drama.kills.penguins
...
Before we start:
DISCLAIMER: The thoughts and opinions expressed here may bare striking similarity to actual persons or events, but I may or may not be talking about you because you are only one of many drama kings and queens that I encounter on a daily basis, and therefore I can say without reservation that this message identifies with countless persons, living and dead, and some fictional characters that I included for artistic license. At any rate I love you even if you are a drama queen or king, and if you ask me, I will flat out lie and deny it's you, and then repent for lying.
Drama. Admit it, you just emitted an involuntary futility-induced "sigh" at that word, didn't you?
Yeah, I know you might think it's a harsh thing to say, but seriously. I do not know you have problem with something unless you speak up. If you don't tell me I won't know - unless.... you tell everyone else but me. It's not that I am ignoring your issue, it's that I don't know about it. So, if you want me to tackle an issue, tell me about it, and don't go involving everyone else in your issue. 2. You don't need me.
I am not going to insert myself into your friend/family internal drama. Sorry, but you're on your own. If it starts affecting other people, then I might step in, but typically I will not get involved - especially if only one side of the issue thinks I should get involved and won't try to get the other party to agree to meeting before asking me when we can schedule it. Yes, sometimes friend/family issues do rise to the point where they need the mediation of a spiritual leader. But, before you get me involved, be sure that I need to be involved. That leads me to the next "tip". 3. Talking is good.
Contrary to popular opinion, ignoring an issue doesn't make it better. It's amazing how huge issues are not so huge when we talk them out with one another. Sometimes when we are in our own reaction bubble, we do not see the issue in context to real life. We get trapped in a self-strengthening whirlpool of resentment. The only cure is to talk it out. Please, before you drag me into that drama eddy you're cultivating, see if you can solve the issue yourself with dialogue. Oh, and don't think that it is the other person's responsibility to start talking. The ball is always in your court, which leads me to the next "tip" (funny how that works). 4. Get over yourself.
I wish I began, early on, to track the issues behind the issues. But, if I were to take a stab at a guess I'd say that 93.54678% of the time, issues are issues because of pride, arrogance, and self-pity (which is really a form of arrogance). "Check yourself" is what Angel tells her students whose attitudes are bringing them to the brink of "poof", which means they are about to exit her world - pray it's just figuratively!!! OK, I'm done, and I know you'd never guess it, but yes, sometimes I can be quite the drama king. So, all of this is pointed back at me too - maybe.P.S. Free coffee for anyone who accurately counts the number of times the word "drama" is used in this post.
kingdom.experiment.2
Week 2 - Those Who Mourn
"Those who mourn" took on a new meaning for me as I prepared for this week's message. I have to admit that prior to this point, I had always read this verse in a self-centered way. "Those who mourn" has been code for "me" as I bemoan the various circumstances around me, both present and past, which brought "mournful" thoughts to mind. Now, don't misunderstand - I don't "bemoan" often, but whenever I read that verse, I tend (quite naturally in fact) to take on the honorable title of mourner. I would puff myself up as a martyr, "doing without" for the cause of Christ. The angle taken by the book is to bring attention to the "nationalist" heart of the typical Israelite - their tendency to tie their national identity so close to their own identities. When Jesus walked the earth, they were once again under captivity - this time to the Romans. While Roman rule was generally aloof, crossing them brought harsh retaliation - something they had experienced very recently (the Maccabees). This occupation was a source of national mourning - akin to the kind of thing we see in many of the prophets, and perhaps a glimmer of with Isaiah in the Isaiah 6:5 scene. I decided to do the experiment that suggests sending a gift of some sort to some soldiers as a way of recognizing our nation's fallen-ness. I decided, however, that what was in the book wasn't good enough. I wanted to do something that felt less cliche to me. So I struggled with it. Sitting in my favorite restaurant, I discovered two very unlikely people there - two soldiers. This is not typical of my part of the country. I could not help but to eavesdrop some on their conversation and caught them talking about how people act different to them than they used to. These were officers, and older, so they had been around the block. They talked about how people used to eagerly engage in conversation with them, but since the war started, people seem to avoid them. "Whether you agree with the war or not, we are duty-bound to go because that is what we signed up for - to do what our nation requires." My heart mourns for our broken nation that is so divided ideologically that we can't even seem to unite in support of those who chose to put their lives on the line so that ALL OF US have the right to disagree with one another. We all talk a good talk, saying how we support our troops no matter what we think of the wars going on. But do we really support them? If so, how could they feel the ways these two did? Yes, we have the right to disagree, but you know something