52 books #5: The Living Church – John Stott

The Living Church – John Stott

I hope to grow up to be John Stott. Not that I could approach his level of scholarship or wisdom, but I hope that when I move into my ninth decade on the planet (should I make it that long or the Lord tarry, although I’m nowhere near as sure about my eschatology as I used to be, but that’s a whole other post), my mind will still be engaged with what is going on around me and that I will still be doing my small part in accomplishing the mission of God. I had the privilege of meeting Eddie Gibbs this past fall and was deeply inspired to grow into that kind of man of God. It wasn’t that long ago that I was working at a truck stop in Saskatchewan and I said to my new wife that I didn’t want to turn into an angry, cranky, old person.

“You should probably start now, eh.”

Stott declares early in the book that the marks of a church that is living and vital are learning, caring, worshipping, and evangelizing. He then goes on to discuss these in greater detail. Stott’s bias is that these marks are born into a church that is deeply engaged in listening to God through the Bible, and his bias is that strong biblical preaching is essential for this listening to take place. As a pastor and someone who invested his undergrad in Biblical Studies, this is my bias as well. I don’t believe that this biblical preaching must be tied to to the sermon act as we conventionally understand it, but the importance of the Bible cannot be understated.

I’m one of a group of Christians who could be called “emerging” and while that word seems to mean less and less all the time and the conversation has become sort of boring for me (at what point do we stop being the emerging church, and just start being the church?), I’m part of the generation for whom Stott is writing this book. He asks us to maintain our zeal for reform and change and transformation in the image of Christ rather than to cultural norms, while at the same time maintaining our connection to the roots and fellowship in the community of the saints as we seek to bring the good news to a new and old world. In the conclusion he makes and appeal for a new generation of Timothys:

“Some Christians fight the good fight of faith. They are great warriors for truth. But they do not pursue goodness, let alone gentleness.

“Others are good and gentle, but have no comparable concern to fight for truth.

“Yet others neglect both doctrine and ethics, and concentrate on their quest for religious experience.

“Why must we always polarize? All three of these are God’s purpose for us. Oh, for balanced Christians!” (p. 149-150)

I pray that for me it would be so.

Redneck past revisited

Okay, apparently you can only pick eight drivers, which is actually easier.

Jeff Gordon                      $2,000,000
Dale Earnhardt Jr           $1,280,000
Clint Bowyer                    $1,775,000
Juan Pablo Montoya       $875,000
Jimmie Johnson              $2,100,000
Patrick Carpentier          $410,000
Greg Biffle                        $1,150,000
Jacques Villeneuve          $405,000
$9,995,000

Now my family is free to mock me more

How cold is it?

As of right now in Edmonton the “feels like” temperature is -40 and heres our long term forecast

Long Term Forecast

	Wednesday Jan 30	Thursday Jan 31	Friday Feb 1	Saturday Feb 2	Sunday Feb 3	Monday Feb 4
High	-27°C	-25°C	-23°C	-20°C	-18°C	-16°C
Condition	Flurries	Isolated flurries	Variable cloudiness	Variable cloudiness	Cloudy periods	Cloudy with sunny breaks
P.O.P.	40%	30%	20%	20%	10%	20%
Wind	SE 10 km/h	E 10 km/h	N 10 km/h	W 5 km/h	S 10 km/h	NW 5 km/h
Low	-36°C	-32°C	-30°C	-27°C	-27°C	-27°C

That doesn’t include windchill which brings the temperature down another 10 degrees or so.

Feel better about the weather where you are?

If you’re afraid that they’ll discover your redneck past…

Don’t join a NASCAR pool. We have a family pool and this is my first year joining. You get to pick ten drivers and have a salary cap of 10, 000, 000.

Jimmie Johnson $2,100,000 Dave Blaney $590,000
Jeff Gordon $2,000,000 Brian Vickers $515,000
Tony Stewart $1,945,000 Regan Smith $500,000
Matt Kenseth $1,880,000 David Gilliland $480,000
Denny Hamlin $1,805,000 Ron Fellows $450,000
Clint Bowyer $1,775,000 Boris Said $440,000
Kyle Busch $1,745,000 PJ Jones $435,000
Carl Edwards $1,730,000 Travis Kvapil $425,000
Jeff Burton $1,655,000 Sam Hornish Jr. $420,000
Kurt Busch $1,590,000 Paul Menard $415,000
Kevin Harvick $1,540,000 Patrick Carpentier $410,000
Martin Truex Jr. $1,400,000 Jacques Villeneuve $405,000
Dale Earnhardt Jr $1,280,000 Dario Franchitti $400,000
Mark Martin $1,250,000 Kyle Petty $395,000
Ryan Newman $1,190,000 David Reutimann $390,000
Greg Biffle $1,150,000 Scott Riggs $385,000
Casey Mears $1,080,000 Joe Nemechek $380,000
Jamie McMurray $1,000,000 A.J. Allmendinger $370,000
Bobby Labonte $980,000 Sterling Marlin $360,000
Kasey Kahne $915,000 Jeremy Mayfield $355,000
Juan Pablo Montoya $875,000 Bill Elliott $350,000
J.J. Yeley $820,000 Kevin LePage $350,000
Reed Sorenson $770,000 Dale Jarrett $350,000
David Ragan $715,000 John Andretti $350,000
Elliott Sadler $700,000 Morgan Shepherd $350,000
David Stremme $610,000 Michael Waltrip $350,000

