overheard

i'm following montgomery brewster's advice today by voting for "NONE OF THE ABOVE!"* however, that does not mean that i am disinterested in political issues and the general direction of our country. i've stumbled across a couple of excellent pieces about politics and evangelical interactions in politics lately that i would like to share.

first, i recently finished state of denial, which is the third volume in bob woodward's bush at war series. there are so many things that i could say about this rather massive tome, but i will limit my loquaciousness by offering a few blunt, opinionated reflections:

1) according to woodward, donald rumsfield has almost completely ignored the joint chief's perspectives on the military actions in iraq and in afghanistan. this has led to our almost criminally deficient deployments of troops and has shielded the executive branch from the realistic assessments of the soldiers in the field.

2) i had no idea that bush pushed out one of america's finest soldiers out of the secretary of state role so that he could employ an over-matched russianist who had failed to effectively fulfill her last government post. i have to agree with george herbert walker bush when he states that condi is a "real disappointment."

3) on account of either his natural optimism or his absolute belief in his failed foreign policy, bush has never wavered from his decision to invade iraq and will probably never authorize a strategic retreat from that morass. in this volume, bush is portrayed as a good natured, energetic, political fundamentalist. i suspect that this portrayal would have been more nuanced had bush agreed to be interviewed for this work like he allowed himself to be interviewed for plan of attack.

second, kellie forwarded me this excellent article by wheaton alumnus and former bush speechwriter michael gershon, in which the author suggests some healthy ways forward concerning a new "faith-based agenda." gershon's conception focuses more on global poverty and health issues that internal, american social issues and he suggests a manner in which candidates on both sides of the aisle can learn to connect with american christians who are no longer solely concerned with prayer in schools, idols in state courthouses and abortion.

third, andy crouch conducted an intriguing interview with former faith based initiatives staffer david kuo concerning kuo's new work tempting faith. crouch is his cantankerous, contrarian self in this interview and works hard to uncover kuo's intentions concerning this work. the result is an edgy, informative interview which talks about such issues as evangelical naivete in american politics and the need for evangelicals to undergo training and perhaps even a type of political ordination before heading into the partisan fray.

finally, gordon macdonald offers some helpful reflections concerning the haggard scandal and hints at the dangers of evangelical political accommodation.

* if you are tempted to lecture me about my democratic responsibilities please refrain. i think quite a bit about politics, but usually (i.e., when bush is not running for president) refrain from voting in local, state or national elections. i would like to think that my tendencies are rooted in the anabaptist tradition, but there is a good chance my choice is the result of my deep cynicism concerning the political process and/or appalling apathy.

mid-morning time waster

last night, while listening to all things considered on the way back from my proctologist’s office, i heard a clip of president bush at a rally in florida* proclaim: “we do have a plan for victory in iraq. and part of that plan is keeping congress in republican control.”

today’s pressing question: was this statement more or less ridiculous than the following statements?

“the detroit tigers' biggest obstacle to a championship will be keeping a straight face. the tigers in three. (OK, make it four.)” – bob nightingale in his world series preview that was published in usa today

“i did not have sexual relations with that woman, ms. lewinsky.” – president clinton publicly denying a particularly tawdry expression of executive privilege

“i never had a gay relationship with anybody, and i'm steady with my wife. i'm faithful to my wife.” - ted haggard on november 3, 2006

"i think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency." – dick cheney as quoted on june 20, 2005

* which charlie crist, florida’s republican candidate for governor, declined to attend lest bush’s “popularity” rub off on him.

concerning swaggart part deux

i have little doubt that most of you have heard the allegations that ted haggard, the pastor of new life church in colorado springs and the president of the national association of evangelicals, has been accused of soliciting sex and using methamphetamines. as will samson said so well in this post this is a tragic situation that will profoundly affect everyone involved.

i'm not going to use this event as a launching pad for a sermon lamenting the oppressive expectations of superficial righteousness that we place upon evangelical pastors, though i definitely could, but i cannot help but utter one note of lament.

in response to this tragedy, which is bound to have a profound effect upon haggard's wife and five children, the 15,000 members of new life church and evangelicals who have been influenced by haggard's leadership at the NAE, james dobson offered the following statements on cnn.com:

"It is unconscionable that the legitimate news media would report a rumor like this based on nothing but one man's accusation," Dobson said in a written statement issued before haggard's leave was announced.

"Ted Haggard is a friend of mine, and it appears someone is trying to damage his reputation as a way of influencing the outcome of Tuesday's election -- especially the vote on Colorado's marriage-protection amendment, which Ted strongly supports," Dobson said.

so apparently, according to dobson, the primary cause of this tragic event is the liberal media and the primary consequences will be political.

as if we needed further evidence that dr. dobson just doesn't get it.

as will sampson reminded us, let us continue to pray for ted haggard's family, congregation and the well-being of his accuser.

reader/response

the most recent edition of next-wave features an excellent review of Jesus of Suburbia by dustin bagby and an intriguing article entitled dear emergents by indiana wesleyan professor keith drury. in the latter article professor drury commends the emergent church for its missional orientation, abiding idealism and mystical theology. however, he also offers two words of caution as well.

since the second caution effectively summarizes one of my own deepest concerns about emergent i'm posting it in hopes that you will read and respond.

Keep the church. You are going to be tempted to abandon the church and go off into solitary spirituality. Your crushed idealism may cause you to give up on the assembled people of God and our culture’s individualism will entice you toward your iPod rather than worship on Sunday mornings. There will be voices recruiting you to leave the church—reversing the notion of “called out ones” to being called out of the church to an individualized privatized spirituality. I pray you will not listen to these temptations. Be wary of any who claim to “love Jesus but despise the church.” Refuse to walk away from the assembly of believers into a privatized self-centered spirituality. If you are practicing privatized faith on your own apart from the assembly you are not being a Christian at all—you merely practicing spiritual masturbation. There is no such thing as a solitary Christian any more than a solitary marriage. Christians come in clusters. I hope you emergents will reinvent all kinds of new ways for the church to be the church, but none of them should include a church-less Christianity. For a church-less Christianity is essentially a Christ-less Christianity and thus not Christian at all. To be prepared for this temptation read Bonhoeffer.

overheard: cardinals apologize for winning world series


ST. LOUIS—Calling Friday night's victory on baseball's grandest stage "a terrible mistake," members of the St. Louis Cardinals issued a formal apology for making the playoffs, winning the World Series, and depriving baseball fans everywhere of a season featuring the kind of heartwarming, storybook ending to which they have grown accustomed in recent years. continue reading

overheard

yesterday leadership journal posted an intriguing article entitled preaching past tivo.* if you listen to "godcasts" for fun, enjoy the writings of will willimon, doug pagitt, john ortberg and/or efrem smith or simply have waaay too much time on your hands at work take a moment to read it. i was fascinated with the concept of "a shadow mission" and intrigued by shane claiborne's idea of earthy, life-application teaching. i'd love to hear your reflections.

