Cracking your church's culture code

Back a few months ago I "attended" an online conference sponsored by the Leadership Network.  One of the speakers was Samuel Chand, the author of the book "Cracking your church's culture code."  I then received an e-mail about the possibility of reading the book and blogging about it, so I sent an e-mail and got picked to read the book and write about it.  So I received the book a few weeks ago and spent some time over the last few weeks reading the book, pondering it's contents and wondering how it might apply to my context right now, as a church plant that is just in it's infancy.

Chand says that the seven keys of understanding the CULTURE and shaping it for the Kingdom are:  Control, Understanding, Leadership, Trust, Unafraid, Responsive, Execution.  I enjoyed reading the book as it is helping me to think about what the culture of our missional community is, and what it might be moving forward and how we can keep the culture healthy, missional, and seeking to move the mission forward.

Some of the quotes that stood out to me in the section that lays out the 7 keys to understanding CULTURE are:

Healthy teams foster the perspective that failure isn't a tragedy and conflict isn't the end of the world.

Courage, support, and innovation go hand in hand in inspiring cultures.

One of  their chief concerns is that teams often talk about decisions but fail to follow through on implementing them (I find this a huge struggle in my own life.  I feel that one of my gifts as a leader is in the area of vision, dreams, and putting the mission out there.  The thing that I lack is knowing how to move step by step from where we are to where I dream us to be.  I frequently say that I see A (where we are) clearly (not perfectly) and I see Z (where we want to go) (not perfectly) but I need someone to help me with B through Y.  So the section about Execution was very helpful.

But I would say the most helpful, the most encouraging, and the most challenging part of the book was the chapter on "Changing Vehicles".  I felt he was speaking right to me, as I continue to dream about what Veritas is called to do, be, and pursue.  One of the helpful parts was the 13 questions laid out on page 139-140.  Some of the quotes in this chapter that spoke to me include:

"How do you know if a vision is from God?  One of the measures is that it has to be something so big that it requires God's wisdom and power to pull it off.  Anything less is just a good idea.  God's vision is to redeem not only individuals bu the entire creation.  He's not just making new men and women; he's going to re-create the entire universe in the New Heaven and New Earth.  That's a big vision!  (a vision that I want to be a part of)

Churches must "re-dream" the dream or discover a new compelling vision for their existence.

Your effectiveness will always depend on your ability to see the future.

Strategic planning needs to be written in pencil because in a dynamic, changing environment, strategic planning needs constant evaluation and adjustment. (Couldn't have said it better myself)

The organization can't fulfill a God-sized vision, even in it's local market, without the alignment of people, plans, and funding around a common purpose.

If the vision is big enough, if the people have a heart for doing it, if God's will be glorified in a specific way, then the money will come. (One of my struggles as a church planter)

God has called us to partner with him to redeem the world.

I would say this book was helpful for me as we are planting Veritas.  I would say this book would be helpful for any church leader no matter where the church is, no matter how young or how old, no matter how big or how small, no matter the setting.  Because I believe it's easy to change "vision" (just write a mission statement, vision statement, etc..) but it's harder to change the culture.  But if the culture changes, then the vision can come to fruition.  So let's be in the business of changing culture (both inside the church and outside as well)

Missional Flow

Over the last several weeks, really since moving Veritas into our home, I have become convinced that we made the right, but tough decision.  Conversation after conversation has confirmed it to me.  If our vision and mission is to be a missional community of authentic worshippers we need to start at a different place than most church plants start.  Or should I say we need to start over from a different place. What do I mean by that?  Well...back in April I read the book "AND: The Gathered and the Scattered Church" by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay.  I also had seen Hugh in Harrisburg in March, and also again in April at the Exponential Conference.  They shared something in the book and the two times that I heard them that they call Missional Flow.  The idea of Missional Flow has given me words for how we, as Veritas, want to proceed as we continue moving forward in planting Veritas.

A tradition church and church plant starts with the structuring of Congregation.  Normally when we talk about planting churches what do we mean?  I believe it means we talk about planting a worship service.  And if our worship service is cooler, hipper, sexier, and have better coffee...we might attract a crowd (mostly of people either who are new to the area and looking for a church, or for people tired of their church...basically transfer growth.).  But if we want to connect with people who might not be looking for a church we have to start in a different place.  The place where a missionary would start.

If you and I and say 8 other people moved to, say London, in order to plant a community of faith, what would be the first thing that we would do when we hit the ground (besides getting jobs, places to live, etc..)?  I believe we would need to Engage Culture (or build relationships, friends, etc..).  Once we begin to do that (probably after several months to a year or two) we would need to Form Community. And then finally we would Structure Congregation. These three things are Missional Flow.