Robby Gordon $605,000 Ward Burton $350,000

These were my picks

Dale Earnhardt Jr $1,280,000
Jacques Villeneuve $405,000
Juan Pablo Montoya $875,000
Jeff Gordon $2,000,000
Clint Bowyer $1,775,000
Dave Blaney $590,000
Denny Hamlin $1,805,000
Patrick Carpentier $410,000
Dario Franchitti $400,000
Travis Kvapil $425,000
$9,965,000

I’m a bit out of the loop but this was my thinking. I think Jr. is going to have a big year and Hendrick will continue to dominate. Bowyer was undervalued for a guy who finished third in points last year, Toyota is going to have a bounce back with a year of experience, and the cheap guys have all won in other places, and for the most part, just need to stay out of trouble. If they just finish, I should be okay.

I also enjoy that I should be the only person in my family to choose both Jr. and Gordon, which will drive my sister nuts.

church planting sucks

Well, it doesn’t really suck. I actually love it, but there are definitely times when I wish I wish it was easier, or that the church that we’re dreaming of would magically appear next Sunday. But what kind of story would that be?

Here’s a top ten list of things I have learned so far about church planting.

1. It’s harder than you think – but not in that ways you expect. I expected it to be a lot of work and I expected there to be discouraging times and I expected there would be times I would want to quit, but I didn’t expect that I would spend most of my time doing stuff that I don’t love and doesn’t excite me. I didn’t expect that I would be tempted to get lazy. I didn’t realize how tough it was to balance the tension between pastoring the people you’ve got and trying to grow the church we feel called to be. Be prepared for this.
2. It’s more fun than you think it’s going to be. Strap on your helmet, but it is fun. You’re building something from scratch and fighting and winning and failing. It tough, but it’s not boring. Look forward to this and remember it when being beaten down by number one.
3. There are people who don’t want you to succeed. There are those who are more comfortable believing that the world is against them and that nothing can be done and that nothing can change and to see a new church come to be and survive calls into question their status quo. Identify these people and ignore them.
4. There are people who desperately want to you to succeed. They want nothing more than to see the Kingdom come and for healthy churches to be acting out what God intended for us to be. Identify these people and seek them out.
5. It is not easy to figure out who are #3 people and who are #4 people.
6. Weather will kick your ass. Maybe this is more of a thing in Canada, but you could have both Saints Paul and Peter scheduled to appear at your church where they will reveal the date of the second coming and the cure for baldness and a snowstorm will leave you sitting with your wife and kids and the angry guy you’re not surprised has never found a church home. There’s not much you can do but be ready for it.
7. You will also schedule something no one will show up for. This will be something that you’ve poured heart and soul and sweat and blood into. There will be no real reason for people not to show up. They just won’t. This will crush you. Get up, dust yourself off, and never speak of it again except to laugh when you’re not angry anymore.
8. This is not the church you built in your head. This is a real group of people called by God who are going to be something you never dreamed of. Trying to be the church in your head will kill your joy for the church you have, so kill the church in your head.
9. Don’t take anything personally. People will come to your church and go, and friends will choose to be a part or not, and people will arrive and begin to pour themselves into what God is doing and this, for the most part, has nothing to do with you. If your confidence and self image depend on the “success” of your church, you are screwed as a pastor and will be a terrible person to live with.
10. Settle the failure question before you start. The reality is most church plants don’t make it. If your church plant becomes part of those statistics, are you done either as a pastor or a follower of Jesus? If you think the answer might be yes, get the hell out. Your desire should be to see God’s will accomplished and if his will is that your church is planted and dies, if that is what is glorifying to him, then name of the Lord is still to be praised. There is no shame in being a failed church planter.

and as a free bonus

The most important thing you will do is to decide what success looks like. Remember that this is your choice. Choose to define success by obedience. Ask God where he wants you to go, and fight with everything you have to get there. Back to #1 and #2, it will not be easy, and it will be fun.

