New Shoes: I wish it were that easy

If you haven't already heard him, I'd like to introduce you to the Scottish soulful pop singer Paolo Nutini. This will cause you to react in one of at least two ways:
1. You won't be able to help but tap your feet at the catchy rhythm
2. You won't be able to help but tap your feet, but to save face as an indy rocker, you will only listen to it in private.



It would be nice if all it took to remove the kinks out of a painful life was to put on a pair of new shoes. Maybe this song can put a smile on your face.

The Golden Compass Halfway Through

So far, I am really enjoying the read. The thing I find curious about the Golden Compass is that most of the story, thus far, borrows from other, better known stories.

For example, the main character, Lyra resembles Lucy from Clive Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, even to the point of discovering a new world by stumbling into a wardrobe. An ice queen of sorts lures a "gyptian" boy away by inticing him not with Turkish delight, but with chocolatl.

Pullman also borrows heavily from some biblical stories, like an affair and love child by high powered people who attempt to cover it up (David and Bathsheba). He also borrows from the Moses story. Lyra, spent her infancy being nursed by a woman who traveled the waterways and continued to keep an eye on her after she was "adopted" by the Scholars at Jordan College.

The gist of the book, thus far, seems to be leading to human freedom in a libertarian sense, where any and all restrictions are viewed as oppressive and evil. My guess is that the characters are being set up to rescue humanity from "what the religious think they know." We'll see how this plays out...

The Golden Compass Pre-Read

Last night I went to B&N to purchase the His Dark Materials triology so that I could read first-hand the Phillip Pullman book, The Golden Compass. While Shannon got drinks from the cafe and Asheton played at the Thomas the Train table, I read a quick book called Discovering the Golden Compass: A Guide to Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials.

The Discovering book described in the author's words his upbringing and his purpose in writing the story. During his childhood, Pullman lived and had fond memories of his grandfather, an Anglican parish pastor who nurtured Pullman. He reminisced with keen affection the time he spent with his grandparents and said nothing antagonistic toward the church or the faith of his grandfather.

While many of the critiques I have read charge Pullman with writing this novel to promote his atheist/agnostic philosophy, I have not read anything from Pullman himself to validate the claim. In the book Discovering and on Pullman's website www.philip-pullman.com, he emphasizes telling a great story. On his website, he continually downplays the notion that his aim is to promote atheism; or to deal with difficult questions like God, the Church, good and evil, and love; or that he demands a particular interpretation of the story.

While his atheist/agnostic world-view will make its way into the story and, no doubt, find its way out, the shock reviews about Pullman's desire to brainwash your children is ridiculous. I read on one review that the movie was bait to get your kids to read the book, which will rob them of their belief in God. If your child's faith is being nurtured in such a way that a movie and a fantasy novel can rob his faith, you are failing as a parent.

Since this is a pre-read introduction, I will withhold the practical implications of the world-view of the story and how the readers can and should respond to the characters. At this point, I want to be very cautious about making Pullman the big bad Boogey man who wants to steal away our children.

More to come...

Evangelicals & Films = Controversy

The soon to be released film "The Golden Compass" is a toned down version of the book Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman. It is the first in a series by the name of His Dark Materials. I am anticipating a great deal of controversy around the release of the film, no doubt fueled by thoughtless emotionalism on every side. Therefore, I am going to read through the books and attempt to give an honest critique including a theological reflection and practical applications for believers. In the meantime, enjoy the trailer, the filming looks superb.

The Festival of the Reformation

Our Associate Pastor, Bryan Robbins posted a humorous blog about the influence of Martin Luther upon the Christian Church. While Luther's rediscovery of the biblical teaching of justification by grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus, and his boldness in calling the church to return to a pure Christian faith are invaluable, his latter life views on the Jewish people left a stain on his influence and upon the Christian Church.

Many scholars attribute Luther as a fuel to the Nazi's anti-Semitic worldview and subsequent horrific actions of the Holocaust. His writing, On the Jews and Their Lies, spews God-less sentiments toward the Jewish people advocating stripping their monies, possessions, and even their lives.

While we are indebted to the wonderful truths that Martin Luther rediscovered after the Medieval corruption in the Roman Church, we must distance ourselves from his views on the Jewish people.

Traction

A year ago, my family was unsettled. I had resigned from my position as family pastor at an established congregation in South Carolina, sold my house and moved to Asheville to start up a new church. We were being ripped off by the buyers of our old house and ripped off by the seller of the new. We had three families committed to starting the new church, but we were the only ones living in Asheville. The winter was cold, and long, and lonely and cramped in our tiny house in West Asheville.

