Must be something in the water. Paul Fromont, Alan Creech, Jonny Baker, & Todd Hunter are all talking about similar stuff. What does it mean to really be “missional”? What is the “emerging church”?

Are these just trendy words that make us feel better about what little we do or are they truly formative? What are good metaphors for Church? Should we keep using the same ones that scripture uses, in other words, do they stilll work? Or should we develop new metaphors? It’s a lot easier to talk about things than to really do them. It’s even easier to do things without really being shaped or formed internally. That’s what I’d like to see – some real internal formation (maybe “de-formation” and “re-formation”) in the church today and in myself.

Kyrie Eleison

Christe Eleison

Kyrie Eleison

Great News! We went to the doctor today and our pregnancy is moving along well! We’re about 6 weeks along (we think), still a tenuous time, but things are developing well. We did an ultrasound and could see a little blur with a heartbeat!

This whole process is such an amazing gift from God!

a quote from Ordinary Community ~

“Church is not someplace you go, its a people you belong to.”

I like that, it “sits” well with me… or, maybe, more accurately it “moves” me. That’s what good churches do, they move us closer to Christ, closer to one another, and closer to our world.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Alan Creech has a good recap of this feast day remembering this innovative, “outside-the-box” thinking church planter and missionary. There’s more info here (warning – bad midi music).

Good conversation last night with Peter Matthews! Talking about a church plant in Lexington – St. Patrick’s (ironic). We were trying to get a handle on the difference between contextualization and relevance and between resistance to the dominant culture and capitalization to it. Good stuff.

It seems to me that Patrick exemplified this tension (if it is a tension?). He certainly led a contextual mission, but he didn’t try to be relevant. He resisted certain practices and cultural forms of Celtic culture without capitulating to them.

“Humility recedes as leadership advances.”

“… being made a pastor so often has the effect of pulling us out of this immense world and putting us to work in a religious institution that carries on its business pretty much on its own terms and with its own agenda.”

Eugene Peterson – from The Unnecessary Pastor

Well, you’ve probably figured it out by now with my thinly veiled hints – We are pregnant. We’re only about 6 1/2 to 7 weeks along, so it’s still rather tenuous and stressful (I’m not sure that will ever end!). We see the doctor again on Tuesday to find out if everything is developing ok. Whatever the case, God is to be praised!! We were told that we couldn’t have kids naturally (we’d have to do in vitro or adopt). We had already begun looking into adoption (and still want to no matter what happens) and low and behold she’s pregnant!

Grafted In

a jewish reflection on Romans 11

Words and Music – S. Dauermann

God called a man named Abraham

And said, “Come follow me,

I’ll care for you, provide for you,

And meet your deepest need.

As countless as the stars of heav’n

Like sand upon the shore

Your seed shall be uncountable

And blessed forevermore.”

Through all the years of history

The Lord has kept his word

And Abra’m’s seed has multiplied

But oft forgot their Lord

And yet they are his Olive Tree

His treasure, his delight

Of all the nations in the world

Most precious in his sight

And you’ve been grafted in, grafted in

By grace to share in the blessings of God’s holy Olive Tree

Grafted in. grafted in

Now you’re rooted in the promises of God

Now rooted in the word of God

The gentiles grow as one

With others in the Olive Tree

Who glory in the Son

Yes Jewish roots were broken off

And you were grafted in

But if they turn back to the Lord

He’ll graft them in again

And they’ll be grafted in, grafted in

By grace to share in the blessings of God’s holy Olive Tree

Grafted in, grafted in,

They’ll be rooted in the promises of God

I believe in an ugly, dirty Jesus. Does that bother anybody?

I’m so tired of programs. I used to think that programs were a means to an end for forming a relationship with someone. Now, I disagree. Programs get in the way of relationships. I’d much rather live my life in community with people without having to create arbitrary, formal programs to artificially inseminate community. It’s so frustrating!

We had an awesome House Church gathering last night!! We’ve been following the Gospel passages for the weeks of Lent (a relatively new thing for some in our group). Last night we focused on Mark 1:9-11 – the baptism of Christ. We framed the whole evening in the Taken (Chosen)/Blessed/Broken/Given metaphor the Nouwen uses in Life of the Beloved. We greeted folks at the door with a large chunk of bread, looked them in the eyes, and said “(name), you are chosen by God, you are his beloved”. We blessed one another by tearing off a bit of our bread and gave it to someone while telling them something of how they bless us. We then noted our brokenness, both the bread’s and ours, and we gave communion to one another.

It was cool discovering how we are also God’s Beloved and what it means to be chosen/blessed/broken/given to the world. It was very powerful and moving. We ended with praying for one another. Several folks commented on how present God seemed all evening. This was doubly exciting for me since I’ve wanted to experiment with more experiential acts of worship and more liturgy (which people didn’t know we were doing, but we were).

Sarah and I also shared some news (of which I refered in a previous post), but can’t share here yet. We have a couple more phone calls to make before we make it very public.