emerging mosaic

What if faith is a story? A true story not a myth, of God’s unending love for humanity and our restless wandering away from that love. A story of the brokenness that the wandering bring. A mystical story of God’s supernatural natural power and beyond human love that can transform even the most broken situations.

How would that change the way we view and use Bible? The way we share faith with others? The way we live?

Would the Bible be more than a book of facts and legal rules of how to get into heaven? Would sharing faith be more about helping others to find themselves in the great story? Would people of all cultures and nations find the connections of their stories with the great story? Would living for God mean following Jesus pattern of lving deeply into the story, until the biblical story becomes the story we live? Would faith be tied to prosperity or would the poor see themselves in this story of faith?

Justin @ Radical Congruency has a podcast where he reads a quote from NT Wright about the power of story. (yes I am using a qoute from NT Wright)

"Tell someone to do something and you change their life for a day. Tell someone a story and you change their life."

What is faith was a story that we lived inspite of ourselves, because of ourselves? I might change our lives.

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Technorati Tags: biblical_story, christian_faith, share_faith

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Technorati Tags: Brian_McLaren, ed_dobson, emergent, emerging_church, zondervan

Are the leadership models of choice more than an reaction to unhealthy leadership patterns of the modern church. Some don’t think so. In response to my previous post and comment on his blog Lucas over a my four walls continues the conversation about the flat model of leadership in the emerging church, by comparing Jesus as pastor and leader to these unhealthy patterns. Our current patterns of living out these biblical leadership roles are distorted. That much is true but I don’t think that means we just swing to the opposite extreme of no leadership no pastor.

Can we acknowledge the distortions as John Frye does, then ask how then should we lead/pastor if we are following Jesus’ pattern? Jesus often pastored "his flock" by  leaving them to go and connecting with God the creator through prayer. That’s pastoring by example. Why don’t we do that instead of saying we don’t need pastors? Jesus lead by serving others can we do that instead of saying we don’t need leaders? Instead of advocating no structures how about cultivating organic structures instead of mechanical ones?

subversive influence also raises some interesting issues

Problems here are (a) the flat model is not non-analogous (by the way, what’s the opposite of analogous, anyway?) to servant leadership, as I would argue servant leadership will naturally exist in flat structures; and (2) effective servant leadership is not necessarily hierarchical (this facet is redundant to the prior point

He also points to a whole other aspect of this distributed leadership the complex Christ where I raised the issue of organic vs mechanical. I think this raises a much more important issue. Is the model of individual professional leadership sustainable for the church moving into the future? Distributed leadership may be the only sustainable way to go.

This raises all bunch of other question about money and the accumulation of wealth being discussed over and into the mystic (Alex McManus blog)

This is a very stimulating question

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Technorati Tags: biblical_leadership, church_leadership, emerging_church, Jesus, leadership_models, pastor, servant_leadership

There is a growing conversation happening about diversity or the lack of diversity in the emerging church conversation. Thankfully there are several people of color responding, and sharing their thoughts. So here are snippets from some of the conversations.

Over at the Ooze in a conversation about Seeking diversity in Emergent sacred narrative writes

"Maybe we study African Christianity and South American Christianity and Eastern Christianity and Mexican Christianity and tell those stories."

I’d add the many facets of African-American and Afro Caribbean Christianity as well.

Another ooze conversation responds to a blog by Maurice Broddus on Black People in the conversation  he writes

"In a lot of ways, the emergent church struck me as, well, the Christian equivalent of the grunge movement. A little subversive, a little edgy, and whole lot of white, middle class evangelicals trying to make Christianity look cool. In other words, originally I saw a lot of style over substance. However, once I dug a little deeper, read some of the foundational works, a lot of the substance of postmodernism resonated. I was left wondering how this would translate to black churches, wondering what an emergent African American church would look like or what a multi-cultural emergent church would look like. "

This is exactly how I feel sometimes about t Emergent. What we are trying to do at my church Mosaic Life is figure out and life out biblical emerging church values in a real multiracial faith community.

Jose over at cracked pots has this perspective on the diversity from the urban side of things

"i think you’re right about an urban presence. reverend ray rivera, executive director of LPAC (south bronx) will say that people want to "parachute into the city" and try to save us. it becomes less about being missional (coming along side), and more about the old-school, missionary mentality. my other question is how do we preach relocation, and for those who are already there to remain?"

And Finally Anthony smith at postmodern negro is exploring/imagineering the postmodern black church

"I want to be a part of Christian community…a local ekklesia. But I want to feel at "home". Not in a consumeristic sense, but in a sense that it will challenge me, provoke me, encourage me, to be a part of the missio Dei or God’s mission of salvation in the Land. When I think about the kind of church community that would draw me…my imagination always goes to images like these. Am I crazy?"