Now if I read this every day for the next ten years and pray that God would make me believe it, I should be alright.

Blogs I read

I often see blogs with dozen of other blogs listed in their site. I wonder does this person actually read all of these different blogs? Do they know all these people? How do I get my blog on here?

In case I’m not completely strange I’ll tell you a little bit about the blogs to which I connect.

Beauty and Depravity – Eugene Cho

While the title of this blog lends to some interesting searches finding it, I found it through Jesus Creed when he was writing about the Korean missionaries who were kidnapped in Afghanistan. I’m new to his blog, but it reads well and he seems like a wise and Godly man. He’s also a pastor and church planter and barista and Quest seems to be doing some things in Seattle that we would like to attempt in Edmonton. Eugene was also on of my inspirations to have a website after reading this post. See, stories bear fruit.

Containers and Compartments – Teddi Taylor

Teddi is my wife, my best friend, my confidant, my administrator, my editor, my partner in crime,  the mother of my children and a darn good writer as well. She helps me to relive parts of our family’s life that I don’t notice, and she’s kind enough to send some traffic my way.

Dave’s Web-log – Dave MacIntyre

Dave is a friend that I talk about here. He’s just starting out and says nice things about me.

iProcess – Jeff Young

Jeff is a friend that I met through the Arrow Leadership Program. He’s also a pastor and a great writer. He’s also been walking tall through a tough time lately and has demonstrated to me how to behave as a man of grace and forgiveness and conviction. I’m blessed to know him, and he has great hair, of which I am jealous.

Jesus Creed – Scot Mcknight

We’ve discussed Dr. McKnight before as well, but I believe that Scot McKnight isn’t really a human being, but an incredibly prolific theology robot. He produces some amazing work on his site for free, but also has time to teach and write great books. His fashion sense leaves a little to be desired, but I try not to hold that against him.

Jordon Cooper

I’ve never met him, but I check his site every day, and I’m also part of Resonate.
He provides really neat links to great stories on the web, and he seems to be a thoughtful person. His site is really a gift that shortens my browsing time. He devote what seems to be a lot of time and effort to the church in Canada, and (I can say this as someone who spent four years outside Moose Jaw) he lives in Saskatchewan, which is hard for anyone.

Real Live Preacher – Gordon Atkinson

This was one of the first blogs I ever read, and man did I need it at the time. Gordon’s writing is beautiful, and as a pastor, I need to hear his crazy energy and hope in the midst of depression. He also has a book that I would recommend. I’ve emailed him a couple of times and he has always responded with care and grace.

So there you go. That’s why the blogs are in my roll. I read them all. I know some of them. I would probably put yours there if you ask nicely.

Bridgepointe

A few people are interested in Bridgepointe and what we’re about. I’m going to post something I wrote a while back. Partly I’m doing this because I want to have most of my writing in the same place, but I also think it’s worth reading

Vision: Fools and Failures

There’s a statement that’s been trying to get out of me for weeks, and it’s been next to impossible to get into words. Every time I sit down to write I get scared and tied up and everything I want to say seems disconnected and stupid and impossible. I’m trying to describe where I think Bridgepointe is being called and what we’re asking people to join and I’m failing. So in the midst of that failure and foolishness, here goes.

We want Bridgepointe to be a church.

I know, it sounds simple, but it’s not, and I think all of us know that. We’ve all been part of churches that, for whatever reason, failed to be what they claimed to be and wanted to be. I’m not hear to criticize other churches, but we want Bridgepointe to be a group of people who are who we say we are, who we do what we say we’re going to do, and when we fail, as we surely will, we admit our failures and foolishness to God and to the world and to ourselves and we jump back in again.

What if we could become a group of people who actually believe that we have good news for the world? What if we shared that good news with people as naturally as we told them about a great album or book or movie? What if we really welcomed people and allowed them to change us and expected them to be changed? What if we really believed that we are God’s people and he is guiding us and that when we prayed, someone actually listened and something actually happened?

I think we might change the world.

or at least our world

or at least ourselves

So how do we get there?

At the proposal stage of this thing I had to come up with lots of plans and strategies for connection and assimilation, and those are important and good and smart, but the reality that I know with every bone in my body is that J.B. and I aren’t cool enough or smart enough to make this thing happen by ourselves (well, maybe J.B. might be). The kind of community we’re dreaming of only happens if and when God shows up.

You know what the fun part is?

He said he would.

After the fall and the flood in Genesis, God took the first step to begin his plan of salvation by asking a guy named Abram to get up and move his family to a place God would show him (Genesis 12). God said that he would bless Abram, and that through Abram, God would bless everyone on the planet. And Abram obeyed. And the amazing thing about Abram wasn’t that he was so wise or spiritual or cool or a brilliant strategist or working with the best model. The amazing thing about Abram was that when God said get up and go, he went.