As a brand new Church Plant back in September of 2009 we started with Structuring Congregation (and hoping to then Engage Culture and have the culture come to us).  Now it was beneficial in that we did build some relationships with people who we wouldn't have met otherwise and they have continued to be a faithful part of our community ever since.  But I began to realize that we needed to start with Engaging the Culture if we truly wanted to live out our vision of being A Missional Community of Authentic Worshippers.

So how do we Engage Culture?  We are wrestling with this together in our Worship Gathering times at my house.  I have walked our group through Missional Flow (and will again on our Core Group development time on Feb. 6).  We'll be using something called a Ministry Brainstorming Tool found at http://www.gabaptist.org/groups/researchservices/groupfilecabinet.aspx?parentnavigationid=6267&theparentnavigationid=4955    under church surveys.  I'll also be sharing a dream/vision of how our group (of musicians, college students, artists, and others) can engage culture by using the arts and music.  Something that I call The Veritas Arts Collective.

I'll be sharing more in the near future about what the Veritas Arts Collective looks like (in my head anyway).  I'll also share in the near future about ways that we are already engaging culture and other ideas of how we might do that.  For now, I am excited about the ideas and hopes and dreams I have for our community as we walk together through the missional flow.

Making Straight Paths

Yesterday while sitting in a coffeehouse that I go to often in Elizabethtown, I was reading the 1st Chapter of Mark and I came to these words, which are a reference to John the Baptist, "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”—  “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him."  I began to think of my seminary studies in which I learned that when a King was going to be coming to a town they would set to work repairing the road for his arrival.  They would fill in the holes, straighten out the rough sections, and do what we would call roadwork.  They would prepare for the King's coming.

I began to think about our situation in our world in which the church and the term Christian have a horrible reputation.  In the book UnChristian by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons the top 6 things that people think about when asked about Christians and the church are:  They are Hypocritical, Antihomosexual, sheltered, too political, judgemental, and that Christians are too concerned with converting people.  All of us see that we definitely have some work to do in order to make a straight path.  We have a lot of roadwork to do.  We need to fill in the potholes, straightened out the areas which are crooked, and make the road more conducive to traveling.

How can we make straight paths when the culture believes that Christians are the 6 thing listed above?  Here are some thoughts about how we can make straight paths.  We need to engage the culture through service, love, and on their terms.  We need to listen before we speak.  We need to serve and bless people not because of any agenda other than the agenda of loving, blessing and serving them.  Straightening the paths will take time and the road won't be straight right away but I believe if we begin living out the kingdom first, than it will be straightened.  It will take a great deal amount of time, patience, trust and faith.

I was also talking with some leaders yesterday and we talked about starting with the kingdom and you'll end up with a church, but if you start with a church you might never build the kingdom.  So connecting these two thoughts...if we seek to make straight paths we must first and foremost be about the work of the kingdom and not confuse it with the church.  Can the church do the work of the kingdom..of course. Does it always...no.  So let's work on building the kingdom first, straighten out the roads, and I believe the church will take care of itself.

God With Us

Over the last four weeks (during Advent) our Core Group has been focusing on the stories in Luke revolving around the incarnation of Jesus into the world.  I have to say that this year God spoke to me through these (to me) very familiar stories in a new way.  He breathed life into them and showed me things that I hadn't seen before.  I was continually blown away by the subversive, radical, upside down, Kingdom of God things within the story of Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds, and in the birth of Jesus.  As we get closer to Christmas Day and to celebrating God taking on flesh and blood and moving into the neighborhood, I wanted to share a song that our worship leader, Matt Wheeler, wrote that expresses beautifully this amazing thing...the incarnation of God through Jesus into our world.  May you have a very Merry Christmas and may you seek to know where and how you can incarnation Jesus into your world and how you can literally be the hands and feet of Jesus.

