Moving On

If you hadn’t already gathered by my more oblique references in previous posts, I’m moving from the Chicago area to Champaign, IL to be a part of a ministry to the University of Illinois community. I am going to be developing mission opportunities and student mission leaders over the next year.

So tomorrow I am loading a truck and moving downstate. This means that my blogging will likely be on hiatus until I can get my phone/internet connection figured out. Hopefully, that will be less than a week. Maybe it can get worked out by Tuesday.

Peace be with you all.

M Squared T

Latest adventures

A friend and I decided to drive in to downtown Chicago tonight. It’s my second-to-last night as a resident of the ‘burbs, and we wanted to enjoy “being in Chicago.”

So we went down to a very “Chicago” place: the Billy Goat Tavern, on Lower Michigan & Lower Hubbard. (It’s right across Michigan Ave. from Tribune Tower, and underground.) The Billy Goat is a small basement-level bar and grill always showing a Chicago pro sports game on the TV over the bar. It’s famous for its “cheezeborgers” (yes, that’s how they spell it). Since it’s right across from the Trib & WGN, oftentimes reporters from the paper come in on lunch. All the big names are on the walls - having visited regularly. Mike Royco is prominent.

So we were sitting there, eating our double cheezeborgers, and a TV camera crew came in. They started filming various people in the restaurant, and asked if they could film me eating a ‘burger. I said, “Sure - who ya workin’ for?” They said, “ESPN.” Isn’t that random? I might get on ESPN. I guess I looked like a typical customer. So while most people get on ESPN for their athleticism, I got filmed eating a very unathletic burger.

What the heck?

I guess the joke got old…

Anyone who ever had to read my handwriting knows that I engage in micro-writing. When I would take notes in class I could get two or three lines in between the “college rule” on the paper. Ergo, I decided that it would be appropriate to carry my micro-writing out on to the web.

However, after several complaints as to its readability (the latest being from Irene), I have chosen readability over humor and upped the font size. It looks weird to me right now. Maybe I’ll reduce it to some sort of median size, but I’ll try this for a few days… let me know what you think…

Ascension

Happy Ascension Day!!!

(Yeah, I know I’m a few minutes late and this’ll post like it’s Friday.)

Let’s not forget the ascension! It’s more than just a convenient way to get Jesus from Earth to Heaven.

In the ascension Jesus entered into glory, completing the work of redemption. “In his death he destroyed death, rising he made all creation new,” ascending, he brought to fulfilment God’s intentions for humanity. Human flesh is in the full presence of God, and it is not destroyed. This is the witness to the ultimate glorification of all who believe, that we, too will be glorified and reign with him. There, he continues the work of re-creating all creation, to be put in place at the end of time. He will come again, in that glory, to set all things right. This is the promise we have. This is good news.

Christ is ascended! Let all creation sing! Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed!

Blogging about blogging II

It’s really amusing to watch everyone looking for their own picture on Cre8d’s post. And who knows? This blog-world’s getting so friendly I might post my own picture sometime soon.

As to my economic answer last evening: all affluence needs to mean for now is that we’re not likely to be subsistence herders in Kazakhstan spending most of our energy just surviving. Then again, who knows?

I find blogging a great medium for the exchange of ideas. I’m interested in learning to be a disciple of Jesus Christ - so my blog interests are going to be focused in that direction (like everything else, I hope). And I value listening to other people from all around the world - whether they share that interest or not.

Of course, one of the nice things about blogging is that it’s a conversational, “unfinished” medium. So I’ll leave it at that.

Blogging about blogging

Bene Diction is asking some good questions this evening about blogging and the god-blogs (ooohboy, I said “god-blogs” for the first time).

He references Fred Peatross’ rant about blogging, which says bloggers blog for four reasons.

Here is my response to Bene Diction, et al.:

Yeah, people blog for those four reasons. But I think there’s more. I, for one, blog to continue some conversations and start others. I also post random stuff I find on the ‘net that I find interesting that I think people who read my daily stuff would find interesting. And yes, I “share.” Unfortunately, my interlocutors are a bit passive (if they are there at all).

I think your other questions are insightful. I have purposely not published a picture of myself so as not to reveal “age” and “color” so directly. Better to keep people guessing.

I think that the “god-blogosphere” is made up of those who have the money to own computers, the computer literacy (read “education”) to publish through blogger or somesuch other publishing tool and the leisure (permitted by some level of affluence) to read, ruminate and respond to life via blogs.

What do you think?

De Dei Ecclesia

As many of you know, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and talking and writing about how changes in the church need to affect Theological Education. I think and write from the perspective of one who is in Seminary, so many of you non-Sem. types might say, “why’d it take you so long to come to that conclusion.

So bear with me.

Two links of interest along those lines. The first is from good ol’ Andrew Careaga, with a list of five books on the Internet that I should be reading. They’re saying a lot that I am, and I didn’t realize they existed. Ay, me. Check them out!

Second, there’s a post by a guy I don’t know at an unidentified seminary that has read my mind. Check it out. Tell me what you think. This is big.

Whew!

After a crazy few days, I’ve finally finished one of my two papers. Can’t say it’s one of my best. Oh well… It’s done. One more to go, and I’ll be doing that after I move, most likely. For now, it’s packing, packing, packing. I really oughta throw some stuff out. I really should. But we’ll see how much fits in my new room…

I’m moving out on Saturday morning, moving in Saturday afternoon (right after lunch if possible) and then driving back up here for my second-to-last Sunday at St. B’s.

Lord, help me!!!