Yesterday, the tribe we call Missio Dei Church, a congregation of about 65 adults and 15 or so kids, allowed me to ordain a pastor and we baptized three dudes in the French Broad River. We've been meeting regularly as a church since early Sept. and have high hopes of being a missionary presence for Jesus in our city. Praise God for the Gospel, and for the people He allows me to pastor.

Praying over Bryan Robbins

Baptisms in the French Broad River

Rayne Evangeline

Above is a shot of momma and Evangeline after everything calmed down. Shan was phoning her mom to let her know what we had just done.

So it turns out that Evangeline was a chunk. She weighed in at 8lbs. 14oz. and was 20 3/4in. long.

While the pictures look like two different kids, I assure you, they are the same. Now I get to track down some way to get a birth certificate.

Baby Update

Because we are in week 42 of Shannon's pregnancy, we traveled to Greenville to try some natural induction remedies. We spent the whole day and wrapped up the methods at 7pm with no results. After discussing things, we decided that since nothing was happening, we would travel back home to Asheville, pick up the boys and sleep at home in our own beds.
At about 11pm, Shannon was starting to have some contractions. This was nothing new, so I was timing them and watching Shannon's responses. By 11:35, we decided it was time to head back to the birth center and so we called Ginny Landrum to come stay with the boys so that we could head out.

Ginny arrived within 10 minutes, but those 10 minutes were very productive. Shannon gave me one of those looks, like, "we're not going to make it." Shan's contractions picked up and by midnight, it was obvious that the baby would be delivered in our home. Our midwife was planning to have us jump in the car and meet us half way, but when we decided that we were staying put, there was nothing she could do but coach me through the birth process.

God miraculously allowed me to hold it together and after 3-5 minutes of "pushing" contractions, I delivered for Shannon, Rayne Evangeline Hannah (our first daughter) at 12:34am this morning. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever done. Her little head came out and my heart started racing. I said something about the large amount of jet black hair she had and remember thinking to myself, "I don't see the birth cord anywhere near her head; good!" Next came her little shoulder, which I helped come through, and the baby came right out. As Shannon began to cry with relief, I turned my attention to continually getting the mucus out of the baby's mouth and nose with a bulb plunge. She gave out a tiny gargle and I knew things were great.

There's so much more to the story, but those details should suffice for now. We'll get official weights and measurements later. Thanks for all your prayers.

Pictures to come!!

How to give a proper "man hug"

In light of Bryan's comments about "man hugs" at Missio yesterday, I thought this short instructional video would be helpful to all of our dudes:



AT ALL COSTS, AVOID INAPPROPRIATE NUZZLING!

Persecution

Missio Dei Church currently supports Acts 29 International to resource church plants and pastors. To give you a taste of what is going on internationally, below is a letter to our A29 International director, Mike Gunn.


"Dear pastor Mike Gunn,

I am very much comforted by seeing your letter. I know there are some people who love me and pray for me which is my strength to push forward in times of trouble and persecutions.

Today the Judge will decide wether i will get anticipatry Bail or not. please pray.

Four anti- communial groups called RSS, VHP, Bajarangdal and Hindu Vahini together attacked me and our church people.

Hindu Vahini is the worst among these groups who killed two pastors brutually three years back in our city. They poured Acid, cut the pastors into peaces and put them in a gunny bag and thrown thier bodies in the outscirts of the city.

These days the persecutions are increasing and as many non christians in my area are turning into christianity now they have targetted me.

I know without Gods will nothing will happen to me and at the same time i am trying to be careful and vigilant.

I really appriciate your prayers and concern for me. I will let you know the court proceedings as time goes on.

pastor sudhakar"

I thought this would be a good wake up call to those of us who bitch and moan about inconveniences we experience in light of our great freedom to boldly preach Jesus. Please bend your knees on behalf of Pastor Sudhakar and his people.

I'm Officially a Soccer Mom

Check out the new space wagon.

We had to go suburban casual since we now have three kids (any day until Rayne is born) and my little pick-up could only fit one.

Notice the mis-matched hubcaps!

So now, I have to drive the Xterra (or get to drive, even though it's not my truck) and Shannon gets to cruise through the city in the big white torpedo.

It was sad getting rid of the truck. Ashe gave it a kiss and a hug goodbye. At least it's a comfortable ride and it's a Ford, which gets me brownie points with the in-laws, since Shan's dad works at Ford.

Text and Context

I am feeling the weight of this more and more in my city where paganism and consumerism reign and have wreaked havoc upon those who claim to follow Jesus.



Without an external authority and a bold proclamation as sent ones with authority, anything goes, and right now, things are going down the toilet.

