This weekend it's just me, Andi, and Jodie. Somer's visiting her sister in San Francisco. The girls are surviving...mostly. In the mornings the girls tend to come into our room and play or watch TV until we wake up. Yesterday morning I discovered that they had given their teddy bears hair cuts (again)...but then last night I saw a chunk of blonde hair on the floor. Thing is, their bears have black hair...the only one with blonde hair is Andi.
We went to the mall tonight with some World Harvest friends - their kids had gotten free passes for the carousel. I rode in the spinning cup with Andi and Jodie...they loved it (I did not like all the spinning, but loved having fun with them).
I've also taken advantage of Somer's absence to make things I can't make when she's around - like playdough for the girls (makes her gag) and tacos.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Friday, March 17, 2006
The perfect size
Call it beginner's luck...not only did I blow the best drinking glass in the class, but the glass is the perfect size - holding exactly 12 oz of one's favorite beverage.
I only had to endure the wrath of the rest of my classmates for about 40 minutes, though, because that's how long it took me to blow my second drinking glass this past Saturday, and prove that I really have no idea what I'm doing. I'll post a picture of that one as soon as our camera returns from San Francisco with Somer.
I only had to endure the wrath of the rest of my classmates for about 40 minutes, though, because that's how long it took me to blow my second drinking glass this past Saturday, and prove that I really have no idea what I'm doing. I'll post a picture of that one as soon as our camera returns from San Francisco with Somer.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Glass Pieces
I feel a little like my children when they run up to me after school holding their latest pictures. "Look what I made for you, Daddy!" They're always so excited.
Well, so am I. These are the first two pieces from my glass-blowing class. Hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy my kids' art.
Well, so am I. These are the first two pieces from my glass-blowing class. Hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy my kids' art.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Back in Baltimore
After a great weekend in Fayetteville, we're back in Baltimore. We're hanging at the Panera in Columbia mall, using the free wi-fi and enjoying the souffles. The folks at Covenant in Fayetteville were great - they were a real encouragement to us. On the flight back I was reading Free of Charge, and it reminded me of our experience this weekend. The author talks about the circular flow of giving and receiving, and shows how God's giving is never simply for our sake, but that we receive from him in order to be givers to others. We're meant to be conduits. That's why Paul can talk in Romans about being "mutually encouraged by each others' faith". Paul's statement was in the broad context of his planned trip to Rome, in which he hoped to have the Roman church provide him with support on his mission to Spain (which probably didn't happen in the end). But that's exactly what we experienced this weekend - that mutual encouragement. Anyway, thanks to everyone who fed us, housed us, and just plain loved us.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Off to Fayetteville
We've been invited to participate in a missions conference this weekend at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville, Arkansas. We'll be sharing stories from London during the Sunday evening session. It turns out that one of the guys I know who goes to Westminster is from this church, and he's given us the names not only of some of his friends, but also of the best places to eat in town. So we're looking forward to it, especially in light of the Nav videos I mentioned in a previous post, which encouraged us to preach the gospel wherever we find ourselves. We're looking forward to letting this church preach the gospel to us (we need to hear it!) and also to having opportunities to tell of God's love in our lives.
I'm a Mall Walker
Yes, it's true. I have entered the world of suburban soccer moms and retirees. Somer and I have been in desperate need of exercise recently, and we've found that walking at the mall before it opens is a great way to start our day together. Somer helps me plan my day while we avoid the hazards of double strollers and slow old people. After our first day of mall walking, we discovered the mall walker's code demands that everyone walk in a counter-clockwise direction (it took a few dirty looks from otherwise pleasant looking grandmothers to clue us in as we walked counter-flow).
The best part is that it's warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and filled with stuff that we don't need but want to buy anyway.
The best part is that it's warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and filled with stuff that we don't need but want to buy anyway.
Preaching the Gospel
One of the nice things about being a missionary with World Harvest is that they provide us with a support raising coach. Our coach walks with us through the process of raising support and provides encouragement and the occassional butt-kicking when we need it. He sent us these videos that the Navigators use in their support-raising training.
Well, the videos are about 20 years old and the speaker keeps referring to stuff that happened before I was even born, but the stuff he's saying is just great. One of the things that has really impacted me has to do with preaching the gospel. Sometimes us "professional missionary" types tend to think of ourselves as called to preach the gospel in another country. And that's true, we are called to do that. But that calling flows from the more basic calling that belongs to us as followers of Jesus - to be ambassadors for God. Like Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, God is making his appeal through us: "Be reconciled to me!" And that calling doesn't get put on hold until we make it overseas.
So, even though we are talking to churches and individuals about supporting us, our most basic calling is to preach the gospel - wherever we may find ourselves. That's a refreshing challenge that has captured my heart, and I'm hoping it'll translate into telling more stories about God's faithfulness in Jesus, and doing less worrying about where the money's gonna come from.
Well, the videos are about 20 years old and the speaker keeps referring to stuff that happened before I was even born, but the stuff he's saying is just great. One of the things that has really impacted me has to do with preaching the gospel. Sometimes us "professional missionary" types tend to think of ourselves as called to preach the gospel in another country. And that's true, we are called to do that. But that calling flows from the more basic calling that belongs to us as followers of Jesus - to be ambassadors for God. Like Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, God is making his appeal through us: "Be reconciled to me!" And that calling doesn't get put on hold until we make it overseas.
So, even though we are talking to churches and individuals about supporting us, our most basic calling is to preach the gospel - wherever we may find ourselves. That's a refreshing challenge that has captured my heart, and I'm hoping it'll translate into telling more stories about God's faithfulness in Jesus, and doing less worrying about where the money's gonna come from.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Hot Soup
I took my first glassblowing class on Saturday at Hot Soup in Center City Philadelphia. It was so much fun! We learned the basics of how to gather the molten glass out of the crucible and how to work with some basic tools. I made a paper weight and a "snowman" - basically two lumps of glass on top of each other.
It's a short class - just four Saturday mornings - but by the end I'll be able to make a drinking glass. I can't wait for the next class, which will be in two weeks because we're heading to a missions conference in Arkansas this weekend, so I have to make up the second class later. Maybe next time I'll bring the camera and post some pics.
It's a short class - just four Saturday mornings - but by the end I'll be able to make a drinking glass. I can't wait for the next class, which will be in two weeks because we're heading to a missions conference in Arkansas this weekend, so I have to make up the second class later. Maybe next time I'll bring the camera and post some pics.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
As seen at 2006 ETC
Probably the single most valuable part of the Theological Conversation was the people I met. Not surprising, since Emergent sees one of its primary functions as connecting people. So here are a few of the connections I made:
Craig - pastor and good friend to one of my closest friends in life. We had never met before, but knew we would both be there. We had lunch together and discovered that our stories have various points of connection. The coolest intersection? The head of his D.Min. program was one of the priests at the church I grew up in outside Baltimore. Craig's a good guy...hope to see you again brother.
Postmodern Negro - I met Anthony at the diversity conversation. He goes to Warehouse 242 in Charlotte and knows my London teammate Pat Wallin from the same church. He's still at the conversation, but should have some good reflections on his blog when he returns.
Sarah - sister-in-law to a guy I know from Westminster. Just a cool and crazy connection.
Craig - pastor and good friend to one of my closest friends in life. We had never met before, but knew we would both be there. We had lunch together and discovered that our stories have various points of connection. The coolest intersection? The head of his D.Min. program was one of the priests at the church I grew up in outside Baltimore. Craig's a good guy...hope to see you again brother.
Postmodern Negro - I met Anthony at the diversity conversation. He goes to Warehouse 242 in Charlotte and knows my London teammate Pat Wallin from the same church. He's still at the conversation, but should have some good reflections on his blog when he returns.
Sarah - sister-in-law to a guy I know from Westminster. Just a cool and crazy connection.
The Conversation
Had a great time at the Emergent Theological Conversation at Yale. I'm skipping the final session this morning - not 'cuz it was bad, but 'cuz I'd rather be spending time with my family and working on getting our support together to get back to London.
So...here are a couple thoughts:
1. Miroslav Volf was great. It's refreshing and powerful to hear a theologian speak out of his personal experience. Volf's views on forgiveness, exclusion, and embrace have been worked out in the midst of his life in the conflict-torn Balkans, and he has experienced the real-life outworkings of his theological views. One of the most gripping aspects of oppression that he discussed was the fact that both victim and oppressor are in need of repentance and forgiveness. There are no "innocents" in the world. This doesn't mean that victims are to be blamed for the violence they suffer, but that violence has a way of creating and inciting sin, even in the heart of the victim. The desire to plan and enact revenge is but one example.
2. One of the strongest things he had to say in my mind was in response to a question from Brian McLaren about the nature of the atonement. He spoke of his understanding of an "inclusive atonement", as opposed to an "exclusive atonement". The idea is that inclusive atonement entails our inclusion in Christ in his death and resurrection. Our guilt is not simply transferred outside of us and into Jesus...but our very selves are included in Jesus on the cross and out of the grave. He freely admitted that this raises the question of "how were we present?" to which he doesn't have easy answers.
3. I went to a break-out group on Diversity within the Emergent Community. A lively discussion...but I'm still processing it, and I'm not sure how far we really got in the conversation. One interesting thing I discovered from the conversation is that Emergent is seen by some in the church who would call themselves "liberal" as being very conservative...funny, since some "conservatives" see Emergent as far too liberal.
So...here are a couple thoughts:
1. Miroslav Volf was great. It's refreshing and powerful to hear a theologian speak out of his personal experience. Volf's views on forgiveness, exclusion, and embrace have been worked out in the midst of his life in the conflict-torn Balkans, and he has experienced the real-life outworkings of his theological views. One of the most gripping aspects of oppression that he discussed was the fact that both victim and oppressor are in need of repentance and forgiveness. There are no "innocents" in the world. This doesn't mean that victims are to be blamed for the violence they suffer, but that violence has a way of creating and inciting sin, even in the heart of the victim. The desire to plan and enact revenge is but one example.
2. One of the strongest things he had to say in my mind was in response to a question from Brian McLaren about the nature of the atonement. He spoke of his understanding of an "inclusive atonement", as opposed to an "exclusive atonement". The idea is that inclusive atonement entails our inclusion in Christ in his death and resurrection. Our guilt is not simply transferred outside of us and into Jesus...but our very selves are included in Jesus on the cross and out of the grave. He freely admitted that this raises the question of "how were we present?" to which he doesn't have easy answers.
3. I went to a break-out group on Diversity within the Emergent Community. A lively discussion...but I'm still processing it, and I'm not sure how far we really got in the conversation. One interesting thing I discovered from the conversation is that Emergent is seen by some in the church who would call themselves "liberal" as being very conservative...funny, since some "conservatives" see Emergent as far too liberal.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Emergent Theological Conversation
Heading up to Yale for the 2006 Emergent Theological Conversation tomorrow. It actually begins tonight, but I couldn't stomach another night away from the family. We've been doing lots of travel lately, and I have more scheduled for the end of this month.
The Conversation promises to be very interesting. Miroslav Volf is providing the theological fuel for the discussion, both in person and through his two books Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation
and Free of Charge : Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace
. Check back tomorrow for updates.
The Conversation promises to be very interesting. Miroslav Volf is providing the theological fuel for the discussion, both in person and through his two books Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation
and Free of Charge : Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace. Check back tomorrow for updates.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
C'ville
Continuing the theme of "where I've been" during the silence:
This past weekend, Somer and I were in Charlottesville, VA with the rest of the World Harvest Emerging Generations team.
Friday and Saturday we went to a conference to hear Pete Greig founder of 24-7 Prayer.
A couple things for us as a team came out of the conference:
First, the challenge to make prayer central (not just a component, not just an after-thought like we're prone to) to a church planting work in London. Second, the reality that you don't have to be a leader in the church to have a powerful ministry. Another way to say that: God does extraordinary and powerful things through people who are not gifted/called to lead his church. We want to see God unleashing his power in and through young people in London - leaders or not. Sure, we want to see the next generation trained for leadership in his church, and that's important; but leadership is not to be equated with being a channel for God's power.
Aside from the conference, we had a great time together as a team. We prayed together (a lot), talked about our passions, our plans for the months before returning to London, went bowling, played Settlers of Catan (see photo) and somehow I got the name Stinking Bishop. I'm debating whether or not to rename this blog under that title.
Next to me and Somer are John and Kathy Hall, Pat and Jen Wallin, and Rebecca Williams. That's our team. We love you guys!
This past weekend, Somer and I were in Charlottesville, VA with the rest of the World Harvest Emerging Generations team.
Friday and Saturday we went to a conference to hear Pete Greig founder of 24-7 Prayer.
A couple things for us as a team came out of the conference:
First, the challenge to make prayer central (not just a component, not just an after-thought like we're prone to) to a church planting work in London. Second, the reality that you don't have to be a leader in the church to have a powerful ministry. Another way to say that: God does extraordinary and powerful things through people who are not gifted/called to lead his church. We want to see God unleashing his power in and through young people in London - leaders or not. Sure, we want to see the next generation trained for leadership in his church, and that's important; but leadership is not to be equated with being a channel for God's power.
Aside from the conference, we had a great time together as a team. We prayed together (a lot), talked about our passions, our plans for the months before returning to London, went bowling, played Settlers of Catan (see photo) and somehow I got the name Stinking Bishop. I'm debating whether or not to rename this blog under that title.
Next to me and Somer are John and Kathy Hall, Pat and Jen Wallin, and Rebecca Williams. That's our team. We love you guys!
Utah
Appologies to those who have come to expect more frequent updates...I've been in and out of town a lot recently. Here's part of the reason why:
I went snowboarding/skiing with my two brothers in the Wasatch mountains in Utah. First time the three of us had done a trip like that together. We had a great time. I enjoyed getting to know my brothers better - when you're the oldest sibling, you kind of forget that when you move away from home, the rest of your family continues to grow and change. So even though I "know" my brothers, they've changed a lot since I left home. And even though we've seen each other loads in the past 6 years, this was the first time it was just us. So thanks guys. Thanks for setting this trip up, thanks for inviting me, and most of all, thanks for letting your older brother share life with you.
