Weekly Meanderings

Last updated on: April 2, 2011 at 6:48 am By Scot McKnight

Got anything for me?

Help your parents — or someone who needs it — to be more tech savvy. Fun. And Parents, encourage your kids.

Speaking of parenting, April Diaz openly and honestly expresses her struggle of going back to pastoring after an eleven week journey to get her two orphan children, bringing them to the USA and learning to be a mom.

Steve Cuss, the Multi Hat Pastor, on a spiritual retreat. My friend George Guthrie interviews Michael Card on lament … a good listen. And my friend Mike Glenn on how he reads the Bible.

Walking off grief with Christine.

Ted Gossard’s pastor, Sharon Garlough Brown, has a new book and Ted gives a sketch and invitation to read it. Speaking of women (ahem) (non-but-all-but)pastors, Karen has a wonderful piece on Beth Moore: “Linda, my sister, has long been a fan of Moore’s. Over the past decade, if Moore was within a day’s driving distance, my sister was in the audience. To be honest, Linda’s rabid devotion for all-things-Moore annoys me. My sister waited four months before ordering my most current book. If Moore releases a new book, Linda has it ordered within four minutes. Hundreds of thousands of women share my sister’s affection for Moore and her teaching ministry, but as usual, I’m late to the party.”

A wonderful image for a Jesus’ ministry of uprooting. A wonderful spoof of an interview with Satan about Rob Bell’s book.

Straight from the classroom. Straight from the sacred texts. Straight from the preacher. Straight from the professor.

And straight from Roger Olson about his experience with neo-fundamentalists in the evangelical tent. “There comes a point when one has to give up and say “Okay, have it your way. We’re not part of the same movement anymore.” I am saying that. They may go their way and I and mine will go our way. We both use the label “evangelical,” but it is too general to cover all of us without qualification. To me, they are behaving like fundamentalists, so that’s what I’ll call them with “neo-” in front to distinguish them from Carl McIntire and the older, separatistic fundamentalist movement (that still exists but does not participate in evangelical endeavors).”

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Weekly Meanderings

Last updated on: March 25, 2011 at 8:14 pm By Scot McKnight

We’re back in action with the Meanderings.

The controversy around Rob Bell’s book has calmed enough for us to begin a series on his book, and we will begin that series this Friday. We will patiently examine the major ideas/chps of his book.

But we are glad to resume Weekly Meanderings… back in action is the word: “Monday was a nasty cold day. Clouds, heavy as a cow’s teat, hung overhead, threatening to drench anyone at any moment. I put on some sweats and thought about going to the club to workout but then figured, why bother? This is the sort of day Jesus would pick to bust the sky wide open and come on back. So I stripped the sheets from the bed because Mama taught me that if you are expecting company you’d better have clean linens. I’m not at all sure what Emily Post would say on this matter, but being southern and all, I think it’s only hospitable to ask Jesus to stay the night whenever he gets here. The distance between heaven and earth can seem so very great some days, I expect Jesus might be worn out when he arrives. Even if he can’t stay the night, he might appreciate a clean bed and a nap.”

A must-read from Mike Cope.

Adjustment Burea fan? Thomas Oord sees The Adjustment Bureau in terms of open theism: “There is so much more to this movie than what I’ve described here. And this description comes after my seeing Adjustment Bureau one time. I plan to see it several more. I’m sure that not everyone will like the conclusion of this movie. But for open theists, this flick comes as close as any in describing God’s flexible plans and creaturely freedom. No movie can do full justice to all of my views of God, of course. I mean, how does a filmmaker depict an omnipresent being!?! But The Adjustment Bureau goes a long way toward sorting out the complex issues of love, freedom, God, and the future.”

From Roger Olson: “Those who accused Bell of teaching universalism based on promotion of Love Wins jumped the gun and owe him an apology. I won’t hold my breath.”

Vince Bacote, on pride and ambition: “What is it about the pursuit of our ambition, our legitimate and godly desires for success in vocation, that can become poisonous when it meets that admiration and recognition of others? I’m reminded of a conversation that I had with the late Stan Grenz at a conference in Nashville nearly a decade ago. I told Stan about my desire for an increase in public speaking opportunities as part of my vocational goals, and the first words out of his mouth were, “It’s seductive.” I was a bit stunned by this, because I thought he would give me some tips about how to accomplish my goals, yet the first words were a warning. As someone who did a lot of traveling and speaking, Stan was keenly aware of the pitfalls that ride along with those who travel the road of success. Stan never explicitly named the siren song with the sweetly dangerous tune, but my guess would be that he and John Piper had the same thing in mind: pride that can take root unnoticed and grow into a ravenous beast.”