Donations for the Timothy Blakeney Family

Due to the large volume of requests to assist the Blakeney family in their recovery, some of his closest friends have put together the Tim Blakeney Family Fund. Missio Dei Church is sponsoring this fund so that donations can be streamlined and it doesn't become a financial nightmare for Tim and Bonnie at tax time. All donations are tax deductible. There are three ways to donate:

You can write a check to Missio Dei Church with a note in the memo that reads, "Tim Blakeney Family Fund," and address the envelope to Missio Dei Church, 797 Haywood Rd. suite 002, Asheville, NC 28806.

You can click the "donate" button on this weblog to make a secure online donation to the Tim Blakeney Family Fund. This button affords two options. Option 1 is to pay through your own Pay Pal account. Option 2 is to use a credit card and work through Pay Pal's secure online payment form.

We really appreciate your thoughts, prayers and gifts. Tim and Bonnie are still unaware of this fund, so let's keep a lid on that as long as possible. We'd like to present them one large check within a few weeks from all their loving friends and neigbors.

UPDATE!!! - A blog has been established to keep current on Tim's recovery. You can go to www.timblakeneyfamily.org
and make donations from that site as well.

Our dear friend, Tim

For those of you who don't yet know, yesterday, our worship leader, elder candidate and a great personal friend, Timothy Blakeney was struck by lightening. He was coaching his varsity soccer team through a practice on a relatively clear day after school when a sudden and very stray lightening bolt struck. All the players were on the ground and in the aftermath, Tim and the team's captain, Alex Holbein did not get up.

The original reports were that Alex was revived on the scene and nobody was releasing information on Tim's condition. Sadly this was terribly wrong. Both were taken to the local hospital where Tim was treated and where tragically, Alex was pronounced dead. I spent a good amount of time with my friend and while he was physically in a great amount of pain, the emotional trauma of hearing the news about the loss of his student was inexplicable.

Tim was released this morning and needs to get his rest. He is still incredibly sore. Apparently, lightening strikes cause every muscle in the body to contract causing the whole body to be sore. His phyiscal recovery is very certain, though it will be a few days before he's on his feet. The emotional recovery is going to take a considerable amount of time.

We are lining up some meals for the family, but they need some time to be alone and would rather wait for visitors when Tim, Bonnie, and Todd can enjoy the company. Please pray for the Holbein family, Oakbrook Prep School, and for Tim. I hurt deeply for my friend. This is all so very sad.

The "Next Blog" Button

A friend of mine informed me that when he clicked on the "Next Blog" button in the navigation bar at the top of the blogspot page, that objectional and offensive content stared him in the face. The "Next Blog" button randomly takes you to another blog. I have looked into this and am in somewhat of an ethical dilemna.

Removing the "Next Blog" button, as far as I can tell is not possible. In order to remove it, I would have to remove the enitre navigation bar. However, it would violate the agreement with Google to remove the navigation bar from the blog. I am requesting that Google fix the problem as I certainly didn't agree to link my blog to some of the trash that is so prevalant in cyberspace.

I strongly urge you to not use the "Next Blog" button for any reason. The potential for risk far exceeds any benefit. If and when Google acts, I am not sure it would be safe practice to randomly surf through various blogs.

They Like Jesus, but not the Church

This is a review from a book that I read a few months back, but I thought it would be helpful to resurrect it for all of you.

Kimball does a good job of grappling with the way the church is percieved in culture. Too often, he is overly apologetic for the things he says, which quite often are not as biting as the apology makes them seem. For example, he profusely apologizes for calling pastors, "weaklings." I wouldn't think to apologize for this and would probably choose a more colorful vocabulary to describe these guys. Sometimes it is the thing to do to grab someone's attention. Paul did this in his letter to the Galatian false teachers (i.e. consider Gal. 5:12, "I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!").

The book does what it sets out to do, which is to explore and expose how people feel about Jesus and the Church. People are oftened turned off to methods used in the church rather than the Gospel. A lot of guys get excited about this as a sort of freedom to radically change methods in the church. Unfortunately, the result is a lot of guys motivated by methods and new ways of doing church trying to start new congregations. The problem is that when our motivation to start a church is anything besides the Gospel and the glorification of Jesus Christ, we are actually starting immature religious clubs at best and cults at worst.

The answer to our culture's criticism of methods and culture is to measure it against the truth of the Gospel. Some things that are done in the name of Jesus are no longer culturally relevant and even offensive, but because they are NOT intrinsicly tied to the Gospel, we can change those methods. An example of this would be door to door sales (I mean visitation). In generations past, it was an effective way of disseminating the Gospel story to a culture that by and large recieved it. No longer is this method effective in all cultural situations. Our calling is to prayerfully reflect on new ways of pointing out man's greatest need; a right relationship with God through the death and resurrection of our sinless Savior Jesus.