* i find it a little disturbing that blogger's spell checker knows the proper spelling of TiVo but does not recognize any derivative of homiletics.

disconnected salem reflections

last night we offered peace to the city of salem, watched our beloved brooke perform on the fountain stage and, finally, shut down the confession booth for the season. serving in salem is such an overwhelming experience that i am hesitant to offer a benign summary. so i’d like to offer a few disconnected reflections instead.

when the temperature was at or above 55 degrees i choose to walk the streets barefoot. this discalced look reflects my love for the early franciscans, never fails to elicit comments from curious onlookers and provides conclusive evidence, due to the remarkable length of my toes, that i am indeed the missing link. last night i had a number of people take pictures of my bare feet, received the requisite amount of admonitions from senior citizens, had a passerby warn me about a pile of horseshit that blighted my intended path and a smartass kid share his hope that i would step on a hypodermic needle. today my feet hurt, so i guess i should give the old ladies their due.

okay, i'll admit it. next year i would really like to have placards and signs that proclaim: "blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons and daughters of God;" "blessed are the poor, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven;" and "what does the Lord require of you? to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

on a couple of occasions last night i was almost certain i was about to get my ass kicked. fortunately that didn’t happen.

throughout the day yesterday the cliché office conversation focused on the fears that there would be a gang battle in salem on halloween night. there was a grandmother worrying about her grandchildren, receptionists responding to the fear mongering on “news” radio* and a few people expressing amazement that i would spend time in salem on halloween. today, after hearing the reports of the relatively minor incidents that took place, people still can’t talk enough about the police thwarting the evil plans of the chelsea crips or recounting the stories of the two minor stabbings that took place. maybe i’m being an arse for saying this, but whenever i hear people obsessing about possible gang wars in salem or the supposed “lights out weekend” gang initiations that people worried about during my youth i hear a whispered subtext that sounds something like this: THE BLACK PEOPLE ARE COMING TO TOWN! WATCH OUT FOR YOUNG BLACK PEOPLE! HOW CAN WE KEEP OUR KIDS SAFE WHEN BLACK PEOPLE ROAM THE STREETS? maybe i’m misinterpreting the subtext, but i don’t think so. the overwhelming presence and subtle power of white, suburban suspicion is so strong that i caught myself doing a little freelance racial profiling last night. that makes me ashamed.

i must say that the haters, er…i mean the street preachers, were remarkably restrained last night. one of them was speaking so reasonably and persuasively about sexual ethics that a couple of young local women** stopped and told a group of our monks that if young men actually lived in line with such ethics “a lot less women would get hurt.” these young women were of eastern orthodox and coptic christian ancestry and shocked our monks by telling them to affirm the street preacher for “speaking the truth.” i was also surprised that by the end of the night several of the street preachers came to the gathering space seeking reconciliation with the church leaders and, to my knowledge, none of our monks were openly denounced or had a negative word spoken against them.***
i also ran into a guy that i spent talking to on monday night and he asked me how he could get in touch with me in the future. i suspected he might have been a tad too inebriated to either remember my phone number or write it down, so i told him to visit my friends at the gathering space if he wanted to contact me. at that he smiled and said “hey, if those guys are anything like you, they’re totally cool with me. i’ll stop by.” i must admit that i found that encounter rather gratifying.

we were fortunate to have a number of young gordon college students with us last night who entered into intriguing spiritual conversations with people by simply asking questions. i was impressed by their generosity of Spirit and genuine interest in the opinions of those who walked the streets of salem.

ok, that’s about it. i’m exhausted, my feet hurt and my voice is shredded. once again, it was a blessing to us to work beside the gathering as they seek to bless the people of salem. it is intoxicating to partner with a church that is on the mission and we’re looking forward to serving again next year.


* why would anyone in boston listen to a “news” radio station other than npr? one has to wonder.

** a couple of whom were sporting the almost requisite “i’m a hottie whore” outfits.

*** which is all the more intriguing since i went out of my way to wander into their preaching pit and shout things like “if you’ve heard enough condemnation from the church, come to confession,” “it’s time to purge the pulpits, it’s time to clean out the vestries, come to confession” and “if you’re sick and tired of Christian hypocrisy, come to confession” on a number of occasions.

overheard...

"Jesus doesn't meet our needs; he rearranges them. He cares very little about most things that I assume are my needs, and he gives me needs that I would've never had if I hadn't met Jesus. He reorders them.

I used to ask seminarians, "Why are you in seminary?" They'd say, "I like meeting people's needs." And I'd say, "Whoa. Really? If you try that with the people I know, they'll eat you alive."

Now, if you're a pastor in Honduras, it might be okay to define your ministry as meeting needs, because more people in Honduras have interesting biblical needs—food, clothing, housing. But most people in the churches I know get those needs met without prayer. So they've moved on to "needs" like orgasm, a satisfying career, an enjoyable love life, a positive outlook on life, and stuff the Bible has absolutely no interest in." - Will Willimon as quoted in Leadership Journal

livin' for the love of the city




last night we served with this guy, pastor phil wyman. all of us at sinners and saints love this guy and think you’ll love him too. the story of his community’s commitment to “be a blessing to the city of salem” is featured on the front page of the wall street journal and is included in the the salem evening news as well. you can pick up the journal at your local newsstand and read the news article by clicking on the link provided above.

in related news...

life has been really rich lately. i’ve reveled in renewed connections with friends in the lou and chicago-land, felt my crusty soul unfold as simkins and i rolled through the midwest, reveled in the cardinals winning the world series and spied the first signs of reconciliation in one of my most essential relationships. so much has happened that i’ve had precious little time to write, but i suppose that’s the way it goes. of course, i’m planning to explore these experiences further sometime after they cease to be relevant.

i suppose that’s a long way of saying that i would like to forego any reflection on the past week so that i can talk about what happened last night. for the past several years a small contingent of sinners and saints has been partnering with the gathering as together we seek to “be a blessing” to the people of salem. throughout the years we’ve served free hot chocolate, offered “p(s)alm readings”* and donned monk robes to offer free confessions to whomever will hear them.**

last night, as we were wolfing down meatball subs and openly wondering whether we should open the confession booth since there was a surprisingly small crowd walking in and around essex street, phil wyman received a call from christian day, one of salem’s high priests of wicca. christian reported that the entrance to their psychic fair was being obstructed by fundamentalist preachers who were causing quite an uproar. so he decided to call pastor phil and the police in hopes that the witches and the visitors to the witch city could find some peace. at that moment, for some unknown reason, i received christian’s plea as a call to action. so four of us quickly finished our subs, donned our monk robes and headed down to the museum place mall.

once we arrived on the scene, i realized we were walking into a fairly volatile situation. the street preachers were condemning the crowds of sins like beastaphilia, the witches were claiming that one of their number was physically assaulted by either a member of repent america or an associated group and a goth kid was verbally abusing the preachers, denouncing the christians by screaming things that i am hesitant to repeat and stopping just short of taking a swing at any person who countered him.***

at that moment, i realized that i needed to do some pretty quick thinking. should i stand in front of the preachers and counter their condemnation by proclaiming Christ’s blessing upon peacemakers? i tried this approach for a moment but quickly realized that fighting fire with fire was not the best option. should i spend the next few hours standing in front of the “persecution cams,” smiling a benign smile and thwarting fundamentalist attempts to blatantly objectify my fellow citizens? i tried this course for a while, but realized it only incensed the “preachers” all the more and did little fulfill our calling to “bless the city of salem.” finally, i settled on simply speaking grace and truth to both the passerby and those who were committed to condemning non-christians for failing to live up to a kingdom ethic. this latter approach appeared to produce the best fruit, a couple of slices of which i would like to share below.