Our friend, JR Woodward, did a series on Rob Bell. Rachel Held Evans, a 20something, ponders what’s becoming of evangelicalism.

Jim Martin has a wonderful post about 5 questions to ask before you quit, and before you move on, read the story of how he learned not to quit. Mike Glenn has a post we need to consider before we die. (Nice little serious subject on a Saturday AM.)

Nothing like a young professor’s enthusiasm about a course the first time teaching it. And nothing quite like a young pastor’s enthusiasm either, and an older pastor decided to offer some wisdom — and it’s good wisdom. Here an older — but not very old — professor comments on his new book.

Announcement:

Seton Hall University Law School’s “Faith, Law and Culture” series presents a lecture by Nicholas Wolterstorff on Thursday, March 31, at 4:30 p.m. Registration is free: http://law.shu.edu/About/News_Events/faithlawculture/registration.cfm

Nicholas Wolterstorff is Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology at Yale University. After concentrating on metaphysics at the beginning of his career (On Universals), he spent a good many years working primarily on aesthetics and philosophy of art (Works and Worlds of Art, and Art In Action). In more recent years, he has been concentrating on epistemology (John Locke and the Ethics of Belief, and the just published, Thomas Reid and the Story of Epistemology), on philosophy of religion (Divine Discourse, and, with Alvin Plantinga, Faith and Rationality), and political philosophy (Until Justice and Peace Embrace, and, with Robert Audi, Religion in the Public Square). He has been president of the American Philosophical Association (Central Division), and of the Society of Christian Philosophers. He regularly teaches lecture courses in philosophy of religion and aesthetics, and seminars in epistemology, hermeneutics, and philosophy of religion.

For more information, contact David Opderbeck (david.opderbeck-at-shu.edu)

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Single Pastors in the Dock

Last updated on: March 23, 2011 at 6:37 am By Scot McKnight

From Erik Ekholm.

Questions: Is being single a significant factor in the calling of a pastor? Anyone on a search committee where this emerged as a concern?

Like all too many Americans, Mark Almlie was laid off in the spring of 2009 when his workplace downsized. He has been searching for an appropriate position ever since, replying to more than 500 job postings without success.

But Mr. Almlie, despite a sterling education and years of experience, has faced an obstacle that does not exist in most professions: He is a single pastor, in a field where those doing the hiring overwhelmingly prefer married people and, especially, married men with children.

Mr. Almlie, 37, has been shocked, he says, at what he calls unfair discrimination, based mainly on irrational fears: that a single pastor cannot counsel a mostly married flock, that he might sow turmoil by flirting with a church member, or that he might be gay. If the job search is hard for single men, it is doubly so for single women who train for the ministry, in part because many evangelical denominations explicitly require a man to lead the congregation.

Mr. Almlie, an ordained evangelical minister who lives in Petaluma, Calif., has also had to contend with the argument, which he disputes with scriptural citations of his own, that the Bible calls for married leaders. “Prejudice against single pastors abounds,” Mr. Almlie wrote in articles he posted on a popular Christian blog site in January and February, setting off a wide-ranging debate online on a topic that many said has been largely ignored.

Some evangelical churches, in particular, openly exclude single candidates; a recent posting for a pastor by a church on Long Island said it was seeking “a family man whose family will be involved in the ministry life of the church.” Other churches convey the message through code words, like “seeking a Biblical man” (translation: a husband and a provider).

Ambition … Virtue or Vice? (RJS)

Last updated on: March 22, 2011 at 5:57 am By RJS

We’re in the middle of a nice series of posts with brief meditations by Jeff Cook from his book Seven: The Deadly Sins and the Beatitudes. The first meditation on envy started me thinking, and I would like to put up some of these thoughts and start a conversation on the concept of ambition and the view of ambition as a virtue.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary online defines ambition as (a) an ardent desire for rank, fame, or power (b) desire to achieve a particular end. This is viewed as a virtue in much of our culture – certainly in academia.

