command, can we make an angry noise? If a suggestion or happy thought, can love your neighbor be a happy thought too? What are the Biblical rules governing art and creativity? What are our boundaries?

Is it Ministry or is it Memorex? (or it’s all about me being about You)
Ok, much of the audience wont get the reference but I’ve been told time and again by xtian musicians that what they do is a Ministry, but is it? After a long period of examination I had to answer that question myself. No, it was not ministry. While the text may have had ministry aspirations, my own subtext was fame and fortune.

Stealth Ops
As a kid, I loved to play A-Team. Being me, I was always Hannibal. I had to lead, be in charge. But we loved to sneak around, to spy. Jesus said to be wise as serpents…to be sneaky. Where are the sneaky Christians? They are out there. They are making a difference but you wont see them, they are in stealth mode.

Perversion in A-minor.
Country music is depressing. Rap is violent. Rock and Roll is all about debauchery. Blues is about losing something, everything, or being blue because you lost nothing and have nothing to sing about today. How has satan perverted music? How has he poisioned the church with an if you like…then try mentality?

The Surfing Spirit
God once told me that the spirit in which something is performed is the same spirit in which it will be received. Is it performed angry? Anger received. Is it performed in Worship? That same spirit will be there in the listening. It will transcend the airwaves, the speakers, the instrument and become a minister of life or death.

Lyrics Only Tell Part of the Story
Christian music is the only music defined by the content of the lyric and not the style of the music. If the lyric is stripped, is it still “Christian”? Harmony, melody, rhythm and lyric all combine to make up a song. Plato has some thoughts on this, as do I.

What is this Postmodern crap?

2005-09-07T10:20:00.000-07:00

So what exactly is postmodern thought? What does it look like? And why do we think this way?

As I've mentioned before, I hated being labeled a postmodern. I've since learned that hating being labeled is in itself very postmodern. The more I read about postmodernity, the more it resounds. And the more I learn, the more I feel like I can connect with people in a postmodern world. I offer some thoughts hoping that this will help all of us in anoallsso connect a bit better.

The odd thing is that postmodern thinking is what allows people to justify a "what's right for me is right for me and what's right for you is right for you (except if Christianity is right for you, that's always wrong)" mentality. The idea that truth is contextual and truth is fluid allows people to do, basically, whatever they want, even change beliefs in the middle of a thought. We saw this a little bit with presidential hopeful John Kerry. Not so much in his flip-flopping but in the fact that the supporters saw no problem with it. We saw it a bit with President Clinton revising such basic English words as "is".

So, how does one connect with this type of thinking? Personally, I think that in as much as this thinking can be used by the enemy to justify bad behavior and sin, it can be used by God for good. Once someone comes to the REAL truth, there is less resistance to abandoning a previous belief system.

::questions::
We are fine with them. We are fine with them being unanswered. Smarter people than me call it deconstruction. So far as I can understand it, deconstruction is code for relativism. Basically, knowledge and truth are so big and pieces of it are everywhere. No one person can ever come to the total truth because they will never assemble the entire puzzle. The knowledge that you have, your piece of the puzzle, is truth to you and you base your life on that truth.

It is from this deconstructionism that we see the emerging church emerge. We are not content with religion for the sake of religion and tradition without explainable basis. Legalism is, in particular, an anathema. WHY can't we dance? WHY can't I have a beer? WHY can't I smoke? I think we are open to Truth if it can be Biblically justified, but if it is a loose tie, or a tradition of men, or is contradicted elsewhere in Scripture, forget it.

We are searching for truth. We are asking questions. And we are fine with not knowing the answers to a degree, just don't blow sunshine up our butts if you don't know either.

::subtext::
This is a weird one. Postmoderns are always aware of the subtext, what's NOT being said. We read between the lines, above the lines, under the lines and between the letters too. We have been raised by mass media and are used to being "spun". When we are marketed to, we know it. Fading is the day of subtle advertising. We count product placement in movies, we know that songs on Smallville are on a WB record label.