almost as soon as i decided to share Christ’s peace with the crowd i bumped into a young man who had once been a foster child of a family i know quite well. as soon as i saw him i removed my hood, reminded him of our connection and encouraged he and his friend not to pay much mind to the spite the preachers were spewing or even pay them much attention. i told that by standing around gawking at the street preachers and trying to convince the latter that they actually were not “nazis” they were only encouraging this event to continue.

after i spoke with a few more people i bumped into a leather clad townie who seemed amused by the street preachers and openly wondered “how anyone could take this shit seriously.” i confessed to him that i was a Christian who believed that Christ offered us the most beautiful, good and true approach to life, but that i thought it was ridiculous for the church to require non-christians to embrace the sexual ethics**** that Christ expected of the church and believed that the group that most needed to heed the call to repentance was the church. the townie responded that he had fought many great battles in his life against “crack, crystal meth and the bottle” but had ultimately found freedom from his addictions. moreover, he readily admitted that he believed in Jesus and, during one of the street preacher’s more hostile harangues, he pulled out a harmonica and started to play amazing grace.

in the midst of these encounters i also had the opportunity to speak with a young christian woman who had traveled all the way from wisconsin to preach to the people of salem. after we had a brief discussion concerning the primary focus of prophetic condemnation in the scriptures***** i asked her whether she had ever heard of marshall mcluhan. she told me that she hadn’t, so i spent a few moments explaining his dictum that “the medium is the message” and openly wondering with her whether spreading condemnation upon non-Christians was the best way to share the life in Christ we both value so dearly. our amicable discussion reminded me that true dialogue with the street preachers was both possible and potentially beneficial.

later i spoke with a slightly inebriated man who really wanted to know whether God’s forgiveness, which to him seemed to good to be true, was real and later responded to another question by affirming that even a broken man on his deathbed was not beyond the gracious embrace of God.

there were other remarkably beautiful encounters as well, such as when one of the witches crashed the church after all the earlier craziness to thank us for being a means of peace to the city of salem,****** but i’ve probably said too much already.

i’ll conclude by simply noting that last night i had the opportunity to share the gospel of God’s peace and embody Christ’s reconciliation in a manner, and to an extent, that i never have before. moreover, i left the city revelling in the fact that those who seek to be a blessing are often the most blessed indeed.

i can’t wait to get back to salem. if you’re in the area and would like to join us you are more than welcome.

* which i absolutely suck at.

** we confess the sins of the church in hopes that the Holy Spirit can clear new ground wherein reconciliation takes place. we stole this idea from donald miller’s blue like jazz and freely admit that our act is wholly unoriginal.

*** one of the fundamentalist’s video cameras was not so lucky.

**** the preachers roundly condemned homosexuality, adultery and fornication and returned to the topic of homosexual marriage time and again. but apparently they found the topic of beastiality most titillating. i must confess that after they loudly addressed “those who practice beastiality” i loudly asked “so where are the sheep?” i don’t know if the latter question was constructive, but i found it quite funny.

***** for the record, the people of God are almost always the object of such condemnation. Jesus does indeed denounce people as whitened sepulchers and hypocrites, but you’ll never find him speaking in such a manner to egyptians or greeks. the same principle almost always applies to the old testament prophets as well, though, in fairness, jonah did openly denounce the ninevites.

****** forgive me if i keep further details of that beautiful encounter to myself. some encounters should not be reduced to words.

memorandum from captain random



this article is the oddest piece i have ever read on CT.com. if you often find yourself wondering what ann coulter, doing "the binky" and the ingredients of conejo soup have to do with Christian discipleship, you'll love this article.

if would rather die than have to repeat phrases like "it's time to get your big girl panties on!," "you have boobs" or "y'all pause for menopause" to middle aged southern women one.more.time.

tomorrow i'm heading out to chicago to join mr. simkins for a journey down the world series. be sure to look for us on FOX.* it's your duty judy!

i was oddly intrigued by this cnn puff piece on bob newhart. i especially liked the part where he confessed: "Being a comedian," he writes, "means you are antiauthority at heart." that quote reminded me of dr. david wells' warning that "the most violent thing you can do to an institution, proposition or person is to laugh at it." i often remember that admonition from dr. wells right before i smirk and start ripping.

* i'll be the asshole snapping a rally-towel in a random thunder-stick user's face.

Isaiah 40:28-31

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

the first time i met dr. spencer he described his church as “a wonderful place to be sick in.” he responded to the question on my face by saying, “if i was dying of cancer, pilgrim church is right where i would want to be.” as a progeny of the church growth movement, i had expected dr. spencer to define his church by their vision, numbers or programs. so it surprised me when he defined his church as a source of sweet consolation.

a couple of years ago, i got really hooked on a sermon tape that was produced by leadership magazine. on one side of the tape, john piper preached a rousing sermon on racial reconciliation focusing on 2 corinthians 5 and mlk’s “letter from the birmingham jail” as his primary texts. since i am a son of the south who has wrestled with the demons of racism and learned that the surest sign of salvation is one’s desire for and sacrifices on behalf of reconciliation, i found this sermon incredibly inspiring. on the other side featured a “leadership community” teaching by john ortberg in which he envisioned spiritual growth in terms of the passage i’ve quoted above. pastor ortberg began by admitting that some Christians, especially in an environment like willow creek, truly soar in their faith. these people have a deep and abiding relationship with God, find it easy to invite others into the life of God and are constantly incarnating the faith in powerful ways. other people, he surmised, are running the race of faith and not growing weary. some of these folks are new to the faith and cannot get enough of Jesus’ teachings, others are people who find obedience to the sermon on the mount to be an absolute delight. however, ortberg confessed that there are still others who can barely find the strength to walk in faith. these are people who find it difficult to get out of bed every morning, are constantly afraid of the signs of despair that blight the horizon and can barely find the strength to persevere in the faith. ortberg’s admonition to this latter group was to neither fixate on those who soar or envy of those who run, but to simply keep walking.
keep walking.

today, after nine months of desperate struggle in the midst of a year that has been littered with death and surrendered few signs of life, i am finding it hard to walk. fortunately, much like dr. spencer, i realize that i am in the midst of a community that constantly dispenses sweet consolation, i am blessed with a pixie-like wife who will not let me collapse before the pernicious clouds on the horizon and have friends who do not consider it a burden to carry me along when the situation requires it.

this is not a cry for help but a commendation of a God who graciously empowers soarers, runners and walkers alike and a community that truly cares for its members. truly, i am blessed.

overheard by pixie

Lunch break at a doctor's office is pretty much synonymous with magazine perusal. Today I decided to take a break from "People" and read the cover article in last week's Time Magazine about Barak O'Bama.

I have a hunch that the following quote will be following me around for the next few days quietly disrupting my neatly ordered ideas. Since misery loves company, I shared the quote with Jeff who wanted to subject the whole blogosphere to the misery that is the thinking mind.