But is ambition a virtue? Should it be viewed as a virtue from a Christian perspective?

What role does ambition play in our church? What role should it play?

I’m skeptical. It seems to me that ambition is playing with fire. It is not inherently negative, in fact it is good to have goals and to work for those goals with perseverance. But ambition uses people, destroys relationships, and destroys community. Ambition is intimately coupled with envy, pride, and perhaps greed. We are fully embodied creatures and ambition feeds on our chemistry and biology and it shapes our natural responses, it is addictive.

I’ll go one step further. Ambition, although not always clearly recognized and acknowledged as such, wreaks havoc in the church. Sexual sin, despite the attention payed to it, is of less significance if we consider impact on community and pain caused. The difference in impact is primarily because we recognize sexual sin as sin – there are consequences. In contrast we often value and reward the result of ambition. We brush under the rug or rationalize away its impetus in envy and pride. This is a spiritual problem and a physical problem.

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Weekly Meanderings

Last updated on: March 12, 2011 at 5:33 am By Scot McKnight

Chicago — Spring is coming!

Michael Hyatt knows a lot about blogging, and here’s a good introductory post for those who are thinking about setting up a blog. Speaking of Michael, Michael Mercer rants about the church worship wars: “The bottom line for me involves what it means to be the church, what it means to be a pastor, and what it means for God’s people to gather for worship. Through the years of skirmishes and battles, I have tried to approach the worship wars and guide churches through them from those three perspectives. And my conversation with the woman in my church on Sunday brought all these issues to the fore for me again. Her testimony shows me that many evangelicals have forgotten what it means to be a church for everybody. Many of their pastors have perverted their callings into something other than pastoral ministry. And many have no clue at all regarding worship, who and what it’s for. Lacking a rich Biblical, historical, and theological imagination, we have surrendered unwittingly to our culture and followed its lead in all three areas. I may be on the losing side of the worship wars, but it is the church that is truly losing, as well as a world that needs more than another place to entertain them and keep them busy.”

I missed this piece by Christine Scheller: “The stories of Johnson and Nathanson teach us that personal experience can be an incredibly powerful force in conversion. Nathanson was emotionally invested in abortion but came to see his position as intellectually untenable. Johnson was undone by the sight of a nun praying regularly outside her clinic, and by her participation in a sonogram-guided abortion. By comparison, the defunding bill in the Senate seems like a legislative stunt meant to generate more heat than light. And Live Action’s investigative work raises serious questions about deceit and lawbreaking. These recent victories seem to have served merely to entrench the opposition further.”

Bob Smietana: “(RNS) Sometimes being a pastor is a real pain. But few pastors want to admit it. J.R. Briggs in trying to change that.”

Women and jobs …

Speaking of pastors, I’m praying for you brother Mike. Speaking of pastors, this pastor is wearing a tie. Not sure I’ve seen him with a tie. Dude, what happened to your principles? This pastor experienced the transcendent — in an unlikely place. Wow, I really like this pastor’s observations about Jesus.

Michael Krahn reviews Tim Challies’ new book on technology and the Christian. Technology makes many of us think about work, and Patrick has an excellent reflection on work.

Value-based decisions by Bill Donahoooooo.

Wow, good post by Eugene Cho — and that “wow” doesn’t mean it surprised me.

Wow, another good post by Roger Olson. (more…)

Weekly Meanderings

Last updated on: March 4, 2011 at 8:19 pm By Scot McKnight

Got a caption for this picture?

Peggy, the virtual abbess, surveys the land of her life … in a triad. Pastor Josh examines the burden of the image of God.

MaryKate Morse has planted two churches — good reflections. Mark Roberts writes from the other angle of pastoral ministry — on the suicide of a pastor. Back to ministry: Chaplain Mike has a wonderful post about Eugene Peterson. And Michael Kruse probes the Acts 16:5 Initiative.

Adam McHugh: “I had just informed a youth pastor at an evangelical conference that I was a certified spiritual director, and he, in a disarmingly curious way, linked me with people who look to the stars for mystical guidance and dating advice. In that moment, I realized I had another presentation problem.”