else? We also have the right to agree with one another. Let's agree to keep our troops safe from our ideological cross-fire. --end rant--Listening to them, I've come to realize is that I've been so self-centered and self-righteous - two characteristics that I hate to think that I exhibit. What right have I to wear the martyr mantle? What have I done to earn "martyr" on my business card? I discover that I'm spoiled rotten and oblivious to that which actually deserves to be mourned. It's not like I am unaware of how undeserving of God's grace I really am. Every time that passage where Isaiah stumbles upon God in His temple, I am moved as one of unclean lips, of a people of unclean lips, who finds himself in the presence of GOD. But, Isaiah's grief was not only over His own condition, but also over that of his people - the whole nation! In the presence of God, suddenly the unholiness of everything is made so clear.I felt petty about my self-martyrdom, and repented. The problem is that anything I thought of doing for my experiment now seemed a meager pittance. I bought their lunch, anonymously. ------------------------------star.trek.future
Since we canceled services this past Sunday, I am holding off publishing the Kingdom Experiment Part 2 blog post.
The picture above is a crop of a picture I found here. This is from the Star Trek: Deep Space 9 series, and is a vision of a ubiquitous device for interacting with data. Such devices, ubiquitous in Gene Roddenberry's world, are about to become a 2010 reality. Before I get into the correlations to ministry, I have to say that it is an amazing time to be alive if you are a tech geek. Microsoft, Apple, and the like, are creating some crazy technology. Every time I think about it, I am amazed at how my life is so different after the Xbox-360 and after the iPhone. OK, now back on track. I am not an expert on futurists and can name only two (Gene Roddenberry & Arthur C. Clark), but I was one of those guys who would always be lured into a magazine cover of a futurist's vision of things. My fascination comes from seeing beyond the ubiquitous. While I've never been a fan of his personality, I have always respected Steve Job's ability to see life this way, which has resulted in some amazing products, the latest of which is the iPad. After a lot of thought, I decided that I will be one of the folks itching to own one of these. The deciding factor was being able to correlate the potential of the device (as championed by Jobs) with the casualness of such devices in Roddenberry's visions. When the moment of intersection finally took place in my head, my decision was made. It takes critical mass and convergence of circumstances to achieve ubiquity, and I think the iPad embodies both. Thrive Church will be 3 years old come mid-March, 2010. I have always maintained a tension in my ministry philosophy between size and mission. On the one hand, there is no escaping the fact that a church needs numerical growth in order to be able to fund mission. This is simple math, and I have been somewhat resistant to the truth of it. On the other hand, the vision God gave Angel and me for Thrive cannot be realized with quick-growth. "Relationship" is the theological root of that vision (with Jesus first, then with one another, then extending). Building strong relationships take time. There is no way to escape it. So, Angel and I have always prayed, "God, grow us as fast as we are able to nurture relationships." The result, is good, solid, growth via relationship. I would not trade that for anything. We are not perfect at relationships, but we are intentional about them. We have the same struggles as every other church regarding the drama of life with people. But, it hurts so much more when the struggles come, and it is so much more immensely wonderful during the great moments. And that is exactly the way I want it. I want to be hurt to the core when there is a relational problem. I want to be overjoyed in the innermost nooks and crannies of my heart when things are awesome. It's how I know we're legit. It's how I know we're tight. But, here's the thing: we are not living in God's vision for Thrive - not yet. As amazing as this place is, it is but a hazed-over picture of who God wants us to be. We are still only preparing and planting. Right now, I feel as if we are some kind of oddity in the midst of reality - almost but not yet. But God's given me a clear vision of what Thrive will look like, but sometimes the journey is frustrating - especially when we've chosen the hard way to get where we want to go. Someone recently told me that during their church growth push, her church's motto is "fake it until you make it" (if you're reading this please know that I'm not mocking your church). That may work for other churches. Some people may think we should adopt that philosophy. But, you will never hear that sort of thing from me. We are always going to be honest about where we are on this journey - during the struggles and the triumphs. When critical mass comes, we'll be able to look back and witness the amazing grace of God as he grew us to that place - which will, of course, be the beginning point of the next "thing" God wants to do through Thrive, because we'll never "arrive". But, we'll be able to look back with amazement at how the things we will enjoy as ubiquitous to life at Thrive Church, we were once just out of reach.----------------------------------------------------
In His grip!Herb Halstead, Pastor
www.ThriveCommunityChurch.com
kingdom.experiment.1
I decided to try to document my experiences with the Kingdom Experiment that we are doing at Thrive Church.
