So, I’ve been processing my experience at Catalyst a couple of weeks ago. For those of you that don’t know what Catalyst is, it’s a leadership conference, held over two days that is kind of like pulling up a stool and taking a long drink from a fire hydrant; way too much information in too short of an amount of time. Despite what Mountain Dew or Starbucks might suggest, there comes a point where even caffeine won’t keep you alert.

Last year, I left Catalyst feeling like I had been beat up from the time I got there until the time I left. It seemed that every speaker had looked into my story and was going to target their message on one of the areas in which I come up short. This year, not so much. There were several speakers that I gleaned a great deal from, but only one seemed to be having a conversation with me instead of making suggestions at me.

Steven Furtick, a young pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte used a story from 1 Kings to rock my world. The story comes from chapter 18 where Elijah says to Ahab, go get something to eat and drink because it’s about to rain. Off goes Ahab and Elijah heads up to the top of the mountain. Elijah sends his servant off to look towards the sea for rain. Six times the servant comes back and says there’s nothing on the horizon. But on the seventh time, he comes back and tells Elijah that there’s a cloud on the horizon about the size of a man’s fist. Steven’s point was that between the time of God’s promise and the payoff there is a painful process. It would have been easy for Elijah to not believe it was going to rain. It would have been easy for him to be discouraged by not seeing the rain coming. It would have been easy to give up when the only cloud in sight was one the size of a fist. But he didn’t. He waited and didn’t lose sight of the promise that God had given.

Steven’s personal story is pretty amazing and well documented online. That in conjunction with Elijah’s story left me wondering what promises I had bailed on before God was done. So I’m watching the horizon… looking for the smallest of clouds…

Today is the culmination of a very sad few days in our home. After four years of health problems, we put Bogey Fudd Foster down today. It was as peaceful and painless as could be imagined for him, but the collective heart of my family is broken and missing our friend. He’ll be greatly missed…

Finally, I’ve finished Tony Jones’ book, “The New Christians” and am a few chapters into Mark Driscoll’s book “Vintage Jesus”. What a contrast! “The New Christians” posed chapter after chapter of questions, comments, ideas and interpretations as to what it means to follow Christ. “Vintage Jesus” has begun reading like a dogmatic text with the Driscoll gravy of indignation spread over top. Don’t get me wrong, I love Driscoll’s style and the way he speaks from such an absolute stance. I’m just not sure that I can stand up and be as confident about whom God is, when the more I get to know Him, the more I realize how little I really know.

If “Vintage Jesus” is on the far right of the Christian perspective (which is where I would put it), then “The New Christians” is equally as far to the left. I believe both books are valid expressions of our faith journey and I’m finding that the two in contrast have helped me struggle with the tension of my own faith in our current culture. If you’re looking for something to challenge you in defining your Christian influence within your community, pick up these two books and lock yourself in a room for a few days. Then come up for air and begin chewing on the topics they present. Or, if you live near hurricane alley, pick them up for the next time you lose power for a couple of days…

In Tony Jones’ book “The New Christians”; he uses an allegorical story from history to illustrate the reactions to trying times in history. His story (with my attempt to convey the point without rewriting the entire thing) is about a young woman on the east coast around the middle of the 1800’s. This woman, a daughter whose family was one of prominence fell in love with and married a young man with an adventurous spirit who saw the west as an opportunity to establish himself; much in the same way his family had become established in the east. So, together, they packed up and moved west.

A year went by and the parents received no word from their daughter. They began to let the house and their own lives get away from them as they worried about their daughter and son-in-law. A second year went by and again no word. By now, the family had fallen from one of stature. The house was run down and completely neglected.

But then the day came when the mother received a letter from her daughter. She was so excited, she opened it without haste. The contents read something like this:

Mother and Father,
The west has been rough on us. We traveled west of Missouri where my husband fell very ill with sickness that eventually took his life. I lost everything but was taken in by a wonderful bunch of Indians…

Upon hearing this, the mother collapsed on the floor where she died. The letter fluttered to the ground where it landed in the fireplace and was consumed by the burning fire. The father, upon his return, found his wife dead on the floor (not knowing about any letter). Consumed with worry for his daughter and now grief from losing his wife, he took his own life. The city, not having any record of any survivors to the family, tore the dilapidated house down, sold the land and buried the husband and wife in a pauper’s grave.