When we celebrate our style or method of doing this, we celebrate something other than Gospel transformation and we dishonor God. This could be the celebration of old methods or new. If your congregation gets really excited about the rockin' music or the casual atmosphere or the bible version you use or anything other than the risen and ruling Christ, you may be a part of a religious club, and not a church. You may be an offense to God and not the aroma of Christ to a dark and dead culture. Our desire at Missio Dei Church is to be a people called out of culture that lives and proclaims the good news of a restored relationship to God and each other to our city. So much more could be said, but that's all for now.

Best Kids Bible Ever

I spent many years as a family pastor looking for good resources to give to parents who wanted to teach their kids the Bible. If you've ever rummaged through the kids section of Christian book stores, you've probably already realized that there is not much to offer in this vain. The shelves are full of poorly illustrated children's bibles whose main applications are "be nice," and "use God to get what you want" (not surprising since many of the adult bestsellers are identical). My ambition was to one day be involved with the writing of a children's bible that would be worth reading to kids to point out to them the Gospel of Jesus.

I no longer have this ambition because author Sally Lloyd-Jones published the "Jesus Storybook Bible." This book is fantastic. It presents the Bible as a cohesive story with Jesus as the hero and main character and wonderfully ties in the redemptive historical perspective of God's kingdom that is central to understanding Scripture. In her retelling of the Biblical stories, Lloyd-Jones emphasizes faith in God who keeps His promises to redeem mankind instead of emphasizing rule keeping Christianity that is faithless and dead. The beautiful prose and illustrations have kept my three-year-old captivated and made his little prayer life more vibrant. Consider the following exerpt:

"You see, God knew, however high they reached, however hard they tried, people could never get back to heaven by themselves. People didn't need a staircase; they needed a Rescuer. Because the way back to heaven wasn't a staircase; it was a Person.
People could never reach up to Heaven, so Heaven would have to come down to them.
And, one day, it would" (from the closing of the story about the tower in Babel from Genesis 11).

I highly recommend this resource to anyone with kids and have jokingly mentioned to my wife that I may begin preaching out of this book.

Better Parties

For my 30th birthday, my wife thought it would be a good idea to make a big deal about it. I couldn't complain because I love birthdays. I love the celebration of the gift of life (and a great life at that) to such an undeserving schmo like myself. So Shannon rented out the top floor of Barley's Taproom and invited about 45 of our friends. The deal was this: for a flat rate, you get great pizza and an open bar, as well as multiple pool tables, dart boards, and foosball (even though the foosball was coin operated).

This was by far, the best birthday I've had. My last milestone birthday (age 21) was spent on top of Mt. Elbert in Colorado held up with one of my closest buddies in a snow and lightening storm about 1500ft. from the 14,000ft. summit. I wasn't sure I was going to make it back down. This birthday was spent watching people enjoy themselves and talk about God, life, and everything else.

Thanks especially to my God who lavishes upon me good things, to my wife who worked hard to make all of this happend and to my beloved friends who came out and celebrated the gift of life with me.

Terribly Frustrated

So the stubbornness of the older folks at the dying church has been frustrating for Missio Dei and for me personally. After our proposal was submitted and negotiations began, the deal continually went South. We got to the place where we were willing to alter the worship gathering time for our 55 adults plus kids for their 15 people, but in the end, they gave us a definitive "no" on any use of their building. What is so frustrating is that their main reason for holding out is "we've been doing it this way for 40 years and aren't about to change now," a death sentence for anyone claiming to follow Jesus. If the Gospel of Christ is not the motivation for everything and anything you do, not only are you in danger of leading people to dead end roads, but also you really cease to be a church that is faithful to Jesus. You are more akin to a religious country club that takes in people that accommodate to your standards.

On a slightly funnier note, I had to correct my three-year old on a drive back to the house from being out for the evening. I mentioned that we would be going home and having ice cream and he asked, "What game are we going to play while Mommy fixes our ice cream?" So apparently, I have been setting a bad example (or a good example if your a chauvinist pig), because we have daddy play time from 5:30 - 6:30 while my wife cooks dinner. He assumed that we get to play while Mommy does all the food prep. This just goes to prove that you are always teaching, even when you don't realize that you're teaching.

Honoring the Faith of those who have gone before us

Missio Dei Church has gone from a strong core of about 17 adults to a congregation of 50 in about a month. More people means that we need more space. In our prayers about making a move, we were clear that God wanted us to apply wisdom to the move. The space had to be centrally located, which means we couldn't move outside the city. The space had to be available during the week for the various things we would like to accomplish. The space had to offer room for continued growth. And among many other things, the space had to be affordable. Trying to find such a place in our city would definately require divine intervention.