Week 1 - Poor in Spirit The "poor in the spirit" are those who realize that they are spiritually bankrupt, and must rely on God alone for the ability to even fathom Him, let alone to have the choice to accept His offer of reconciliation. This poverty of spirit flavors the whole person - flowing through the persons thoughts and actions. Of course, we are mere human reflectors of the Divine Glory that flows within us. The best way to understand a poverty of spirit is to explore the idea of poverty itself, and draw some analogies, which is how we approached the teaching this week, to mirror the book's approach. The suggested experiments follow two paths: inward reflection or outward expression. I chose one of the "outward expression" experiments, which was to visit the Kiva.org website and "co-sponsor" a loan for an entrepreneur in a developing country. My only twist was that I wanted this to be a family project. My goal was that we would go to the site together, choose a world area together, choose a country together, and then choose a person to co-sponsor. This "twist" proved to be quite a frustrating experience to be honest. The "together" part was a challenge. My daughter is in college and only comes home for the weekends - sometimes. Thankfully she was coming, but that meant that we were limited to Friday night and Saturday to get it done before church on Sunday. Also, my son is a fairly independent teenager who has his own agenda when it comes to how he spends his time. Then there's my bride, Angel, who is such hard working teacher that I really hate to put anything else on her plate, especially since she uses Saturdays to work on Sunday's children's lessons. Waiting for the weekend proved to e extremely taxing on my patience. I got really excited about the family project. Once everyone was home, and relatively "un-busy", I hooked the computer up to our home theater projector and launched the website. Then I told everyone it was time to get ready to do our experiment. After some prying from their activities, we finally assembled and refreshed the Kiva page. And there it was - a dreadful message: "all loans an this site are fully funded." Seriously??? Ten minutes ago, there WERE loans available to co-sponsor. Where did they go? Apparently, there are way too many eager lenders for the number of loans that flow through the system. I read the FAQ that said they updated hourly. Yeah, right - on a Saturday night, I highly doubt there will be a new loan posted. I felt frustrated and defeated. There is no way that I, the pastor, can show up at church not having done a Kingdom Experiment. GRRRR! My patience is all but gone now. So, I sat there, sulking, and feeling sorry for myself. With a sense of futile resignation, I flippantly hit the reload button. VOILA! A new loan opportunity showed up! We cheered and read the bio, then eagerly processed our money. The picture above is the person whose business we sponsored. Her name is Natalia Casalino Antesana, and she is trying to expand her booth at a fish market in Peru.What did I learn? I learned to be patient with God's timing. He is so wise and He is never late. Sometimes I want to do things my way and on my time table. OK, so maybe "sometimes" is a bit more generous than I should be for my OCD tendencies. I truly believe that when we seek to honor God, His faithfulness will shine. My challenge is to trust Him all the way,not just with the "what" but also with the "when" and "how".----------------------------------------------------
In His grip!Herb Halstead, Pastor
www.ThriveCommunityChurch.com
haiti.relief
There are so many needs that we are confronted with day-by-day. The Haiti crisis is one of many, albeit an urgent one. We are so fortunate that our globally deployed Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) was on the ground within minutes after the disaster through our network of churches. They continue to do the hard work in the field, and need our help. If you are able to help support the Haiti relief efforts, I have a couple web addresses for you:
1) NCM.org where you can find many ways to help, including making crisis-care-kits.2) Direct Supply Shipment, NCM partnered with Amazon.com to directly ship needed supplies to the Haiti field stations. I am already seeing some of the supplies going out of stock which is an awesome sign that things are moving!----------------------------------------------------
In His grip!Herb Halstead, Pastor
www.ThriveCommunityChurch.com
kingdom.experiment.kit
In His grip!Herb Halstead, Pastor
www.ThriveCommunityChurch.com
social.holiness.hijack
OK. So, most people who know me know that I really dig small groups. For about 15 years or so, I've been part of small groups ministries of some kind, in some way. I've done a lot of reading and studying about small groups. So, as a small groups guy, and as someone whose theological tradition is influenced strongly by John Wesley, naturally, I would be familiar by Wesley's classes and bands. I also happen to be quite a fan of Wesley. One of Wesley's idioms, of which I have been quite fond, is being used a lot lately. But, it has been hijaked!