And then Jones offers an alternate ending…

Continuing with the letter.
I lost everything but was taken in by a wonderful bunch of Indians who took me back to a city in Missouri. While there, I fell in love with a wonderful man working on the railroad that will stretch from east to west. We’re now living in Cheyenne, Wyoming and would love you to come and visit.

And they did indeed visit. In fact, they moved out to Cheyenne. And on the day when the Transcontinental Railroad was finished, it was father and son-in-law seen hammering in one of the final spikes.

I’m confident that I have not done this story justice, but for my purposes here, you get the point. And if you’re planning on reading Jones’ book, there’s enough that I’ve left out to make the story pop a little upon reading it – even if you know how it turns out.

In looking at this story, it thoroughly disturbed me. Especially, when looking at a comparison between this and the state of the church in America. We find ourselves again at a point where something is changing – has changed – or will change if the church in America will exist as it has until now. In the 80’s and 90’s we saw churches implement segmented programs and solutions to what has been termed as felt-needs. Churches became a Wal-Mart of spirituality – something for the kids, women, men, people that like to scrapbook, paint, work on classic cars, ride motorcycles, and be entertained. Church became a friendly place that was supposed to be welcoming to people that would visit the church. And it attracted a lot of people that liked to watch things be done.

But then there were a few people that came together and looked off in the horizon and said, “I think there’s more out there than what’s going on right now.” They pioneered the postmodern shift in the context of American spirituality. They found huge plains of land that were fairly easy to conquer and claim as their own. Along their path, they also gathered more people willing to join their journey – even though nobody really knew what they were heading towards. And then they hit the bumpy ground; a place where some abandoned the cause for various different reasons. They met opposition to their journey and the impact that it would have on the state of the rest of the church in America.

And yet, as I sit here on the front porch of my life, looking out at the horizon, I still see just as many new pioneers as there were when I came to where I am. I see an equal number continuing to stretch beyond where I am and ones still trying to reach this particular point. I see as many, if not more, opponents to the postmodern shift in religion and spirituality. But maybe more concerning, I see a whole lot more people that are content to be right where they are (right where they’ve always been) and yet they look at and hear about this postmodern shift and discount it as something that will fade away like the sunset some evening.

This is where Jones’ allegory played on my thoughts.

How many of the people that have helped me along my journey are sitting comfortable in a church watching person after person and family after family cycle through their doors never to become part of what’s going on? How many of these same people receive word back from family and friends that have ventured off down the path of postmodernity? How many worry about the condition of other’s faith while neglecting their own? How many will be in the same place they are today, the day that they die? How many of these same people will be the ones that lock the doors for the final time on the churches that they spent their entire lives in?

Please, don’t hear what I’m not saying. There’s nothing wrong with being in one place your entire life – as long as that’s where God wants you and you’re involved in making a difference in what’s going on in your community. I remember my time in Europe several years ago now. I had the pleasure of touring several very large cathedrals during the week. These were huge tourist locations where it was obvious that at one time, hundreds and often thousands would gather together to worship God. But now thousands of people tour them each week and a dozen or so worship in the building on the weekend. I fear that we are nearing the same as the Baby Boomer generation is reaching retirement and will not have the expendable income to keep open many of the buildings that are in use today. When I look at the values of postmoderns, I don’t see having a big building with lots of staff and programs on that list – or if it is, it’s buried down below things like social justice and community involvement.

I’m at peace with my decision to move on. I’m at peace with my decision to kick the dust off my feet as I walk away from a traditional church model. But I haven’t found peace in leaving behind the people I love and care for that have chosen to be content in a place that I was not. It’s with a longing for people to wake up that I send my own letter back to anyone and everyone that thinks that things are changing but are too intimidated to step off their own front porch. Typically an invitation would be to come be where I am – but in a time where you may read this across the country or world from where I am, and the context in which you read this may be very different from what I experience. So, my invitation is not to join me physically in a single location, but to join in the same way in which I have, join in the community in which you live. What does that mean? Get involved with some community event, volunteer with some group of people which share an interest of yours, hang out in a local setting where people get to know you, take the time to get to know the people you deal with every day. Learn something new about the people you know each week. Keep a journal of these new things. Be available. Listen. And when asked, communicate God’s story.

much love,
- mark

I’m not sure if you’ve ever taken any time to read through the book of Habakkuk?  It’s a short little account of a prophet’s exchange with God.  It’s merely three chapters long and has a verse in the middle that if you’ve grown up in a church environment, you may be familiar with.  The verse often quoted is 2:11 that reads in the New International Version (NIV) as:

“The stones of the wall will cry out, and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.”