"It has not always been the pragmatist, the voice of reason, or the force of compromise, that has created the conditions for liberty," he writes about the antislavery movement of the 19th century. "knowing this, I can't summarily dismiss those possessed of similar certainty today - the antiabortion activist...the animal rights activist who raids a laboratory - no matter how deeply I disagree with their views. I am robbed even of the certainty of uncertainty - for sometimes absolute truths may well be absolute." *

The companion article entitled My Spiritual Journey (did he take IDS 201?) provides some interesting thoughts on the role of community providing a home for ideals, particularly as it led to his conversion to Christianity.

Not all things in life are provided gratis so for these thoughts you will have to do a little reading yourself.

* Bold font in last line added by the Pixie for emphasis.

musing...



the further i walk down this narrow road of faith, the more reticent i become about reducing discipleship to evangelism. i don’t believe the disciple’s sole calling is to seek the conversion of the world. rather, i suspect that our calling is to: holistically follow Jesus, communally proclaim the Kingdom of God and together incarnate Christ’s compassion upon the world.

that being said, i have nothing but respect for many of my brothers and sisters in Christ who are absolutely on fire for evangelism. both the intensity of their focus and their willingness to be made fools for Christ is laudable, and i long to be as passionate about praying for my persecutors or advocating on behalf of the fatherless as they are for sharing the four spiritual laws or hearing their friends and family mutter the “sinner’s prayer.”

although i question (and, honestly, sometimes detest) the methods used and the ends sought by my fellow ee-vangelicals and fundies, and think both the church and the world could benefit from the ecclesia following brian mclaren’s advice to spend a few years apologizing for our sins instead of investing ourselves more fully in apologia, i am jealous of the ee-vangelical fire and, today anyway, find myself lusting for their passion.

i fear this is a weird confession, but i’m going to post it anyway.

go cards.

musing...

this morning realized that many of my mentors have been trying to teach me the same lesson for years. uncle freddy constantly reminds me that God is not a captive of our abstract conceptions, but chooses to engage, and in a very real sense unfold His life in the midst of, tangled up individuals and dysfunctional communities who for some unexplained reason still long for a sense of the holy. in his music and with his life rich reminded me that Jesus is not captive to the demands or expectations of any sub-culture. in fact, He is committed to turning over tables in every nook and cranny of the public square and constantly calling us to leave our place of comfort and meet him in the margins. moreover, philip yancey has spent the better part of a decade reminding me that our first-century Jewish Messiah is not captive to our reductionistic confessions and God's grace usually operates outside of our conceptual boxes.

again and again this small contingent of God's great cloud of witnesses is chanting God is not captive, God is not captive.

so why do i continue to live like the life of God and the incarnation of His Kingdom is somehow captive or contained within the church? why do i disassociate participating in the life of God within the context of the church from working out my faith within the context of work? every once in a while, i realize that i am failing to follow God and serve those who were created in His image in the workplace, which fortunately or not, is the context in which i live the majority of my waking life. in those moments, like this moment, when i realize that i have left the way of Jesus outside the door of our cubicle farm and could care less about incarnating the Kingdom within this space i am utterly ashamed.

i realize that God is not captive to my compartmentalized world. it's time to start living in step with that truth.

mid-morning time waster: your customer secret service exam


your manic-depressive, non-christian c.s.s. co-worker has had coldplay’s fix you playing on repeat for three straight hours. you know that your co-worker is currently in a manic phase, has recently threatened to dispose of an adversary by “cutting them up into little pieces and vacuuming them up with a vacuum cleaner” and will probably collapse into gasping sobs if you say anything, but you feel that it is time to act. would you address the situation by:

a) politely requesting that your co-worker put jim henson’s “rainbow connection,” her other favorite song, on repeat for the remainder of the day.

b) give her a burned copy of sonic flood’s derivative new single, “Jesus Christ will fix you,” so that she will break the monotony and hopefully get saved.

c) cut chris martin into little pieces and vacuum him up in a vacuum cleaner.

d) keep your mouth shut for one time in your occupational forsaken life and sing rodgers and hammerstein’s “the farmer and the cowman should be friends” under your breath in a vain attempt to dislodge the song from your consciousness.

mid-afternoon time waster: your customer secret service exam



thank you for applying for lightway’s customer secret service position! we know that you have a spectacular talk time, are an aggressive, god-centered up-seller and are among the most efficient at return resolution within our company. however, it takes more than excellent metrics to join the C.S.S., you are going to have to show us that you are a mature christian man or woman that can resolve every conceivable issue with grace and truth. please answer the following questions carefully. your future in under-employment will depend on it!

1. on monday morning a customer calls to request a return authorization for the plastic locust bugs from the “god’s exciting exodus!” series. like many difficult conversations, this exchange has the possibility of escalating into a major customer crisis. please read the dialogue carefully and pick the best response to the situation.

customer: “i received 15 locust bugs and would like to return each $3 piece for a $45 credit.”

c.s.s. rep: “ma’am, you actually returned 12 pieces, so upon receipt of return you will receive a $36 credit.”

customer: “you don’t UNDERSTAND. IT SAYS I RECEIVED 15 PIECES ON MY PACKING SLIP.”

c.s.s. rep: “ma’am, i’m afraid you might be reading our, admittedly rather complicated, packing slips incorrectly. you actually received…”

customer: “YOU’RE SAYING I CAN’T READ? YOU’RE THE ONE WHO CAN’T COMMUNICATE!”

c.s.s. rep: “ma’am, if we can talk like adults here, i’m sure we can resolve this issue in an efficient and effective manner.”

customer: “I AM TALKING LIKE AN ADULT! HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF SPEAKING OTHERWISE? WHO ARE YOU TO ACCUSE A CUSTOMER IN SUCH A MANNER.”

at this perilous point in the conversation do you…

a) apologize to the customer by saying, “i am sorry that you did not like my response. would you like to speak to my c.s.s. handler about this matter?”

b) follow the trusty dictum “the customer is always right,” by telling the customer, “okay, you can return all fifteen pieces and upon receipt of return we will credit you $45.”
c) respond to the irate customer by saying the following: “no ma’am, you are speaking like a petulant child. now if you will just calm down for one moment we will resolve this issue together.

d) scrunch up your voice and fake a static noise into the receiver before hanging up on the customer and hoping that she receives another c.s.s. representative when she calls in again.

those who answer today’s question correctly will proceed to question #2, which will be posted tomorrow.

thankful


on saturday i had the opportunity to man a hot dog stand and serve hundreds of families at salem's annual "children's day." by the end of the day i smelled like sausage, had openly lusted over a bull-mastiff that donned a hooters outfit and was thankful once again for the opportunity to stand beside and serve with the gathering - a community that simply seeks to "bless the people of salem." we'd love for you to serve with us this halloween as we bless the city of salem by providing hot chocolate, inviting people to hear confessions and serving the city of salem in any other way we can imagine. this is one opportunity you will not want to miss.

by the way, as i saw a hundred and fifty kids line up for the costume parade i could not help but think about some of the horrible costumes i wore as a child. i am almost ashamed to admit, especially in light of current events, that when i was nine years old i put on a "dr. k" t-shirt, pulled a mets cap down over my eyes, slathered my arms and face in brown paint and trick-or-treated as an inexplicably drug-free doc gooden. apparently in 1986 nobody thought twice about letting a kid roam the neighborhood in black-face, but i think that if a kid tried that today his experience might be, understandably, different.

