A holy garage sale moment.

Every once in a great while, i have moments where i am aware of the holiness of ordinary moments. This awareness comes while i am in the moment and it does come at the most ordinary times.

This past weekend, we had a garage sale. That is, our friends had a garage sale and we brought over 3 station wagons of crap to sell. We set up the scrabble game right in the driveway and waited for the cash like eagles with fake disinterest in the helpless bunnies far below.

Chris had just showed us that his letters spelled “america” if he turned the “w” upside down. Awerica. And there it was, a holy moment. Hanging out with friends, an absolutely gorgeous morning, resting from the weekly labor, meeting neighbors… i probably had a goofy smile on my face.

Those moments last for about 5 seconds. Just long enough to notice and breath very, very deeply, then let it go.

Filed under: Theology

Angry

Sometimes, when i listen to all the us vs. them talk against the emergent, i want to be angry, then i read this thing about anger. Click here then download the pdf.

Wow.

Filed under: Emergent Church, Recommends, Theology

Sad

I’ve been storing up a few ideas that i want to share in the next few posts- this might be a marathon night… in the meantime, i’ve been taking a vacation from blogging. I’m not resting b/c i’m burnt out from typing two paragraphs at a time- it’s more of a study break; self-imposed and short. I want to know what else is going on in the world and my time is limited enough that i have to choose between reading and writing.

Over and over, i see blogs and books and messages taking shots at the emerging church anti-personalities and over and over i see those who are shot at being gracious and aquiescent about the truths spoken.

What i see and hear against the emergent is appalling. I didn’t know we could take shots at one another and advance the kingdom at the same time. The worst of it is, not one of these accusations seem to be based on personal experience… i heard one guy preface his misquotation of Rob Bell by saying “Now, i don’t know this guy, and i haven’t actually heard him speak, but here’s what he says…” he twisted Rob’s words for a cheap laugh (which he got) and to further discredit the emergent.

More than ever, i want to say I’m not a christian, just so i can distance myself from angry, bitter people who see their kingdom threatened by the emergent. But i am drawn back by the grace and humility of the emergent. I can identify with that- at least, i want to identify with that.

So, what does that make me?

Filed under: Emergent Church

Orthopraxy

im reading Generous Orthodoxy b/c we got it for free and i was anticipating much annoyance and furious writing while reading it- for all the bad stuff I’ve heard, I didn’t have a good impression of the book or the guy going into the reading.

Um, it’s pretty good. I find myself nodding in agreement a lot thru the first 3 or 4 chapters and i’m learning new words- always fun. I keep expecting him to fall of the edge of the world in one of these chapters but so far, very solid stuff. No sign yet of the “squishy” theology i had been warned about. What does that make me?

Filed under: Emergent Church, Theology

SW30

Today is that day. Not that BBC isn’t getting enough action… this is worth checking out. It’s odd to think that at one time, this would have been anyone on the street in the US.

Filed under: Uncategorized

kingdom accessible

I was in FL a couple weeks ago and had a moment of profound out-of-placeness; i was sitting in a coffee-shop chain (trendy and here unnamed) and it was a sunday morning. The music playing was good stuff- Coltrane, Wainwright and the like- so i was just kinda grooving to it in my subdued dave way… fingers drumming (lightly, not annoying) foot tapping and at least inwardly bobbing just ever so slightly. Regardless of the song, i was right there with it.
I was there to read, and i was reading, and while i was reading, i was just in rhythm to the music. In the back of my head, on the table top, whatever, just letting the music do its thing with/to me while i read. And i was completely out of place.
I don’t know why, but that morning at the coffee shop no one else was grooving to the music. they were having their conversations, reading their papers, waiting for their coffees, whatever, it didn’t matter, they weren’t into the music. For them it was just part of the scenery, just backdrop, to be enjoyed or not like it’s no big deal.
I thought- in N’ville, everybody in the place would be subconciously gettin’ down. Maybe it’s cause everyone here is a musician and we all enjoy good music… i don’t know.
Ever have those moments where Yahweh claps his hands right next to your head? We call them thunderclap moments.

The Kingdom of Heaven is not a far away place. It’s not beyond eternity or the edge of the galaxy. The Kingdom of Heaven is a way of life- accessible and real and present. It’s the music that plays, the rhythm that moves the world every moment and our souls long to groove to it. But we treat the Kingdom of Heaven as if it’s something that will happen after the world ends, instead of the way the Yahweh intends us to live right now. We act like the Kingdom is no big deal and we’ll all go there someday, instead of living the Kingdom now.

The Kingdom of Heaven is never beyond the cosmos, (it is there, but not confined there) it is a very present, active reality to be embraced and lived, to be entered into- not left in the background, not part of the scenery.

And if you’re sitting in a coffee shop- do you tell people to start drumming their fingers because they should and that’s what God wants them to do? or do you just groove and pray they see you?

Filed under: Theology

What does it take to get a hit in this town?

The IPO yesterday was a smash. Something like 38 hits in just a couple hours- granted, i logged in a lot to boost the numbers, but 38 is a big deal to me. Curious, because i didn’t tell all that many people… anyway, i have one hit today- a sympathy hit (from Mike, i guess.) and it gets me wondering. I knew that the IPO would be a big jump in hits and that it couldn’t happen everyday like that- so how do you increase attendance and giving in the blogosphere?
It’s not about numbers. It’s about people being changed for eternity… no, it’s about numbers around here. Anyone with a comment should weigh in on this.

Filed under: Blogging

the IPO

Thanks to all who came out to the blog yesterday for the IPO- lots of hits and links were everywhere! In retrospect, i should have had a special posting for comments available as well as refreshments and apps. Sorry about the lack of foresight there. Albeit late, please consider this a place to make general comments (about the blog- thanks) for the next couple of days.

Filed under: Blogging