When God said get up and go, he went.

I believe that’s what God is calling us to. And like Abram we’re going to fail and be fools and some of us are going to get new names and some of us are going to walk with limps, but God promised that he would bless the world through us.

So the question today, bigger than Bridgepointe or a new community or anything else that might be going on, is this: When God asks you to get up and go, will you?

More than anything else at this point, that’s what Bridgepointe is about.

My wife talks about my kids

 I don’t write about my family much. Not because I don’t care, but because I don’t really have anything interesting to say.

Here Teddi talks about what happening in our world.

52 books #4

360 – Degree Leadership – Michael Quicke

This book lost momentum for me in the late going. Quicke is a preaching professor and practitioner and cares deeply about the art; and the strength of the book is his persuasive argument for preaching as an integral part of congregational leadership. The problem is that he cares much more about preaching than he does about leadership. It’s not a bad book; it just loses it’s thrust in the second half. I will read 360 – Degree Preaching, which I think is closer to his passion and will probably be a more helpful book.

52 books #3

The War Room – Warren Kinsella

Well I finished The War Room. It was an entertaining read: very informative on the inner view of the world of politics. It would be easy to be callous and cynical about the political process, but what prevented that for me was Kinsella’s personality. I believe that he cares deeply about people and the society we’re creating, and that caring has led him to politics. This doesn’t change the fact that he enjoys a good scrap and the political field is one of the few areas where it’s still kosher to engage in them, but the book was unexpectedly inspirational. The War Room is, at its heart, a book about influencing people; helping them to agree with your position and to reject that of your opponent. Wins and losses are measured in votes and polls. The church is also about influencing people, although our wins and losses are measured in obedience and faithfulness, and we’re not battling ideas, but pointing to a person and a way of being that is good news.

It’s weird, the thing that had the deepest and most complete impact on the way I think and feel about evangelism wasn’t a sermon or a Bible study or an evangelism course, but a short story by a professing atheist. A few years back I was touring a one act play I had written and we ended up taking a break at a mall in Fredericton, N.B. I headed straight to the Chapters and found a collection of short stories called Speaking With the Angels. Nick Hornby put the book together with contributions from people like Roddy Doyle, Helen Fielding, Irvine Welsh, and others to raise money for a school for autistic children his son attends in London. Anyway, Hornby included his own story called NippleJesus.

NippleJesus is about a regular guy, mildly red-necked, perhaps (is it possible for the British to be rednecks?) who quits his job at as a bouncer and takes a job as a security guard in an art gallery. His first detail is to guard a piece that has been placed in a closed room that is marked as containing potentially offensive material. He walks into this room to find a huge mosaic depicting the crucified Jesus which, while beautiful, is made up completely of pictures clipped from pornographic magazines depicting female breasts.

“You know those pictures that are made up completely from dots? Well thats how this Jesus picture was done, except all the dots are nipples. And thats what the pictures called – NippleJesus.” (p. 100)

After first hating the picture, the guard meets the artist and her family and begins to feel an appreciation for the picture. He defends it to his wife. He argues with the people and the politicians who call it obscene. He gets personally involved with NippleJesus and begins to feels attached to it. He tries to explain how this happened:

“If I’d just read about NippleJesus in the paper, or seen it on the news, I’d have thought it was wrong, no question. Sick. Stupid. Waste of taxpayers money. (And you always say that even if you’ve got no idea if taxpayers pay for it or not, whatever it is, don’t you.) And I’d never have thought of it again, probably. But it’s more complicated when you actually stand beside it all day. And I still don’t know what I think of it, really, but what’s so great about the nutter and the kinky vicar and all the other people who came to have a look that first morning is that they make up your mind for you about whose side you’re on. I’m not on theirs, that’s for sure, and the longer I spend with these wankers the more I hate them. It’s so simple, really. The nice ones like the picture, and they get it, and they have a look at how it’s done, but that’s not why their staring; the horrible ones come in, gaze for hour at the tits, moan to each other (or, if they’re really mad, to themselves)… You don’t need to work out what you think. You just need to have a look at what the other people think. And if you don’t like the look of them, then think the opposite.” (p. 108 – 109)

It sounds a little like this “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” (1 Peter 2:12) Rather than information or policies or positions, people are basing their decisions on whether or not they want to be like person x or person y. As we present what we we believe to be a better way to live and a better kingdom to pledge allegiance to, are we people worthy of emulation, or are we making people’s minds up for them? I think that if people get to know Jesus, they want to be like him. The ability of those around us to know Jesus depends heavily upon our knowing and imitating Jesus.

It’s that simple and it’s that difficult.