what was your worst costume ever?

where i take a sit-com waaay too seriously



there are a million things i love about the office including stanley’s dignified, deadpan refusal to put up with michael’s shit, the fact that ryan, in all his under-employed, sarcastic and occupationally impotent glory, often reminds me of a more talented, subtle and better looking version of the SS jeff and my hunch that a physical altercation between michael and toby is an inevitability.

however, this season i have also appreciated how much mercy and grace the workers at dunder-mifflin extend to michael scott. when michael violated oscar by outing him in front of the whole office, oscar snapped and called michael “ignorant and small.” but instead of following up that accusation with a command to go _____ himself, in the ___, with a stainless steel, serrated _____, like i would if my former lightway monkey had screeched something revealing about me in our little tree, he apologized and subjected himself to a painfully physical reconciliation. moreover, last night when michael, in his absurd grief, required his workers to attend a memorial service for a dead bird, pam didn’t call him a dollar store _____ ___ and suggest that he grow the ____ up and grow a _____, like i likely would if the chimp who served as my mentored ministry adviser at S.H.I.T. had asked us to chip in five bucks to send flowers for the wake of his townie girlfriend’s nascar lovin’ third cousin, but she facilitated his irrational outpouring of grief by creating a casket for the bird and convincing dwight to break out the recorder. none of this is to say that the dunder mifflin crew takes michael seriously or even that they refuse to make a joke at his expense, but they consistently, if begrudgingly, offer him mercy instead of condemnation and even invite him to experience community in the midst of his alienation.

i find their admittedly fictional treatment of michael incredibly beautiful. moreover, in a very real sense the dunder-mifflin crew challenges me to both maintain my sense of humor about my occupational lot in life and be a reconciler in this horribly inane environment. in the end, they challenge me to fulfill paul’s imperative in 2 Cor. 5:16-22 and so live out the full restoration that is available in Christ.

one more thing, props to whomever gave dwight my phone number this week. that was funny.

on eisegesis and inhaling

there’s bound to come some trouble
so it’s best to count the cost
cause suffering is the future
of the saved and of the lost

i’m cursing in the darkness
and looking to lay the blame
but does it matter what the cause is
when the ends are all the same?

you say there’s a losing that is winning
and that’s the way you played the game
well i’m a natural born loser
that's yet to stumble onto that way*

i still suspect there's a difference
between the ends of virtue and of vice
but when i can’t feel the former
smoking the latter sure feels nice

* fuck if i know how to finish that stanza

whew! i'm glad that simile metaphor is still holding sway!

over lunch, i read a brief article on christianitytoday.com entitled what's next: evangelism. this article is a brief compendium of leading evangelical's thoughts on the primacy of evangelism in the church's mission. the article was pretty bland, insofar as it focused on fairly typical evangelical banging about the great commission, but what really caught me off-guard was the concluding statement that i have posted below.

"Summing up, international evangelist Reinhard Bonnke said, 'The church of Jesus Christ is not a pleasure boat, but a lifeboat for saving souls. And every hand is needed on deck. How do we launch lifeboats and how do we get all hands on deck? There is no other agenda. It's harvest time, and woe if we do not harvest.'"

i think this metaphor provides a completely reductionistic and wholly inadequate view of the church and her mission. thus, i would like for us to develop an alternate analogy or description of the church that would be more helpful. any ideas?

an open invitation from the sinners and saints christian community



Hey Friends,

For the past two years Sinners and Saints has had the privilege of serving with The Gathering community as they fulfill their mission of being a blessing to the people of Salem throughout the Halloween season. The first year we simply served hot chocolate, since we were a little too shy and timid to participate in their innovative P(s)alm Readings and Dream Interpretation booths. However, the second year James Wilcox got us into gear by suggesting that we replicate the Confession Booth experience that was popularized in Don Miller’s Blue Like Jazz.

For those of you who haven’t read Blue you should, but I’ll throw you a bone by providing a simple description of the Confession Booth idea. Basically, we dress in full monk regalia (as Pastor Phil of The Gathering always says, "in Salem the weirder the better!") and walk the streets of Salem inviting people to come and experience confession. People who are intrigued by this idea or fuming angry that you’re offering a Christian sacrament in the middle of a Halloween festival follow us into the candle lit, incense filled tent and we pull back our monk hoods and begin to confess the sins of the church throughout history, the sins of the church in Salem and our own sins insofar as we have failed to fulfill the Great Commandment.

This experience might sound a little cheesy to some and far fetched to others, but I can tell you from first hand experience that it provides a powerful opportunity for us to clear a lot of the rubble away that has alienated both ourselves and others from the beauty, truth and goodness of the Christian faith and so provides wonderful ground for reconciliation to take place. In addition, James Wilcox has expressed the experience in a more compelling and lyrical way than I ever could, so I would encourage you to read his reflections by clicking here.

We would love for each one of you to share in this opportunity to be a blessing to the city of Salem and the 100,000+ visitors who will walk through her streets this Halloween and receive the blessing of incarnating Christ’s compassion and reconciliation in this broken world. We need people who are willing to man the confession booth with us, but if you don’t feel quite ready for that, we could also use your help to serve hot chocolate, help prepare evening meals for the dozens of volunteers who are working each night and simply serve in whatever way is needed throughout these sacred nights.

We will be running the Confession Booth on Friday the 20th of October – Sunday the 22nd and on Friday the 27th of October – Tuesday the 31st. On Friday nights as well as Halloween Eve and Halloween we will have a shift that runs from 5-7 p.m. and a shift that runs from 7-10 p.m. and on the weekend shifts we will run two hour shifts beginning at Noon.

If you have any questions about this unique opportunity or if you would simply like to chat, feel free to contact me directly at gentry13@gmail.com. I work from 8 – 5 pm everyday, but I can talk almost any evening. We are thankful that you are committed to seeking the Kingdom of God with us and hope that you take advantage of this opportunity to serve.

In Christian Love,

Jeff Gentry and the Sinners and Saints Community

fatty (almost) fall down

gearing up


letting go of the past


getting ready to kick ass!

five minute movie review: the departed

as mentioned previously, last friday the pixie decided that she really wanted to see scorcese's new film and i decided to surrender to her desire so long as we could count the departed as a chick flick. so on friday night i happily dodged a devil wears prada caliber bullet and we headed to the AMC down at the dirtmall.

if you like convoluted mob stories, can stomach ultra-violent gun play and enjoy star-studded ensemble casts you'll love this movie. the performances by the major players were excellent and mark wahlberg stole the show as detective dignam. i was surprised that the theme of this movie, which i'd summarize as "everything is what it is and also something else," lines up so well with a number of other narratives that i've enjoyed this year such as mark winegardner's crooked river burning. i am constantly fascinated with the contradictory polarities of both character and action that plague my life and, i suspect, plague others as well. i am also more and more convinced that stark authenticity and consistency of character and action is one of the most attractive features of Jesus' life and needs to be an essential characteristic of those who choose to embody Christ's gospel and compassion in this world. in the end the departed is, at least in part, a testimony to the dualities that appear to serve but often utterly doom our personal lives. thus, i think the story of the film's protagonists is as an excellent diagnosis of the human condition and, in a subtle way, serves as a stark warning for those of us who call ourselves Christians.