Of course, it didn't hurt that we were able to fly down the mountain (sometimes in untouched powder) and soak in the hot tubs while snow flurries fell on us.
I tried snowboarding - even took a lesson the first day. But two days of it was all this aging body (yes, I turned 27 yesterday) could take. But it was lots of fun, and I'll probably try it again. That first picture in the series is me. In the one of the three of us behind our goggles, I'm closest, and I think Mark is in the middle with Andrew at the far end.
The beauty of the place is amazing. One day I looked straight up and lost myself in a sky that was so smooth and consistent it looked almost solid. At times the contrast between sky and mountain was so sharp that there was no sense of depth - it looked like a flat painting, with the top-half Cobalt blue and the bottom-half pure white.
I went snowboarding/skiing with my two brothers in the Wasatch mountains in Utah. First time the three of us had done a trip like that together. We had a great time. I enjoyed getting to know my brothers better - when you're the oldest sibling, you kind of forget that when you move away from home, the rest of your family continues to grow and change. So even though I "know" my brothers, they've changed a lot since I left home. And even though we've seen each other loads in the past 6 years, this was the first time it was just us. So thanks guys. Thanks for setting this trip up, thanks for inviting me, and most of all, thanks for letting your older brother share life with you.
Of course, it didn't hurt that we were able to fly down the mountain (sometimes in untouched powder) and soak in the hot tubs while snow flurries fell on us.
I tried snowboarding - even took a lesson the first day. But two days of it was all this aging body (yes, I turned 27 yesterday) could take. But it was lots of fun, and I'll probably try it again. That first picture in the series is me. In the one of the three of us behind our goggles, I'm closest, and I think Mark is in the middle with Andrew at the far end.
The beauty of the place is amazing. One day I looked straight up and lost myself in a sky that was so smooth and consistent it looked almost solid. At times the contrast between sky and mountain was so sharp that there was no sense of depth - it looked like a flat painting, with the top-half Cobalt blue and the bottom-half pure white.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Beautiful Quote
In an e-mail to me, in the context of making plans that aren't set in stone:
"Remember: the Holy Spirit is a wild goose!"
"Remember: the Holy Spirit is a wild goose!"
Diversity in Community
I spoke at Sunday School at New Life last week on Diversity in Community. It was an extremely challenging topic, but one that I really enjoyed. I'll give you a few random thoughts, in no particular order of importance...mostly because that's about all I did with the class - it was more a facilitated discussion than a lecture.
I had us interact with a couple articles that analyzed the riots in Paris this past November. This article compares the model for diversity in France with the model in India; while this one argues that no model of diversity will work unless there is a sense of purpose within society. This second article especially intrigued me, because it connected with something else I was thinking - namely, that the church is united in its missional calling to be about God's purpose of reconciling the world to himself.
I had us look at Genesis 11, the story of the tower of Babel. Here, linguistic diversity is actually a blessing that enables humans to get back to their original purpose - to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it. At the begining of the story, humans had all congregated in one place and didn't want to be scattered over the whole earth. We then looked at Genesis 12, where God tells Abram he is going to bless him, and that through him all nations on earth will be blessed. We can't talk about diversity with the local church without connecting it to God's purposes to bless all nations. We also looked at a few others - Genesis 7, Acts 6, and one of my favorites - Joshua 9, the story of how the Gibeonites brought diversity to Israel by basically stealing their way into the community.
In all of this, the overriding assumption is that it's the Holy Spirit that forms the church into a community - he is the one that unites us under one Lord, giving us His mission and making us His body. For those of you who are interested, that fits under the scheme of Kingdom-->Mission-->Church
I had us interact with a couple articles that analyzed the riots in Paris this past November. This article compares the model for diversity in France with the model in India; while this one argues that no model of diversity will work unless there is a sense of purpose within society. This second article especially intrigued me, because it connected with something else I was thinking - namely, that the church is united in its missional calling to be about God's purpose of reconciling the world to himself.
I had us look at Genesis 11, the story of the tower of Babel. Here, linguistic diversity is actually a blessing that enables humans to get back to their original purpose - to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it. At the begining of the story, humans had all congregated in one place and didn't want to be scattered over the whole earth. We then looked at Genesis 12, where God tells Abram he is going to bless him, and that through him all nations on earth will be blessed. We can't talk about diversity with the local church without connecting it to God's purposes to bless all nations. We also looked at a few others - Genesis 7, Acts 6, and one of my favorites - Joshua 9, the story of how the Gibeonites brought diversity to Israel by basically stealing their way into the community.
In all of this, the overriding assumption is that it's the Holy Spirit that forms the church into a community - he is the one that unites us under one Lord, giving us His mission and making us His body. For those of you who are interested, that fits under the scheme of Kingdom-->Mission-->Church
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Home...for a while
We've arrived at our new home. Our friends Jim and Steph have opened up their top floor to us again, and after a week of staying with family in Baltimore, we are here in Philly. The girls are a bit confused by all the moving around...they have said several times "Daddy, I want to go home." And this while we're standing in their new room!
This next week I'll be working on putting together a presentation for supporters about this past year, and also about our future plans, so maybe as I'm doing that I'll post a couple thoughts along those lines - looking back and looking forward.
Oh yeah, and Happy New Year!! For my East Coast friends, we've got about four hours to go.
This next week I'll be working on putting together a presentation for supporters about this past year, and also about our future plans, so maybe as I'm doing that I'll post a couple thoughts along those lines - looking back and looking forward.
Oh yeah, and Happy New Year!! For my East Coast friends, we've got about four hours to go.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Back in the USA
We arrived in Baltimore yesterday to a warm welcome from all four of our parents and all three siblings (plus one girlfriend). Our first meal in the States? Chinese food from China Legend, the place that catered for our wedding. Today we visited my brother who works at Starbucks and did some food shopping. Somer's making Spicy Mince Lamb for dinner - check her blog soon for full details. I've been walking around all day in a bit of a daze - it feels a little more than the tiredness associated with jet lag. I just feel out of sorts. More on this later, if I can sort it out.
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Leaving London
Watching Ice Age, our favorite Family Movie Night movie. It's almost over...just enough time to give a quick update on our last week in London. We've said good-bye to all our friends. Had a nice party at Mums & Tots on Friday, and saw some of our friends that we hadn't seen for a few weeks, which was really good. The kids at Ley Street's youth club were really nice on Thursday, they gave me some chocolates, a Christmas ornament, and a few good-bye cards. We took a break from packing this afternoon to swing by the local mall, where several churches joined together to do singing and give away free hot chocolate and soup to cold shoppers.
As part of our family preparation for leaving, we've been telling each other stories from our year over dinner this past week. I would suggest a topic like "What did you like about London" or "What don't you like about London" or "Who are some of the people you met in London", and then let the stories flow. The girls had lots of fun with it, and I think it was good for our family's collective memory. I'll try to blog some of those stories over the Christmas holiday, if I can find some time. But until then, it's "Goodbye from London" (unless I can find a spare minute to blog at Heathrow!)
As part of our family preparation for leaving, we've been telling each other stories from our year over dinner this past week. I would suggest a topic like "What did you like about London" or "What don't you like about London" or "Who are some of the people you met in London", and then let the stories flow. The girls had lots of fun with it, and I think it was good for our family's collective memory. I'll try to blog some of those stories over the Christmas holiday, if I can find some time. But until then, it's "Goodbye from London" (unless I can find a spare minute to blog at Heathrow!)
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Emerging Discouraging Today
Today was the carol service at Bethel. It was a good service, and contained many of the elements that I find very attractive in the emerging church movement. But let me start at the beginning of my Emerging Discouraging Today
We woke up (some of us later than others...ahem) and got ready to go to church. We have to leave about 45 minutes before church starts in order to get there with time to chill with people before the service. But today, the car wouldn't start. It was too cold, and the battery had died overnight.
None of our neighbors had jumper cables.
After checking askmen.com I decided to try to push-start the car. Well, that was a total disaster, and after about 10 minutes and four runs up and down the street, my legs were shaking and my lungs burning. I felt faint and sick for the next half hour, and while laying down with a cold cloth on my head I fell asleep. I woke up to find the sky clouded with smoke (see previous post). So we didn't get to church, and I was very discouraged, both because I couldn't get the car started, and also because I had really been looking forward to church this morning.
Not to worry...we had the carol service at Bethel to look forward to. At that didn't disappoint...sort of. Here are some of the elements I really liked about it. I'll say up front that these are elements that connect to themes within the emerging church, even though Bethel itself is neither a church nor emerging.
1. A reappreciation of Scripture as story - specifically Jesus' story: We basically read the Christmas story, weaving the different gospel accounts together into one. There were different readers for the different speakers in the story, but nobody acted anything out...it was just good story-telling.
2. Yes, I'll admit we had the room lit with candles...if you are in an emerging church, you know this is a very "non-emerging" thing to do; if you aren't in an emerging church, you think this is the definition of emerging church...but hey, it's Christmas, and you just gotta have candles.
3. We saw the entire evening as celebration. So we gave out drinks as people came in. We had gifts at the door for each person as they left - and not cheesy gifts either. Somer made and hand-wrapped a packet of Peppermint Barkfor each person. We wove a few songs into the mix of the story, because every good party needs some singing. And then, of course, lots of food at the end.
4. A missional focus - we had invited all of our friends who were not church-goers to come along, and had set aside a few reading parts for a couple of the younger Hub guys. Somer's friends from moms & tots were coming, as were a number of our friends from the estate. And here, I think, is where we stopped emerging and started looking a lot more traditional, and in the end why my day was an emerging discouraging day. Because none of the people we had invited came. There were a fair number of people at the service, but they were all Christians, all church "insiders".
There was only one person there who I think was not a Christian - a woman from a different faith.
Maybe that's because the service wasn't really as "missional" as we thought it was. Maybe the whole idea of "missional service" is an oxymoron.
What are your thoughts?
We woke up (some of us later than others...ahem) and got ready to go to church. We have to leave about 45 minutes before church starts in order to get there with time to chill with people before the service. But today, the car wouldn't start. It was too cold, and the battery had died overnight.
None of our neighbors had jumper cables.
After checking askmen.com I decided to try to push-start the car. Well, that was a total disaster, and after about 10 minutes and four runs up and down the street, my legs were shaking and my lungs burning. I felt faint and sick for the next half hour, and while laying down with a cold cloth on my head I fell asleep. I woke up to find the sky clouded with smoke (see previous post). So we didn't get to church, and I was very discouraged, both because I couldn't get the car started, and also because I had really been looking forward to church this morning.
Not to worry...we had the carol service at Bethel to look forward to. At that didn't disappoint...sort of. Here are some of the elements I really liked about it. I'll say up front that these are elements that connect to themes within the emerging church, even though Bethel itself is neither a church nor emerging.
1. A reappreciation of Scripture as story - specifically Jesus' story: We basically read the Christmas story, weaving the different gospel accounts together into one. There were different readers for the different speakers in the story, but nobody acted anything out...it was just good story-telling.
2. Yes, I'll admit we had the room lit with candles...if you are in an emerging church, you know this is a very "non-emerging" thing to do; if you aren't in an emerging church, you think this is the definition of emerging church...but hey, it's Christmas, and you just gotta have candles.
3. We saw the entire evening as celebration. So we gave out drinks as people came in. We had gifts at the door for each person as they left - and not cheesy gifts either. Somer made and hand-wrapped a packet of Peppermint Barkfor each person. We wove a few songs into the mix of the story, because every good party needs some singing. And then, of course, lots of food at the end.
4. A missional focus - we had invited all of our friends who were not church-goers to come along, and had set aside a few reading parts for a couple of the younger Hub guys. Somer's friends from moms & tots were coming, as were a number of our friends from the estate. And here, I think, is where we stopped emerging and started looking a lot more traditional, and in the end why my day was an emerging discouraging day. Because none of the people we had invited came. There were a fair number of people at the service, but they were all Christians, all church "insiders".
There was only one person there who I think was not a Christian - a woman from a different faith.
Maybe that's because the service wasn't really as "missional" as we thought it was. Maybe the whole idea of "missional service" is an oxymoron.
What are your thoughts?
Oil Depot Explosion
There was an explosion early this morning at a fuel depot outside of London. The BBC has some haunting pictures, as well as full coverage. By mid-afternoon the smoke had spread to Ilford, where we live. The sky was not completely black, but the sun was obscured. It felt like any other cloudy day...in fact, I didn't even know it was smoke until our friends told us what had happened.
Friday, December 09, 2005
Carol Service
Sunday evening Bethel is hosting a carol service. We decided to make it a little less "traditional" and a little more welcoming. We'll be serving drinks as people come in (after all, what kind of host makes her guests wait for 45 minutes before offering them refreshment?) Instead of singing a bunch of songs that most people who haven't stepped into a church don't know, we'll only be singing 3 carols, one of which will be led by the children from our moms and tots group (if any of them will actually sing in front of people). The focus of the service will be telling the story of Jesus' birth. To do that, each member of staff has been assigned a different character - but it's not like a play, it's more a dramatic reading. At key points, some of the words spoken by the characters will be displayed on the overhead projector (yes, it'll even be multimedia!!) Of course we will finish the evening with food provided by Somer. We are also putting together small gifts to give each person who comes.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Bob Dylan and the First Commandment
The Hub starts in ten minutes. Tonight the talk is on the first commandment. So I'm playing a Bob Dylan song for the guys, and then saying a few words. First person to guess which song I'm playing will get a prize...I'll title the next post in honor of you. Post a comment with your guess.
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Meeting Witches
Well, not so much witches, but a witch.