God With Us

(Chorus)

Emmanuel, God with us

Heaven and earth ring loud with Your praise

Hosanna, Light lead us

Illuminate the path of Your grace

(Verse 1)

Your Kingdom come, Your holy will be done

As in Heaven, on earth, to the glory of the Son

(Chorus)

(Verse 2)

He who humbled Himself to become one of us

The servant-King, who made us from the dust

(Chorus)

Masquerade by Seventh Day Slumber

Yesterday I was running around doing some errands related to Veritas and while running around I was listening to an album by the Christian rock band Seventh Day Slumber.  A song came on and the lyrics struck me in a way that they hadn't in the past.  The song talks about just giving everything over to God, being real with him and others, and putting him first in your life. Lately I have been really struggling with my emotions, my feelings of worthlessness, anger that pops up quickly, stress, and defining myself by what i do, and not as a child of God.  Veritas has not been worked out (so far) the way that I imagined it.  It is the hardest thing I have done in my entire life and many days (almost every day) I feel like chucking it all.  But God continues to speak to me about his call on my life, not as a pastor, church planter, etc... but just as a child of the King.  While I am all concerned about whether I am a "success" or not, or whether Veritas will ever make it...he is more concerned with my inner life and whether or not I am faithful.  "Success if faithfulness to God" is a line I remember from my seminary days.

Anyway driving down the road, the words struck me to the song and called me back to Jesus and his love for me.  I want to follow Jesus even if I lose it all.  I am thankful that he takes me in his arms and that he makes my feelings of worthlessness disappear.  Here are the lyrics to the song...

I don't know what to think about me anymore, Cause I am still the same as always. Here I am again, that same old broken man. I can't make it on my own. I need You.

Chorus: And I am not afraid of anything anymore. And I am not ashamed, the masquerade has ended. And I will stand for You even if I lose it all. Cause nothing really matters, You are all that matters, Lord.

As messed up as I am, still You bring me in. You take me in Your arms and hold me. The worthlessness I feel, You make it disappear. You are always there, You're endless.

(Chorus)

I don't know what to think about me anymore. Cause I am still the same as always.

(Chorus)

Chasing Francis (#ChasingFrancisSpeakEasy)

The other week I received the novel "Chasing Francis" by Ian Morgan Cron through my friend Mike Morrell (was in charge of the Ooze Viral Bloggers and is now starting another one called Speak Easy).  This is new territory for me as I have never blogged on a work of fiction.  But I thought the book sounded interesting.  So I agreed to read the book and write a response on it.

The book is a modern day journey in the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi.  It is a novel about a Pastor Chase Falson who "loses" his faith and sets out on a pilgrimage to find it again.  The novel reminded me a lot of the New Kind of Christian series by Brian McLaren.  The interesting twist is where Chase ends up finding this faith again...in the life, ministry and footsteps of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Chase goes to Italy and take a pilgrimage to various places that are connected to the life of Saint Francis of Assisi.  He spends most of his time with Friars from the Franciscan order, one of which is his uncle.  As he reads, writes, visits various places, and talks with the friars, Chase begins to see the life and faith of Saint Francis as having huge traction in our postmodern world.  He then begins to find his faith again, albeit a "different"  or should I say deeper, richer faith then the one he lost.  He then puts together a plan to develop a church that reflects the heart and ministry of Saint Francis in the postmodern world that we live in.

I would say the best part of the novel is when Chase lays out his 5 points in developing a church that contemporizes Saint Francis Rule of 1221.  Those 5 points are:

1.  Transcendence- more of a holistic faith then a head knowledge.  Spiritual practices learned from our brothers and sisters in our times and faith traditions.  Moving away from an apologetic that is only about the head to an embodied apologetic, a lived out faith.

2.  Community- dealing with things like peacemaking, being a blessing in the world, realizing that all of life is sacred, life and ministry that is about the Kingdom of God, and taking care of the poor and needy.

3.  Beauty- dealing with the arts and being a supportive place for artists, musicians, poets, etc.... Using art to create dialogue around spiritual issues.  Care for Creation.

4.  Dignity- seeing everyone as made in the image of God and worthy of love, respect, and care.

5.  Meaning- Seeking meaning in the world and not labeling people and not being labeled.  Being a "come and see Christian" meaning come and see if I am a Christian or not but how I live my life.  Come and see church....come and see if our church is living out the kingdom.

As I read this book I realized a few things.  First that Saint Francis was probably the first "postmodern" saint.  Secondly, that even though Francis was Catholic, I think he would fit very nicely in Anabaptist circles.  And lastly his life and ministry resonated strongly with what Veritas is seeking to be and become.  So the novel is a good read, a fast read, but one that has some deep meaning and relevance to being a follower of Jesus in our emerging, postmodern world that we currently find ourselves in.

