Off to Minneapolis

Kristy and I are headed to Denver this evening to have dinner with her parents and stay the night at their place. Early tomorrow morning, we’re off to Minnesota for three weeks where we’ll connect up with some of Kristy’s family and financial partners. We’ll be taking lots of pictures with the new digital camera we recently purchased with some wedding gift money. Need to learn how to use it and figure out all the bells and whistles.

Hopefully we’ll have a chance to connect with some wi-fi action to give little reports and share pics of our time in the “land of 10,000 lakes.” I’d also really like us to visit Solomon’s Porch sometime while we’re there, just to see an expression of a “missional church” in action. Or at least one that is taking risks to pursue it’s missionary calling in light of the West’s shift away from Christendom.

With that in mind, today I got word from Phil Kingsley of an article in Time magazine, regarding house churches (or “simple church”). The report is obviously uninformed by any serious theological considerations, but reveals an interesting socioreligious trend in the West (the U.S. in particular.) And it begs a few questions:

• Can a philosophy of church that presents the pastor as the CEO and only dispenser of religious goods and services from the front of a large auditorium while the consumer body (i.e., congregation) stares at the back of each others’ heads – fully embody and represent the mission of God on the earth?
• Can church leadership be decentralized in a such a way as to still function in an Ephesians 4.11-13 fashion? (Actually, this is being seriously fleshed out by the boys at Forge.)
• Does the mega-church philosophy inherently override the principles of community and relationships and fellowship that it attempts to nurture through small group ministry?
• Is a simple/house church model just as susceptible to the trappings of consumer Christendom as the building-focused attractional church philosophy that is currently the dominant form?

And finally, the question that needs to be asked about these thoughts in particular: Is “socioreligious” even a word??

Categories: life, church, mission, Christendom

43 Things, 43 Places

Below is an entry from my 43Things /43Places account. I just stumbled across this community/social networking site recently and was fascinated by the way they connect people around themes of life-purpose and dreams. Check it out and join the discussion!

Rome is one of the first places that my wife and I are looking forward to visiting once we move back to Europe. The ancient history and culture is mindblowing! (Or so i’ve been told by friends who’ve gone.) Seeing other European cultures is a easy when you live there. Budget airlines like RyanAir, EasyJet, and German Wings make it really affordable, not to mention enticing. (Don’t expect the luxuries and comforts of standard airlines, though.) Even if you don’t live there, you can find good deals on flights and holiday packages if you shop around a little bit. It’s worth your while.

See more progress on: Roma

Prayer for Belarus

This morning, I prayed for Belarus, a former republic of the Soviet Union until August of 1991. Belarus was described as the "last true dictatorship in the centre of Europe" in June of 2005 by U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.

PRAYER:
God of peace and hope, we pray for the people of Belarus, a people under the one remaining authoritarian regime in Eastern Europe. We pray that the Bride of Christ would rise up and thrive there and that you would be at work in supernatural, subversive ways, strengthening your people and using them to speak hope and life and light into the lives of their fellow Belarusians. We pray that you would raise up the Belarusian church to meet the unique challenges of your Kingdom in that particular cultural and political setting.

Categories: pray, Europe

Daily Readings for Lent

Over the last several years, I've given increasing attention to the church calendar, particularly during Christmas and Easter. There just seems to be something about celebrating the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus with more than just the token nod of a church service. I think the liturgical church (Anglican, Catholic and Orthodox) has something there the we've missed out on as the evangelical/free church in the West.

Here's a daily scripture reading schedule for the season of Lent, beginning on Ash Wednesday (March 1st). On that site, you'll also find readings for Holy Week and Easter.

Categories: church, God

Teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea

Last spring I went to a seminar in London with Jason Royce. The guy speaking was Pete Rollins and we absolutely ate it up. Pete is a church leader at Ikon in Northern Ireland, though he's more like a heavy philosopher than a stereotypical pastor or theologian. Just recently I came across some of this thoughts that I was blessed by. The highlight: "Perhaps I should instead spend my energy attempting to teach (through the aroma of my own yearning) an anguished longing for that vast and endless sea that is the love of God." Now that's a pastoral example I want to live by.

Categories: God, church

What do you do when you run into christians who just don’t get it?

Great word from Kim Reid. We (the church in the West) need to do some serious evaluation about the nature of our existence in the world.