Attention Surplus Disorder. Now that’s funny. I’m glad Justin’s at NPU and is teaching this course. And I’m glad Brad Wright is a professor who agrees with me. Ted asks about how to deal with controversies.

Is he safe? Is it safe?, good questions by Wendy McCaig: “I did not get the profound significance of this statement until the second or third time I watched The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I meet many Lucy’s in the work that I do. When I go out to Churches and invite Christians to venture into the inner city to spend time with Christ among the homeless population, the first question is always, “Is it safe?” I never know how to answer this question because following Christ is always a dangerous proposition.”

Pastor uses jackhammer. Karen uses a pen … and gets an award.

April’s reflections. LaVonne‘s reflections.

Ten things I don’t have time for. Here’s one thing Allan doesn’t have time for, and I’ll bet he will, but before then he’s got good perspective.

Here’s a guy I’ve got time for: Geeding — and only Geeding finds this kind of stuff.

Can’t not have this one. Leave it to Roger to lay it down: “In my opinion, anyone who reacts to that video negatively–with the intention of saying or implying that Rob Bell (based on the video) is teaching heresy–is theologically paranoid. OR they just want to score points with their crowd by being the first to denounce Bell as a universalist. Nothing in the video justifies the claim (whether explicit or implicit) that he is a universalist.”

The NYTimes enters into this Rob Bell discussion, but I’m confused why Al Mohler uses sexual imagery, and I’m not seeing any connection to Rob’s ideas — what am I missing?

Samuel Atchison: “Consider this: In 1999, the U.S. Justice Department estimated that state and federal inmates were parents to nearly 1.5 million minor children. Today, the children of the incarcerated number approximately 2.5 million, roughly one child for every adult currently in jail or prison. Consider as well that the number of affected children balloons to approximately 12 million when one takes into account the total number of parents who are under the jurisdiction of the criminal justice system, including those who are on parole or probation. Finally, when one considers the effects of incarceration on the communities from which prisoners come—and to which they will return—the total number of children impacted by incarceration exceeds 20 million.”

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Weekly Meanderings

Last updated on: February 25, 2011 at 3:55 pm By Scot McKnight

I read through my blog reader this week and, wow, well a bundle of my bloggers didn’t write one post this week … so we’re a bit thin.

Mike Breen asks why missional communities need to be 20-50 people.

Michael Bird has an excellent post. Justin Topp on Karl Giberson: Part one and Part two. And not to give you too many multi-phase posts, Josh Graves has a fascinating set of e-mail exchanges with Saint Matthew — the one who wrote the First Gospel.

Out of Ur on Women in Ministry.

It’s about time, April.

A wonderful reminder from my friend Jim Martin.

Very interesting post about Ireland about Patrick, but does anyone know how to pronounce that Archbishop’s first name?

Bishop Kallistos Ware told us the Orthodox venerate the Gospels but asked if they knew what’s between the covers. Here’s a test to find out.

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Church for The “Next Christians” (RJS)

Last updated on: February 17, 2011 at 11:25 am By RJS

Added (noon EST) Here is my premise, and I’d like to know what you think as you read though the entire post: While church is and will remain at the epicenter of Christian community, essential for worship, for sacrament, for fellowship, the work of the church, the work of the pastor, is not to lead or cast vision or draw people in, but to equip, disciple, and send Christians out. This requires a revolution in the way we view both church and the role of leadership in the church. It requires a change in focus.

Gabe Lyons in his book The Next Christians expresses an optimism for the future of Christianity. Yes we entering a post-Christian world and our expression of faith must adjust to this reality. Yes, there is a negative perception of Christianity and the church on the part of many of the younger generation. Lyons knows this quite well. He is a coauthor with Dave Kinnaman of unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity … and Why It Matters after all. Still he is optimistic. There is a metamorphosis underway he suggests – not an evolution of Christian faith, but a return to a faith characterized by believers who are rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ, putting first things first, and from this root demonstrate the restorative power of God in all aspects of life. Gabe lays it out like this:

Telling others about Jesus is important, but conversion isn’t their only motive. Their mission is to infuse the world with beauty, grace, justice, and love.

I call them restorers because they envision the world as it was meant to be and they work toward that vision. Restorers seek to mend earth’s brokenness. They recognize that the world will not be completely healed until Christ’s return, but they believe that the process begins now as we partner with God. Through sowing seeds of restoration, they believe others will see Christ through us and the Christian faith will reap a much larger harvest.