Post-Christendom

The other week, as I had mentioned before, I got the opportunity to hear Stuart Murray Williams, author of The Naked Anabaptist: The Bare Essentials of a Radical Faith, speak at Elizabethtown College.  It was enlightening, challenging, and gave me hope that Veritas is moving forward in the way that it should.  Stuart shared 7 Core Convictions of the Anabaptist Network in the UK, of which I wrote about late last week.  I want to take this space to share the other significant part of the seminar that Stuart gave while at Elizabethtown, that of Post-Christendom.Here is what Stuart talked about in regards to Post-Christendom; it's definition and transitions:

"Post-Christendom is the culture that emerges as the Christian faith loses coherence within a society that has been definitively shaped by the Christian story and as the institutions that have been developed to express Christian convictions decline in influence."

Post-Christendom includes the following transitions:

• From the centre to margins: in Christendom the Christian story and the churches were central, but in post-Christendom these are marginal. • From majority to minority: in Christendom Christians comprised the (often overwhelming) majority, but in post-Christendom we are a minority. • From settlers to sojourners: in Christendom Christians felt at home in a culture shaped by their story, but in post-Christendom we are aliens, exiles and pilgrims in a culture where we no longer feel at home. • From privilege to plurality: in Christendom Christians enjoyed many privileges, but in post-Christendom we are one community among many in a plural society. • From control to witness: in Christendom churches could exert control over society, but in post-Christendom we exercise influence only through witnessing to our story and its implications. • From maintenance to mission: in Christendom the emphasis was on maintaining a supposedly Christian status quo, but in post-Christendom it is on mission within a contested environment. • From institution to movement: in Christendom churches operated mainly in institutional mode, but in post-Christendom we must become again a Christian movement.

I believe that while the US isn't on the scale of say Europe in relation to this shift to Post-Christendom (except in areas like the Northwest- Seattle, and Northeast- New England) we are definitely headed that way.  And I believe we can learn alot about how to do mission, church, and worship in the midst of our Post-Christendom society by looking at the 7 Core Convictions that I shared in one of my last posts.  I believe that going forward from here means for us (Veritas) that we need to, in some way, dive deeper into those 7 Core Convictions of the Anabaptist Network, and move fully live out the tradition of our forefathers and foremothers in the Anabaptist Tradition.

Stewardship of the Environment-November 14, 2010

After working for a while trying to upload the audio from last week's message and realizing that it is too big to upload onto this site, I thought I would just put the sermon text and questions on the blog instead......(starting this Sunday and running all throughout our Phase 2, we'll have recaps of what our bible conversation was on in the blog but not any audio). We are at the end of our A Generous Life sermon series and also our time meeting at English Presbyterian Church.  We’ll be gathering from now on at Kim and my house for worship, deeper prayer, bible study, discussion, discernment, and planning for outreach, service, and mission.  Over the last few weeks we have looked at the concept of stewardship.  We have looked at stewardship of finances, of time, of relationship, of talent, and this final week we will be looking at the stewardship of the environment.  Taking care of God’s creation and being a good steward of it.

This issue, taking care of the creation, is one of those hot button issues, that I believe for all too long the Christian church has neglected or actually been on the “wrong” side of.  Faithful followers of Jesus have left this issue to others, who are labeled tree huggers, liberals, radical environmentalist, and you fill in the blank.  But I believe that taking care of creation is a mandate of all people but especially followers of Jesus.  And I believe it came from the very beginning and is fundamental to God’s call on his people. Let’s look at some Scriptural basis for stewarding God’s creation that is all around us and let’s have a discussion on how this text has been misused and abused in the history of the Christian church.  And let’s talk about how we can, as followers of Jesus, begin to seriously live out this idea of stewarding God’s creation as individuals and as a community of faith.

The text that I am speaking of is found in the very first chapter of the very first book of the Bible.  The book of Genesis.  Genesis 1:26-28 says, “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Our world is messed up and we haven’t lived out this biblical mandate very well, and in fact, as a sign of our own brokenness, have actually taken this text and used it as a basis for using the creation however we see fit.  James Watt, secretary of the interior under President Regan said, “"God gave us these things to use. After the last tree is felled, Christ will come back."  I believe this is a misuse of our text that we are looking and a problematic view of God and his mandate to all people, especially followers of Jesus.

So before we go any further regarding the text of Scripture that we are looking at today, let’s talk about this issue of the environment.  Maybe you are sitting there saying “Well the environment is in good shape, we don’t need to do anything.  The hole in the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, climate change and global warming are not true, and don’t we have more important things to spend our time talking about and being involved with?”  Maybe you think, “What does it matter?  Jesus is coming back, rapturing his people, and destroying the earth so let’s use it for whatever we want.”  Well let’s first look at some statistics about the brokenness in our world and see where we are as a people in our stewardship of creation.