evangelicals worried that teens won't acquire the fire



on friday the NYT ran a front page story that focused on "acquire the fire's" youth revivals and evangelical's concerns about the faith of their children. apparently ron luce, the director of AQF, has frequently noted that if we fail to properly evangelize and indoctrinate our teens only 4% will grow into "bible-believing christians." these claims are highly suspicious insofar as they rely on a dated study by thom rainer, who admits in the body of the article that these figures are not current, and the surveys of evangelical pollster george barna, who tends to define "bible believing christian" in unmistakably modern terms that would paint many of us as apostate ee-vangelicals (i.e., belief in biblical inerrancy, an embrace of biblical "absolutes," etc.). while i agree with sociologists such as christian smith (who is interviewed in the article and recently co-wrote soul searching: the religious and spiritual lives of america's teenagers - a book i am dying to read) that the state of american christianity is not quite so dire, i do believe that we need to effectively proclaim the story of Jesus to america's teens, find more effective ways to incorporate them into the body of Christ and empower them to participate in the mission of God. however, i do not think that mass youth rallies that merely stir up religious enthusiasm and the ongoing propagation of a christian subculture (i.e., by countering the consumerism of the world by creating christian brands such as luce's branded by God line and the ever popular, sexually subversive wait wear line) is going to do the trick.

rather, in order to effectively share the story of Jesus with teens, incorporate them into the body and empower them to participate in the mission of God i think we need to: free them to create new and engaging forms of worship instead of just consuming the rah-rah shit we've been serving up for the last 30 years, find opportunities for them to serve in transformational ways and environments (i'm thinking of letting them discover the spirituality of cleaning toilets at places like l'arche and creating callouses on their hands as they dig wells in sub-saharan africa) and teach them how to actively subvert the consumeristic culture of the western world instead of simply teaching them to support and sustain the "sanctified" ee-vangelical sub-culture of middle america.

in short, i respect the passion of people like ron luce, but fear that his methods are not going to produce the ends that he seeks. i'd love to hear what you think about these matters. i'd especially like to hear what youth ministers have to say.

memorandum from captain random

unfortunately i do not have time to post anything meaningful today, so i’m going to regularly assault you with meaningless drivel instead. enjoy.

if you love me, you’ll buy me greg boyd’s a myth of a christian nation. i know that a number of you hate boyd’s theological conceptions, but i’ve had the opportunity to connect with this man personally and can confirm that he has an incredible passion for the gospel and pastoral heart. i’ve also heard that he lost upwards of 1,000 members of his congregation after preaching on the sermons that inspired this new book. that takes balls. so even if this book is a rehash of yoder and hauwerwas i want to read it.

last night, while brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed, i realized that the two Christ-followers that i relate with most are godric from buechner’s spectacular novel by the same name and the whisky priest from graham greene’s the power and the glory. the first figure slept with his sister and founds his most intimate communion with snakes and the second lived a rather luxurious life that was built on the backs of his peasant parishioners. although there is much to loathe about these two figures, both of them were carried along by the sustenance of the sacraments and a certain, inescapable sense of holiness (for the priest this holiness rested in the exaltation and administration of eucharist. godric found that this holiness was etched upon and administered through his hands) that attracted people to them and served as their primary means of blessing the world. i feel much the same way insofar as there is much to loathe about my pessimistic, misanthropic and mostly hidden self, yet i have been capture by the inescapable and inestimable beauty, truth and goodness of Jesus Christ’s life and, for some reason, feel compelled to share the stumbling journey of discipleship with others. i suppose that my purpose would be clearer and my ministry would be more metrically satisfying if i related with rick warren or bill hybels. but there you go.

i crossed a line in the sand last night when i chose not to watch my name is earl, which, along with the office, cade lovingly recorded for me, so that i would have the eighth episode of the wire. if you haven’t caught the wire yet and you’re into law and order type television, you’re really missing out. although he makes some poor decisions, such as having his elementary school children perform ad hoc surveillance on a dangerous drug dealer and drinking more than mel gibson on the sabbath, i’m beginning to suspect that detective mcnulty is my new hero.

one of the strange things about spending 40-45 hours a week in an office environment is realizing how often people talk about the same damn thing over and over and over. i have a co-worker who has been talking about her impending move to georgia for at least one hour a day for eight months. her husband’s contract work here in the commonwealth has been extended yet again, meaning i am going to hear about “how nice people are” in georgia and details about every amenity in her house for yet another month. she’s a nice person and i don’t mind working with her, but i wish she would stop turning back to the same damn subject like a broken record. on the bright side, now that i’ve endured her repetitious stories for eight months, i can empathize with dr. james, holli-brooke and the pixie who have hear my shopworn jokes and my ragged edged tirades time and again. in the end, i’m utterly amazed that any of us put up with each other.

as reported elsewhere cade and i went to see high fidelity: the musical on tuesday night. although the first fifteen minutes completely sucked – which means death for sermons, operatic voice pieces and, i fear, musicals – the rest of the first half sucked less so and the second half was rollicking if not balls-to-the-wall fun. i thought cade’s critique of the guy who played rob was spot-on and his trumpeting of christian anderson, who played dick to incredibly poignant and comedic effect, as the scene stealer of the show was spot-on. i would also add that the girl who played liz has a sass that is electric, but unfortunately cannot sing, and the way the second half of the score ironically references and subsequently apes musical genre (there is an excellent lyle lovett inspired tune called, fittingly, “i slept with someone who slept with lyle lovett”) is brilliant. all in all, once i endured the painful first fifteen minutes (which included lines that were almost straight out of the book, but not quite. i.e., “my records are not organized alphabetically or chronologically but, wait for it, autobiographically;” “some people will never get over the night their band opened for radiohead.” i almost wanted to scream, if you are going to use the source material, don’t alter it in such stupid ways!) i had a really great time. in sum, high fidelity is a half-great and altogether good musical.

the pixie and i are going to see scorcese’s new flick the departed this evening. know that kellie has wanted to see this film for some time, so i’m thinking it should be considered a worthy substitute for the chick flicks that she often wants me to see with her. should it count or not? help us out here.

hey cade, sorry i’m stepping out on you concerning the departed. the globe finally reviewed high fidelity and you can find the article here.

the best movie almost no one is watching:

the pixie and i had the opportunity to see half nelson a couple of weeks ago and i really enjoyed it. the movie follows the story of mr. dunne, an idealistic inner city school teacher, and drey, his favorite student and confidante. throughout the movie mr. dunne is trying to teach his eighth grade history students the theory of dialectics in hopes that they will understand the changes that have taken place in history and hopefully participate in social movements to come. the primary irony of the film is that although mr. dunne is obsessed with change on a social and political level, he cannot see any significant changes in his life. his personal stasis is particularly problematic because he is not only a dedicated inner city school teacher, but also an unrepentant crack head. as the friendship between mr. dunne and drey slowly unfolds one keeps hoping that their friendship will bring change to the rather precarious states of both of their lives. yet, as the movie so eloquently shows, we can rarely predict the people and events that will entice, entreat or even force us to change. moreover, sometimes we have to wonder whether change will ever occur at all. half nelson is not an inspiring movie, but it is, in my opinion at least, an incredibly true movie insofar as it both reminds us of both the potential for and our relative inability to engineer change. i think a lot of preachers, counselors, parents and anyone else who is infinitely invested in the lives of others would really benefit from seeing this film that reminds us that, ultimately, change is out of our hands and, hopefully, is in God’s.