Met her while going door to door today in Ilford.
She didn't want our literature - said she was a Pagan. Being the inquisitive guy that I am, I asked her what "Pagan" meant. She went on to explain that she believes everything around us is alive. She celebrates the cycles of nature, believes in a duality (god and goddess), and has a specific goddess that is "hers". She belongs to a coven of witches with whom she celebrates nature and worships her goddess, and she's even a chaplain for Pagans in prison.
I asked her about Harry Potter - she laughed and said it had nothing to do with her reality - just a pure fantasy.
She said the church has often misunderstood Pagans and accused them of worshipping Satan; but she said she doesn't worship Satan, and doesn't even believe he exists. She said she did think that Jesus existed, and the was a good man, but not the son of God. She also mentioned how she doesn't like "Born again" Christians because they can't tolerate anyone who disagrees with them. I told her that I believed that Jesus said he was the only way to God, and that I believed he was telling the truth. I asked her if she thought it was possible for me to believe that and still respect and value people like her. She said 'Yes'.
Very interesting. Wasn't sure where to go with it all...it was a little freaky because she didn't open the door more than a crack during the whole conversation, so all I could see of her was one eye (talk about playing into the bad stereotypes of witches).
I asked her if I could pray for her before we left and ask God to bless her. She said "Sure...well...you're not going to pray that my soul gets converted, are you?" I said "No, I'll simply ask God to bless you." And I did. As I recall, that's what the founder of World Harvest used to do when he'd meet people in their shops...pray God's blessing on them.
When I was finished, she said "And may my goddess bless you." Hmm...
Anyway, does anyone have any thoughts about this? Just kind of wondering if I did the right thing...I can be really nice to people, play away from all the negative stereotypes of Christians being people who hate everyone who doesn't agree with them. But in the end, has my interaction with this woman honored Jesus?
Met her while going door to door today in Ilford.
She didn't want our literature - said she was a Pagan. Being the inquisitive guy that I am, I asked her what "Pagan" meant. She went on to explain that she believes everything around us is alive. She celebrates the cycles of nature, believes in a duality (god and goddess), and has a specific goddess that is "hers". She belongs to a coven of witches with whom she celebrates nature and worships her goddess, and she's even a chaplain for Pagans in prison.
I asked her about Harry Potter - she laughed and said it had nothing to do with her reality - just a pure fantasy.
She said the church has often misunderstood Pagans and accused them of worshipping Satan; but she said she doesn't worship Satan, and doesn't even believe he exists. She said she did think that Jesus existed, and the was a good man, but not the son of God. She also mentioned how she doesn't like "Born again" Christians because they can't tolerate anyone who disagrees with them. I told her that I believed that Jesus said he was the only way to God, and that I believed he was telling the truth. I asked her if she thought it was possible for me to believe that and still respect and value people like her. She said 'Yes'.
Very interesting. Wasn't sure where to go with it all...it was a little freaky because she didn't open the door more than a crack during the whole conversation, so all I could see of her was one eye (talk about playing into the bad stereotypes of witches).
I asked her if I could pray for her before we left and ask God to bless her. She said "Sure...well...you're not going to pray that my soul gets converted, are you?" I said "No, I'll simply ask God to bless you." And I did. As I recall, that's what the founder of World Harvest used to do when he'd meet people in their shops...pray God's blessing on them.
When I was finished, she said "And may my goddess bless you." Hmm...
Anyway, does anyone have any thoughts about this? Just kind of wondering if I did the right thing...I can be really nice to people, play away from all the negative stereotypes of Christians being people who hate everyone who doesn't agree with them. But in the end, has my interaction with this woman honored Jesus?
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Generous Orthodoxy
Catching up on a few things, including posts I've promised to write but haven't gotten around to yet. For Daniel and others who have asked, here is my take on Brian McLaren's A Generous Orthodoxy.
I find myself in strong agreement with the notion of a generous orthodoxy that McLaren advocates. A theology that is well-researched, well-thought, and strongly held. But also a theology that is aware of its own short-comings, that listens to those who think differently (and not simply for the sake of shooting them down when they're finished talking), and that is willing to be taught by Word and Spirit. Generous Orthodoxy seeks to find a different way from the old Liberal/Evangelical divide, a divide that strangely enough is formed on mutually agreed notions of "certainly and knowledge" (see pg. 24). Whatever you think of the actual beliefs McLaren writes about, I love the way he holds his beliefs, and hope that, in this sense, I will also uphold a generous orthodoxy.
Now, in terms of what he actually believes...
The chapter "Jesus: Savior of What?" ends with me still wondering what Jesus is the savior of. I totally agree that the gospel Evangelicals preach is too introspective, too self-focused, sometimes too "salvation from hell" focused. McLaren says Jesus saves the world by exposing evil, pronouncing forgiveness, and teaching how to do good. But there just doesn't seem to be much power there, in my opinion. I find the (slightly) more traditional approach of Union with Christ to be a much more powerful and life-giving way for understanding Jesus as savior. But then again, the chapter has forced me to think carefully about what I believe, and I guess that's McLaren's point.
To be honest, I could point to a number of things I found unclear or less than appealing in the book, but in the end I think it did its job in that I was forced to think about hard questions in new ways. So it's definitely worth a read.
One final thing I really liked was the part about why he is an Anglican. He said that there is an incredible diversity within the Anglican communion in terms of theological views, but the communion is not held together by everyone believing the same thing. McLaren says its the Liturgy, the beauty/mystery of the Liturgy, that holds Anglicans together. Even as they interpret that liturgy differently, there is unity within the communion because they hold it in common.
Anyway, those are my two cents and thirty minutes worth on McLaren
I find myself in strong agreement with the notion of a generous orthodoxy that McLaren advocates. A theology that is well-researched, well-thought, and strongly held. But also a theology that is aware of its own short-comings, that listens to those who think differently (and not simply for the sake of shooting them down when they're finished talking), and that is willing to be taught by Word and Spirit. Generous Orthodoxy seeks to find a different way from the old Liberal/Evangelical divide, a divide that strangely enough is formed on mutually agreed notions of "certainly and knowledge" (see pg. 24). Whatever you think of the actual beliefs McLaren writes about, I love the way he holds his beliefs, and hope that, in this sense, I will also uphold a generous orthodoxy.
Now, in terms of what he actually believes...
The chapter "Jesus: Savior of What?" ends with me still wondering what Jesus is the savior of. I totally agree that the gospel Evangelicals preach is too introspective, too self-focused, sometimes too "salvation from hell" focused. McLaren says Jesus saves the world by exposing evil, pronouncing forgiveness, and teaching how to do good. But there just doesn't seem to be much power there, in my opinion. I find the (slightly) more traditional approach of Union with Christ to be a much more powerful and life-giving way for understanding Jesus as savior. But then again, the chapter has forced me to think carefully about what I believe, and I guess that's McLaren's point.
To be honest, I could point to a number of things I found unclear or less than appealing in the book, but in the end I think it did its job in that I was forced to think about hard questions in new ways. So it's definitely worth a read.
One final thing I really liked was the part about why he is an Anglican. He said that there is an incredible diversity within the Anglican communion in terms of theological views, but the communion is not held together by everyone believing the same thing. McLaren says its the Liturgy, the beauty/mystery of the Liturgy, that holds Anglicans together. Even as they interpret that liturgy differently, there is unity within the communion because they hold it in common.
Anyway, those are my two cents and thirty minutes worth on McLaren
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Family Movie Night
In the middle ofFinding Nemo with the girls. Just took the second round of pizzas out of the oven...waiting to eat my 1 piece, after spilling my other piece all over the top of the oven, and making things worse by trying to rapidly remove it (a la the fivev-second rule) and thus smearing the cheese and sauce everywhere. It's more like 3/4 Family Movie Night because Somer's not around. She's off having High Tea at some fancy hotel downtown in honor of our friend Mary Ellen's first baby in the UK (they have three others, all born stateside). The kiddos are ready for dessert...gotta go.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Wisdom
So, what does it look like to preach the gospel to teenagers who could care less?
I've been wrestling with that for a while. At the Thursday night youth club that I help run, we have a slot in the evening for a "talk". It's supposed to be an evangelistic talk of sorts. But to be honest, I just get kinda depressed every time I have to think about it, because the kids rarely listen...usually they're just laughing or texting or taking pictures of each other with their mobile phones.
So this past Thursday I was going to have them listen to a Bob Dylan song instead, and talk about its implications. But I didn't burn the CD properly, so it wouldn't play. Having to come up with something on the fly, I came back to a theme that's been bouncing around on the edges of my life for the past couple of years: Wisdom.
Wisdom is all about how to live life in the world that God has made. The cool thing is that wisdom applies to everyone, even if they don't want to have anything to do with God, because everyone lives in the world God has made. So I picked out four proverbs, including my favorite: The one who answers before listening is a fool and a shameful person (Prov 18:13). It was really funny because there was a group of boys that were goofing off and not listening, and one of the other girls said "Oh, so this proverb applies to those guys". Brilliant!
We also looked at a proverb that talked about parents being the pride of their children, and one about not taking advantage of the poor.
Was this preaching the gospel to the youth club? Hmm...don't know. I do think that Jesus' good-news about the kingdom of God starts with the assumption that there is a King, and that his world needs setting right. And maybe that's where it starts for this group...seeing that the world they inhabit is supposed to work a certain way, but that "way of wisdom" has been broken. Will they get that out of one lesson? Maybe - there was at least one girl who said "I can see that children should take pride in their parents, but it doesn't usually happen that way."
I've been wrestling with that for a while. At the Thursday night youth club that I help run, we have a slot in the evening for a "talk". It's supposed to be an evangelistic talk of sorts. But to be honest, I just get kinda depressed every time I have to think about it, because the kids rarely listen...usually they're just laughing or texting or taking pictures of each other with their mobile phones.
So this past Thursday I was going to have them listen to a Bob Dylan song instead, and talk about its implications. But I didn't burn the CD properly, so it wouldn't play. Having to come up with something on the fly, I came back to a theme that's been bouncing around on the edges of my life for the past couple of years: Wisdom.
Wisdom is all about how to live life in the world that God has made. The cool thing is that wisdom applies to everyone, even if they don't want to have anything to do with God, because everyone lives in the world God has made. So I picked out four proverbs, including my favorite: The one who answers before listening is a fool and a shameful person (Prov 18:13). It was really funny because there was a group of boys that were goofing off and not listening, and one of the other girls said "Oh, so this proverb applies to those guys". Brilliant!
We also looked at a proverb that talked about parents being the pride of their children, and one about not taking advantage of the poor.
Was this preaching the gospel to the youth club? Hmm...don't know. I do think that Jesus' good-news about the kingdom of God starts with the assumption that there is a King, and that his world needs setting right. And maybe that's where it starts for this group...seeing that the world they inhabit is supposed to work a certain way, but that "way of wisdom" has been broken. Will they get that out of one lesson? Maybe - there was at least one girl who said "I can see that children should take pride in their parents, but it doesn't usually happen that way."
Deputation
Speaking at a church tomorrow for "Deputation". LCM have a great system, in that none of their missionaries have to raise their own personal support. Instead, churches and individuals give to the mission as a whole, and then each missionary is assigned a couple weeks worth of deputation visits to supporters each year. So tomorrow I'm going with Julian to talk about our work at Bethel. I'm supposed to be pulling a short scripture message together...but I have no ideas at this point, and it's past midnight...
Update: Deputation went really well. I ended up just reading from Proverbs 18:13 and telling how that verse had been kind of a theme for us. I talked about what I have learned/valued about LCM this year: Their commitment to patient, long-term engagement with a community; Their engagement with the entire community, not just a select portion; and the way they uphold and promote the unity of the church of Jesus.
Update: Deputation went really well. I ended up just reading from Proverbs 18:13 and telling how that verse had been kind of a theme for us. I talked about what I have learned/valued about LCM this year: Their commitment to patient, long-term engagement with a community; Their engagement with the entire community, not just a select portion; and the way they uphold and promote the unity of the church of Jesus.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
New Books
Just a quick update on the books I've added to my "reading list". White Teeth was recommended as a good book for understanding life in London. I'm a little over half-way through, and it's a great read. Very interesting to read it at the end of our first year here.
Exclusion and Embrace is a bit of a challenge. I'm reading it for the Emergent Theological Conversation at Yale that I'm attending in February. So far it's good, but ocassionaly I have a hard time following Volf's line of argument. I do love his focus on the centrality of the Trinity and the self-giving love of God as expressed in the cross. May do some more discussion here at a later date.
The Character of Theology is a good book, though the most academic of the three. For me, that means it's slow-going. But it's worth it. Franke provides a good reformed perspective for doing theology from within the emerging culture.
Exclusion and Embrace is a bit of a challenge. I'm reading it for the Emergent Theological Conversation at Yale that I'm attending in February. So far it's good, but ocassionaly I have a hard time following Volf's line of argument. I do love his focus on the centrality of the Trinity and the self-giving love of God as expressed in the cross. May do some more discussion here at a later date.
The Character of Theology is a good book, though the most academic of the three. For me, that means it's slow-going. But it's worth it. Franke provides a good reformed perspective for doing theology from within the emerging culture.
Learning the Faith
This past week we took a bunch of the people from our Wednesday group at Bethel to a hotel/retreat centre in Kent. We were by far the youngest people in the group...all but one were over 70. Somer and I were the drivers (me in a 15-seater borrowed from the Ford factory in Dagenham, and Somer in our car with one woman who couldn't climb the step into the bus). We had a good time and came back exhausted from all the driving.
Probably the best part for me was seeing our girls take part in the holiday. The older crowd took the girls on as surrogate grandchildren, buying them balloons, candy, and coloring books. The girls, in turn, took to walking around the tables at meals and greeting each person in turn. The reason this scenario was so appealing to me is that Somer and I want to teach our faith to our children by having them participate in the practice of our faith right from the start. We've actually seen this "learning through participation" taking place all through our year here, and this week just captured it beautifully.