This is how many of the spiritually searching people of color I know feel. I really do resonate with this. This is where I think Emergent has missed the boat.

I think is all boils down to creating new churches that speak this yearning. As my church planting  coach (grandfather to biracial kids said on the need for diverse and new churches "my grandkids need churches that haven’t been started yet."

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Technorati Tags: diversity, emergent, emergent_church, emerging church

I discovered this awesome prayer over at ragamuffin diva

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me.
Within Thy wounds hide me.
Separated from Thee let me never be.
From the malignant enemy, defend me.
At the hour of death, call me.
And close to Thee bid me.
That with Thy saints I may be
Praising Thee, forever and ever.  Amen

 thanks to the diva for sharing

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Technorati Tags: christian_faith, spiritual-practice

House of Flying Daggers

My rating: 4 out of 5

I rented this movie because I really liked Crouching Tiger. I find these movies about ancient Asian culture traditions and values really inspiring and beautiful. The Kung Fu fighting scenes are excellent as well ;).

This film form Zhang Yimou has a combination of beautiful music, intense conflict, stirring love and excellently choreographed and acted fighting scene. The movie centers around a mysterious rebel group called the House of Flying Daggers. These highly disciplined and well trained warrior bandits (like Asian Robin Hoods) battle the corrupt and oppressive government officials and provide hope for the ordinary people.

Problems arise when love is sparked between two fighters on opposite sides of an impending battle. There are many twists and turns that keep the viewer guessing and engaged. The action sequences are expertly interwoven with scenes that allow you to get to know the characters and feel for them when their life changing dilemma arises.

Kinda wish I had seen this one on the big screen

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Technorati Tags: faith & culture, house_of_flying_daggers, kung_fu, movies & tv

Jose over at Cracked Pots asks this important question after a gathering with Brian McLaren

. Urban-"What does it mean to live as a Christian in the ‘Urbs’?" This is less about location and more about influence. We are living in a globalized society, where the world can be represented on two square blocks in our cities, while the suburbs continue to receive their influence from the urban environment. How will this challenge a new kind of church into thinking about urban theology? Further, how do we develop a community of believers that have a heart for the city?

I’m looking forward to Brian’s visit to GR next month maybe there will be a chance to explore some of these questions

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Technorati Tags: diversity, urban_church

My prayer go out to Jordan cooper and Sam carrasco (Rudy’s son) who are both battling illnesses.

May God’s peace and strength be and abide with you both

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Technorati Tags: prayer

Ambra Nikola has once again caught my attention with her biting satirical wit in her commentary on Sean puff.. I mean Puff Da.. I mean P..  aah Diddy’s (why don’t you just make it a symbol) Combs most recent name change.

Oh Prince did that already 

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Was Jesus a pastor or a leader maybe both or neither?

The more I hear the rationale of some in the emerging conversation for the flat model of leadership the less convinced I am that the conviction in based on following Jesus patterns. It seems more like a sixties retro headless democracy that I think eventually caused the church to lose its way and fall into the hands of the modernists thinkers.

Having a leader is not just about wanting to know who is in charge that is just a simplification of a very complex and layered issue. God has always raised up leaders for his people and to deny that or reject it (The shaping of things to come, not withstanding) I think is misguided.

This is one of the things that frustrates me the most about some emergent thinkers. More credence is put in follow the latest intellectual thought than following Jesus’ which is what we claim to value so highly in the emerging church. It’s no wonder that D.A. Carson and others are beating us over the head as not standing for anything biblical and abandoning the core faith.

Carson et al are wrong but we are giving them tons of ammunition by just reacting at the other extreme to all the abuses of the modern church, leadership being chief among them. Jesus was open , he was inviting, but he lead. He showed his followers how to live and he gave instructions for us to follow those patterns.

As Kester Brewin says in the Complex Christ we are trying to mount a revolution when what we need is an evolution. I think we need to get over our fear of strong leaders and realize that strong servant leaders are an asset not a liability.  We need leaders, flawed imperfect, servant leaders. Not managers, not tyrants, not dictators, not CEOs and not whatever wimps! Leaders! We need leaders willing to follow Jesus at all costs into mission; To serve people and sacrifice for them as Jesus for us.

(sidebar: I think this i one reason why some people of color don’t get the whole emerging church thing. The Afro Christian church values healthy leaders and those leaders play a very different role than they do in most anglo settings)

The flat model thing just feels like such a cope out for not laying it all on the line if God has given a mission to lead. think of all the people responsible for keeping the faith going that God called to lead what if they said I’m really more comfortable with a flat model because that is what it say in the shaping things to come.

Well I got that off my chest!

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Technorati Tags: church_leadership, emerging church