We have been marketed to with reckless abandon our whole lives. We don't want to be marketed by the church. We want a REAL experience. Hyper-reality be damned, we want the Truth. We are so into finding the Truth that we look in places we shouldn't for it.

The benefit, is once converted, we will devour the Word. And the Word stands up to the subtext test. What it is NOT saying is as important as what it says. And what it is NOT saying is to be relevant. What it IS saying is to be counter-culture and to connect with people.

::art::
We don't make anything anymore, we buy it. Grandpa used to make things in his shop, but we go to IKEA. You can't make it for as cheap as you can buy it. And when we are done, we throw it away. We don't have anything worthy of passing down.

So get this, this creeps into our art. Our artforms are hip-hop, electronica, collage. Sample heavy hip-hop takes what has been created and re-packages it. Collage takes existing images and places them meaningfully on a page or sculpture.

What does this mean? I don't know. Ideas?

::media::
We are well versed in media. Video, print, music, whatever. We have been shaped by media. Not just "The Media" (sounds a lot like The Family (use mobster accent when reading)), although that has shaped us too. We are bombarded by media and "imprints". My friend Derek will tell you what that means.

Does this mean we use media to connect? Or should we back off and use silence? I think silence shouts in this world of noise.

This is just a small peek at postmodern thought. For now, I've got nothing else to say here, except that we have a lot of thinking to do and a lot of questions to ask.

Black and White

2005-09-01T15:42:00.000-07:00

I've often been accused of thinking in black and white. The funny thing about thinking in black and white is that no matter how black or how white the thought, I still live is the gray. Lewis would call it the Shadowlands. David would call it the valley of the shadow.

I view it as standing under a solitary lamp on the corner of a black street. Right around me, things are clear and visible, but moving out from the lamp, things get grayer and grayer until they succumb to the blackness. In my view, the further we get from the Light of the Word, the Truth, the grayer and grayer it gets until it turns black. The gray areas are simply matters in which I dont know all the Truth. The more time I spend in the Light, the more obvious it becomes where the Light ends and darkness begins.

Of course, thinking this way doesnt necessarily translate into living this way. I so often step out of the Light and into the gray. On rare occasions, leaving the Light behind, I venture into the darkness. Sometimes it's accidental, chasing something that catches my eye until I look around and realize I can no longer see. Other times, it's "justified", as in, I go into the darkness so that I can better appreciate the Light. Whatever the reason, the darkness offers little solace and I run back into the Light as soon as I recognize my folly.

Presently, I am wondering how much of the things I had categorized as black or white are really grey. Or rather, how many things that were white are only white because I had kindled my own light by which to illuminate my way. Which, when exposed to the True Light, becomes very black indeed.

And often, even with True Light shining over my shoulder, all I can see is the shadow I cast. Unless I turn my back to the darkness and walk slowly toward the light, I will always be led by my shadow and not the Light.

In the Shadowlands of anoallasso,

a.

Lighten Up

2005-08-30T21:28:00.000-07:00

Just reading over my own posts and wow... I didn't mean for this site to be so heavy and full of impending doom for the church. The church has a glorious future. One in which she is a bride without spot or wrinkle. Lighten up already dude.

Anyone heard the new Aqueduct album, I Sold Gold? It's awesome. You should.

It's a run don't walk for sure.

a.

The Crux of the Emerging Church

2005-08-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

The challenges for the Church at such a time are profound. A generation that finds itself in the crux of such a change has a significant responsibility for shaping the new ways of thinking that will define its own age but also that of the coming era. When Christians get it right at such times, adapting themselves to the changing culture and finding new language for timeless truths, the Gospel spreads more easily for years to come because it makes sense to people. However, when the church gets it wrong by resisting change and enshrining nostalgia, we risk apparent irrelevance and an upward struggle. (Red Moon Rising, Peter Greig and Dave Roberts, 2003)

Things are getting tense in Christendom. We are perched precariously in the balance of two periods, one waning, the other waxing. Every 200 years or so, periods change. The Age of Discovery gave way to The Renaissance which paved the way for The Reformation. The Age of Reason took the baton then passed it to Enlightenment which was followed by Romantic, then Victorian.