HT: Jordon Cooper

Categories: mission, church

A Noteworthy American Fair Trade Coffee Company

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a bit of a coffee nut, so I've recently begun buying fair trade coffee exclusively. (Seattle's Best has an organic/fair trade blend that I'm really into at the moment.) And even though I'm not overly crazy about how obnoxiously ubiquitous Starbucks is, I recognize that they are essentially a fair trade organization. (Just a heads up - Starbucks actually owns Seattle's Best. Go figure.)

AAAANYWAY, after my post the other day regarding social justice and fair trade, I remembered having some coffee at Azusa Pacific University a few months ago and noticing the fair trade company that supplied the little campus coffee shop. It's called Pura Vida and it's 100% charitably owned, with an impressive group of volunteer individuals and organizations. I was particularly struck by this line in their mission statement: "We believe in a different approach to business. One driven by good rather than greed. One that sees capitalism as an agent for compassion." (emphasis mine) This is a stark contrast to many other definitions and abuses of capitalism in the U.S. and it is one that carries hope and redemptive substance.

So for all you blog surfers in the U.S., head over to Pura Vida and order some coffee. And while you're enjoying your first cup, jump online and tell me what you think.

Oh, and one other little resource that you may find helpful - an exhaustive FAQ page on fair trade practices. I found it to be pretty helpful. Here's an excerpt:

Q. What is a fair wage? Producers receive a fair wage when they are paid fairly for their products. This means that workers are paid at least that country's minimum wage. Since the minimum wage is often not enough for basic survival, whenever feasible, workers are paid a living wage, which enables them to cover basic needs, including food, shelter, education and health care for their families. . . .

Q. Why do fair trade organizations support cooperative workplaces? Cooperatives and producer associations provide a healthy alternative to large-scale manufacturing and sweatshop conditions, where unprotected workers earn below minimum wage and most of the profits flow to foreign investors and local elites who have little interest in ensuring the long term health of the communities in which they work. Fair trade organizations work primarily with small businesses, worker owned and democratically run cooperatives and associations which bring significant benefits to workers and their communities. . . .

Categories: justice

Good Movies in 2006

Over the last few months, I’ve had the opportunity to see some quality films. To be honest, I felt like I needed to make up for a few worthless movies that I wished I could’ve gotten my money back on (eg., Monster In Law and Hitchhiker’s Guide.) Here’s a little summary.

Munich – Not what I expected at all. Disturbing. Thought-provoking. I thought Spielberg did an incredible job of raising tough questions about the nature of revenge, violence, assassination, and the like without revealing his own opinion and leaving the audience to wrestle with the issues that the story raised. The violence in the movie, though disturbing, was never glorified. The Israeli assassins in the film were portrayed as fumbling around and hesitating in very un-Rambo like ways, making them all the more real and believable. (Click here for a summary and more background of the film, including a study guide.)

Sideways – This film had been out for almost two years by the time I got around to seeing it. I think what I appreciated about the film was the subtlety in which things were communicated regarding the characters – their insecurities, their deepest longings, and the lies that they convinced themselves to believe. The most powerful elements of the film were those things that were evident without being directly verbalized.

For example, in one scene Miles is struggling to connect with a woman whom he is awkwardly pursuing while his engaged friend has already sacked up with her friend. When asked to give reason behind his obsession with Pinot, Miles begins to articulate the fragile process of making the wine that is necessary to bring out the potential and complexity of it. It soon becomes apparent that he is describing himself and his desire to be loved and appreciated.

The Royal Tenenbaums – I’m a little behind on this one too. Say, 5 years. After seeing Rushmore, the more recent Life Aquatic, and finally this Wes Anderson classic, I’m falling in love with Anderson’s work. Having said that, these films are unique and even a bit quirky and they’re not for everyone. But I think Anderson’s story-telling and cinematography are ingenious. And he’s definitely found actors that fit his style and can deliver what he wants. (Anyone else think Bill Murray is one of the most brilliant actors in Hollywood?)

Mean Creek – I have a bias towards this award-winning independent film for two reasons: 1. it was filmed in the beautifully scenic Pacific Northwest (with several shots of Mt. Hood in the background) and, 2. my good friend, Officer Jim Drew, has a cameo appearance in the closing scene. It’s another disturbing film with some profanity and drug use, but it’s done in a very believable, realistic manner. (A few of the characters even stay true to their apparent convictions and resist offers of cigarettes or pot.) It’s a short film with a very simple story line, but the power is in the interaction between the young people who find themselves wrestling with issues of revenge and forgiveness and family dysfunction – and one another.