They are purposeful about their careers and generous with their time and possessions. They don’t separate from the world, or blend in; rather they thoughtfully engage. Fully aware of the seachange underway, they are optimistic that God is on the move – doing something unique in our time. (p. 47)

This is a great vision – restorers are Christians whose faith permeates their life, who are intentional about living out their faith in the broader community. They don’t separate from the surrounding culture or blend in with the surrounding culture, rather they engage to transform through the power of the Spirit … in small steps or larger projects. The gospel vision governs all decisions. First things first means the restorers are grounded in the gospel, the story of the love of God for his creation, his redeeming and atoning work through Christ, and his intended restoration, a theme, Lyons notes, that runs throughout the whole of scripture.

The fact is, where Christians restore, people get saved. … The Holy Spirit works in the hearts of men and women when they encounter the Gospel lived out in real ways. This isn’t some new strategy – its the way Christianity has flourished ever since it began. (p. 195)

This vision, though, comes with challenges – serious challenges – for Christians, for Church, and for church leaders, pastors and teachers. Before continuing with a discussion of some of the ideas in Lyons’ book I would like to put out two questions for consideration.

What does this mean for the Christian life?

What does this mean for church and for church leaders, the pastors and teachers? How do things change?

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Journey

Last updated on: February 16, 2011 at 2:48 pm By Scot McKnight

Last weekend Kris and I were at Journey Community Church. Because Journey is committed to the Jesus Creed, the event felt like a homecoming rather than a speaking event. For the past four weeks they have been teaching the Jesus Creed, reading 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed together, and more importantly actively practicing the Jesus Creed.

Before I spoke on this platform, a video was played on the screens, a video that contained four stories — ordinary and all the more important because ordinary — of how folks there are learning to live out the simple discipline of loving God and loving others. I told Kris several times that once those stories had been told, with the backdrop of the Jesus Creed being recited, there was little for me to add.

Journey is the only church I’ve spoken to that has a Friday evening service, so the three talks were Friday night and two Sunday morning. But a special event was planned for Saturday morning — two teaching sessions on the implications of The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible. The first session was on “that was then, but this is now” and I chose to examine how we live out what the Bible says about divorce and remarriage. (Tough enough topic.) The second session was on women in ministry, and I worked out a few themes in the Blue Parakeet book about women. The major question is not “Should women be ordained?” or “Should women be called ‘pastor’?” but “What gifts is God giving to women?” and “Do we permit women to do in our churches what they did in the Bible?” Here we looked at Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, Mary, Priscilla, Phoebe, and Junia.

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Please Respond to this Question

Last updated on: February 13, 2011 at 9:41 am By Scot McKnight

The following post is from CBE and by Vaun Swanson, but I want to ask two questions on this Sunday. How many of you, in your church today had a woman preach, a woman teach, or a woman lead worship? Second, how many of you have a woman who has the title of “pastor”? I’m not including participating in a worship band. It doesn’t matter if we get 200 comments, but I’d like you simply to say “yes” or “no” and include an explanation if you think you have to.

Vaun Swanson (DMin), is the catalyst behind Pomegranate Place in Denver, Colorado. Having served in helping professions for the past thirty years, she recognizes both the challenges women face and the potential they have for changing our world for the better. Inspired by women in history, awakened by sisters in third-world countries, and grateful for awesome mentors, she offers opportunities for women to connect and grow. The following column is an excerpt from her chapter in Taking Flight: Reclaiming the Female Half of God’s Image Through Advocacy and Renewal.* * * * * * *

Why would the Christian community reject or fail to support well-trained female ministers when the apparent need for ministers is so great throughout the world? The Barna Research group has investigated gender differences in the American population. Among their findings women are more likely than men to read the Bible, attend church, pray, be born again, believe the Bible is totally accurate in all of its teachings, and describe themselves as “deeply spiritual.” Historically, women have been the backbone of churches. It is only logical that women would desire to attend seminary as a means of better equipping themselves for ministry. Because of the advances women have made in the non-church culture, however, women now expect the same level of respect, compensation, and leadership opportunities afforded men with similar training. (more…)

Who was Jesus' mother?