Everybody Loves Jonah

It seems that Lent is the perfect season for fish.

Three churches whose podcast I listen to regularly are all teaching through the book of Jonah.

Andy Stanley, king of the one-liners, can be heard at the North Point podcast.  Rob Bell, with his new teammate, the pop-mennonite Shane Hipps, are exploring the depths at Mars Hill Bible Church.  Austin’s own Gideon Tsang is lending a hand to Chris Seay at Ekklesia Houston.

Why do you think that so many teachers are gravitating to Jonah at this time?  What have you learned from the story of the reluctant prophet, the giant fish and the great city?

Tags: Andy Stanley, Chris Seay, Ekklesia, Gideon Tsang, Jonah, Lent, Mars Hill, North Point, Rob Bell, Shane Hipps

What Eliza Dushku Has to Teach the Church

It’s hard saying goodbye to a friend, especially if it’s another one of Joss Whedon’s creations that passed before its time.

Dollhhouse is not Whedon’s best work, but it may be his deepest. It lacks the punchiness that made Buffy so much fun, and the creativity which made Firefly soar beyond science fiction. It did, however, use a sexy model with sad puppy dog eyes to raise questions about the dangers of man’s relationship with technology and the nature of the soul.

After the Firefly debacle nothing was going to keep Whedon from telling his story. After season one, he released “Epitath Part One” straight to the internet, telling the story of a post-apocalyptic future directly resulting from the technology used to run the Dollhouse harems.  Season Two seemed hurried, trying to accomplish the plot and character development needed to reach the end of civilization. Although rushed, the last few episodes were exhilarating, with heroes becoming anti-heroes and villains becoming pastoral leaders.

Dollhouse raises a number of important questions, but perhaps the most important is about the societal and spiritual implications of our growing dependence on technology.  Christians, except perhaps the Mennonites, seem to ignore this.

Could projected preachers create a dangerous celebrity culture? Does social networking increase or impede our ability to function as the body of Christ? Could driving 30 minutes to worship cripple our ability to love our neighbors?

I’ll miss Whedon’s latest, but the questions it raised will stick with me.

Tags: body of Christ, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Eliza Dushku, Faith, Firefly, Joss Whedon, mennonites, social networking, soul, Summer Glau, technology

Verge Reflections, Day 3

The Verge Conference ended with a rally.  Local boy John Burke led off by saying “if the formerly unchurched are not leading the church, the church is dying.” Compared to some of the cutting edge thinkers that show up at these conferences, John’s methods may seem a little bit traditional.  However, the fruit, Gateway Church, fits his description perfectly.  All talk of missional-ness doesn’t really matter if you don’t have the fruit.

Jeff Vanderstelt said what should be obvious: do life the way you do normally, just with gospel intentionality.  It’s not that tough.  Hang out with your friends-including those who don’t know Christ.  Dave Gibbons suggested that we walk through crowds slowly, seeing the blessing of God on each person.

Francis Chan ended the conference by marching through each book of the New Testament, showing how pain and persecution are unavoidable when living a missional life.  Having accidentally stumbled into more than one fox holes, I know this to be very true.  I just hope that the people of Christ represented at Verge are ready for the pain, because the world needs us.

Tags: Alan Hirsch, Austin, Dave Gibbons, Francis Chan, Jeff Vanderstelt, John Burke, Matt Carter, Missional, missional church, Missional Communities, Verge 2010

Verge Reflections Day 2

The theme that rose to the forefront of the second day of Verge is just the old Reformation call to be a priesthood of all believers.  The problem is, as Ed Stetzer put it, most Evangelical churches look like pre-Reformation Catholic churches.  All the work is done by a leader with an almost gnostic secret knowledge, otherwise known as “seminary training.”  The answer is to help every Christian understand they are a missionary, and, as Alan Hirsch put it “your baptism is your commission.”

A second theme that rose to the top is developing an awareness of the people and systems around you.  I’ve long been challenged by the question “do you really know any non-Christians?”  But Dave Watson expanded this by asking if we even try to develop strategies for people who don’t live like us.  There are people who work graveyard shift and are up all night, but why aren’t there churches meeting at 4 in the morning?

My favorite presentation was by Hugh Halter of Denver, Colorado.  Hugh is disturbingly honest in person in a way that his book cannot get across.  His concept of a church with simple outwardly focused structure, that is still hard to get in to, sounds more authentic and natural than any Sunday morning show and awkward living room Bible Study I’ve ever taken part.

I’m excited for day three.

Tags: Alan Hirsch, Ed Stetzer, Hugh Halter, Tangible Kingdom, Verge, Verge 2010

Verge Thoughts (Day 1)

It’s conference time here in Austin.  About 2,000 people from all over descended on Hill Country Bible Church to learn about “Missional Communities.”

The most exciting thing about Verge to me is that it’s happening at all.  A weird combination of house Church gurus, megachurch leaders and everything in between, trying to sort out what an Acts style church looks like in the 21st Century.  Francis Chan jokingly referred to his way of following Christ as “regurgitation,” reading the book of Acts, and spitting it back out in life.

It’s also really exciting that it’s happening in Austin.  Austin, known for music, decadence, and pagan revelry is becoming a model for a variety of churches learning to work together on planting and justice.

It’ll be a good weekend.

Tags: church planting, Missional, Verge