Such intervention came through an unexpected means. In an effort to network with other ministries that embrace the Gospel of Jesus, the Christ, God brought me to a pastor of a small dwindlng church downtown. The pastor and I got along really well and they offered me shared use of their three story building. Of course, all of this still has to be approved by their congregation, but the commitment to seeing Jesus made famous was very encouraging. This guy knew that much about what Missio Dei is all about would be very different than what their congregation was all about, but as we shared stories of God and His leading and movement, we acknowledged that it is the same Jesus.

My hope is that we can encourage these folks. There seems to be a tendency in churches to magnify the cultural divide between generations. Older folks tend to look at the younger generation with disdain and often lament the supposed degredation of standards. Younger folks tend to look at the older generation as prudish, out of touch, and with a "we can do it better than you without you" attitude. My prayer for Missio Dei Church is that we embrace the Gospel which should humble us enough to learn from this older generation that has stayed faithful to Jesus for so many years. They have a wealth of wisdom in the rearing of children, finances, and other things that we can learn from. I also pray that they would be excited and want to learn from us as well. While not all of our folks are young, most seem to be committed to the Gospel of Jesus with a wreckless abandon. I praise God for the opportunity of journeying with all of these people. I am thankful to our tribe at Missio Dei because they allow me to pastor them.

What is a Christian?

Ask five different people what it means to be Christian and you will probably get six different answers. In fact, within Judaism followers of Jesus are referred to as Nazarenes, because they do not accept Jesus’ claim of being the “Christ.” In the Arab world, the term “Christian” usually refers to a person from western culture, whether or not that person is a follower of Jesus, Buddah, or even secular humanism.

Among different groups that would classify themselves as Christian, there is little agreement about what makes one a Christian. For some, it is simply a cultural term that applies to those who can turn to no other cultural religion. For some, it is applied to those who have been baptized or “Christened” in a church. For some, it is restricted to those who claim to have made a conscious decision to pattern their lives after the teachings of Jesus as recorded in the Bible. Still for others, it refers to those who have done all of the above and vote Republican and support the Moral Majority.

The first use of the term “Christian” is recorded in a book of the Bible called The Acts of the Apostles. That mention, in Acts 11:26 simply says, “At Antioch, the disciples were first called Christians.” The only other two times the word is used in the Bible, it carries negative connotations. It was used by an ancient ruler in a patronizing manner in Acts 26:28 and was equated with suffering in I Pet. 4:16.

The earliest followers of Jesus did not refer to themselves or each other as “Christians,” but rather, as followers of “the Way” or simply as disciples (Acts 9:2, 19:9,23; 22:4; 24:14,22). They were not interested in starting a new religion. They simply believed Jesus when He stated, “I am the Way…” (John 14:6) and desired to follow Him. This makes it terribly difficult to come up with a Scriptural definition of a Christian.

Probably the closest we can come is the many references to followers of Jesus claiming to be “in Christ.” Everything in the New Testament hinges on whether a person is in Christ or apart from Christ. On the one hand, we read that being “Separated from Christ” results in “having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). But on the other, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1) and “if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation” (II Cor. 5:17).

The aim at Missio Dei Church is not to define people with titles as such, because labeling tends to trick us into thinking that we have understood what we have labeled. We are interested in encouraging people through faith to be found in Christ, to become a disciple, a faithful follower of the ways of Jesus Christ, regardless of cultural background, religious practice or creedal confession. For us, a Christian is a person who realizes that apart from Jesus, we have no hope and no God in the world. It is a person that receives as punishment for his failed attempts to rule himself and his world, the substitution of Jesus abandonment by God on the cross. His life is motivated, not by fear, but by gratitude and love and a desire to revere and praise King Jesus.

Why Blog?

So many folks are online publishing their thoughts, their rants etc. I wrestled a bit before I decided to succomb to pop culture and enter the blogging world. That said, I am committed to keeping "Uncommon Musings" a helpful site. You will not find simple rants and frustrations that do nothing to build up (at least I hope that is the case). I desire this to point people to a better understanding of life in the "already, not-yet Kingdom."
In the upcoming weeks, I am going to undergo a series of blogs unpacking what it means to be a Christian, Evangelical, Reformed, Missional Church. My prayer is that it will encourage folks to search out the ways of Christian Spirituality and to consider how the Missio Dei Church community, might help.

Blessings,
Pastor Kurt <><

Missio Dei Event

Missio Dei Church is hosting a public informational meeting to articulate reasons for starting a new church in the Asheville metro area. The meeting will take place on Wednesday May 9, 7pm at Atlanta Bread Company (633 Merrimon Ave.). We discuss topics including, "Why start a new church in Asheville? Whom will the new church affect? Who is the leadership for the new church? How can you help?" Coffee and refreshments provided.

"Blessed are the Peacemakers..."