I’ve heard this particular quote used in various ways, but have most always understood it to mean that if we (the people of this earth) didn’t worship and praise the Lord, then the rocks would cry out instead. 

But the quote is actually taken out of context to get that meaning.  Habakkuk and the Lord are thought to be talking about the invasion of the land of Judah by the Chaldeans.  And when God is quoted with the 2:11 verse, He isn’t talking to Christians or the Church.  He’s speaking about a group of people that He’s allowed to come in and reign down terror on His own people. 

But I think that when we read Habakkuk, there is a message that is loud and clear to us as the Church in America.  First, if we take on the roll of God’s people in the story and stand alongside Habakkuk, we can see that when we lose our way and begin walking in the weeds instead of the clear path that He’s directed, we can expect to find ourselves in hard times, like the people with whom Habakkuk is associated.  That, I would consider, somewhat of a Sunday School answer.  Most people could and probably would deduce such a thing. 

But where I find this story fascinating is when we stand in the place of the Chaldeans.  God’s message to them reads 2:2-20 (NIV):

²     Then the Lord replied:
“Write down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets
so that a herald may run with it.
³     For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
it will certainly come and will not delay.
⁴     “See, he is puffed up;
his desires are not upright—
but the righteous will live by his faith—
⁵     indeed, wine betrays him;
he is arrogant and never at rest.
Because he is as greedy as the grave
and like death is never satisfied,
he gathers to himself all the nations
and takes captive all the peoples.
⁶ “Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying,
“ ‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods
and makes himself wealthy by extortion!
How long must this go on?’
⁷     Will not your debtors suddenly arise?
Will they not wake up and make you tremble?
Then you will become their victim.
⁸     Because you have plundered many nations,
the peoples who are left will plunder you.
For you have shed man’s blood;
you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
⁹     “Woe to him who builds his realm by unjust gain
to set his nest on high,
to escape the clutches of ruin!
¹⁰     You have plotted the ruin of many peoples,
shaming your own house and forfeiting your life.
¹¹     The stones of the wall will cry out,
and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.
¹²     “Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
and establishes a town by crime!
¹³     Has not the Lord Almighty determined
that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire,
that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?
¹⁴     For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
as the waters cover the sea.
¹⁵     “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors,
pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk,
so that he can gaze on their naked bodies.
¹⁶     You will be filled with shame instead of glory.
Now it is your turn! Drink and be exposed!
The cup from the Lord’s right hand is coming around to you,
and disgrace will cover your glory.
¹⁷     The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
and your destruction of animals will terrify you.
For you have shed man’s blood;
you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
¹⁸     “Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it?
Or an image that teaches lies?
For he who makes it trusts in his own creation;
he makes idols that cannot speak.
¹⁹     Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’
Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’
Can it give guidance?
It is covered with gold and silver;
there is no breath in it.
²⁰     But the Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth be silent before him.”

It’s clear that they are a strong, forceful group of people with the ability to take and do what they want.  They are a spiritual people, but worship what they’ve created and not God himself.  And we could learn that being overbearing and chasing after our own goals instead of following God will leave us less than fulfilled and foolish in the end.  Again somewhat of a Sunday School answer. 

But I said I thought it was fascinating to look at this story from the Chaldean point of view.  It’s one thing to read this from their point of view, but what if we were to put the Church in America in the place of the Chaldeans?  Some would argue that the American Church, like Habakkuk 2:4-5 suggest, has become arrogant and proud and have devoured other expressions of faith and packaged them in a nice little four walls with a Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday night gathering times.  And there are some that would continue with verses 6-10 saying that the time of the Church in America (as it has been for years) is coming to an end; that the greed and arrogance that have consumed the institution will be its downfall. 

And that brings us to verse 11, in light of the Church in America; this would be our own houses of worship.  The places we’ve sacrificed so much to build.  When we no longer can afford to keep them open, we’ll ask those bricks and mortar to cry out to God.  And they will along with the ceilings echoing their cry against what’s been done. 