The phrase is: "The Gospel of Christ knows of no religion, but social; no holiness, but social holiness". Unfortunately, not only is the phrase being hijaked but also mangled to the most common form: "there is no holiness without social holiness".
I think many college students would be surprised that Wesley's oft quoted phrase has nothing at all to do with "social justice". In fact, I can think of at least two main-stream bloggers' posts where Wesley's "social holiness" was assumed synonymous to "social justice" (not linked to avoid embarrassing those well-intentioned bloggers). A "google" of the mangled form of the phrase will find its misapplication rampant. I have to admit, that in my own quest to find a more exact term that combines the notion of salvation's grace and the resulting compulsion to help others experience that transformational grace (especially the disadvantaged of our society), I am tempted to join the throng in co-opting Wesley's phrase for this purpose. It is so convenient.
The problem is that I know better. Contextually, Wesley absolutely did not mean "social justice" when he said that, "The Gospel of Christ knows of no religion, but social; no holiness, but social holiness". What he was actually referring to was the "social holiness" experienced as people in small groups pursued a life of holiness, together, through the social interaction of discipleship (building up souls). He made this statement in a preface to a collection of hymns and poems by himself and his brother, Charles. The phrase comes as he is justifying the collection for use in worship and discipleship, in direct response to those people who think they can live faith without meeting with "the brethren" ("sisteren" too I am sure).
Sure, there is the universal appeal to "all" that he uses, but clearly as a persuasive device to combat the notion of a solitary religion, devoid of the blessed accountability of fellow sojourners. The context of the phrase is clearly about discipleship. Those who think otherwise, probably only skimmed the preface or never read it at all. This is not to say that being socially holy (in the misrepresented sense) is bad, it's just not what Wesley meant when he said "social holiness". Also, I am *not* saying that Wesley did not have a strong emphasis on meeting the physical and spiritual needs of the less fortunate of our society, it's just not what he meant when he said "social holiness".
So, no - the term "social holiness" will *not* do as a fitting replacement for the term "social justice".
"Social justice" as an "idea" is awesome, but as a "term", it really really sucks. The quest continues.
passionate.purpose
Recently, I ran across this blog post and the article to which it refers. Jay Lorenzen's comments about the article are excellent, and you should read them - as well as the original article. My own reaction follows:
As a father of a college student, I have heard plenty about the social justice "movement" that is hitting our colleges. And, I am going to be right upfront about this: it is a pitiful shame that there has to be a resurgence at all, especially within Christian educational institutions, of a passion or at least an actionable concern for those who are struggling to make it. But, I also have a huge problem with the terminology and the fuel source that I see behind this "movement" thus far.You can read about my issues with the terminology here.So - fuel. I love passionate people, and unashamedly consider myself a person of passion. I believe strongly in what I believe, and I will passionately defend my belief. I am more than willing to change my opinion, but it will be a result of a convincing argument, not just fancy or emotion.Emotion - there's my problem. My daughter might argue with me about this (she is more than welcome to her wrong opinions - smile), but I think that this current resurgence of concern for social responsibility is one that is, for the majority, based on someone pulling some heart strings. I also think that it is perpetuated by people motivated by emotional response, who rely on emotional response for that perpetuation.I love the passionate idealism of college students. But what I love more is watching that passionate idealism mature into passionate purpose. Idealism relies on a sense of fairness and an emotional "check" to determine what is fair or not. The problem with such an approach to societal issues is that it focuses on the symptoms rather than real solutions ("people are hungry so let's feed them", rather than "people are hungry so let's equip them to escape the situation resulting in that hunger"). The result is a bunch of bandages placed on the wound without any real healing - but hey, we feel good because we put those bandages there, right?Folks, it takes the maturity of "purpose" to put real and lasting action to "passion". With purpose we realize that the bandage, while necessary, is only temporary, and that more extensive foundational work is required to heal the source of the wound. Let's not rely on pulling heart strings to solicit guilt-laden service. Let's help people understand how a love for neighbor is vital to the plan of God - a plan to save the world. Then, let us adopt God's purpose (to save the world) and let that purpose fuel our service. This will get us beyond feeding the poor to actually changing their lives.Evan Hunter speaks of a disjointed theology that can only sustain either social activism or spiritual growth. I've seen both. But, I am so thankful for a theological heritage that speaks of a "perfect love" where God's love in us is realized through both our own personal spiritual growth journey and the resulting compulsion to help others to be transformed.online.relationships