It makes my head hurt and my heart break to observe the senseless violence that occured on Monday at Virginia Tech. What's equally troubling is the clamoring noise that surrounds the horrible tragedy. I have heard and read countless stories looking for someone or something to blame.

Immediately both sides of the political spectrum argued about gun control and the right to bear arms as if either position had the power to prevent this or subsequent disasters. Others have angrily accused the University, the police, the Mental Health profession, and various others for not doing enough to prevent the violence.

As a follower of King Jesus, I am trying to come to grips with the fact that there are no easy answers or simple ingredients which could have prevented this calamity. Now is a time for mourning and for prayer and to lament our fallen condition. We live in a world that is completely broken and our only hope is the Gospel promise that things will not always remain as they are. Jesus, the Christ, struck a death blow to sin and death when He laid His life down as payment for the sins of mankind and in His resurrection, promised that He would make all things new.

We have the privelege of living out and proclaiming this message to all creation, so that they can repent of their desire to dissention and division and seek peace in the presence of the King. If only the church could preach this message to Cho Seung Hui, perhaps this could have been avoided. That and his repentance are the only thing that could have prevented the events that lead to 33 image bearers being destroyed. In this hour of sadness, I close reflecting on the lyrics to a song written by Robin Mark. "Rise up church with broken wings. Fill this place with songs again. Of our God who reigns on high. By His grace again we'll fly."

But what about the swords?

One of our "Uncommoners" had a question last week about an obscure and difficult passage in the Gospel according to Luke. The passage reads:

And he (Jesus) said to them, "When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?" They said, "Nothing." He said to them, "But now let the one who has a monybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: 'And he was numbered with the transgressors.' For what is written about me has its fulfillment." And they said, "Look, Lord, here are two swords." And he said to them,"It is enough" (Luke 22:35-38).

This is troubling because it seems like Jesus is telling His disciples to now take up swords when previously His contrary teaching was "blessed are the peacemakers," and "love your enemy," and most pointedly, "all who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Matt. 5:9,44; 26:52). How could Jesus tell His disciples to now "sell his cloak and buy" a sword if "those who take the sword will perish by the sword?"

Several interpretations have been offered:

1. The first (and most ridiculous) is that Jesus is not telling His disciples to get a sword, but he really means knife, which would be a provision for cutting meat on their journeys. This is probably held because there is no New Testament reference to a knife. However, later in the passage, one of them draws a sword and cuts off the right ear of the high priest's servant with a sword. It was not a knife used for cutting meat to eat. I am weary of any interpretation of the Bible that claims when the Bible says, "x," it really means, "y." Where the Bible says, "wine" it means "wine," not "grape juice." Where the Bible says "donkey," it means "donkey," not "horse." Where the Bible says "sword," it means "sword," not "knife." Believing that "x" really means "y" opens the Bible up to dangerous speculation and complete uncertainty, because anything could mean anything else.

2. An interpretation that has a greater following takes Jesus' words literally, but strips them of context. Proponents of this view take Jesus to mean that when He sent them out, their provisions were cared for. But now, things are changing and its okay to defend themselves because things are going to get rough. One commentator took this so far as to say that Jesus was encouraging the disciples to defend themselves at any cost, because he encouraged them to sell their cloaks if need be. This interpretation takes the word sword to be a literal sword, which is good, but besides contradicting the context, it dangeroulsy contradicts Jesus' teaching about turning the other cheek, being blessed for being persecuted, and not repaying evil with evil.

3. A third way to look at it is to take Jesus' teaching on taking the sword in a spiritualized sense. The sword is to be taken figurativley as in, "Your future will be difficult, you need to muster up all the strength that you can, take upon yourselves the sword of the spirit..." This is a widely held view to make sense of a difficult passage and seems to reconcile this teaching with passages in Paul's letters without contradicting Jesus' teaching on being peacemakers. The problem with this view is that it leaves too many holes in the context and does not explain Jesus anger with talk of the sword.

4. The way to look at this passage is to keep it in context. The Passover supper has ended and the disciples begin a debate about who would be the greatest in the Kingdom. Something was learned from Jesus' example because Peter steps up to declare that he was "ready to go with (Jesus) both to prison and to death" (v. 33). Jesus begins to scold Peter and the other disciples because of their lack of trust in God to continue to provide for them. Their view was that they would advance God's kingdom on their own, in their own way. This is why when the disciples gather two swords, Jesus words are "It is enough," as if to say, "Stop this!" This is reinforced after the disciple cuts off the servants ear and Jesus says, "No more of this" (v. 51). His word is not an encouragement to take up swords because everything is changing. He is challenging their view in how the kingdom would be advanced. This keeps the context of the passage in place and doesn't contradict Jesus' teaching about being peacemakers who trust in God's provision.