Probably the best part for me was seeing our girls take part in the holiday. The older crowd took the girls on as surrogate grandchildren, buying them balloons, candy, and coloring books. The girls, in turn, took to walking around the tables at meals and greeting each person in turn. The reason this scenario was so appealing to me is that Somer and I want to teach our faith to our children by having them participate in the practice of our faith right from the start. We've actually seen this "learning through participation" taking place all through our year here, and this week just captured it beautifully.
Diwali
Today is Diwali the Hindu festival of lights. There are fireworks going off everywhere around us. They've been going for at least the past hour. I walked out into our back garden and didn't know which direction to turn to watch...I kept spinning around to catch the bright flashes in the sky. Really puts Americans' celebrations of 4th of July to shame in terms of sheer volume. In fact, fireworks have been going off for the past four days...with each day getting more and more intense. Our neighbors were out on Sunday in their back garden, so we got a bit of a private fireworks display (though it scared the girls a bit).
This is one of the things I love about London. The diversity of the city is unbelievable. In addition to Diwali, on either Friday or Saturday the Muslim celebration of Ramadan will end with the Eid ul-Fitr. Also on Saturday is Guy Fawkes Night, which commemorates the failed attempt by several Catholic Englishmen to assassinate the king and the entire Parliament by blowing up the houses of Parliament while everyone was inside. Apparently this is also celebrated with fireworks displays and bonfires, along with burning effigies of Fawkes.
This is one of the things I love about London. The diversity of the city is unbelievable. In addition to Diwali, on either Friday or Saturday the Muslim celebration of Ramadan will end with the Eid ul-Fitr. Also on Saturday is Guy Fawkes Night, which commemorates the failed attempt by several Catholic Englishmen to assassinate the king and the entire Parliament by blowing up the houses of Parliament while everyone was inside. Apparently this is also celebrated with fireworks displays and bonfires, along with burning effigies of Fawkes.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Roasted Seeds
I love roasted pumpkin seeds. Today Andi and Jodie helped scoop out the contents of two pumpkins. Then I cleaned out the seeds, rinsed them, boiled them in salt water, and toasted them in the oven for about half an hour. Crunchy salty goodness.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Pool Tournament
We haven't had the Hub the past few weeks. We've been having some building work done in the back of our center. We still see the Hub guys all the time, though, and tonight we took a few of the younger guys to a pool tournament at another LCM center.
I have to say, we got a sound thrashing from the other center. When we walked in, I was feeling a bit bad for them, because all our guys looked older and bigger than the other guys. But as it turns out, they beat us soundly - winning 19 of 28 matches.
I have to say, we got a sound thrashing from the other center. When we walked in, I was feeling a bit bad for them, because all our guys looked older and bigger than the other guys. But as it turns out, they beat us soundly - winning 19 of 28 matches.
My Theologian/Feminist Daughter
So, my daughter turned three last month, and I think I have a budding theolgian and feminist on my hands. A couple conversations with her recently:
J: Daddy, God isn't real, is he? He's just pretend.
Me: No, God is real. We can't see him, but he is real.
A couple days later she's praying...
J: God, thanks for making me, even though I can't see you. You really are real.
And this one in the car...
J: Mommy, who made me - God or Jesus?
Earlier today, her feminist side came out...
J: Daddy, did God make people and houses?
Me: No, God made people, and he gave people the skills to build houses.
J: Oh, so God just made people, he didn't make houses. But the people make houses.
Me: Right. And when you are older, I can teach you some of the skills to build a house. I can show you how to use a hammer and a saw.
J: Yeah, because I might be a girl, but I can still do those things.
J: Daddy, God isn't real, is he? He's just pretend.
Me: No, God is real. We can't see him, but he is real.
A couple days later she's praying...
J: God, thanks for making me, even though I can't see you. You really are real.
And this one in the car...
J: Mommy, who made me - God or Jesus?
Earlier today, her feminist side came out...
J: Daddy, did God make people and houses?
Me: No, God made people, and he gave people the skills to build houses.
J: Oh, so God just made people, he didn't make houses. But the people make houses.
Me: Right. And when you are older, I can teach you some of the skills to build a house. I can show you how to use a hammer and a saw.
J: Yeah, because I might be a girl, but I can still do those things.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
It begins
Our week with the WHM emerging generations team has come to an end. Pat and Jen are staying with us until Saturday, but I returned to work at Bethel this morning. John and Kathy leave tomorrow morning with two of their daughters.
And now the big news...It looks like God is calling us to focus on an area just north of the center of London. Camden Town is a busy market center and hub of life for many people on the fringes of mainstream culture. Islington is two miles east, with lots of young professionals and creatives; and in between is Kings Cross, an area undergoing massive redevelopment. While this is still a sizeable area, knowing that we will focus on Camden/Islington feels a lot more concrete than London as an entire city.
We ended our time together yesterday at Tinderbox on Upper Street in Islington. Team leader John gave all of us rings from Camden market to mark this significant decision in our lives, and then read a passage from The Return of the King to spark our imaginations. And so it begins...
Friday, October 07, 2005
Open Source Theology
We had lunch on Wednesday with Andrew Perriman. Andrew is the originator of the Open Source Theology project, which seeks to develop a collaborative theology for the emerging church. It's a great site with lots of potential value for us as we seek to plant missional churches within the emerging culture of London. I'm hoping to find some time to reflect and get involved in the conversation there...probably after our team leaves next week.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
More on the week
Today we met with some with some people from our mission, one of whom has been living here for ten years. Good perspective, and a good time with friends and food. My friend and fellow WTS grad Jeremy was there...I had hoped we'd see him but didn't know what his schedule was.
Pat blogs his perspective on our week together over at teamgimli. See especially this story about how I made him eat Stinking Bishop cheese.
Pat blogs his perspective on our week together over at teamgimli. See especially this story about how I made him eat Stinking Bishop cheese.
Monday, October 03, 2005
Emerging Games
Yeah, I use emerging just for the heck of it sometimes. Just wanted to give you a little update on our week of seeking God's direction for our WHM team. This morning we met with a couple people from London City Mission. We had a great time, and it reminded me again of how small I am in the face of what God is doing and has been doing in London for centuries. I was also convicted of much of my distaste for the ways of the traditional church...probably needs to be some on-going repentance before the Lord on that one.
We had some very fruitful discussion about different parts of the city and the shape of church-planting. I don't want to give too many details because we're all still trying to process what we've seen and heard and smelled.
Tonight I gave Pat and John a little wine lesson - Castillo San Lorenzo Rioja Reserva 1999 paired with Somer's lamb kebabs. A beautiful wine, classic Rioja - the best part about it in my opinion is the long vanilla finish (oh, and that I got it at half-price at Tesco).
We finished the night with a couple games of Settler's of Catan. John the team-leader hates games, but graciously agreed to play anyway. That didn't stop me from beating him twice.
We had some very fruitful discussion about different parts of the city and the shape of church-planting. I don't want to give too many details because we're all still trying to process what we've seen and heard and smelled.
Tonight I gave Pat and John a little wine lesson - Castillo San Lorenzo Rioja Reserva 1999 paired with Somer's lamb kebabs. A beautiful wine, classic Rioja - the best part about it in my opinion is the long vanilla finish (oh, and that I got it at half-price at Tesco).
We finished the night with a couple games of Settler's of Catan. John the team-leader hates games, but graciously agreed to play anyway. That didn't stop me from beating him twice.
Sunday, October 02, 2005
World Harvest Team
This week we have a couple guys from World Harvest visiting. Pat and John are here with us checking out possible spots for a church plant. We're asking God to show us where the next phase of life/ministry needs to be for us.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Autumn's Arrival
I think autumn might just be my favorite season. There's something about the smell of decaying leaves, the cold, crisp air and the bright sunshine. It reminds me of playing soccer for my high school; and makes me think of carving pumpkins and jumping in leaf piles and building a fire in the back yard to roast marshmallows. While we officially have three more days of summer here in the northern hemisphere, it's definitely felt like autumn the last few days in London.
There's also something spiritual about the change of seasons. And no, I don't want to become a Druid. It's just that there's this reminder that things won't always stay the way they are. The earth is constantly changing; and I think that change is good for my soul. All my senses have been heightened.
I sat outside at lunch on Wednesday to pray. I watched the clouds rush past in the wind and the sun peak through to warm the pavement where I sat. I saw people riding past on bicycles, women walking back from doing grocery shopping, and people rushing past in their cars or airplanes. In all of it I felt some of the delight God feels in his creation, and my praying was furthered by the experience. Yesterday we went to the Tate Modern art gallery. The girls love describing the art to us. Afterwards, we sat by the Thames and ate Chinese at a street fair. Everything felt right with the world. So praise God for autumn.
There's also something spiritual about the change of seasons. And no, I don't want to become a Druid. It's just that there's this reminder that things won't always stay the way they are. The earth is constantly changing; and I think that change is good for my soul. All my senses have been heightened.
I sat outside at lunch on Wednesday to pray. I watched the clouds rush past in the wind and the sun peak through to warm the pavement where I sat. I saw people riding past on bicycles, women walking back from doing grocery shopping, and people rushing past in their cars or airplanes. In all of it I felt some of the delight God feels in his creation, and my praying was furthered by the experience. Yesterday we went to the Tate Modern art gallery. The girls love describing the art to us. Afterwards, we sat by the Thames and ate Chinese at a street fair. Everything felt right with the world. So praise God for autumn.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Rethinking Life with Tuck Bartholomew
Tuck Bartholomew has a great post at Common Grounds Online, discussing the implications of Romans 12 as a communal call to sacrificial living. Tuck writes:
The church is a new humanity in Jesus Christ, and the way we rise from our natural conformity to the broken habits of life is through celebrating, talking, reading, worshiping, thinking, and serving together as God’s people. Paul wants us to press God’s mercy across the spectrum of life...
Whenever I read something like this, my heart always starts beating faster. Partly because it scares the heck out of me. It confronts the way I've bought into the hum-drum stories of comfort, wealth, security that our culture tells.
But it also excites me; because this is what life is all about. Becoming part of a new humanity with Jesus and his people is a story worth being part of.
Go check out Tuck's article, and let it challenge and excite you toward giving yourself in community with God's people for the sake of God's world.
The church is a new humanity in Jesus Christ, and the way we rise from our natural conformity to the broken habits of life is through celebrating, talking, reading, worshiping, thinking, and serving together as God’s people. Paul wants us to press God’s mercy across the spectrum of life...
Whenever I read something like this, my heart always starts beating faster. Partly because it scares the heck out of me. It confronts the way I've bought into the hum-drum stories of comfort, wealth, security that our culture tells.
But it also excites me; because this is what life is all about. Becoming part of a new humanity with Jesus and his people is a story worth being part of.
Go check out Tuck's article, and let it challenge and excite you toward giving yourself in community with God's people for the sake of God's world.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
The End of the Story
Ever wonder what's so good about the good news the church proclaims?
Today at Sunday worship at Church on the Corner, Mark gave a sermon in his "Chaos Theology" series on Meaning. Lots of really good stuff - there should be a link soon on his blog (he's probably just getting home from the evening service now). One of the things he said is that in sharing the "good news" with people, the church tends to focus on the mechanism of salvation, without giving much time to the end or the goal. In other words, we talk a lot about the death/resurrection of Jesus (maybe also about his life if we have the extra time) - but then we leave it at that. We tend not to take people to the end of the story of redemption, where God makes all things new.
Here's one practical example of where this might go...bear with me, please, because I'm still working this out and would love your thoughts:
Last night we had lots of storms moving through the area. My children were afraid of the thunder. As they went to bed, we read the story of Jesus in the boat with his disciples. Jesus falls asleep, a storm comes up, and the disciples wake him up in a panic. With a word, Jesus calms the wind and the waves. Jesus is in control of the storms, I told my girls, and he loves you and is here with you now.
Now, everything we read and talked about is true, and I don't necessarily think I should have said any more to them last night. But the story of redemption doesn't end with Jesus calming the storm. And it doesn't even end with him reconciling us to God. It ends with him re-creating the heavens and earth. That picture in Revelation 21 of a new heaven and earth is an unbelievable ending to the story of history. It says that storms - fear, chaos, destruction - are not the final word. Not only are they under Jesus' control, but they don't have the final say. There is a day coming when all that chaos and destruction are gone.
I'm very hesitant to bring it up, but how do you think a story like this might play in New Orleans? I mean, I don't think there's a whole lot of comfort in saying "the storm is under God's control" and "God is good so we have to trust his goodness in the midst of this". O.k., I realize that there's probably some comfort there. I also realize that churches in the surrounding area aren't offering words...they're busy taking care of people, and that's way better than any words at this point. But I think at some point, the church needs to finish the story and say "You know what? This storm sucked. The government's response may have sucked. But all that destruction, all that chaos - they don't have the final say. There is a day coming when there will be no more sea to flood our cities and brew up monster storms. Those storms have their day, but they are not the final word."
[update] I just read this great post by Adam and it helped solidify the vague feeling I had that something was missing in what I said here. It's this: All that help the church is giving people - that's the concrete demonstration that God is making all things new. It's the tangible evidence that the new creation is coming, because it's the new creation entering now. It's the "proof" if you will, that the story isn't over yet.
Today at Sunday worship at Church on the Corner, Mark gave a sermon in his "Chaos Theology" series on Meaning. Lots of really good stuff - there should be a link soon on his blog (he's probably just getting home from the evening service now). One of the things he said is that in sharing the "good news" with people, the church tends to focus on the mechanism of salvation, without giving much time to the end or the goal. In other words, we talk a lot about the death/resurrection of Jesus (maybe also about his life if we have the extra time) - but then we leave it at that. We tend not to take people to the end of the story of redemption, where God makes all things new.