We are coming out of the Modern period and coming into the Postmodern period. Which, as far as names go, bothers me. Could we not have been named something more original? How very postmodern of me to even ask the question.

Postmodernism is marked by a new way of thinking, a new culture, new struggles and battles. They very way we view knowledge is different from ages past, our art is different, our very thought processes are different. Even the way we do church is different.

Before really studying the postmodern period, I thought it more a movement or a philosophy, not realizing how much I am a product of a postmodern age. But the deeper I looked, the more I realized it was me, us, we. Many of the struggles youth today face are waves in the ocean of change. The church is going to feel the turbulence of the change as well and we need to understand it in order to survive it.

The term coined to describe the church in a postmodern age, or rather, the church that fits in a postmodern age is the Emerging Church. Wikipedia defines it as such:

Though expressions of the emerging church vary according to cultural context, tradition and school of thought, they share some distinguishing characteristics including a common and unique language of discourse; encouragement of creative expression; holistic forms of worship; fluency in new media; sensitivity to postmodernity; organizational simplicity; a missional approach; an ecumenical commitment; and placing value on social justice.

The emerging church originated in reaction to many perceived problems of the late 20th century Church: declining attendance of Protestant churches, particularly amongst Generation X, concern over how the Church would adapt to postmodernity, and increasing suspicion of the missiology of the market-driven mega-church and institutionalized Christianity.

The struggle is going to be against a spirit of rebellion. I feel the much of the emerging church rhetoric is very devisive, an us against them mentality. Some of it is necessary to be able to make the shift but I belive there is a way to do it successfully. We need to convince both the existing chuch of the need for change and the emerging church of the need for accountability.

God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God of three generations. We are in danger of forsaking Abraham and Jacob and starting an Isaac church. But many questions arise. What happends when Isaac has a Jacob and, eventually becomes an Abraham?

The brilliance in God's plan is that it allows for change and growth. It allows for the church to weather a serious storm and come through stronger. Abraham has seen the storms and is walking by the true light on the broad highway of truth. It is Abraham that can keep Isaac from falling into the ditch on either side of truth. It is Abraham who can keep Isaac from teaching Jacob the culture instead of the Word that defies it.

I always go too long on these posts but the question I have today is this. How does Abraham let Isaac change the church to meet the needs of Jacob when Abraham's thinking is of a different sort? And how does Isaac listen to the wisdom of Abraham but still adapt to the change in culture that Abraham doesn't understand?

This is going to be the stuggle the church faces in its pursuit of postmodern relevance. I keep coming back to this, if we are just real, if we can REAL-ly CONNECT with people, then it doesn't matter how relevant we are. Our success will be based on how well we do this (and again I guote Peter Greig and Red Moon Rising):

...disciple them in their own context and release them in ministry without requiring that they commit cultural suicide along the way.

The church is in anoallasso and I am right there with it. The upward change. Individually changing into the likeness of Christ so that we can touch others who will also journey with us and touch others like them.

Real.ly connecting in anoallsso.

a.

Connecting in Context

2005-08-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

rel-e-vant
Pronunciation: 're-l&-v&nt
Function: adjective
Etymology: Medieval Latin relevant-, relevans, from Latin, present participle of relevare to raise up -- more at RELIEVE
1 a : having significant and demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand b : affording evidence tending to prove or disprove the matter at issue or under discussion c : having social relevance

rel-e-vance
Pronunciation: 're-l&-v&n(t)s
Function: noun
1 a : relation to the matter at hand b : practical and especially social applicability : PERTINENCE
2 : the ability to retrieve material that satisfies the needs of the user

What do we mean when we say we are relevant? Does it mean that we have social relevance? Social practicality and social applicability?