Categories: film

Everyday Social Justice

Over the last few years, I’ve had a growing conviction about the impact of Western capitalism/consumer habits on the Third World. Christ-followers need only recall such passages as Micah 6.8, James 1.27, Galatians 2.9-10, and a myriad of snapshots from the life of Jesus to be reminded of the Christian imperative to care for the poor, the outcast, the marginalized, and the helpless.

And yet, here in the United States of America, Christians are rarely concerned with their nation's trade practices that keep people in the Third World trapped in poverty. Many Christ-followers aren’t even aware of the American (as well as European) corporations who set up production plants in other countries for the sole purpose of manipulating their poor labour laws to keep costs down and profit margins up. Yes, it’s true – the cost of living in Third World countries is much lower and therefore people often don’t require as much income to make a living.

However, in many of those countries, there is no such thing as minimum wage or labour unions or other such protections against employee exploitation. This leaves Western companies wide open to escape the labour laws in their own countries and manipulate the poor in others. As I research and discover some of these things, the protests at various WTO summits begin to make sense.

When I bring these things up in conversation with other Christ-followers, often the response is one of smug ignorance. “How am I supposed to know about these things? I don’t have the time to figure out which companies are guilty or which companies I should boycott.” I think I understand that overwhelming feeling. Having said that, I’m convinced that it’s no excuse for those who claim to be God’s people. We have a responsibility, as representatives of the God of Creation, to hold big corporations and our government accountable for their policies and actions.

The fact is, if every Christ-follower (and non-Christian with the same social justice concerns) in the U.S. and Europe worked together to get educated and then base their daily/weekly consumer habits and lifestyles on their educated consciences, it would go a long way in the fight against poverty. Big Western corporations would be forced to adjust their international trade and manufacturing policies and begin treating the people that work for them in other countries with fairness.

I still feel pretty ignorant about a lot of this stuff, but as I learn, I hope to adjust my own consumer habits and inform people around me as well. For starters, here’s a great article about the chocolate industry. Also, needless to say, I haven’t bought Nike in a while.

Other Fair Trade and social justice resources (this barely scratches the surface):
Fair Trade USA
Make Trade Fair
Fair Trade Informational Articles
Fair Trade Links
Make Poverty History

Categories: justice

Categories Added . . . er, Adding

Today I started adding some categories through a Del.icio.us account. The whole "categories" issue is one my biggest complaints about Blogger, but it looks like plenty of other bloggers much smarter than myself are working to remedy that. At the moment, the category links will just take you to my Del.icio.us page, which is rather indirect. However, I've seen a few other Blogger weblogs that have customized their categories list to not send browsers outside their blog site. I'll keep working on it. It's gonna take me a while just to tag my posts and add some more appropriate categories.

Categories: blog

Prayer for Austria

I've asked our friend and colleague, Holly Davis, to provide a prayer for the country of Austria. Holly served in Linz for 3 years, equipping youth workers to make disciples of Austrian young people.

PRAYER:
Liebe Herr, I ask that your presence would fall on Austria today in a new and fresh way. I pray that Spiritual Oppression would be lifted. Herr, remove Satan’s strongholds. Loosen his grip on the hearts of the Austrians. May the Austrians feel your love today and hear you whispering truth into the hearts. Herr, you know how the Catholic Church has blindly led this nation. Please speak your promises to Austria. Use the missionaries to spread the truth of your love. Energize the missionaries today. Herr, you know that the world is calling Austria “the graveyard for missionaries”, please show the world wrong. May Your servants, in Austria, fall deeper and deeper in love with this beautiful country today. May their love for your people cause them to stay until your purpose with their lives is through.

Herr, I pray for the students of Austria. May they no longer find contentment in tolerance and a mediocre life. Touch their hearts causing them to sense that there is something bigger to live for. I pray for protection on young females. I pray that you would control the lust of men. Please stop the abuse that is taking place. Herr, remove the desires of suicide. May students like Anna* know that your love is pure and stronger then any force they have ever encountered. Strengthen those who have made a commitment to your principles and make their paths clear and straight. May these young souls be Your light and truth bearers!