Hey folks… I just discovered that some people can’t get the “comments” to show up on their browsers… If any of y’all are having trouble with that, e-mail me (at the “contact” posted above) and let me know what browser version and system you’re using… and comment away while your’re at it…

Pilgrim’s Progress Revisited

‘Nuff said…

Philip, the Ethiopian and Evangelism

This previous Sunday (18 May 2003) I preached a sermon at St. B’s based on the text of Acts 8:26 - 40. In it I argued for a new perspective on evangelism. The evangelical church has discovered that the evangelism modeled by many of our ’street preachers’ and our ‘contact evangelism’ programs where people distribute tracts are no longer effective in getting people to convert to Christianity. In fact, these models have become somewhat of an embarrassment to many (including myself) who often have to live among people turned off by our methodology.

In Acts 8, we see Philip employing a different method. Yet it is more than just a different method; it holds different values entirely. Philip approaches the Ethiopan listening to what he is reading. He connects the Ethiopian’s life and questions to the story of the risen Christ. And beyond telling a story, Philip acts as the risen Christ himself for the Ethiopian. All of this elicits in the Ethiopian not just a change of philosophy but in fact new life.

We today are called to engage people around us. We listen to their stories, reflect on our stories, and connect our stories and their stories to the great Story of God in Jesus Christ. In doing so we offer the Resurrection perspective on Jesus’ life, thus on our own lives. The Resurrection inherently makes the story “good news” because the Resurrection takes care of whatever evil, sin and death we are dealing with. In the Resurrection of Jesus Christ God destroyed death, sin and the Devil and brought new life - new creation - to all who believe. This is good news for whatever our struggle may be.

Yet at this point we could still just be telling yet another philosophical perspective on life. Who’s to say this story is any better than any other?

This is where Luke’s artistry as an author comes in. He ties this story structurally to the story of the disciples on their way to Emmaus. In the end, the Ethiopian plays the role of the disciples and Philip the role of the Risen Christ. When we are led by the Spirit to connect our story and the stories of those around us to the story of Jesus Christ, we are acting as Christ. Thus we have power and authority far beyond that which any other story or philosophy can muster. We have the power of the living God active in us and with us.

Therefore, evangelism is a natural part of life - occurring in our typical, natural environments. It is primarily made up of helping people connect their story to Jesus from the resurrection perspective. And when we go, we go as Christ.

That’s the gist of the sermon… what do you think?

A New Kind of Christian

I just wrapped up reading Brian McLaren’s A New Kind of Christian. The dialogue format is classic. From time to time Neo comes off sounding like Socrates in Plato’s dialogues: driving the conversation in the direction he wants through the issues and questions he raises. And while it is clear that McLaren has engaged in conversations of the sort reported in A New Kind of Christian, we should not take “Dan” to be more “Brian” than “Neo” may be.

Throughout the book, I could empathize with both main characters, but somehow I identified more with Neo. I don’t know if I went through a “modern to postmodern transition,” but somehow I made the transition from a more rigid “conservative evangelical rationalism” to something closer to McLaren’s “New Kind of Christian” beginning sometime early in college and continuing to the present day.

As I found myself resonating with Neo’s perspective, McLaren pushed me to take my philosophical perspectives one step further. Sometimes this evoked a statement such as “I never thought that this was a conclusion we could draw from that. Nonetheless, it makes sense.” Other times I was surprised to find that McLaren had stated more succinctly something I had labored to come up with myself. And I thought I had come up something new!

In the chapter entitled “French Fries and the Kingdom of God,” McLaren gave voice to my uneasiness with our current practice of evangelism.

[Dan asked,] “Isn’t there a time when friendship evangelism has to move on to the evangelism?”

[Neo answered,] “Pardon me, Daniel, but I am not too fond of that expression, ‘friendship evangelism.’ It can prostitute friendship, which in my mind then invalidates the evangelism. If I’m going to pretend to be somebody’s friend just so I can proselytize them, well, I might as well be selling soap. No, it’s worse than that. At least when I’m selling soap, I’m not degrading the soap by exploiting the friendship. I can’t tell you how much that term bothers me.”

“Ok, I see your point. But Neo, won’t a new kind of Christian be concerned about sharing the gospel?” I asked.

(Page 104)

Neo answers the question by telling a story. His answer is yes, ultimately. But he redefines what it means to “share the gospel.”

The Gospel (can we just say “good news”, for Christ’s sake?) is Jesus Christ. The Good News is “The Kingdom of God is at hand. The Kingdom of the Heavens is available.” When we say that the Good News is Jesus Christ we are no longer limited to an evangelism that merely changes someone’s philosophy. It will do that. But evangelism is being Jesus Christ. As we continue as students of Jesus Christ we become more like him, and as we become more like him we are, in effect, the continuing presence of Christ in the world through the Holy Spirit. By grace we are transformed into people who look like Jesus and act like Jesus.

When this happens, we evangelize without even realizing it. We make friends with people because they are worth something to us, not because they are an evangelistic target. We go places where the good news is not known because it is such good news that we want everyone to have it - not to make them like us, but to give them a chance to have the kind of life that God has. And we end up “evangelizing” Christians as well because we engage with them from the perspective of good news.

New kind of Christian, old kind of Christian - whatever! I just want to be like Jesus.

A Church That’s Just Full of Hot Air

A UK company is promoting the Inflatable Church as a venue for weddings and other special events. Nuts, ain’t it?

Joel 2:31

North America was treated to a beautiful lunar eclipse tonight. Since it was cloudy over Chicago tonight, we drove out toward DeKalb where it had cleared off. It’s always more fun to look at the sky when you have a PhD. student in Astronomy along with you. He pointed out some of my favorite constellations. We work well as a pair. He can point out the constellations, and I can tell him the mythology behind them (well, some of them, at least).

This was the first time I’ve seen a total lunar eclipse, I think. It’s pretty impressive when the moon turns totally black and then suddenly becomes reddish-brown.

The Matrix Has You

Awesome fight scenes. There’s a lot of messing with your head. Go see it.