Here's one practical example of where this might go...bear with me, please, because I'm still working this out and would love your thoughts:
Last night we had lots of storms moving through the area. My children were afraid of the thunder. As they went to bed, we read the story of Jesus in the boat with his disciples. Jesus falls asleep, a storm comes up, and the disciples wake him up in a panic. With a word, Jesus calms the wind and the waves. Jesus is in control of the storms, I told my girls, and he loves you and is here with you now.
Now, everything we read and talked about is true, and I don't necessarily think I should have said any more to them last night. But the story of redemption doesn't end with Jesus calming the storm. And it doesn't even end with him reconciling us to God. It ends with him re-creating the heavens and earth. That picture in Revelation 21 of a new heaven and earth is an unbelievable ending to the story of history. It says that storms - fear, chaos, destruction - are not the final word. Not only are they under Jesus' control, but they don't have the final say. There is a day coming when all that chaos and destruction are gone.
I'm very hesitant to bring it up, but how do you think a story like this might play in New Orleans? I mean, I don't think there's a whole lot of comfort in saying "the storm is under God's control" and "God is good so we have to trust his goodness in the midst of this". O.k., I realize that there's probably some comfort there. I also realize that churches in the surrounding area aren't offering words...they're busy taking care of people, and that's way better than any words at this point. But I think at some point, the church needs to finish the story and say "You know what? This storm sucked. The government's response may have sucked. But all that destruction, all that chaos - they don't have the final say. There is a day coming when there will be no more sea to flood our cities and brew up monster storms. Those storms have their day, but they are not the final word."
[update] I just read this great post by Adam and it helped solidify the vague feeling I had that something was missing in what I said here. It's this: All that help the church is giving people - that's the concrete demonstration that God is making all things new. It's the tangible evidence that the new creation is coming, because it's the new creation entering now. It's the "proof" if you will, that the story isn't over yet.
Uncle Stockton's Tomato Gravy
When I was a kid my family used to spend a couple weeks at the beach with my grandparents and cousins. My uncle used to make this stuff he called "tomato gravy". We've had lots of tomatos from our plants (including this giant weighing in at 1 pound 2 ounces), and I needed something to do with all the tomatoes. So I decided to try my hand at my uncle's recipe. To my surprise, it turned out exactly as I had remembered it. Really brought back the memories from childhood. It's amazing how taste can do that.
Becoming English
To all my English readers (if there are any of you): I apologize up front. I realize that my 9 months in your country have done little toward making me English, apart from the few surface details I'm about to enumerate.
Item 1: I drank tea last Wednesday, and liked it. I'm talking real English tea with milk. If that isn't impressive enough, I also had a scone - no, check that, two scones - with jam and double cream on top, and I thoroughly enjoyed it all.
This was at a party hosted by one of the Wednesday group from Bethel.
Item 2: Cricket. That's right all you Americans, I said Cricket. I figured out the rules, and now I'm hooked. It doesn't hurt that England have been playing very well this summer in the 5-match Ashes test series against Australia. They're up 2-1 with one draw and one match being played as we speak. With about a day and a half left to play, England have about an even chance of winning the match and the test series. You can get scoring updates and a good explanation of the game from the BBC.
Oh, and one more thing: According to a recent advertisement I saw on the Tube (I think it was for Harrod's), it's very English to apologize up front.
Item 1: I drank tea last Wednesday, and liked it. I'm talking real English tea with milk. If that isn't impressive enough, I also had a scone - no, check that, two scones - with jam and double cream on top, and I thoroughly enjoyed it all.
This was at a party hosted by one of the Wednesday group from Bethel.
Item 2: Cricket. That's right all you Americans, I said Cricket. I figured out the rules, and now I'm hooked. It doesn't hurt that England have been playing very well this summer in the 5-match Ashes test series against Australia. They're up 2-1 with one draw and one match being played as we speak. With about a day and a half left to play, England have about an even chance of winning the match and the test series. You can get scoring updates and a good explanation of the game from the BBC.
Oh, and one more thing: According to a recent advertisement I saw on the Tube (I think it was for Harrod's), it's very English to apologize up front.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
People to see
Tomorrow is Divi day at London City Mission. This means we all get together for a morning of singing, prayer, and listening to preaching. I usually dread the day - sorry guys, but it's pretty boring. I found out that it used to be pay-day in the mission, back in the days when missionaries were paid in cash.
But tomorrow I'm looking forward to; because I have people to see:
Norman - the finance guy at LCM, also in charge of their properties. I want to find out if there are other trusts in London that own houses like the one we're living in, who might be interested in housing a church-planter or two from the USA. It's a long shot, I know, but if they exist, Norman will know about them. Plus, he'll probably have a great story to share.
Terry - He's one of the ministry directors. I'd like to get together and just get to know him a bit.
Henk - Runs Café Forever and is one of the elders at City of Peace church on the Isle of Dogs. This guy knows his part of London. I want to spend an afternoon with him, just walking around Tower Hamlets and listening to Henk describe what he sees.
So that's my divi day - it's about the relationships. Oh yeah, and then the Passerelli women meet me and we go to lunch!
But tomorrow I'm looking forward to; because I have people to see:
Norman - the finance guy at LCM, also in charge of their properties. I want to find out if there are other trusts in London that own houses like the one we're living in, who might be interested in housing a church-planter or two from the USA. It's a long shot, I know, but if they exist, Norman will know about them. Plus, he'll probably have a great story to share.
Terry - He's one of the ministry directors. I'd like to get together and just get to know him a bit.
Henk - Runs Café Forever and is one of the elders at City of Peace church on the Isle of Dogs. This guy knows his part of London. I want to spend an afternoon with him, just walking around Tower Hamlets and listening to Henk describe what he sees.
So that's my divi day - it's about the relationships. Oh yeah, and then the Passerelli women meet me and we go to lunch!
Friday, September 02, 2005
Emerging Church and History
Here is Jeffrey Jue's article on the Emerging Church's take on church history - specifically the period of the Reformation. Jeffrey was one of the instructors in my Salvation 2 class at WTS, and I always appreciated his excitement for whatever he was teaching.
The gist of his article is that while seeking to maintain a historical connection with the church that has gone before, the emerging church has largely ignored the Reformation church of the 16th and 17th centuries. This is because emerging church leaders have blindly accepted the view that Reformation theologians were corrupted by the enlightenment and rationalism. They have discounted Reformation theologians as being shackled by modernity, and thus find them irrelevant for today's postmodern world. In his own words:
The Emergent Church is not introducing a new Christianity completely detached from any historical roots. Yet the postmodern periodization of history has contributed to the utter neglect or at the very least gross distortion of Reformation and post-Reformation history and theology. Other than a hollow view of Semper Reformanda, the Reformed tradition is abandoned as a meaningful theological partner in their “emerging conversation” with postmodernity.
Jeffrey goes on to propose that the Reformed tradition has much to offer the emerging church, and he offers three examples of how Reformation theology could be useful to the emerging church.
First, I think the examples he offers are excellent, and could be multiplied a hundred-fold. I'm excited to see one of the faculty at Westminster Theological Seminary getting involved in the emerging church discussion, and hope others will follow suit. [If anyone has knowledge of other articles/sites where WTS profs are offering helpful suggestions for the emerging church, please post these in the comments].
The biggest issue I have with the article is that I'm not sure his assessment that the emerging church has neglected Reformation history and theology is accurate. One of the more influential voices of the global emerging church on the web is Andrew Jones. In this post Andrew mentions a number of churches that are emerging from within the Reformed tradition, and he argues strongly (both here and in a few other posts - sorry I couldn't locate the others, Andrew) for emerging churches to remain connected to their ecclesiastical/theological roots. There are a number of us (Alan, Jerry, Jeff, Michelle, Krissy and Pat, just to name a few) who are seeking to emerge from within a denomination (the Presbyterian Church in America - sorry Pat, I know you're EPC) that has arguably one of the strongest links to the Reformation church and theology. I'll admit we haven't emerged very far yet. But I'd say for all of us that whatever theology we do, it will be strongly influenced by our connection to Reformed Presbyterian churches.
Sure, there may be some within the emerging church who come from traditions that have already neglected the Reformation, and there are others who self-consciously do so on their own, but these do not represent the whole of the emerging church. Your thoughts?
The gist of his article is that while seeking to maintain a historical connection with the church that has gone before, the emerging church has largely ignored the Reformation church of the 16th and 17th centuries. This is because emerging church leaders have blindly accepted the view that Reformation theologians were corrupted by the enlightenment and rationalism. They have discounted Reformation theologians as being shackled by modernity, and thus find them irrelevant for today's postmodern world. In his own words:
The Emergent Church is not introducing a new Christianity completely detached from any historical roots. Yet the postmodern periodization of history has contributed to the utter neglect or at the very least gross distortion of Reformation and post-Reformation history and theology. Other than a hollow view of Semper Reformanda, the Reformed tradition is abandoned as a meaningful theological partner in their “emerging conversation” with postmodernity.
Jeffrey goes on to propose that the Reformed tradition has much to offer the emerging church, and he offers three examples of how Reformation theology could be useful to the emerging church.
First, I think the examples he offers are excellent, and could be multiplied a hundred-fold. I'm excited to see one of the faculty at Westminster Theological Seminary getting involved in the emerging church discussion, and hope others will follow suit. [If anyone has knowledge of other articles/sites where WTS profs are offering helpful suggestions for the emerging church, please post these in the comments].
The biggest issue I have with the article is that I'm not sure his assessment that the emerging church has neglected Reformation history and theology is accurate. One of the more influential voices of the global emerging church on the web is Andrew Jones. In this post Andrew mentions a number of churches that are emerging from within the Reformed tradition, and he argues strongly (both here and in a few other posts - sorry I couldn't locate the others, Andrew) for emerging churches to remain connected to their ecclesiastical/theological roots. There are a number of us (Alan, Jerry, Jeff, Michelle, Krissy and Pat, just to name a few) who are seeking to emerge from within a denomination (the Presbyterian Church in America - sorry Pat, I know you're EPC) that has arguably one of the strongest links to the Reformation church and theology. I'll admit we haven't emerged very far yet. But I'd say for all of us that whatever theology we do, it will be strongly influenced by our connection to Reformed Presbyterian churches.
Sure, there may be some within the emerging church who come from traditions that have already neglected the Reformation, and there are others who self-consciously do so on their own, but these do not represent the whole of the emerging church. Your thoughts?
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Poofy Hair
O.k. Jeff, this one's for you. Here I am just after my appointment at Toni & Guy's. Notice the classic "Blue Steel" look I have about me.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Wedding Reception
Last night we attended the wedding reception of one of Somer's friends from the mums & tots group. Somer went to her hen party last month - you can read about her experience here. It was about normal for a wedding reception, except that they had already had the wedding a couple weeks ago in the Dominican Republic. They did one of those beach-side weddings. Since the wedding had already happened, they had lots of pictures - it was really quite beautiful. We only knew the bride and one other woman there, so we just kind of hung around and talked to our children. Not the most exciting evening of our time here, but still good.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
In Search of the Spiritual
Newsweek article on the rise of spirituality in the USA. Pretty good article. What do you think?
Monday, August 22, 2005
Church on the Corner
This past Sunday we spent the morning worshiping with the folk at Church on the Corner. It was very clear from the first that we were in a place with other people who love Jesus, and that they were there because they wanted to encounter God and respond to him in worship together. We felt very much at home - probably more so than in any other church we've visited since we've been here; even though I had to ask someone if the church was even open when we first arrived (first time in my life for that one). I felt free to express myself physically during the singing and join in the discussion during the sermon, and the fact that they had drinks on the tables during the service made the morning for Andi and Jodie. We sat around at tables, café style.
I chatted with the pastor afterwards, and he described wanting to be a place where non-churchy people could come and not be completely turned off by the atmosphere. Very close to our own hearts - maybe that's why we felt so comfy there. Anyway, I know it's not all about me and my comfort, but we were blessed by our time there. Thanks to Mark and Peter and others who welcomed us so well. Hope this isn't the last we see of you.
I chatted with the pastor afterwards, and he described wanting to be a place where non-churchy people could come and not be completely turned off by the atmosphere. Very close to our own hearts - maybe that's why we felt so comfy there. Anyway, I know it's not all about me and my comfort, but we were blessed by our time there. Thanks to Mark and Peter and others who welcomed us so well. Hope this isn't the last we see of you.
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Word Verification
I've added Word Verification to all comments. I've started getting spam comments with links to unknown sites. Hopefully the extra step of having to read a word and re-enter it before posting a comment will aleviate this problem...we'll see. Hope this extra step doesn't deter you from commenting, but let me know if you find it to be a hassle.
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Violent Reality
Last night I watched Balls of Steel on Channel 4. Ok, I'll admit that there were at least three things I could have been doing instead, the most sensible of which would have been to go to bed. But instead I watched, horrified, as people performed all sorts of crazy stunts, including jumping on the back of strangers, and timing to see how long they could stay on, just like it was a rodeo.
The worst, though, and the reason I'm bothering you with this at all, is that there was a segment in which two men purposely injured themselves with tools, just to see how much pain each tool caused. I've been wondering for a while how long it was going to take before someone combined our society's thirst for "reality" with the alluring power of violence. Maybe this isn't the first instance of a show like this, but it's the first I've seen. The two "stunts" I saw were just insane. First, they tried to see how much pain it caused when one guy used a belt sander on the other's naked back-side. He barely touched his butt when he screamed with pain...it started bleeding almost immediately. But then, the guy came back for more, and had him sand his butt a second time!! He rated it a 9 out of 10 in terms of pain. Then, the same guy put his hand on a block of wood, and his "friend" hammered a nail into the space of skin between his thumb and forefinger. Then they showed a close-up as he pulled the nail out of the wood and through his hand - again, blood came out immediately. He rated this 10 out of 10.