hug it out bitch!

this weekend j & b celebrate 6 years of marriage. kudos to them! i would love to commend their union as one of the best examples of the beauty, truth and goodness that i have ever seen and at the same time remind people that often things don't work out quite that well.

further evidence that (former felon) charles colson is losing his mind

on charles colson and prison fellowships'* blog gina dalfonzo reminds us that the real tragedy of the mark foley scandal is not that he sought to sexually abuse young boys or that the republican leadership apparently overlooked such charges in order to sustain their political hegemony. nope, the real scandal is how the liberal media is using this scandal to bring down the god-fearing, flag waving, fag hating republican party.

i'm tempted to disagree with dalfonzo's assessment that i've posted below, but i'm sure that if we knew all the information that the republican leaders did about this scandal we would realize that their protection of foley and their counterspin against the "so called liberal media" was really in the best interests of god, country and, of course, homeland security.

"It's too early, I suppose, to know the whole truth for certain. At this stage, all we know is that it appears that someone knew something and kept quiet temporarily for reasons of their own. Until everything comes out -- and in this politically charged climate, maybe it never will -- should we say anything at all? Maybe not much, but I think there's at least one thing we can and should say with certainty. It used to go without saying among grown-ups that the exploitation of children and teenagers for any reason -- including wanting to retain power or wanting to overthrow those in power -- is a complete and utter disgrace. Apparently, it no longer does go without saying. Because whoever knew and withheld this information for their own purposes is morally just as guilty as Mark Foley."

* let us hope that this web site is not attached to their 501C3 tax deductible organization. if it is, their exemption should be challenged.

don't look now but...



we're on the verge of having an intriguing conversation about the evangecube. if you have a minute, please take a moment to read the original post and dive into the dialogue. i'd like to thank brian - who works for the parent company of evangecube - for re-initiating the conversation and dave, danny, et. al for their responses.

mid-morning time waster: the high fidelity edition



tonight at 8 pm cade and i are heading down to the big, bad city to see high fidelity: the musical. since i am a huge nick hornby fan – i think he is one of the wittiest and unexpectedly humane novelists on the planet – and i believe that both the novel and the movie version of high fidelity offered us perhaps the most striking portrait of 20 something, white, western males (circa 1997 anyway), i am a little bit nervous about this production.

cade’s take is that we will have a great time whether the musical is excellent or awful, for if it is excellent it will provide an effective vehicle for the proclamation of the gospel of high fidelity to the masses* and if it is awful we can openly ridicule it during the performance and in our post-curtain recap.**

anyway, in honor of tonight’s premier, I would like for us to spend a few moments penning a few lyrics for the new musical. that way, if the songs suck, we can provide the writers with both healthy critique and provocative suggestions. here are the lyrics i’ve penned thus far.*** feel free to edit my lyrics or provide lyrics of your own.

“sarah, sarah,
schizophrenia's in your eyes,
your eyes
oh sarah, sarah,
you broke my heart when you said goodbye
goodbye
sarah, sarah,
now i could bag you without having to try
to try”

"charlie, you f*cking bitch,
you sucked his d*ck
the dreaded MARCO!

charlie, open the door
you stupid whore
let’s work it out!”

“what came first,
the music or the misery?
first yoko busted up the beatles,
now laura says she's leaving me.”


* i’m not joking about this “gospel” label, nor do i take the term lightly. i have personally witnessed the movie version serve as a sort of sacrament for ex-girlfriends and consider anything that can explain my neuroses, make people laugh about my relational inabilities and maybe even release me from a little personal responsibility an absolute gift from God.

** for my part, i am committed to booing and scoffing at the piece during the performance if it sucks. if my experience sucks, i suppose everyone else’s should as well.

*** if you find these lyrics a little raunchy and in bad taste, blame hornsby. each line i’ve penned is inspired by lines in the book or in the musical.

i say it best, when i say nothing at all

this year the pixie and i spent the saturday before easter in one of our favorite places, columbus, ohio. before the pixie capitulated to my desire to marry her, she served with xenos - an enormous columbus-based cell-church that has an incredible campus ministry, is equipping hundreds of young people with the biblical and practical skills they need to lead transformational communities and, in the end, completely defies description – and we love to re-connect with that incredible community and revisit the streets and sights that provided the context for our courtship as often as possible.

anyway, on saturday night paul and becky alexander surprised us by cooking up a huge dinner and filling the house with our old xenos friends. sometime after dinner, while sitting out on the alexander’s porch with paul, ryan and aaron we began to discuss the theology and mission of the church. after one of the guys seemed to short-change the ministry of martin luther king by suggesting that his efforts to secure civil rights and tireless advocacy on behalf of the poor had less eternal significance than simply “sharing the gospel,” i openly challenged his limited definition of the gospel and thus fulfilled my part-time role as theological provocateur.

as our conversation continued i could not help but be overwhelmed by pure, unmitigated passion these dear brothers had for sharing the liberating gospel of Jesus with others. every time we visit our friends at xenos they are a part of a new home church, because their last church incorporated so many new people into the body of Christ that they outgrew their meeting space. moreover, nearly every time i hang out with xenoids I meet another young man or woman that they are educating and mentoring in hopes that this person will help lead one of the next wave of home churches. xenos’ passion for evangelism and church planting is absolutely contagious. so much so, in fact, that i often leave columbus wondering what i’m doing wrong.

while i am proud of what sinners and saints has accomplished over the past four years and am constantly amazed by the intriguing ways that our s & s alumnus are pursuing the Kingdom of God throughout the country, i cannot deny the fact that our little community has never been all that effective at inviting others to receive the grace of God and participate in the life of Jesus in this brief time before the renewal of all things.* i don’t say that to either deride our community, which i love deeply, nor to deny the fact that we have seen a couple of wonderful people incorporated into the body of Christ over the past four years. rather, i simply mention that fact because it is true.

i mention all of this because i pondered this truth while sitting on the alexander’s porch, and, in my own way, confessed to the guys that i would like to share both their unmitigated passion for proclamation and certainty regarding their theology and missiology. however, as it was, i had to confess that i simply did not see gospel ministry as having such a singular focus on evangelism, my ever-evolving theology made me leery of propositional evangelism** and my diverse ecclesiology has led to a little church that, while undoubtedly vibrant, is probably not the most well-defined landing place.***

all of this to say, i wish i could tell you that i have “one pure and holy passion,” but i don’t. i am passionate about a number of things, including proclaiming the good news, incarnating Jesus’ compassion and creating alternative communities and none of these passions can claim primacy over the other. but although i cannot reduce my mission to a singular goal,**** i can work a lot harder at doing the things i love and spend a lot less time worrying and toiling at things i hate. i suppose that’s more than enough musing about my personal mission. it’s time to get on it.