Verses 12-17 are something of a charge against us for the “crimes” we’ve committed in the name of Church.  And then verse 18.  What value is the idol we’ve created?  Or an image that teaches lies?  And then topped off with verse 19.  Woe to the person that stands and asks for these buildings to cry out to God for us.  Because the Lord is still in charge and worthy of our honor and praise (v. 20).

How much of that could really be directed at the Church in America?  Some would say absolutely none – or very little at best.  But I’d caution you before jumping on that bandwagon.  If that’s the case, why do we have a generation of Baby Boomers that have flocked to the seeker-sensitive churches in the late 80’s and early 90’s watching their kids and grandkids consistently walk away from the churches they’ve grown up in?  Why is there so much time and money spent on divisions amongst God’s own people?  Why are churches retreats from culture and society instead of the creators of culture within the community? 

So, should we scrap it all and abandon the whole church thing before the walls cry out?  I don’t think so.  But I’m extremely fearful that we’re heading that direction.  Particularly, I’m afraid that the economics of the Church in America (big buildings, full-time staff, and a dying generation of people with the funds willing to support such things) may do the job for us.  If we have become what Habakkuk is told of by God, and we’ve created this thing to worship instead of Him (all in the name of worshiping Him), then we are standing on dangerous ground. 

Stop what you’re doing.  Look around.  Step back and look around.  Have we become what God describes to Habakkuk?  If so, what are you going to do?

much love,
- mark

I started reading a new book this week and have been reminded of how I’ve gotten to where I am right now.  Now mind you, I’m only a little more than a chapter into Tony Jones’ “The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier”, and while I don’t stand shoulder to shoulder with Tony on his beliefs, the how’s and why’s of emergent are very similar to my own journey. 

That last sentence just turned a lot of people off. 

1.       It has Emergent (Emergent Village) – a controversial 21st-century Christian movement whose participants seek to engage postmodern people, especially the unchurched and post-churched
2.       It has Tony Jones – the National Coordinator for Emergent Village
3.       Did I mention it has Emergent in it?

This new book is an attempt to explain why Emergent came about and some of the things that they do and do not believe.  Typically, I would have passed this by as another book moving farther away from the history of the modern church, but the reviews on Amazon piqued my interest.  I’m not going to quote any of them because I would suggest reading them all.  You’re likely to agree with them all on some point made within the course of the book.  Some as passionately as the reviewer and some as a passing “whatever” or “yep”.  I remember just how alone I felt as I began to venture beyond the typical American church experience and I was lucky enough to be traveling with a couple of other people that shared my disdain.  We grabbed hold of many of the Emergent figureheads and hung on their teachings and writings because they were the only ones that seemed to be making any sense.  Not because they were presenting answers, but they were at least open to asking questions.  This book is doing a great job (so far) of reminding me of those early struggles and realizations.  It’s also bringing me back to some topics that remain unresolved and pushed back into the corners of my mind. 

Ascension Worship is taking on a new level of organization this year.  If you’ve followed along the past few years as Ascension has grown, then you probably have noticed the production getting larger as the events progressed.  And then last year, we kind of tripped over this theme that carried us through the year. 

But this year, we’ve begun with an over-arching theme that will walk with us through the 10 events for 2008.  This year, we’re focusing on “UNIFY” and some of the many different ways that plays out for us as individuals and members of our communities. 

We’ve also added an element where each month we’re partnering with another ministry that will give an opportunity to become involved in something going on beyond your own backyard.  Some of these are ministries that you’re aware of, buy some of them may be new.  All of them are ones that we as Ascension have been supporting or following. 

If you’ve never been to an Ascension event, you’re probably wondering what to expect.  Quite simply, our passion is to ignite (or re-ignite) a passion within the local church and exists only to provide a means to worship God.  There’s typically worship music with video and lighting elements that help portray the emotion of the music.  There’s typically a short message that connects the evening with the year’s theme.  And there’s typically time to ponder what you experience – with others or by yourself. 

2008 kicks off February 22^nd with a bang at The Fellowship at Celebration Baptist Church.  They are located at 13720 McCormick Rd, Jacksonville, FL 32225 (Google Map it here).  The doors open at 7pm and the evening will begin promptly at 7:18.  Hope to see you there.

