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.

7am-Shaved the travel beard.  I hadn’t shaved since before leaving the States and had two months of nastiness to get rid of.

8:15am- Littleton Church of Christ, where I was priviledged to hear ACU’s young preaching prodigy Colin Packer.

12pm- Called my old friend Jeff Cole, only to find out he’s left Colorado for Fuller’s big campus in Pasadena.

2pm- Grandma’s 80th birthday.  3 generations of church of Christ leadership from across Denver showed of to celebrated.  Good woman.

5pm- Met up with my old friend Michael Hannegan at Adullam.  Had just enough time to shake hands with Hugh Halter and steal some food.

6:30pm- Mike and I arrived at the Castle Rock church of Christ in time to catch the last few minutes of the Angola Team‘s presentation.

7:30pm- Hugged friends and people who had a huge influence on me that I hadn’t seen since High School.  Teared up thinking of some really good times.

8:30pm- Heard the story behind my good, dear friends Robert and Teague‘s choices to go to Angola and to adopt to sibling boys from Ethiopia.  Prayed together. 

10:30pm- Drove Mike to his car and the discussed quandry of remaining loyal to the churches of our youth in a post-denominational America.

Today was a bigger blessing than I could have asked for.  I am so thankful for what God is doing in my life right now (although many days it is miserable), and the chances I get to see his work around the world.  I am also incredibly grateful to cross paths with those who meant so much to me when I was younger, and see them in dedicated service to our Lord.

I struggled to see the big deal is with Halter and Smay’s The Tangible Kingdom.  But by the time I got to the end of their memoir/ecclesiological manifesto, I found myself anxious to get back to church as they describe it.  Tangible describes an unpretensious church, where the unchurched and dechurched can belong before they believe.  It shows the messiness of doing life with those who are far from God.  It also paints the church as a simple, organic body that is more like a gathering of friends than a rock concert.  Halter and Smay are more interested in telling stories than laying out structure, which may be the books only downfall.  It shows you what your posture should be, but leaves the questions about how to organize.

Without adding to the glut of ministry books describing postmodernism, John Burke’s No Perfect People Allowed gives a thorough and practical treatment of how to do ministry today.  Each chapter explains a sociological reality, and gives examples of how a church that wants to reach their community will respond to it.  The tag line for Gateway Church is “Come as you are, but don’t stay that way.”  Burke tells the stories of homosexuals, atheists, and pagans who found a home at Gateway long before finding Christ.  Especially helpful are the chapters on the “Spiritual Litmus Test,” the questions of other religions and homosexuality, which must be addressed carefully.  The book is legitimized by how he “proof texts” his points by giving multiple personal stories and emails in every chapter.

With the hype about The Shack it’s hard to narrow what to say about it.  I will say this: it is an incredibly important book.  Young’s allegory of a man overcoming tragedy and coming to know God gives us a deep understanding of our brokenness and the wholeness of the trinitarian relationship God invites us into.  Those who focus on the short comings of Young’s picture of God don’t get what he’s trying to do.  For one thing, the Trinity is the deepest mystery of the Christian faith, so it’s naive to think any one parable would capture it all.  Despite it’s shortcomings, The Shack has given us an image of a divine relationship, and something to work towards in our walk with God and others.

Currently Reading Phyllis Tickle’s The Great Emergence.