* i suppose that instead of providing this wordy description i could have simply said “evangelism,” but i’d rather not.
** which these cats use to unquestionably great effect.
*** paul responded to my confession by suggesting that maybe my diverse experiences have made my mission all the more complicated. i suppose that might be true, but fear that my life would be far less meaningful without the diverse experiences i’ve enjoyed and even those i’ve simply endured.
**** anybody who suggests that i embrace a pithy statement from the westminster confession or a concept from john piper as my singular focus can expect to run a three legged race to the hospital (so that i can get my foot out of your ass).

this just in: the cardinals win the war of attrition and steer clear on infamy

thank you bravos. thank you.

musing...



in one of his little spiritual autobiographies, the sacred journey i think, frederick buechner talks about “a time in between a time.” if memory serves, he describes a time in between a time as the space that takes place in between the margins of tragedy and hope, darkness and light, ethereal promise and earthy fulfillment. buechner believes that the way we muddle through these middle spaces almost determines how we will react and respond to the more startling and kairos-tinged times.

i suppose that’s a long winded way of admitting that i am currently living in a time in between a time. at this moment i am not overwhelmed by the many personal and professional deaths that have been as common this year* as bloated corpses are on an iraqi highway. however, i am also not in a space where i am leaning into and receiving the life that lies before me. in this tenuous position between the polarities i am learning to listen because there is precious little i have to say and i am longing to be obedient to Jesus lest i continue to add to the smoldering wreckage that has resulted from my disobedience.

so that’s where i’m at. i hope this post provides a little orientation for those i stumble into and perhaps walk forward with during this ordinary season.

* for the record, I am including the cardinals in this group.

humbled



this afternoon i quickly checked statcounter to see how many hits i've had and whether the man is watching over my shoulder. at first glance, i was blown away by the number of hits i'd received today and began to feel a little proud of my little place in the big, bad internet.

then i clicked on the came from link and found that over 45 of my hits and no less than 30 of the direct links came from google searches that utilized at least two of the following search terms: dustin, diamond, screech, saved by the bell and dirty sanchez.

i don't know whether these searches, and the fact that they led directly to my blog, teach us something about the perverse fetishes of internet users or simply raise questions about the quality of my character.

ugh. those of you sickos can find the sanchez shot you're looking for here. the rest of you can spend a little time praying for my salvation.

five minute book reviews



as i mentioned a month or so ago, i think wonderboys is one of the finest, unnoticed films of the decade. after lavishing such praise on the movie, joolz encouraged me to start reading michael chabon's (who wrote the book off of which the movie is based) books. that made sense to me, so i used part of the barnes and noble gift certificate leanne and art gave me to purchase kavalier and clay.

fortunately, i was not disappointed.

kavalier and clay is an epic novel that follows josef kavalier's escape from nazi occupied prague and his subsequent life in new york city. upon arrival in the empire city he partners with his cousin sammy clay as together they create a superman-knockoff comic called the escapist. the plot is too sweeping to adequately summarize in five minutes, but, from my perspective anyway, the book is a chronicle of a young man who throughout throughout his personally tragic and professionally successful life wrestles with the advice of his mentor and master magician bernard kornblum to "focus on what you are escaping to, not on what you are escaping from." for joe kavalier, as well as for myself, alluding the entanglements of the past in order to focus on living a creative and beneficial life both in the present and into the future, is an epic struggle. this whimsical, yet weighty novel challenged me to reach towards the future without denying the tragedies and triumphs of the past. this book won the pulitzer prize for a reason. you should read it.

also purchased with the aforementioned gift card: chuck klosterman IV. this five minute review has turned into a fifteen minute mess, so i'll just say this. klosterman has the unique ability to see and effectively communicate how everything is connected. if you're interested in reading intriguing profiles of bands like radiohead and wilco, wonder how kevin arnold's insecurities are incarnated by common americans and enjoy prose that practically demands to be consumed like crack, you'll dig klosterman.

COHORT UPDATE

Due to my bad forsight and a (meaningless) Red Sox game, We are moving the location of tonight’s September Cohort meeting to the North Station Boston Beer Works Located at 112 Canal St., Boston, MA 02114. See you there at 7 pm.

boston's emergent cohort will be pulling taps and talking theology at the fenway beerworks (61 brookline ave., boston, 02215) this tuesday night at 7 pm.

this month we're going to start the conversation by confessing one thing about our church participation/heritage that each of us has come to view as antagonistic to our current understanding of what it means to follow Jesus. we're hoping that in the midst of this conversation a common topic will emerge, so thatwe can then discuss ways in which we can move forward and act to overcome those trends both in our individual lives, in our local congregations, and in the global church.

if you're interested in joining us for conversation or simply want to taste the works fine selection of microbrews, we hope you can take the time to join us. if you have questions about the gathering feel free to contact me at gentry13@gmail.com.

Jesus died and after one...two...three days was raised again!



on friday afternoon my good buddy and fellow SS slave dave invited me to attend a boston church planting collaborative meeting on Saturday morning. although i am usually hesitant to attend such gatherings, i decided that it might be good for my Spirit to share my current struggles with life and ministry, listen to the stories of others and enjoy a little mutual encouragement.

so after our weekly s & s guy’s breakfast i jumped in the car with dave and his buddy danny and we wound our way down to the big bad city. although we had a bit of difficulty locating the emmanuel gospel center in the south end (which is pathetic. because city on a hill used to meet around the corner) we eventually found the building, miraculously found free parking behind the egc and eagerly entered the building.

unfortunately, as soon as we sat down in the conference room i knew we were screwed. for sitting there before us, in all it’s gaudy glory, was an oversized evangecube.

we should have bolted right then and there, but, out of respect for ralph kee and the leaders of the egc, we didn’t. and so we were subjected to a two and a half hour seminar that provided us with a pedantic, step by step tutorial on the evangecube (did you know that Jesus died for our sins? have you heard that accepting the cross of Christ is the only way that you’ll ever make it to the seventh nebula of the ing galaxy where God dwells?), wooed us with the amazing numbers of people who have been "converted" after some white bread southern baptist from salado, texas unfolded God’s plan right before there very eyes and challenged to partner with E3 partners as they support indigenous pastors…by providing them with a cartons of the evangecube and training them how to unfold God’s glory by manipulating the magic box right before the unsaved millions’ very eyes.

i cannot emphasize enough how much i loathe the evangecube.

i cannot help but wonder whether we should count "conversions" when the only true metric we have for salvation is whether we "persevere unto the end."

i wholly agree with my friend who derided the presentation as "the exaltation of cube in the temple of revivalism."

i cannot help but wonder why we evangelicals are so eager to profess that Jesus is the Christ, but so hesitant to reorder our lives around and accompany others along the way of the Lord.

i cannot help but hope that i, alongside the people of God, can begin to pursue Christ’s mission and incarnate God’s Kingdom with the same intense passion that old line evangelicals sought conversions.

i’m thankful for the fifteen minutes i had to connect with my brothers and sisters in Christ after the presentation. i’m constantly amazed by how many intriguing, provocative people have chosen to incarnate Christ’s compassion, proclaim the gospel and pursue the Kingdom in the boston area.