Just a little picture of the world we live in. I don't think this is indicative of the state of British culture as a whole (Channel 4's website has a forum, and from what I've seen, almost all comments on the show are negative). But there are some people who want to see this. Any thoughts on how the good news of Jesus speaks into this setting?
The worst, though, and the reason I'm bothering you with this at all, is that there was a segment in which two men purposely injured themselves with tools, just to see how much pain each tool caused. I've been wondering for a while how long it was going to take before someone combined our society's thirst for "reality" with the alluring power of violence. Maybe this isn't the first instance of a show like this, but it's the first I've seen. The two "stunts" I saw were just insane. First, they tried to see how much pain it caused when one guy used a belt sander on the other's naked back-side. He barely touched his butt when he screamed with pain...it started bleeding almost immediately. But then, the guy came back for more, and had him sand his butt a second time!! He rated it a 9 out of 10 in terms of pain. Then, the same guy put his hand on a block of wood, and his "friend" hammered a nail into the space of skin between his thumb and forefinger. Then they showed a close-up as he pulled the nail out of the wood and through his hand - again, blood came out immediately. He rated this 10 out of 10.
Just a little picture of the world we live in. I don't think this is indicative of the state of British culture as a whole (Channel 4's website has a forum, and from what I've seen, almost all comments on the show are negative). But there are some people who want to see this. Any thoughts on how the good news of Jesus speaks into this setting?
Andi's trip to the Hospital
Well, we're continuing to learn useful things for our planned long-term move to London. Yesterday we learned more about how the NHS works. I'll allay the fears of my parents by saying that Andi is fine...so read the story with a light heart:
On Tuesday, Andi was playing at the beach, jumping up and landing on her back-side in a shallow pool of water. One time, she didn't get her feet out from under her, and ended up smashing her foot underneath her. She cried, and limped around for the rest of the day. She continued to complain about it off and on for the rest of the week, so when we got back to London I called the doctor.
Since the doctor was himself on holiday and in any case couldn't do anything more than look externally at the foot, the receptionist told me to take Andi to Accident & Emergency at the local hospital. We walked in, they took Andi's name and address, and a 15 second explanation of what had happened. The nurse looked quickly at Andi's foot, and then we waited for 45 minutes. A doctor came, glanced at Andi's foot, and handed me a piece of paper and said, "Follow the signs to X-ray". We waited for another half hour at X-ray, then for 5 minutes while the film developed. They handed me the film and sent us back to A&E.
I handed over the films and sat down to wait again. Another couple minutes, and the doctor walked over. "The foot is fine, nothing's broken. Probably just a strain. Give her some pain-killer if she complains about it more."
As an outsider, it felt extremely impersonal. Nobody said more than three sentences to us, and we were just kind of shunted around. I was also surprised at how little interest the doctor actually took in Andi's foot before ordering an X-ray. I suppose he couldn't really tell whether there was anything wrong without the X-ray, but it just seemed like he was taking my word for it that there was something wrong with her foot. When we left, there was no paper-work to sign, nothing to confirm our identity, and really no trace of who we were, except that they took my word for it when I gave our address. It felt really strange.
On Tuesday, Andi was playing at the beach, jumping up and landing on her back-side in a shallow pool of water. One time, she didn't get her feet out from under her, and ended up smashing her foot underneath her. She cried, and limped around for the rest of the day. She continued to complain about it off and on for the rest of the week, so when we got back to London I called the doctor.
Since the doctor was himself on holiday and in any case couldn't do anything more than look externally at the foot, the receptionist told me to take Andi to Accident & Emergency at the local hospital. We walked in, they took Andi's name and address, and a 15 second explanation of what had happened. The nurse looked quickly at Andi's foot, and then we waited for 45 minutes. A doctor came, glanced at Andi's foot, and handed me a piece of paper and said, "Follow the signs to X-ray". We waited for another half hour at X-ray, then for 5 minutes while the film developed. They handed me the film and sent us back to A&E.
I handed over the films and sat down to wait again. Another couple minutes, and the doctor walked over. "The foot is fine, nothing's broken. Probably just a strain. Give her some pain-killer if she complains about it more."
As an outsider, it felt extremely impersonal. Nobody said more than three sentences to us, and we were just kind of shunted around. I was also surprised at how little interest the doctor actually took in Andi's foot before ordering an X-ray. I suppose he couldn't really tell whether there was anything wrong without the X-ray, but it just seemed like he was taking my word for it that there was something wrong with her foot. When we left, there was no paper-work to sign, nothing to confirm our identity, and really no trace of who we were, except that they took my word for it when I gave our address. It felt really strange.
Back from Holiday
We're back from our holiday on the Kent coast. The LCM house we stayed in was nice, but fairly small. There wasn't really anywhere for the girls to play. Our DVD player wouldn't connect to the TV there, so we couldn't watch the videos we brought either. We ended up coming home a day early because the weather was poor and we didn't want to have to rush around this morning trying to clean up everything and be out of the house by 10 am. I never thought I'd say this, but we actually got a little sun burn here in England. There was a nice beach about an hour's drive from us. When the tide went out, there was probably 300 or 400 yards of exposed sand. The girls really enjoyed it. I'll try to get pics up soon.
Friday, August 12, 2005
Off for a week
I'll be without internet access for a week, as we'll be on holiday in Kent. Somer's parents and sister will be with us as well.
As for my haircut, I'll post pictures when we get back. To be honest, I think it makes me look quite girly - the woman used a blow-dryer on my hair, and it came out quite poofy and a bit round. Anyway, you'll see the pics soon enough.
As for my haircut, I'll post pictures when we get back. To be honest, I think it makes me look quite girly - the woman used a blow-dryer on my hair, and it came out quite poofy and a bit round. Anyway, you'll see the pics soon enough.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Last Hub 'til October
We are having some building work done to the center, so tonight's was the last Hub until October. I'm kind of sad about it. Tonight I had a really good time talking to some of the guys about why I'm in England, and what the state of religion is like in their country. But at the same time, I'm really looking forward to the break.
Oh, and the talk at the younger Hub went o.k. - I think I played a bit too much of the Friends episode, and the kids got bored. They engaged a little bit with what I was talking about in terms of all relationships having some sort of parameters, but it could have done with a little less Joey and Chandler. Oh well...at least I enjoyed it.
Tomorrow I'm going to Toni & Guy's Hairdressing Academy to get a £5 haircut by a student...should be fun. I'll try to post a picture afterwards.
Oh, and the talk at the younger Hub went o.k. - I think I played a bit too much of the Friends episode, and the kids got bored. They engaged a little bit with what I was talking about in terms of all relationships having some sort of parameters, but it could have done with a little less Joey and Chandler. Oh well...at least I enjoyed it.
Tomorrow I'm going to Toni & Guy's Hairdressing Academy to get a £5 haircut by a student...should be fun. I'll try to post a picture afterwards.
Friends
Tonight at the younger hub we'll be watching an episode of Friends. It's the one where Chandler crosses the line. Julian is pretty set on doing the Ten Commandments with the younger Hub group. I'm more ambivalent, but if we are going to do them, I want to make sure that we set the context right. Hence Friends.
Every relationship has certain "rules" that define the terms of that relationship. Most times we don't think about those rules. For example, it's appropriate to slap your teammate's backside after he scores a goal, but it's not appropriate to slap your boss's backside, no matter how great a job she's done. In the case of tonight's episode, Chandler has broken the golden rule of friendship - you don't kiss your best friend's girlfriend.
The Ten Commandments are God's way of defining expectations in his relationship with Israel. It's key that he begins Exodus 20 by saying "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." It's in the context of this love relationship, in which God has brought freedom to Israel, that he gives the commandments.
I'll let you know how the talk does.
Every relationship has certain "rules" that define the terms of that relationship. Most times we don't think about those rules. For example, it's appropriate to slap your teammate's backside after he scores a goal, but it's not appropriate to slap your boss's backside, no matter how great a job she's done. In the case of tonight's episode, Chandler has broken the golden rule of friendship - you don't kiss your best friend's girlfriend.
The Ten Commandments are God's way of defining expectations in his relationship with Israel. It's key that he begins Exodus 20 by saying "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." It's in the context of this love relationship, in which God has brought freedom to Israel, that he gives the commandments.
I'll let you know how the talk does.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Many visitors
Have come and gone this past week. Monday we said goodbye to Rian - a good friend and reminder of home. At the same time, Rebecca arrived from Ireland. She's been doing an 8-month apprenticeship in Ireland with WHM. After meeting her at the train station, my car wouldn't start, so we had to walk home. Yesterday (Wednesday) two more apprentices arrived from Ireland - Chrissy and Jennifer. It's fun to meet them face-to-face, because they were some of the last people I helped recruit in my former role at the mission - though I never met them in person. Somer's sister Amber also arrived yesterday. So there are now 8 of us in our tiny house, and we're loving it.
As for other stuff happening: I took the car to Ichthus to have it fixed yesterday, and I'm picking it up tomorrow - it needed a new alternator and exhaust. The younger Hub has been open all this week during the day - we're having the guys do some graffiti, and tomorrow we're watching Prince of Egypt (don't ask - the guys are really excited about it, I don't understand).
As for other stuff happening: I took the car to Ichthus to have it fixed yesterday, and I'm picking it up tomorrow - it needed a new alternator and exhaust. The younger Hub has been open all this week during the day - we're having the guys do some graffiti, and tomorrow we're watching Prince of Egypt (don't ask - the guys are really excited about it, I don't understand).
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Dan's Offerings
Since Somer's in Ireland until tomorrow, I thought I'd try my hand at a few food-related thoughts, just in case any of you are missing her on her blog.
Monday night we had grilled lamb steaks with rosemary from the garden, Somer's garlic mashed potatoes a'la Dan (i.e. throw some garlic salt in with cooked potatoes and smash them with a wire wisk - clearly the wrong tool for the job, as I discovered after bending the handle), and carrot sticks straight from the bag. Andi and I also shared our first large tomato from the garden - we've been getting cherry tomatoes for a while, but this is the first from the larger variety. It was tasty.
Tuesday was leftovers, but I did make some new peas. The recipe? Buy frozen peas, open the bag and chow down. If you must heat them, throw them in a pot and let them steam as the frost melts and then evaporates.
Tuesday evening before dinner the girls came with me to the younger Hub. The talk was on Jacob and Esau, so we had Pot o' Noodles while I talked about how Esau despised God's promises and sold his birthright for a bowl of soup. They thought it was hysterical that I used the word "soup" - or else they thought I said "soup" in a funny way. I couldn't really tell. Whenever I said "soup" there would be a few seconds of laughter and several other people would say "soup".
The recipe for Pot o' Noodles? If you're that desperate I can't help you.
Somer will be back tomorrow evening, so look for her again on Thursday. Tomorrow is coffee morning/lunch hour at the centre, so the girls will be with me for that.
Monday night we had grilled lamb steaks with rosemary from the garden, Somer's garlic mashed potatoes a'la Dan (i.e. throw some garlic salt in with cooked potatoes and smash them with a wire wisk - clearly the wrong tool for the job, as I discovered after bending the handle), and carrot sticks straight from the bag. Andi and I also shared our first large tomato from the garden - we've been getting cherry tomatoes for a while, but this is the first from the larger variety. It was tasty.
Tuesday was leftovers, but I did make some new peas. The recipe? Buy frozen peas, open the bag and chow down. If you must heat them, throw them in a pot and let them steam as the frost melts and then evaporates.
Tuesday evening before dinner the girls came with me to the younger Hub. The talk was on Jacob and Esau, so we had Pot o' Noodles while I talked about how Esau despised God's promises and sold his birthright for a bowl of soup. They thought it was hysterical that I used the word "soup" - or else they thought I said "soup" in a funny way. I couldn't really tell. Whenever I said "soup" there would be a few seconds of laughter and several other people would say "soup".
The recipe for Pot o' Noodles? If you're that desperate I can't help you.
Somer will be back tomorrow evening, so look for her again on Thursday. Tomorrow is coffee morning/lunch hour at the centre, so the girls will be with me for that.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
And Even Three
I realized those last two stories give an unrealistically rosey picture of life/ministry here. So let me give you a third to temper the other two.
Also on Tuesday, I was out with Emma doing doors. I met the first "cultural creative" person I've talked to here in Dagenham. He answered the door, tattooed on both arms, lip and eyebrow pierced, blue hair. He agreed to do the survey. Basically, he's not religious at all. The only thing he believes in is himself. Has no desire to go to church, and there's nothing that really would make him want to go. He was a really nice guy - told us he's a musician, writes songs for bands. "And yet I'm still here in Dagenham," he remarked. Near the end of the conversation, he said something like "Well, I don't exactly look like someone who would believe [in Jesus], do I?" Emma said something about "you should see some of my friends." And I remained silent. It was a perfect invitation into his life and the nature of faith and walking in the way of Jesus as a counter-cultural lifestyle, and I said nothing. Couldn't think of what to say.
Also on Tuesday, I was out with Emma doing doors. I met the first "cultural creative" person I've talked to here in Dagenham. He answered the door, tattooed on both arms, lip and eyebrow pierced, blue hair. He agreed to do the survey. Basically, he's not religious at all. The only thing he believes in is himself. Has no desire to go to church, and there's nothing that really would make him want to go. He was a really nice guy - told us he's a musician, writes songs for bands. "And yet I'm still here in Dagenham," he remarked. Near the end of the conversation, he said something like "Well, I don't exactly look like someone who would believe [in Jesus], do I?" Emma said something about "you should see some of my friends." And I remained silent. It was a perfect invitation into his life and the nature of faith and walking in the way of Jesus as a counter-cultural lifestyle, and I said nothing. Couldn't think of what to say.
Two Stories
On Tuesday Julian received a phone call from one of our friends at the center.
"Julian, I've decided I don't need the Bible you gave me. I'm giving the whole Christianity thing up."