Danke, Amen

* Anna is a 17 yr. old who recently attempted suicide again. She was sent to a health care place but continued to smoke pot and was dismissed. Satan has a stronghold on Anna. She is a product of generational sin. Her story is a sad one, but not without hope. If you were to meet her you would fall in love with her sweet spirit.

Categories: pray, Europe, mission, God

Defining “Missionary” (or, A Matter of Geography)

On a blog post the other day I mentioned that I wasn’t totally comfortable with the “missionary” title. As I think about it some more, I realize that my discomfort with the title arises from my wrestling with a theology of God’s called-out people. As one of God’s kids, I’m learning to take seriously such passages from our ancient texts as John 20.21 where Jesus says, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” In this text, the resurrected Jesus is directing these words to a stunned group of disciples who thought they were behind closed, locked doors.

However, I realize also that Jesus’ ministry and example and instruction extends to His people today just as much. Jesus was sent to the earth on a mission from God. As we examine His life and ministry in the Gospel writings, we see that He relied on an intimate connection with God the Father to sustain Him in that mission. And at the end of His earthly ministry, before He returns to the right hand of the Father, He says to us, His people:

“GO! In the same way that God sent me to participate in His mission to bring about His purposes on the earth, I send YOU! Stay intimately connected with me and with your Father in heaven. Speak light into the darkness. Reproduce into others the eternal, supernatural life that I’ve imparted to you. (Matthew 28.18-20) I spent the last 3 ½ years modelling the making of disciples and equipping you to do it. Now, do it in your own culture, but don’t you dare stop there! (Acts 1.8)”

This is a call to every Christ-follower. Therefore, every one of us as God’s people are sent as missionaries. Needless to say, we don’t belong to this world. Our jobs, our families, our neighbourhoods, our home country/culture – none of these things define who we are or provide meaning and purpose. Rather, they are segments of our mission field where God has sent us.

The motto of the particular nation that I was born in, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” is radically incomplete and insufficient to describe the mission that my God has sent me on. As a result, it is crucial for me to remember that the ideal life that is communicated to me in American Christendom culture, though it sounds good, is a sham. “Get a good job where my boss is a Christian, obtain financial security and even economic prosperity, live a happy and comfortable life, look forward to a pleasurable retirement, go to church every Sunday, and maintain a bourgeois and respectable set of values and perspectives about the world around me.” These are things that, though not inherently wrong or wicked in and of themselves, constantly threaten to distract me from the mission that Jesus has sent me on as His follower.

So am I a missionary? Yes, but not in any sense that’s substantially different from any other follower of Jesus Christ. For Kristy and I and the 300+ employees of Greater Europe Mission, it’s just a matter of geography.

Categories: mission, God

Prayer for Andorra

Next in the prayer lineup for Europe is Andorra, a small country of only 70,549 people, nestled in the Pyrenees mountans between France and Spain.

PRAYER:
God of all nations, we lift up to You this relatively small country, whose people You created to worship You. We pray that You would loosen the destructive grip of materialism and the occult. Raise up Your people from the handful of churches there to demonstrate the radical generosity, servanthood, and supernatural love of Your Kingdom, that Andorrans and ex-patriots walking in darkness might walk in the light of a relationship with their Creator.

Categories: pray, Europe, God

The Myth of Christian Europe

I've never felt totally comfortable with the title "missionary," for several reasons. But it gets even more uncomfortable when I tell people that I'm a missionary in Europe. "What?" the look on peoples' faces say. "I thought missionaries went to really uncomfortable, tropical places where there's a risk of getting some life-threatening disease or being attacked by jungle natives and freaky insects?" Some even actually respond, "I thought Europe was already Christian/reached," (reached - now there's an interesting term in Evangelical circles) or "It's their own fault over there in Europe."

Well, I have thoughts on each of those responses, which I believe stem from serious theological and practical misunderstandings. But for now I'll point you to Phil's brief blog post about the spiritual condition of Europe.

Categories: Europe, mission

Cyber Chatter

Just a few things that I've come across recently that I would like to have looked into more.

