Getting Your Feet Dirty

hey, I finished another book. I like having accountability for this in my life as I read alongside some of my staff friends. If anyone would like to see our reading list and join us just let me know. Here are my thoughts on the latest book I read...

Before reading Getting Your Feet Dirty I had read Jesus With Dirty Feet and The Smell of Sin written by Don Everts. I loved both of those books; they were insightful, creative, and beautifully written. This book was not what I expected. Part of that is that it was written to people who are not familiar with the story of the early church as recorded in Acts. I am and it was not as compelling to me. But that may be my fault. I think it would be more compelling for people who are not as familiar with the story and maybe I read it from too prideful a perspective.

The strength of the book lies in that it does a good job of unpacking what happened at Pentecost and in the days and months that followed. It shows how the first followers of Jesus began to live out their new lives. If we all followed their examples in our own contexts there is much that is wrong that would be right. It is simple and I appreciate that. I think it would be a good book to put in the hands of a new believer, but I can think of other books that I would read alongside a new believer to discuss with them, and that is what I was looking for.

traveling man

...sitting in the Charlotte airport waiting for a flight to Knoxville. big props to Charlotte for providing free wireless internet in the whole airport. I might start taking US Airways instead of Delta when I can.

tonight I'll be in Knoxville with former IV staffer Greg Jobe. tomorrow I'll be in Maryville with Bob Roberts from Maryville College as part of my coaching role in the Chapter Building Cohort. then Tuesday through Friday I'll be in Townsend, TN (in the Smokies) for the southeast Regional Leadership Team meeting. traveling is fun but its hard to be away from such a fun family.

I'm doing some last minute reading from a business book called The Fifth Discipline that is required for the RLT meeting. The focus of the book is on becoming Learning Organizations. That doesn't mean a whole lot to me but what I've read so far is making me think along good lines. Do we let ourselves become "prisoners of our own thinking"? ...maybe I can post on it later. my flight is finally boarding.

from noun to verb

I've spent a lot of time in the book of Philippians this year. I spent January through June memorizing the whole book and my plan is to slowly study the whole book by the end of December. It has been a lot of fun and Philippians has probably become my favorite book along the way.

This morning I was reading a commentary on Philippians 2:12-18 and the author made the point that throughout Philippians, joy is a verb and not a noun. It is not a feeling but something we do. We rejoice! It is not dictated by our circumstances but by our perspective. I thought that was really helpful. I decided to take a short walk outside and rejoice in all that God is doing in and around me right now. It was a great walk.

sonburst 2007

I'm off to Sonburst tomorrow. You can read about it here or here. On Saturday morning I will co-lead a seminar titled New Community: Creating Places of Belonging. And on Sunday morning I will be leading a seminar titled The Beauty of God and Call To Mission Among White Americans.

In the middle, I hope to hear some great stories by Carl Medearis, hang out with lots of college students who are serious about God, and maybe even get to see Dawn a little bit. I should be back on Sunday afternoon but I probably won't be recovered until sometime on Monday.

authenticity of speech

Do Christians tend to exaggerate their relationship with the Lord?

I have a friend who is really struggling in their faith right now because they don't sense the kind of closeness to God and real relationship that they expect. Though I am sad for my friend, I admire their uncompromising quest for authenticity and it has made me begin to question the ways we talk about our relationship with God. It is so common to hear people say, "God told me this" or "God wants me to do that". Should those statements be that common? On one hand I do believe that those experiences can and should be regular. But I think that many of us fling those phrases around and allow them to be a common part of our everyday speech.

There is nothing common about the God of the universe speaking to a mortal. When the Lord speaks there is no choice but to listen and obey. He is the Lord. That is what "Lord" means.

But tonight I am more concerned about a culture, a way of talking that implies that we carry on conversations with God all the time. I know that this culture exists because I am somewhat self conscious even writing these words. I am after all in full time ministry and am expected to carry on these daily conversations with God. But if I'm honest, God's communication to me is much less dramatic and usually happens through the scriptures. In fact, most often it is when a part of my character or actions does not line up with his will. I am convicted and in that moment it is clear that God is the one who has laid me bare with those words. The beautiful thing about these moments is that they usually come with a promise of freedom through repentance. There is way out, a chance to change, to turn back to the Lord and a sense of liberation that comes with that.

For sure, there are moments when I've sensed a positive affirmation about a course of action and for me, those moments usually tend to be in corporate prayer with others. There are other cases but that has been the norm in my experience.

So, what am I asking?

I'm asking that we choose our words and what we communicate about our relationship with God very carefully. Many of us have grown in our relationship to God in contexts where the former kind of talking was the culture and we have slipped into it all to easily, allowing ourselves to interpret our experiences a little too liberally. I do believe that we should share it when God reveals himself, for that is far too special of a thing to keep to ourselves. But let's do so with humility and caution, lest we attribute something to God that is untrue. Let's be authentic and not afraid to struggle along in this journey of faith. It is still faith is it not? But God is true and his word promises that he is for us, even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

'anti-social behavior order' Jesus

I stumbled across a blog last night...

The Adventures of ASBO Jesus

It is a series of cartoons that a guy in England is publishing at his site. If you love the church but think she needs to get her act together in some places then you will probably enjoy it.

I finished a book...

I just finished Growing Your Faith by Giving It Away by York Moore. Below is a summary of it I wrote as part of group of friends who are reading together.

This book was very compelling. I almost always enjoy reading evangelism books because it is a subject I don’t feel like an expert in. Some evangelism books spur me on to actively sharing the Gospel more than others though. This is one of them. York Moore has a very straight forward manor and language in his evangelism. He doesn’t shy away from words like repentance, hell, sin, and death. Although I think my approach with people is much different it is also clear that sometimes I miss opportunities to convey what’s vitally important. It is a good challenge for me to move some in that direction.

The strength of the book in my estimation is that he explores the realm of listening and responding to the Holy Spirit in evangelism that we all experience. He is direct about this as well but doesn’t shy away from telling his failures as well as his successes in responding to God’s promptings. Really, it’s the candid nature of his personal experiences that is so helpful. He writes about what we’ve all felt and gives examples of how God meets us more than half way in these situations and uses our meager efforts. Not all of his stories end in someone’s conversion. That is refreshing because it is so true of my experience. And in the end, the title of the book captures really well the theme he explores throughout. He sees evangelism as an adventure together with Jesus that stretches us and grows our faith. He sees it as the call of every Christian and reminds us that Jesus has promised to be with us, day after day, to the very end.

dignity

Dawn and I watched The Motorcycle Diaries tonight. It's a stunning film. The simple beauty of the American people and landscapes. The purity of true friendship. Adventure and transformation. It made me feel a lot. About people, our common humanity, pain, suffering, and the chance to remind someone that they have incredible worth.

I'm really glad we watched it. I've felt somewhat disconnected and dispassionate lately. But watching the "not yet" Che Guevara go to a leper colony as an aspiring doctor only to be changed forever worked its magic. I couldn't help thinking of Jesus when young Ernesto rejected the gloves and shook Papa Carlito's leprous hand. And though I've felt torn in too many directions lately and have not been able to focus, somehow God is reigniting those places in my heart. I want to burn white hot.

The intriguing thing to me is that this could happen through the story of someone who seemed to reject God at every turn. As for me, I never cared for the forgotten and oppressed until my eyes were opened to God's love for them. So it is a bit weird to see that in Che Guevara. But it also makes me question all that I've ever been told about the Cuban Revolution that Che was a part of. I haven't studied it or him and I don't know what he became, but the movie has the ring of truth and I see someone who would break the rules to love people sacrificially. And I aspire to that.