We were scheduled to visit later in the day, so he said we should still come by. Turns out he and his long-term companion had an argument that morning. "I went back five years in my relationship with her," he said. "If I can go back five years in just a few minutes with her, then why should I bother with the Christian thing, because I can go back just as easily on that too."
I was feeling a bit bold that day (who knows, maybe lots of you were praying that day and the Spirit was moving). So I said "You know, I don't think you are the same as you were five years ago." He replied "You didn't know me five years ago, how can you say that?" "Well, I don't think something like this argument would have bothered you this much five years ago." He continued: "Well, it's just that I've been changing so much lately, and now here I am off the path, in the same brambles again, struggling to get out of them." I stuck my grinning face about six inches from his - "And five years ago, would you have been struggling to get out of those brambles?" "Well, no. You've got me there."
We went on to talk about how it's the very people who go straying off the path that Jesus came to seek and save. Since we were supposed to be talking about the parables of Jesus, I paraphrased the story of the shepherd who has 99 sheep in the pen and one out in the brambles. He is passionate about the one who is in the brambles, and when he finds it, he brings it back and there's a massive party in God's house.
He said he was glad we had come, and that we should come back next week to resume our regular study of the parables.
Tuesday night was the last night for Dan, one of the regular staff at the Hub. He has finished the gap-year scheme with LCM. So we took him out for a celebration afterwards. One of the guys who attends the Hub regularly was hanging around after it closed, talking to us while we closed up. We invited him to come with us. Initially I felt like it was a bit awkward. I had been looking forward to having a good laugh with Dan and felt like having this other guy with us was kind of holding us back. In the end, though, we had a really good time. He started asking us what it's like for us to pray. Then we started talking about what happens when you die (sort of brought up by the death of my grandmother a few weeks ago and the questions Andi asked afterwards). I would have loved to be a detached observer at our table - here's a guy who doesn't want to have anything to do with the church, sitting in a pub with six followers of Jesus, asking us questions about our faith. Beautiful.
"Julian, I've decided I don't need the Bible you gave me. I'm giving the whole Christianity thing up."
We were scheduled to visit later in the day, so he said we should still come by. Turns out he and his long-term companion had an argument that morning. "I went back five years in my relationship with her," he said. "If I can go back five years in just a few minutes with her, then why should I bother with the Christian thing, because I can go back just as easily on that too."
I was feeling a bit bold that day (who knows, maybe lots of you were praying that day and the Spirit was moving). So I said "You know, I don't think you are the same as you were five years ago." He replied "You didn't know me five years ago, how can you say that?" "Well, I don't think something like this argument would have bothered you this much five years ago." He continued: "Well, it's just that I've been changing so much lately, and now here I am off the path, in the same brambles again, struggling to get out of them." I stuck my grinning face about six inches from his - "And five years ago, would you have been struggling to get out of those brambles?" "Well, no. You've got me there."
We went on to talk about how it's the very people who go straying off the path that Jesus came to seek and save. Since we were supposed to be talking about the parables of Jesus, I paraphrased the story of the shepherd who has 99 sheep in the pen and one out in the brambles. He is passionate about the one who is in the brambles, and when he finds it, he brings it back and there's a massive party in God's house.
He said he was glad we had come, and that we should come back next week to resume our regular study of the parables.
Tuesday night was the last night for Dan, one of the regular staff at the Hub. He has finished the gap-year scheme with LCM. So we took him out for a celebration afterwards. One of the guys who attends the Hub regularly was hanging around after it closed, talking to us while we closed up. We invited him to come with us. Initially I felt like it was a bit awkward. I had been looking forward to having a good laugh with Dan and felt like having this other guy with us was kind of holding us back. In the end, though, we had a really good time. He started asking us what it's like for us to pray. Then we started talking about what happens when you die (sort of brought up by the death of my grandmother a few weeks ago and the questions Andi asked afterwards). I would have loved to be a detached observer at our table - here's a guy who doesn't want to have anything to do with the church, sitting in a pub with six followers of Jesus, asking us questions about our faith. Beautiful.
Summer Friends
They have begun to arrive! Rian arrived Monday night at around 11. She visited the Hub with me on Tuesday, saw Fame with Somer on Wednesday, cancelled a trip to the museums on Thursday because of the bombings, and did family movie night with us on Saturday (we moved it from Friday in order to take her to Belgo on Friday night). We also went to Greenwich on Thursday while Somer was at Cafe Forever and the girls were having their last day of school before summer holiday. We bought their teacher a giant Sunflower to say "thanks". Tomorrow Rian and Summer leave for three days in Dublin. We have an early drive to the airport, and then it's just me and the girls until Wednesday evening.
In the midst of all this, stuff at Bethel has continued unabated - I'll update you more in the next post on that.
When Rian leaves, Rebecca arrives later that day. We're hoping to have some time to pray with Rebecca and dream God's dreams for this city and seek him for how we fit into those dreams. After that, Somer's sister arrives...followed shortly by her parents.
In the midst of all this, stuff at Bethel has continued unabated - I'll update you more in the next post on that.
When Rian leaves, Rebecca arrives later that day. We're hoping to have some time to pray with Rebecca and dream God's dreams for this city and seek him for how we fit into those dreams. After that, Somer's sister arrives...followed shortly by her parents.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
More London Incidents
Two weeks after the major bombings on the Tube and bus, there has been another series of incidents. These don't sound like they're nearly as big as two weeks ago, but several Tube lines have been closed. It sounds like packages exploded on a bus and a few trains, but there were few if any injuries. People reported a burning smell, and a couple people said they saw a man's backpack blow up. I was thinking that it sounded like a copy-cat thing, done to scare people more than anything else. Two minutes after I thought this, one of the news channels had an "anti-terror" expert on, who said the exact same thing. Anyway, just wanted everyone to know that all is well in our neck of London, and hopefully this will be resolved quickly with few people affected.
Saturday, July 16, 2005
A proverb and a picture
Any fool can ask for advice,but a wise person listens to friends.
A fool asks until the desired answer is given,
but a wise person is satisfied with good counsel.
So who do you think I am?
My boss Julian finally gave me the advice I wanted to hear: "Get the vinyl flooring and just put some foam sub-flooring underneath. Caulk the whole thing around the edges, and you're done." I got a remnant of vinyl for £7 (the guy wanted 15, then when I baulked at the price he came down to 10. I asked if he took credit - he didn't - and I said I'd give him the £7 in my wallet. I love bargaining). The foam was £15 per roll, and Somer suggested that we just forget the foam and lay the vinyl straight on the wood. Thinking her advice the best, I bought a tube of silicon and came home. Finished product is above. A few notes for the guys who did give good (though unheaded) advice: This vinyl stuff is not linoleum as I know it - it's actually soft on the bottom and very flexible...feels a lot like carpet with a soft, thin, plastic veneer on top. The moisture basically comes from the tub - splashing kids and a wonky shower head. I liked Jim's idea of painting the floor boards, but they were in such bad shape it wasn't an option. There is some old termite damage - a couple boards had been replaced, and the ones next to them had been generously eaten through, though not badly enough to warrant replacement. Pat's advice was good - but I don't know who to talk to at LCM right now - Andrew is no longer one of the ministry directors, and the three new directors haven't sorted out who is supervising whom. In any case, it would take longer than the day I had left in which to replace the floor - I neglected to mention that I had already ripped up the moldy carpet when I wrote the post. So, the floor is down, the bathroom smells nice (albeit a bit chemically right now) and I spent a day cutting and caulking. Surprisingly, the stuff stays put and lays quite flat. In the end, if the landlord doesn't like it, I'll just take it up before I leave and put the new piece of carpet down, and no harm done.
Thanks for your thoughts guys. And Pat...sorry to have not listed you specifically in my appeal for help. I did know you laid floors, but forgot it at the time I was writing.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Harry Potter
Sitting here at midnight listening to J K Rowling read a chapter from the newest instalment. I'm hooked! She's reading the account of Harry and co. as they explore the Weasley brothers' new shop. Very very cool.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Maintenance
On a couple levels today. First, on the house: Our bathroom reaks something aweful. One really shouldn't carpet one's bathroom if one doesn't like mold and nasty smells in one's house. If Jesus were here today, he would tell the pharisees that they were a carpeted bathroom with a pretty door - nice on the outside, but full of mildew, rot, and foul odors on the inside. In any case, I pulled up the carpet and have a fan blowing to try to dry out the floor-boards before I replace it. Rian arrives Monday, and we want it to be nice when she arrives. I'm debating between putting down more carpet (cheapest idea since we have a spare scrap in the shed that will fit), putting down linoleum on top of the carpet (the floor-boards are too uneven to just do linoleum) an actually tiling the floor. Basically, we're only in the house for another six months, so the carpet should stay moderately fresh until just about the time we're ready to leave...good for us, bad for the next occupant. Thanks to Larry, I know how to do tiling - and it would only cost about £30 for supplies - but I'd have to get my hands on a tile cutter, which would basically double the cost. Linoleum costs £10 for the two square meters I need, but again, I'd have to put it down on top of the carpet. Don't know how effective that'd be on preventing moisture build-up in the carpet. I'm hoping Jim or Larry or one of my other readers might have an idea...please let me know what you think is the best option.
Second, on the blog: if you notice, I've weeded out the side-bar and updated my reading list. Just to be clear, I don't have an advance copy of Harry Potter, it's arriving Saturday like everyone else's, and probably I won't actually start reading it until the following week, since Somer has dibs on it first. But I'm so excited about it I couldn't wait to get it up on the reading list. The other two books there are both really good - especially Gempf's book...but I would be a bit biased, since he's a Londoner.
Second, on the blog: if you notice, I've weeded out the side-bar and updated my reading list. Just to be clear, I don't have an advance copy of Harry Potter, it's arriving Saturday like everyone else's, and probably I won't actually start reading it until the following week, since Somer has dibs on it first. But I'm so excited about it I couldn't wait to get it up on the reading list. The other two books there are both really good - especially Gempf's book...but I would be a bit biased, since he's a Londoner.
Incense
My fellow LCMers are starting to think I'm a bit of a pyro. This past Tuesday at the Hub, we decided to take a break from our normal schedule of talks with the younger guys in response to last week's bombings in the city. I had the guys (and girl) write short prayers for the city on pieces of paper. I explained that the Bible gives the picture of prayers from God's people being sweet-smelling incense to him. So after writing their prayers, we went outside and - you guessed it! - burned the paper-prayers in a cauldron along with some incense. A few of them actually took it seriously and wrote prayers for mercy or peace. Many wrote prayers that basically said "God, please punish the guys who did this", although in more colorful language and with a few racial slurs mixed in for good measure. I wasn't sure whether to be uncomfortable with these prayers or not. Certainly David prayed in similar ways at times. It's just that usually the only prayer we let non-believers pray is the "sinner's prayer" - and when you start asking them to pray for other purposes, sometimes it gets messy.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Family Unity
It's been six months since we arrived here in London. I was remarking to Somer earlier today that I feel like our family has become very close. One of the great benefits of not knowing many people in the city is that we do most everything together - just the four of us. I feel like I know the girls better than I ever have (this may also be a result of them growing up). The things we look forward to are things we have planned to do together - family movie night, an afternoon in the park, preaching at city of peace, moms & tots, coffee morning, etc.
Those adventure movies that take a group of disparate people and force them into situations where they have to either get along or die are ringing true for us right now. Not that we hated each other before we got here, but there's something about being on this adventure together that has brought us closer. Probably the church could learn something from this.
Those adventure movies that take a group of disparate people and force them into situations where they have to either get along or die are ringing true for us right now. Not that we hated each other before we got here, but there's something about being on this adventure together that has brought us closer. Probably the church could learn something from this.
Abraham Sacrificing Isaac
Unfinished work by The Hub. Emulsion paint on wood over a pencil traced projection of the original by Laurent de LaHire - 1650Work was undertaken on Tuesday, 5th July. Projected completion is sometime this week. Several of the guys worked on this painting the entire evening.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
London Bombings
There have been a number of explosions this morning in London. BBC quoted the Metropolitan Police Commissioner as saying there were six explosions on busses and London Underground trains. The Underground is completely shut down. I was supposed to be doing door-to-door today, but my co-worker is stuck in central London without a way out to Ilford. Somer is working at Café Forever this morning - closer to the center of London, but not in close proximity to the bombings. I'm looking forward to having her back home this afternoon. Not that you need me to keep you posted, given the flood of news coverage, but I will post an update once it becomes clearer what has happened. We are o.k. and praying for our city.
[Update] - Somer picked up the girls from school around 12:30 and they are all home safely. We just saw a news conference where the police and others clarified some details. It looks like there were a total of four bombs - three on Underground trains and one on a bus. They are saying at least 33 people were killed and a few hundred injured. Some train services outside the very center of the city are resuming, and it sounds like they are hoping to have restored more services tomorrow so that life can go on in the city. We are still having our kids clubs tonight at Ley Street, so I'm off to work in about an hour or so. I'll try to give one more update tonight on how the kids in our clubs are reacting.
[Update] - Somer picked up the girls from school around 12:30 and they are all home safely. We just saw a news conference where the police and others clarified some details. It looks like there were a total of four bombs - three on Underground trains and one on a bus. They are saying at least 33 people were killed and a few hundred injured. Some train services outside the very center of the city are resuming, and it sounds like they are hoping to have restored more services tomorrow so that life can go on in the city. We are still having our kids clubs tonight at Ley Street, so I'm off to work in about an hour or so. I'll try to give one more update tonight on how the kids in our clubs are reacting.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Saul: A Play in Two Parts
Act 1: The Blinding Light
As I narrate from Acts 9, one of the boys acts the part of Saul, angrily shaking his finger at the "Christians", receiving a letter from the high priest and then litterally dragging his fellow actors into "prison". God speaks to him on the road, and Saul falls down as though dead. The scene ends with a fantastic outburst when Saul is offered food, but flails his arms about and knocks the food away because he is blind.