I would love to think that when the church is trying to be relevant, we are using the second definition of relevance. We are trying to retrieve material from a culture so that we can satisfy the needs of that culture. Understanding the post-modern culture around us so that we can effectively speak to that culture, and satisfy their basic needs.

The gospel is always relevant but the gospel will not be made relevant. It always has social practicality and applicability but it won't be made to fit into existing culture. It's goal is to change culture. It was, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks, foolishness. I quote 1 Corintians 1:17-31 beacuse it is so...well, relevant to the discussion.

1 Corinthians 1:17-31 (The Message)
God didn't send me out to collect a following for myself, but to preach the Message of what he has done, collecting a following for him. And he didn't send me to do it with a lot of fancy rhetoric of my own, lest the powerful action at the center - Christ on the Cross - be trivialized into mere words.

The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out.

It's written, I'll turn conventional wisdom on its head, I'll expose so-called experts as crackpots.

So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn't God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense?

Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered dumb - preaching, of all things! - to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation.

While Jews clamor for miraculous demonstrations and Greeks go in for philosophical wisdom,, we go right on proclaiming Christ, the Crucified. Jews treat this like an anti-miracle - and Greeks pass it off as absurd.

But to us who are personally called by God himself - both Jews and Greeks - Christ is God's ultimate miracle and wisdom all wrapped up in one.

Human wisdom is so tinny, so impotent, next to the seeming absurdity of God. Human strength can't begin to compete with God's "weakness."

Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don't see many of "the brightest and the best" among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families.

Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses,, chose these "nobodies" to expose the hollow pretensions of the "somebodies"?

That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God.

Everything that we have - right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start - comes from God by way of Jesus Christ.

That's why we have the saying, "If you're going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God."

We can’t make the gospel relevant to culture because it's counter-culture. The culture in Jesus’ day didn’t get it; they killed the messenger. The culture in Paul’s day didn’t get it; they killed the messenger. The gospel will not change, it will not move, it is truth that cannot be altered. There are movements today trying to make the gospel and the Bible relevant to culture and it's landing us in a moral morass. They are changing the gospel, changing the message, making it more palatable to a culture at large, more...relevant.

I suppose, if we don't alter the message, we can make the delivery relevant to the culture, we can speak their language.

But how to speak in such a broad language? How do I speak to punk rockers, goths, and college Republicans in the same language?

If I were the bandwagon type, I would look at the white spot on my otherwise tan arm and remember the day I removed the WWJD bracelet in favor of a live4EVER bracelet. But I’m not so I just seriously ask, what would Jesus do?

I don’t think He had such a diverse culture to speak to, but regardless, His core message was the same to Nicodemus, Zaccheus, Mary Magdalene, the Samaritan woman, the Roman centurion, and the thief on the cross. There is a heart longing for a relationship with God that only He can fulfill.

The question becomes, how does the goth express the gaping hole in their soul differently than the punk. And how do I connect with them? Rather, how do I open a door for the Spirit within me to speak to the hole inside them?

Connecting. Really connecting. Or REAL-ly connecting. In their context, not ours. And I think that they can be in our context when God speaks to them in theirs. We dont have to emmulate their context to speak in their context. Connect in context. I like that. This is starting to resonate. If we connect with them in their context, then we can send them back into their context to make more connections.

Is the answer relevance? I don’t know. I don't think it is in it's current form. I feel that relevance is walking a relative fence. I know that I don’t want to be a part of another “movement” that will be passe tomorrow. I want to change daily. Upwardly. Permanently. I don’t have the answers. All I have is questions. And lots of them.

But I’m, starting to think, that just possibly, the answer is prayer.

Fervent prayer.

Not evangelical whispers or charismatic shouts but genuine conversation with God that asks him to spare those that we can’t understand. Not everyday prayers, but all-day prayers. 24-7 prayer.

If we will, they will.