Conclusion:
We must be careful that our interpretations of Scripture are not efforts to rescue Jesus from the things He said, or cramming HIs teaching into our own agendas. It is natural to want to defend ourselves, which is why Jesus' teaching on peacemaking is so poignant. We must remember that we are to be a people of another kingdom and of another King, under whose rule the first are last and the last are first. The Kingdom of God advances because the guiltless One took upon Himself the sin of the world. Jesus emphasizes this in saying that "what is written about me has its fulfillment." He would not allow the disicples to interfere in God's plan for the death of Jesus.

Easter Gathering

At Missio Dei Church, we believe that the death and resurrection has as much to do with how we live now as it does with the afterlife. The Kingdom of God that Jesus preached involves sacrifice, love and peacemaking and we are committed to being a community following these pursuits. Join us on April 8 at the Grey Eagle at 10:30 to celebrate Jesus victory over brokenness and corruption to create a new humanity. For more details or directions, click on the Grey Eagle link on this page or contact Pastor Kurt (kurt@livinguncommon.org).

The Lesson at the Falls

Yesterday, my friend Scott and I took our oldest kids out hiking to see the Daniel Ridge Falls. My oldest son, Ashe is three and Maren, Scott's oldest daughter is 2 1/2, so needless to say, hiking went slowly, very slowly.

When we finally arrived at the falls, I was surprised to find that we were the only ones there. The weather was an ideal 70 degrees, it was a relatively easy approach, and it was the beginning of spring break for many. I had thought that the falls would be swarmed by the people who filled up all the cars in the parking lot.

After ten or fifteen minutes, some folks hiked in. It was a father and his 10 or so year-old son. They were spring breaking from Charleston, SC (because all beach people know that the mountains are better) and taking in a little hiking. Scott, who is normally reserved and a definite introvert turned into the welcome committee. Although these two were strangers, Scott worked to welcome them and assure them some friendliness.

Welcoming the stranger is at the heart of the Gospel. God, while we were estranged and enemies, broke into our world and invited us into His work in the creation. Throughout the Scriptures, God is constantly breaking into the world and welcoming men to participate in building His Kingdom. Jesus, the Christ, came to destroy for all time that which separates man from their God and from each other. He did this by taking upon Himself the guilt, brokenness, and downright evil in mankind and though he was innocent, perfect, and righteous, He died. It seemed as though He was overcome by sin, but after three days, he overcame sin and death and raised again, and now welcomes people to live in the Kingdom that He is building.

As followers of the God-king, we are to live out and share the values of His kingdom in the name of the King. The basis of acceptance rests solely on this work of the Christ. We can welcome people by forgiving them for wronging mankind in general and wronging us specifically. We can forgive because the penalty for sin has been paid. My prayer is for the Church to look to the person and work of Jesus and take it seriously, to stop demanding that people look like us, talk like us, vote like us, sing like us, smell like us, before we welcome them as friends.

Thanks Scott for your example of the Gospel!

Barking

A tiny Yorkshire Terrier just walked by the house and taking an aggressive posture, began to bark at our 120 lb. Chocolate Lab. It was as if the dog was yelling, "Why don't you get off of your lazy butt and get out on a walk with me?" It was kind of humorous. Kona (our Lab) just barked back, "I'd love to, but I'm tied to this fence."

Sometimes I feel like this little dog. I'd love to see the church free from restrictions and out enjoying the neighborhood, but the church seems to just call back, "We'd like to, but we have so much keeping us tied here to do our thing, the same thing we have done as long as we can remember."

At this point, I have at least two options. My first option would be to run off, ignoring the church's stuck state (being tied to programs and traditions, not making inroads with the Gospel into the culture) and perhaps ridicule her in the neighborhood. I could simply dismiss her as irrelevant and out of touch and go do my own thing. But my reading of Scripture keeps this from happening. Paul reminds us that "as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, ESPECIALLY to those who are of the household of faith" (Gal. 6:10). It would be short-sighted and selfish of me not to engage the established ministries and invite them to join us on mission.

Another option would be to stop everything, sit down and just bark at the church. I could make much noise about how stuck she is and how tied to programs and traditions the institution actually is. This is unprofitable because it limits our calling and mission. God has placed us here to join the Spirit in calling out a community of people who challenge one another to love Jesus and other people with the goal of transforming the values of the city so that they look more like God's values.

So we live in this tension of joining with other congregations and keeping our distance because we are on mission. Here's what it looks like in real life:

We had really cool neighbors over for dessert the other night. We talked about family, housing, neighborliness, past shame and regret and religion. These folks have a wealth of life experience for us to learn from and are, to put it simply, great, honest people.