• Jordon Cooper had some good thoughts on "church watching and complaining" earlier in the week.
• Interesting take on the Muslim protests over the Danish cartoons.
• Good to see that at least some evangelical Christian leaders are following through and taking action with a biblically informed view of creation and environmentalism. No surprise that The Dob thinks it's a distraction from his own pet issues. C'mon, James. Can't Christians stand for the whole truth of God in political circles?
• Andrew Jones talks about John MacArthur's take on the "emerging church." I've learned a lot from Jonny Mac in the past, but after a while, I started tiring of his "I'm right, everyone else is wrong / spiritual truth is 100% clear to ME" rhetoric. He's still a great Bible teacher and I think there will always be things to learn from him, but I think I'll take it in smaller chunks, lest his theological ego and name bashing rub me the wrong way.

Categories: church, emerging, culture, blog

The Marketed Prayer of Jabez

Remember The Prayer of Jabez? (Just type the title in at Amazon.com for a glimpse at the marketing frenzy that has been generated around it.) It was terrible hermeneutics, even leaning towards a prosperity Gospel. But God used at least part of the message of that little 100 page book to help me face my fears and insecurities about going to Europe. Has God "enlarged my borders?" Well, I guess it depends on how you look at it. It hasn't been what I expected and I'm certainly not going to sit around whining that God hasn't done what I wanted him to do. If anything, he's expanded my borders such that I now enjoy the process of spiritual transformation more than ever (though it's still painful at times) and I now understand more fully God's passion behind His mission in the world (though my understanding continues to grow and is far from complete).

Where is Wilkinson now? Mike DeVries shares from Sojourners.

Categories: pray, life

Praying for Europe, Starting from the Top

As I mentioned yesterday, I want to get back to praying for Europe on the blog. First up: Albania. The latest edition of Operation World starts out the list of challenges for prayer like this: "Albania’s experience with Communism has been economically, morally and spiritually devastating." The country has come far since the early 90's, however, and held general elections in 2005 in which "the Democratic Party and its allies won a decisive victory on pledges of reducing crime and corruption, promoting economic growth, and decreasing the size of government."

PRAYER:
God of truth and grace, we pray for the country of Albania. We ask that you would strengthen your people to be a subversive force of love and reconciliation, in light of the historical religious tensions that exist between political groups that disguise themselves with religious veneer. Raise up young men and women who are passionate about your Kingdom and about your fame and your purposes to bring a message of hope and divine connection through Jesus Christ.

Father, we recognize that, while Albania has recovered in big ways since the fall of Communism, it is still a nation of orphans and widows and those trapped in the grip of poverty and violence. We pray for stability in the region and for the Albanian fighters pursuing a "greater Albania" to be stopped, brought to justice, and eventually reconciled to their Creator. May Your will be done. And may your Kingdom come.

(This just in: The country of the day on the Operation World website just so happens to be Albania. Check it out. The OW website prayer schedule probably won't align with the schedule I've put together any more, however, since I'm focusing on Europe.)

Categories: pray, Europe

Ambassador's Breifing, no. 85

CLICK HERE for downloadable versions of the latest Ambassador's Briefing, "trends, attitudes, foundations and changes in European society with a view to their impact on ministry."

Categories: Europe

Muslim Riots Rage On - Pray for Europe

The craziness continues as more rioters are shot in Afghanistan and politicians aggressively throw in their opinions about free speech. Iran's best-selling newspaper launches a competition to find the best cartoon about the Holocaust and a bewildered Western world looks on.

Yesterday afternoon, I was working out at the gym and watching some of the coverage on the TV screens. Pundits were speculating about the people who were actually causing the most violence, stating that most of them were fundamentalists and hooligans who were easily stirred up by this Muslim cleric from Denmark that toured the muslim world with the cartoons. As France, Italy, and other European nations print the offensive cartoons in a show of solidarity with Denmark, newspapers in major American cities weigh their options, many choosing not to print the actual cartoons themselves.

Of course, we as Christ-followers have something to say, though we may not all agree. (You can read a smattering of blog reactions HERE.) John Piper has also sent out a thoughtful, rather theological and even apologetic response. However, I'm not sure how necessary it is to use this as an opportunity to say, "See - this proves Christianity right!" I think the growing tension in the world between the West and Islam (and ostensibly between "Islam and Christianity") is providing a huge opportunity for followers of Jesus to overcome with Christ-like love, NOT theological debate and "us vs. them" rhetoric.