I started this little reading plan as a way to be intentional about reading something from God each day.  If you’re like me at all, it’s just too easy to rely on what I already know and listen to God through somebody else’s filters.  I realized that I needed to spend time with God through my own filters.  My reading plan is a short and simple one that will take me through the New Testament between January and the beginning of December.  Each weekday, I begin my computer time with a short time of reading and then a little reflection. 

Funny how God works.  I’ve already noticed, been made aware of, recognized… however you want to say it, words are leaping off the pages that directly correspond to who I am and who I want to be.  For instance, in Matthew 11, Jesus is talking about cures to problems (blind-see, lame-walk, deaf-hear) but he comes to poor and he doesn’t rebut with wealth of any sort.  Not enough to get buy, not enough to be comfortable, not enough to give away, not even as much as you can handle.  He solves being poor by having good news (the Gospel message of Jesus) preached.  How jacked up is my thinking that when I think of being poor that I immediately stay bound to this existence and focus on wealth. 

A good friend of mine passed on a message from Mark Yaconelli (Mike Yaconelli’s son) from one of this year’s National Youth Worker’s Conventions titled, The Dark Night of the Soul – When God is absent.  There were several compelling reasons that I would interrupt my weekly listening schedule and focus in on some other source:

1.     I’ve never listened to Mark speak.  I am a huge fan of his Dad’s thoughts.
2.     My friend told me that this message ranked in his top 5 messages of all times.
3.     My friend told me that this message described exactly where he is at.
4.     And the title “Dark Night of the Soul” sounds very indie-rock and enticing.

So, I’ve now listened to the message three times straight through and reviewed several sections a couple of more times.  I’ve also spent a couple of hours looking at some research on this subject from Mark’s references and outside sources.  I am compelled to take some time and convey my thoughts on as I too resonate with this idea. 

Let me give you some details and highlights from Mark’s talk and then I’ll tell you why I am able to relate to what he describes.
Mark opens his time with a quote from the writings of Mother Teresa in the book Mother Teresa Come Be My Light:

“There is so much contradiction in my soul.  Such deep longing for God.  So deep that it is painful.   A continual suffering.  And yet, I’m not wanted by God.  I feel repulsed, empty, no faith, no love, no zeal.  The souls of others hold no attraction to me.   Heaven means nothing.  To me it looks like an empty place.   The thought of it means nothing to me and yet this torturing longing for God persists.  Pray for me please that I keep smiling at Him in spite of everything.   Pray for me for within me everything is icy cold.   It is only that blind faith that carries me through for in reality, to me, all is darkness.   God is destroying everything in me.   There is such a terrible darkness within me as if everything was dead.  The silence and the emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, that I listen and I do not hear.”

This was written by Mother Teresa as she was in the middle of doing wonderful things for God.  You and I would have looked at her and had no question about her love and devotion for God.  We would have seen the ways that God was using her to impact a community and shine His light upon them.  And yet, she stood in the midst of wonderful things and questioned her own motives, her beliefs and her faith all at the same time while holding on to nothing but her motives, beliefs and faith.  I’m sorry if that’s not clear to you, but I’m not sure there’s any other way to say it.  It would be like holding a ball in your hand, doubting that the thing in your hand was a ball, but continuing to call it a ball and refusing to put it down. 

The Dark Night of the Soul comes from a writing by St John of the Cross and has a book of the same title that goes through each line explaining what is being said.  But the concept is basically that God takes some people into this place where they feel so completely alone as a way to strip away individual perceptions and allow them to more clearly see God.  Typically the things that used to take someone into the presence of God become mundane, forced and seemingly unauthentic.  In the examples I’ve looked at, this includes prayer, meditation and even works of service.  The writings from St John of the Cross suggest that it’s only very spiritual or spiritually mature people that would be taken into this dark place.  And the worst part about it, there is no warning sign going in and no clear guide to getting out.  God takes a person there when He wants and allows them to walk out of the darkness when He’s ready.  The person suffering in the darkness is left without having control.

Scripture gives us a few examples of people that were in a similar place.  Solomon, in Ecclesiastes 1:8-9
⁸      All things are full of weariness;
          a man cannot utter it;
     the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
          nor the ear filled with hearing.
⁹      What has been is what will be,
          and what has been done is what will be done,
          and there is nothing new under the sun.