One thing that stung was their experience with the Institutional model of the church. They had both been shunned, belittled, and clearly unwelcomed by a group of people in the name of Jesus. We have to live in the tension of writing these Christians off as being unloving and really not representing God well to keep that sort of image of Jesus at a distance and relating to these Christians because they do name the name of Christ.

If love "is patient and kind...does not envy or boast...is not arrogant or rude...does not insist on its own way...is not irritable or resentful...does not rejoice at wrongdoing...bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things," (I Cor. 13:4-6) then I keep my mouth shut to my neighbors and proactively, with much prayer and patience ask God to use me to show them a better way. We love and accept them and do it all, boldly in the name of Jesus. We learn from them and listen (really listen) to their struggles and heartaches. We offer hope and the forgiveness of sins and we pray that they would see Jesus and fall in love with Him, because it's really all about Him anyway. It's not about our way of doing mission.

The Church Fortress

Some of our close friends have a daughter with freckles and red hair. I affectionately call her, "Little Red." Little Red as long as she could talk has referred to her father as "papa." This has changed recently. Because she spends more time conversing with other children her age who refer to their fathers as "daddy," Little Red has made the switch. Nothing about the relationship has changed, only the name. While at first it was heartbreaking to her parents who loved the originality and the sweetness in her little voice as she called out "papa," they have come to accept that "papa" will now be "daddy."

A similar thing has happened in the church. New congregations (made up of people from other congregations) are popping up all over claiming to "missional" and "emergent." What is strange, is that many of these "missional, emergent" churches are new in style, but not in substance. These churhes are "daddy" and no longer "papa." The relationship to the culture is essentially the same. The message to people is come to us, we have cooler music, we have more fragrant candles, we have a place for you to pray to our God and while you're here, you can become more like us. While this might be far more hip, it is really no different than the Pharisaic mindset that Jesus so often attacked. That mindset was, "come to US, speak OUR language, keep OUR observances, don't fraternize with those outside unless they are willing to come in, and then you can be close to God."

The Gospel of the Christ calls the church to be different in substance. The church gathered is fuel for the church scattered. Real worship (that spirit and truth worship the Father seeks) is found in everyday life. It is found in the eating and the drinking and the standing and the sitting and the walking by the way, and in our work, and in our friendships. We are to be a community within a community offering up our hearts and hands to people praying and working so that joyfully, much is made about Jesus. We are to become friends to our fellow sinners, listening to their stories, laughing with them, crying with them, and praying that God would give us wisdom on how to relate that to the grand story that Christ came to save us because we are broken.

Missio Dei Church is striving to become that kind of expression of Christ's body. We believe that God is calling out people to represent him in the world (don't take us out of the world, keep us from the evil one). We believe that the fortress mentality so prevelant in the church (even the hip "missional, emergent" ones) is dentrimental to the Gospel of Jesus. It is messy work, and it may get us killed, but the Spirit keeps us from doing anything less. It is not enough to just change the name, we must get back on mission.

Blessings <><

Celebrations of Life

Yesterday morning I woke up with my usual anticipation of Thursday morning mountain biking at Bent Creek with my buddy Mike. The forecast called for rain and biking through Bent Creek is miserable in the rain, so after a quick (and I mean quick) ride through a connector trail, we hit the forest road and began climbing one of Bent Creek's many mountains. Around the top, at an area called Ledford Gap, the trees thinned and the view was unreal. Clouds and mist were rising up in the valley and I was overwhelmed with the imagination of God. The attention He pays to detail and beauty is beyond words. This was grace, because even in a fallen state, where the creation itself groans and works in rebellion to God, her beauty is unsurpassed.

Yesterday was also my oldest son's 3rd birthday. In the afternoon, my wife and I took him to the toy store so that he could pick out a modest birthday gift. He played with several things in the aisle before we laid some of the appropriate toys out and asked him to pick one. He chose a simple race track and carried it with delight to the checkout lane. After we paid for his toy, I remember looking down at my son and I was taken with his expression of contentment and expectation. I love giving gifts to my kids and it was a reminder of how God delights to lavish upon His beloved good things from above.

My kid is playing with his new toy today and it is already a source of frustrtation. It is loud and obnoxious. What was supposed to be a token celebrating the life that God has graciously given to my wife and me has become a token of strife. Probably, I need to chill about the noise it makes and my son needs to chill about having it run 24/7. This scenario illustrates how often good gifts that God gives become our pursuits that actually drive us away from God. He grants us things to point out to us how good He truly is and in our sin and rebellion we become obsessed with the gifts and give God the finger. For this I am thankful for Christ and His redemptive work on the cross so that when I meet God there, I witness the Divine spanking, receive the Spirit and am restored to a right relationship. I am undone, Spirit change me.