I guess, personally, that's my biggest fear. That those who genuinely love Jesus will react aggressively to this tension in military terms, even taking on a nationalistic (i.e., American Christendom) tone. I'd really appreciate someone like John Piper thinking through and sharing some ideas about a Christian missional response. We know the difference between biblical Christianity and Islam. We know that Jesus is better than Muhammad and all that. Now how do we love, respect, and come to a better understanding of Muslim people and be faithful in demonstrating the Kingdom of God to them?

It's interesting that this whole thing started, and has continued, with the U.S. on the sidelines (though not totally disconnected). It's really a profound illustration of the rising tension in Europe between Muslim immigrants who go to European countries embracing their cultural and religious values and European societies who have been forced to decide how to accommodate them. It's a tension that the Body of Christ in Europe has an appropriate answer for, despite it's relatively quiet and waning influence.

Pray for the Body of Christ in Europe. Which reminds me. A few months ago, I started working through a European prayer schedule covering every European country in a year, which gives about 5-7 days to each country. Anybody interested in participating by adding their own prayers in the comments section? (I'll probably do it anyway.)

Categories: Europe, pray

Christian Response from “Spear” Film

I’m really saddened by the response of some Christians regarding the making of “The End of the Spear.” Yes, Chad Allen (the actor who portrays Nate Saint, as well as the adult Steve Saint) is a homosexual. AMEN!! What an opportunity to bring in unbelievers in the re-telling of such a beautiful, God-soaked, real life story! I just don’t understand the need to demand that every cast member, or certain cast members, be Christians – or heterosexual non-Christians.

One online forum entry asks the question, “Would Franklin Graham, James Dobson, Falwell and the rest, sit silent and just say that it’s the story that’s important?” Well, I’m not sure what those American Christian leaders feel about the film, but frankly, it's completely beside the point. Those men are not the keepers of the Christian faith and sometimes, they're wrong in their attempts to represent the Kingdom of God.

“And why not have secular professionals perform your church music if it enhances the worship of God?” Actually, I know of churches who do have “secular professionals” on stage playing their instruments. And they do it strategically as a way of reaching out to the world, being a light in the world, and doing away with Christendom’s unbiblical dichotomy of “secular vs. sacred.”

It makes me wonder if these same believers would still have a problem if Chad Allen was a non-Christian heterosexual. I can’t speak for them, but as I said before, their response saddens me. And it does not represent the Kingdom of God that Jesus announced and demonstrated. It more closely represents extra-biblical standards in a fashion more consistent with the religious leaders that Jesus rebuked.

Categories: film

From Ireland to Australia

Just finished up James Joyce's short story classic Dubliners the other day. I was fascinated with Joyce's writing style that seemed to bring his stories to an abrupt and rather anticlimactic end, leaving the reader (at least this one) with a nagging desire to see more of the life (or lives) of the character(s) that had been briefly put on display with varying degrees of drama. At the same time, you realize that it is precisely Joyce's intent to give you a tiny glimpse into the lives of these Irish folk and a few brief stories are enough to cover a surprisingly wide variety of issues in Irish life (including many words and phrases I'd never come across before.)

Admittedly, the issues that are raised in the stories that the characters wrestle with and are often haunted by are elements of early 20th Century life in Ireland's capital city and are not necessarily things that the people of Ireland face today. For instance, issues of national identity, family history and dysfunction, religion, politics . . . . hmmmm. Maybe the categories are the same. Maybe people in today's Ireland are faced with the same things, only with a different set of complexities and evolved nuances. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to asking those questions and being a student of that ancient culture alongside other Irish Christ-followers and church leaders.

Now, onto the next book in the "ecclesiology" category - The Shaping of Things to Come, written by a couple of Australian church leaders/authors, Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch. (Click here to check out the leadership training they've developed. I'm looking forward to learning more about what they're doing with Forge.)

So far, in the first chapter, it's been mostly review. Here are a couple of quotes that are good reminders nonetheless.