Blue Like Jazz

2005-08-24T21:26:00.000-07:00

If you've not read this, do. Of course, we all like books that say things that we want to say or say things that we are saying. This is one of those. It goes a bit further tho in that it convicts as well.

Am I allowing myself to be sharpened by the iron of community? Not really. Is there room enough in my view of Jesus to allow that he might not be Republican? Am I embracing the social justice aspects that Jesus would have embraced?

I was recently in India-no-place. I really like the town, especially when I am not paying for things myself. They have some great steak places. Actually, a really high concentration of good food in such a compacted area. At any rate, I was hanging out with some work friends in a bar. I had a beer, as in single, just one, uno.

I've often said that I think Jesus would hang out in a bar every so often. That he gravitated towards the hurting, the poor, those seeking Him in everyplace that He's not. But that night, as I was leaving, I realized that I was falling prey to a dangerous rationalization. In fact, the fact that I rationalized it is what makes it dangerous. If I am in a bar to have a beer, like I would be in a Baskin Robins having an ice cream (mint chip with carmel, fudge, butterscotch, whip cream, cherry), that should be the end of it. No big deal, its just enjoying life. But I wasn't. I was trying to Christianize the experience.

And as I walked back to the hotel, I realized that Jesus WOULD go to the bar. But He'd stand in the center and call out:

HEY! Everyone! Listen! If you are trying to hide from something, trying to bury something, cover it up, if you are thirsty and this isnt cutting it, I've got something for you! Come to me and I will give you something that won't leave you in pain tomorrow morning!

And of course, he'd get bounced. But half the bar would empty and the other half would party like it's AD 99.

Bottom line -- I'll still have a beer. But not under the auspices of being spiritual. Under the auspices of enjoying life, no problem.

Bottom bottom line -- Read the book. Check out the website. The website is one of the finest in execution, navigation, and content I've ever seen. Brilliant.

Shores of Eden (part 1)

2005-08-11T16:08:00.000-07:00

“This isn’t what I expected,” she said calmly, scanning the horizon for a glimpse of the promised glow. Seven years of preparation wasted, she thought, disappointment etched on her face. She searched the eyes of her guide, expecting answers but finding only experience beyond his years, a resolve that claimed nothing is impossible, and the glint of love that captivated her on their first meeting.

“Did you expect to see it your first day?” he countered, staring at the same horizon but apparently seeing something entirely different. “Have faith. The same faith that called you here will reveal your desire. It is late and you must rest.”

Angowai gestured back to their gear, and silently walked away. She watched him disappear into the jungle at the abrupt edge of the beach. Angie reflected on her journey thus far, on Angowai, and on this seemingly average white sand beach with seemingly normal waves lapping at her tired feet.

“Angowai,” she called, suddenly remembering that she needed his help to set up their camp for the night. No response came from the slightly ruffled vegetation, the only indication that someone had recently passed through to the jungle that lay beyond.

“Why am I here?!” she cried aloud, feeling abandoned, tired, and overwhelmed by feeling underwhelmed.

-Do you think I’ve left you?-

The familiar voice of reason spoke loudly, commanding, yet loving and soft. “The voice of reason”, she mused, recalling the beginning of her adventure, seven years ago tonight. The same voice only less pronounced and more like a gentle thought had put it in her head that paradise was an actual place. The Garden of Eden was real. She devoted the next years pouring over myths, legends, and every traveler’s tale of parasidic visions. The voice of reason grew stronger and louder, taking on a personality of its own as she drew near the expedition.

-Did I bring you here to mock you?-

Angie had to admit that the voice of reason was no longer some personification of her own longing for adventure and was in fact a source outside herself, communicating, guiding, revealing pieces of itself.

-Do you think you can fully experience all that I have to show you in this state? Rest Angie. For tomorrow… -

-This is your last day as the Angie you know.-

Angie tensed, momentarily frozen by the weight of Reason’s declaration.

-This is your last day as the Angie you know.-