Thrive is always planning. There are always lots of things that brew for awhile before they actually become reality (if ever) at Thrive (because we are very intentional about what we do and do not do). For some time, we've had a few leadership team discussions around new ways of experiencing "church". There is a lot of buzz right now about "online church". There are churches who hold live services online, with serious attention to audience participation. Some churches have begun to hold web-cam baptisms for parts of their "congregation" who are "remote". We're discussing various online approaches, but we're still letting it brew. I am not sure what Thrive's foray into this space will be, but it is something we are talking about. We're not talking about it because other people are doing it, while we are striving to learn from them. We are talking about it because we see an unmistakeable pattern in human behavior. Whether you like it or not, people are engaging more and more in online avenues for building relationships. I have my reservations as many of you do as well. But as was said in a retweet I sent out today, "If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less. God's message is never irrelevant, but we can sure make our efforts at spreading that message irrelevant. So, when you pray for Thrive, pray for your leadership team. Pray that we keep the prize always ahead of us. Whether it is an online Thrive Church, or some other method to reach those who "live" online, pray that we allow God to shape our efforts. ----------------------------------------------------In His grip!Herb Halstead, Pastor
www.ThriveCommunityChurch.com
2 Corinthians 5:21 - God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might be...
he.loves.us
We capped off our Advent series with "love". During previous weeks, we covered hope, peace, and joy using an Advent candle wreath to helps us with the symbolism. I have to tell you that while this season is probably the most hectic time of the year, the Advent series has probably been my favorite each year. There is just something amazing about the process of trying to rekindle the essence of the enormity of the hope that God gave the world in sending His Son to live among us and suffer for us, so that we could have the opportunity to choose.
Each of us can just as easily say "no" as "yes". That fact alone makes His willing sacrifice all the more poignant - that He would do so, knowing that some of that blood could be shed in vain. I can already imagine that some of you reading this would take pause at my assertion that Jesus' blood could be shed in vain. But isn't that what happens when a soul so dear to God (all souls are) would choose to forgo such an awesome gift, especially when He paid so great a price? One of the songs that Josh chose for the worship set completely took me by surprise. I had been listening to David Crowder's "Church Music" album since release. It is an amazing work, by the way. The song Josh played is He Love Us. I am serious when I say that I have probably heard that song fifty times since release. But Sunday, as I saw the words on the screen, I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of them. Even as I prepared the message, which was intended to spur my folks toward a richer understanding of God's love, I was not prepared for what God would do in my own heart. I have a definition for worship that I have used many times. Loosely, it is that true worship happens when we are confronted by the enormity and awesomeness of God, and realize just how small we are. That is what happened to me as I sang that song. In fact, at one point I actually stopped singing and began praying. But what surprised me was that my prayers were not of "my" thanksgiving, nor were they for God to have mercy on "me". I saw an image in my mind of Christ on the cross, His precious blood falling onto people in robes. It would fall on some who would treasure that drop as more precious than gold. There were others who were trying to remove the persistent stain, eventually throwing their garment into a fire. I began praying for people I know who have not chosen to follow God. I prayed that somehow God would use me to portray His love as faithfully as possible (for this human shell) so that they would choose "yes". Whatever I can do to this end, may each precious drop count. ----------------------------------------------------In His grip!Herb Halstead, Pastor
www.ThriveCommunityChurch.com