". . . the problems of the church, like all real problems in any context, cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created those problems in the first instance. In other words, boxlike thinking simply cannot solve the problems of the box. . . . It's time to step out of the box of Christendom in order to take on the problems raised by Christendom." (p. 7)

"Christendom set up a certain correlation, a complex of assumptions, about the association between the realms of politics, geography, church, spirituality, and mission. As a result the gospel was politicized, regionalized as well as racial-ized. There was no longer any real place for the subversive activity associated with the New Testament gospel. The 'revolution' was quelled from the inside." (p. 14)

"The church is worse off precisely because of Christendom's failure to evangelize its own context and establish gospel communities that transform the culture." (p. 14)


Categories: culture, Europe, church, mission

Pittsburg Victorious, Thanks to Self-Destructive Seahawks & Dodgy Officiating

It would have been much easier for us Seabird fans to take the Superbowl loss, had the team not played well. Hmmm . . . “played well” . . . even that’s debatable. On the one hand, they dominated the entire first half, not allowing the Steelers to have any first downs until the 2nd quarter. On the other hand, by the end of the second quarter, they had only a field goal to show for it, down 7-3.

In fact, on the numbers alone, Seattle should have won that game. Hasselbeck had 26 completions for 273 yards and Alexander ran just 5 yards shy of 100 yards.

Kevin Hench, who picked the Steelers to dominate the NFL Championship game, puts it best when he says this:

“This is the space where I get to say, I told ya so. But I won't. I can't. I've never felt so empty being right. I feel dirty. I wish I'd been wrong. The Steelers did not deserve to win this game. They were not the better team. O'Connor was right. Seattle was the better team.”

Unfortunately, this was one of those games where big plays at just the right time meant more than statistics. Oh, and bad officiating meant more too.

After the game, the Seattle players avoided complaining about the officiating that seemed to go relentlessly against them, but as fans, let us count the number of times that we threw our arms up and dropped our jaws in disbelief.

1) Offensive pass interference against Darrell Jackson – Also known as “incidental contact that didn’t keep the defender from the ball anyway.”
2) Touchdown by Ben Brothelburger – Even the illustrious Al Michaels and obnoxious John Madden (what a pair, eh? – ABC, please bring back Dierdorf and Gifford) didn’t think the ball made it across the end zone, not to mention Steve Young and company at the half.
3) Some holding penalty against the Seahawks that cost them another big play (maybe during a Warrick put return) – All I remember here is seeing the replay and hearing Madden’s big-dumb-animal voice question the call.
4) Personal foul, blocking below the knees on Matt Hasselbeck – Which fortunately, was overturned after a Holmgren challenge. How did they call “blocking below the knees” on someone who was tackling in the first place?? Granted, it was a sloppy tackle, but they don’t pay Hasselbeck for his take downs of defensive secondaries.

Matt Hasselbeck responded after the game with class: “Those things are out of our control. . . . That's the way [the officials] called them. The Steelers played well enough to win tonight, and we didn't. They should get credit. It's disappointing, it's hard, but what are you going to do?"

Of course, if it was merely the questionable officiating that plagued them, the Seachickens may still have won the game. However, Seattle saw fit to seal their fate with plenty other dropped passes, missed field goals, and untimely penalties that cost them a total of 161 yards. Of note:

1) Darrel Jackson couldn’t keep his feet in bounds when in counted. FIRST, at the end of the second quarter, when Seattle missed a chance to score and make it 10-7 at the half and SECOND, when Jackson caught a pass and went out-of-bounds with his right foot just in time to miss the endzone.
2) The dubious holding penalty that took Jeramy Stevens’ reception from the Pittsburg 1-yard line to the 30.
3) Four dropped passes by Jeramy Stevens.
4) Holding penalties that squashed 16 and 32-yard punt returns by Peter Warrick.

I’ll stop before my tears short circuit my laptop.

Refs Were Far from Super on this One
From Seahawks.com
A Referee Conspiracy
Seahawks Drop the Ball

New Picture Gallery

At long last, I've posted a new picture gallery of our time up in Washington State, December 27 - January 17. It was a lot of fun to have the chance to introduce Kristy to friends and family back home.

In the last several days, Kristy and I have been working hard to combine bank accounts and donor/financial partner lists, get some new prayer cards ordered, communicate with financial partners, etc. *sigh* And we still get questions about our "full-time jobs." =) Hopefully in the next several days, we'll be ready to send out our first support/prayer letter (well, the first one from us as a married couple).

Check back soon for thoughts on Fair Trade and other issues that have been weighing on my heart. I'm also hoping to change the template of the blog ASAP. Anybody else tired of that ugly purple box at the top??