Act 2: Sight Restored
I continue narrating the story. Another group of actors takes the stage. Saul is now played by a girl, praying silently to God. God (played by a six-year-old standing on a chair) is pointing to Ananias that he should go visit Saul. Ananias reluctantly goes. Saul's sight is then restored, at which point he is baptized by a small shot of water from a plastic drinking cup. Saul then starts preaching the gospel to the crowds - having somehow aquired a blue-covered Bible, complete with New Testament!
Performed one-time only at the children's club at Ley Street earlier this evening. The group acting part 1 received the prize for best performance, while the second group received a bonus for creative use of a cup of water.
As I narrate from Acts 9, one of the boys acts the part of Saul, angrily shaking his finger at the "Christians", receiving a letter from the high priest and then litterally dragging his fellow actors into "prison". God speaks to him on the road, and Saul falls down as though dead. The scene ends with a fantastic outburst when Saul is offered food, but flails his arms about and knocks the food away because he is blind.
Act 2: Sight Restored
I continue narrating the story. Another group of actors takes the stage. Saul is now played by a girl, praying silently to God. God (played by a six-year-old standing on a chair) is pointing to Ananias that he should go visit Saul. Ananias reluctantly goes. Saul's sight is then restored, at which point he is baptized by a small shot of water from a plastic drinking cup. Saul then starts preaching the gospel to the crowds - having somehow aquired a blue-covered Bible, complete with New Testament!
Performed one-time only at the children's club at Ley Street earlier this evening. The group acting part 1 received the prize for best performance, while the second group received a bonus for creative use of a cup of water.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Walking to work
For the first time since we've been here, I walked to work at Bethel. It was a gorgeous day, and Somer had the car at Café Forever. It takes about 20 minutes to get to the housing estate from our house, and another 10 to walk accross the estate to our center. Half-way across the estate, I saw a couple that I knew. They had been to a Christianity Explored course with us a couple months ago. Since then, they have started going to two different churches - going to each one every other Sunday. The woman asked me how I was doing, and whether I had converted anyone recently. Being the good Reformed Evangelical that I am (despite what the Theological Worldview test says) I said "Well, I don't really convert anyone, do I? That's more God's business than mine." The man responded "Well, you converted me, didn't you?" I was a bit surprised..."Sorry?" I said. "Yeah, you guys converted me." At this point in the conversation, we came to the fork in the road - they went their way off to the market, I went on to the center. I have no idea if this guy is seriously converted or not...but like I said before, that's more God's business than mine.
I was just glad I had to walk to work today.
I was just glad I had to walk to work today.
In the garden
Our garden has been a kind of respite for me this spring. I've taught the girls how to plant and water vegetables, and how to know when to pick them. It's been a fun way for me to relax and enjoy being outside. Today we harvested our first crop: two cherry tomatoes, pictured here just before picking. They were delicious.
Monday, June 27, 2005
New Life comes to London
Today we went to Covent Garden to see LCM's café The Vine. We were enjoying the time in the center of the city, in an area where spiritualists, Hare Krishnas, homosexuals, and Goths mix freely with the freakishly conservative tourists and business-people. All of a sudden, I hear a loud shout...in a Philly accent. And wouldn't you know it - my pastor from New Life Glenside is right in front of us.
Angelo and a group of a few other New Lifers were on a 10-hour layover on their way to South Africa. It made our month to see them.
Then I found out that Chris, one of the guys from the College group we used to lead - and a very dear friend - was with them. For the next fifteen minutes, we searched the restaurants at Covent Garden looking for Chris. Finally, he saw me and came running up behind me.
Wow! What are the odds of that? We never come down to the city - we hadn't been to Covent Garden since we moved here! I think God knew we needed a bit of emotional sunshine - a reminder of how much we are loved, and how much we love.
Thanks God! Thanks Chris and Angelo and New Lifers!
Angelo and a group of a few other New Lifers were on a 10-hour layover on their way to South Africa. It made our month to see them.
Then I found out that Chris, one of the guys from the College group we used to lead - and a very dear friend - was with them. For the next fifteen minutes, we searched the restaurants at Covent Garden looking for Chris. Finally, he saw me and came running up behind me.
Wow! What are the odds of that? We never come down to the city - we hadn't been to Covent Garden since we moved here! I think God knew we needed a bit of emotional sunshine - a reminder of how much we are loved, and how much we love.
Thanks God! Thanks Chris and Angelo and New Lifers!
Nana
My grandmother passed away this past week. It wasn't totally unexpected, but still a major time of grieving and loss for my family. I couldn't make it home for the funeral, so I had to participate from London. I sent a letter that my brother Mark read at the funeral. Then my other brother Andrew set up a video chat back at my Aunt's house, where the family gathered after the funeral. I got to see my immediate family, plus relatives from New York and North Carolina. It was a good time, but also a sharp reminder that we are living far from home.
Explaining the death of Nana to my children was a wonderful experience. The questions you get from a 2- and 4-year-old are amazing. Andi asked what happens when you die. Honestly, I had to say that I wasn't sure. As far as I can tell, our understanding of what happens immediately after death is speculation. The Bible is very clear that death is not the final answer, that Jesus frees us from fear of death, and that he will make all things new and his people will live forever in this new creation. But what happens between now and then is a mystery to me. The clearest thing I can see is that Jesus says to the thief on the cross "Today you will be with me in paradise" but I'm not sure how much we can build on that.
Anyway, I tell you all this because these are two glimpses into my paradoxical life as a cross-cultural Jesus follower (read "missionary" if you're comfortable with that term). My life is very different from what it would be if I was back in the States, but at the same time very much the same.
Explaining the death of Nana to my children was a wonderful experience. The questions you get from a 2- and 4-year-old are amazing. Andi asked what happens when you die. Honestly, I had to say that I wasn't sure. As far as I can tell, our understanding of what happens immediately after death is speculation. The Bible is very clear that death is not the final answer, that Jesus frees us from fear of death, and that he will make all things new and his people will live forever in this new creation. But what happens between now and then is a mystery to me. The clearest thing I can see is that Jesus says to the thief on the cross "Today you will be with me in paradise" but I'm not sure how much we can build on that.
Anyway, I tell you all this because these are two glimpses into my paradoxical life as a cross-cultural Jesus follower (read "missionary" if you're comfortable with that term). My life is very different from what it would be if I was back in the States, but at the same time very much the same.
Friday, June 24, 2005
Get a Mac [partial retraction]
O.k., so I still think you need a Mac. But thanks to Steph for helping me fix the problem. IE on my machine now displays main content in the right spot...any problems now on Windows machines?
[Original post] Apologies to anyone who reads my blog from a Windows machine. It appears that on some versions of IE the previous post forces all the main content below the sidebar. Not in Safari, though. Just goes to show...you need a Mac! Get one here
[Original post] Apologies to anyone who reads my blog from a Windows machine. It appears that on some versions of IE the previous post forces all the main content below the sidebar. Not in Safari, though. Just goes to show...you need a Mac! Get one here
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Theological Worldview Quiz
So I took a theological worldview quiz. A little surprised by how I scored. Here's the breakdown:
Apparently I'm more Wesleyan, Neo-Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Pentecostal than I am Reformed Evangelical. Yikes... but before any of you at WHM decide I need to return home prematurely, take the test for yourself and see where you fit. You might be surprised.
 | You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.
What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com |
Apparently I'm more Wesleyan, Neo-Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Pentecostal than I am Reformed Evangelical. Yikes... but before any of you at WHM decide I need to return home prematurely, take the test for yourself and see where you fit. You might be surprised.
Friday, June 17, 2005
Sermons
Been doing lots of sermon writing and preaching this week. Wednesday was the afternoon service at Bethel. I preached on Ezekiel 47 - you can get the PDF copy by clicking here . The talk went really well. I really enjoyed it, people appreciated my poorly-drawn map of the Middle East, and I think people were encouraged to seek life in Jesus.
Tonight I finished writing my sermon for Sunday at City of Peace. Again, get a PDF copy by clicking here . I'm excited about this one because I've preached on the parrallel passage before for my sermon delivery class at seminary and I've incorporated several of the suggestions my professor made. But I also totally re-wrote the thing from scratch, rather than use the old sermon. I've found that reusing material is pretty tough, and second-time-around messages haven't gone well for me. Please feel free to comment - I will check the comments before Sunday afternoon and try to incorporate feedback from you all.
Tonight I finished writing my sermon for Sunday at City of Peace. Again, get a PDF copy by clicking here . I'm excited about this one because I've preached on the parrallel passage before for my sermon delivery class at seminary and I've incorporated several of the suggestions my professor made. But I also totally re-wrote the thing from scratch, rather than use the old sermon. I've found that reusing material is pretty tough, and second-time-around messages haven't gone well for me. Please feel free to comment - I will check the comments before Sunday afternoon and try to incorporate feedback from you all.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Environmentalism in the Ancient Near East
When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destory its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees people, that you should besiege them?
- Yahweh. Deuteronomy 20:19
- Yahweh. Deuteronomy 20:19
Live 8 sadness
Yeah, so I didn't win tickets to Live8. Not surprising, really, since they had 1.5 million entries the first day alone, for a mere 70,000 pairs of tickets.
Oh well, guess I can always bid on them on e-Bay.
Never mind...Sir Bob hath spoken, and e-Bay is apparently the seven-headed ten-horned beast from the abyss for allowing someone to sell their tickets. Not wanting to be singled out for a special anti-capitalist flogging, e-Bay has dutifully removed the listing of the tickets and has rejoined all other globalized corporations as a rank-and-file demon.
Can you tell I'm a little bitter about this one? Guess I'm showing my true American Capitalist colors. I mean, what's the big deal if somebody won a pair of tickets and they want to sell them to make money? It's not like they're taking money away from the charities. They already gave their compulsory £1.50 to enter the "contest". With millions of pounds flying around for the charities, I have little sympathy for those who want to castigate someone for wanting to sell their ticket. I mean, I know it's supposed to be about the poor in Africa and not about the bands, but c'mon if it wasn't about the bands, then why get U2, Elton John, and all the other massive names to play? Why not say "Come to Hyde Park and listen to some poor people play music." Or else have all those big bands, but don't let them play, make people just come and sit with them in the park and quietly pray for Africa.
Oh well, guess I can always bid on them on e-Bay.
Never mind...Sir Bob hath spoken, and e-Bay is apparently the seven-headed ten-horned beast from the abyss for allowing someone to sell their tickets. Not wanting to be singled out for a special anti-capitalist flogging, e-Bay has dutifully removed the listing of the tickets and has rejoined all other globalized corporations as a rank-and-file demon.
Can you tell I'm a little bitter about this one? Guess I'm showing my true American Capitalist colors. I mean, what's the big deal if somebody won a pair of tickets and they want to sell them to make money? It's not like they're taking money away from the charities. They already gave their compulsory £1.50 to enter the "contest". With millions of pounds flying around for the charities, I have little sympathy for those who want to castigate someone for wanting to sell their ticket. I mean, I know it's supposed to be about the poor in Africa and not about the bands, but c'mon if it wasn't about the bands, then why get U2, Elton John, and all the other massive names to play? Why not say "Come to Hyde Park and listen to some poor people play music." Or else have all those big bands, but don't let them play, make people just come and sit with them in the park and quietly pray for Africa.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Smashing Cultural Stereotypes
The English are supposed to be reserved. They like their privacy and don't particularly appreciate Americans who come and vomit their souls all over the place the first time they meet you. Case in point: It took us weeks to find out the names of some of the moms at moms & tots because when they introduce themselves, they don't give you their name. Even if you say "Hi, I'm Dan" they'll respond with "Oh, o.k. Hi."
Or so I thought.
Among the young people on the Becontree housing estate there seems to be no concept of personal privacy. Yesterday the younger Hub was cancelled. As usual, most of the kids turned up anyway. When I went outside the center to tell them it was cancelled, I found about ten teenage boys and girls sitting on the wall smoking. I knew most of the guys and a few of the girls, so we started talking. Three of the girls I didn't know. Here's a bit the conversation:
Are you Australian? No
American? Yeah
Where do you come from in America? Philadelphia
Do you like it there?
Do you like it here? (At this point Luke interjects - "This place is a hell-hole")
What are you? Are you a priest? No, I did training to be a priest.
Are you not a priest because you're married? No, I'm allowed to be married even if I get ordained.
What's your name? Dan, what's your name? (I figured if they were going to be blunt, I might as well get a few names out of it).
What are your kids names?
Do you love your wife?Yes (One of the other girls smacks the one who asked the question). The first girl continues:
What? Maybe they're having a bad patch or something.
So there you have it. Nationality, name, job, family, and analysis of the condition of my marriage, all in the span of two minutes.
Or so I thought.
Among the young people on the Becontree housing estate there seems to be no concept of personal privacy. Yesterday the younger Hub was cancelled. As usual, most of the kids turned up anyway. When I went outside the center to tell them it was cancelled, I found about ten teenage boys and girls sitting on the wall smoking. I knew most of the guys and a few of the girls, so we started talking. Three of the girls I didn't know. Here's a bit the conversation:
Are you Australian? No
American? Yeah
Where do you come from in America? Philadelphia
Do you like it there?
Do you like it here? (At this point Luke interjects - "This place is a hell-hole")
What are you? Are you a priest? No, I did training to be a priest.
Are you not a priest because you're married? No, I'm allowed to be married even if I get ordained.
What's your name? Dan, what's your name? (I figured if they were going to be blunt, I might as well get a few names out of it).
What are your kids names?
Do you love your wife?Yes (One of the other girls smacks the one who asked the question). The first girl continues:
What? Maybe they're having a bad patch or something.
So there you have it. Nationality, name, job, family, and analysis of the condition of my marriage, all in the span of two minutes.
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