Each Minute

  • At least 51 acres of tropical forests are destroyed.
  • We consume almost 35,000 barrels of oil.
  • 50 tons of fertile soil are washed or blown off cropland.
  • We add 12,000 tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

Each Hour

  • 1,692 acres of productive dry land become desert.
  • 1,800 children die of malnutrition and hunger (that makes a total of 15 million each year).
  • 120 million dollars are spent for military expenditures (making a total of one trillion each year).
  • 55 people are poisoned by the pesticides they use; 5 die.
  • 60 new cases of cancer are diagnosed in the United States alone (that makes a total of 500,000 each year with 20,000 leading to death).

Each Day

  • Over 230,000 babies are born.
  • 25,000 people die of water shortage or contamination.
  • 10 tons of nuclear waste are being generated by the 350 existing nuclear plants.
  • 250,000 tons of sulfuric acid fall as acid rain in the Northern Hemisphere.
  • 60 tons of plastic packaging and 372 tons of fishing net are dumped into the sea by commercial fishermen.
  • Almost 5 species of life become extinct.

So we see in these statistics some rather disturbing problems and issues.  But how does Scripture speak to these issues, or does it?  Well let’s go back to Genesis 1.  The first verse we looked at says this, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”  The word that I want to focus sometime on in our discussion is the word rule which in other translations of the scripture is translated dominion.  I believe we need a proper understanding of this word to adequately move forward.  I think way too often people take this word to mean domination.  But that isn’t what it means.  The word dominion here is the Hebrew word radah.  It is a word that is used only a dozen times in the Old Testament, and thus is rather special in its meaning. We have taken it to mean 'dominate over' just as a mediaeval ruler or potentate would dominate over his subjects, using them for his own ends, his own pleasure, his own prestige, his own wars, etc. But an examination of 'radah' shows that this is NOT the type of 'dominion' that we are called upon to have over the creation. For example, 'radah' is used in Ezek 34:4, which shows the wrong type of 'radah'. The use of 'radah' there shows that God condemns such an attitude:

"Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled [radah] them harshly and brutally." (2-5).

While we might argue precisely how this applies, I am here referring to it at a higher level, namely that it shows the heart of God, whose image we are made in. And that image is tied up with our 'radah' of the creation.

Our 'radah', of the creation, is not to be with harshness and cruelty and selfishness. Our 'radah' is to be, not for our own sake, but for the sake of the one ruled, that is, for the sake of the creation. We should heal those parts of creation that are sick, bind up those parts that are injured, bring back those parts that are straying, search for those parts that have become lost, as it were.

So we 'radah' creation to represent God to it, to develop and refine and beautify it for its own sake, rather than for ours. (cf. the notion of Love: giving for the other. God is Love.)

Note: This Creation Mandate has never been rescinded. It is still in force for us, even in this gospel period.

God has given us radah over creation, but ultimately the earth is the Lords, just like ultimately everything we have has been given to us by God and he just charges us to steward it well.  Look in Psalm 24:1 and we see this, “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;” So the creation is God’s and we are called to be good stewards of it.  We are called not to “rule over it and subdue it” in the way that a tyrant rules over and subdues his people.  If we are, as the other part of our main Scripture says, made in the image of God, then we are called to model the same love, same care, and same devotion to the creation that God has.  We are called to see the creation in the same way that God did and does, as good.  Broken, crying out for redemption, fallen, but still good.  And that we as followers of Jesus are called to do the hard work of working towards the wholeness, redemption, healing, and fullness of not only the people all around us but also the creation itself.

But what does that look like?  What does it mean to do the hard work of bringing wholeness, redemption, healing and fullness to the creation?  And what does it look like to live out the mandate that God has laid out for us from the very beginning of Creation?  That is what we will spend our time focusing on in our time of discussion.\

1.  What thoughts, comments, insights, ideas, disagreements, wisdom, etc... do you have in regards to the Scripture text(s) we looked at and the idea of stewardship of the environment?

2.  How can you and I individually take seriously our role as radah over God's creation?  What ways can you and I better steward God's creation?

3.  How can we as Veritas take more seriously our role as radah over God's creation and what steps can we take to make that a reality within the life and ministry of Veritas?

The Naked Anabaptist

The other week I had the privilege of attending a session, dinner, and public lecture at Elizabethtown College with Stuart Murray Williams, the author of the book "The Naked Anabaptist: The Bare Essentials of a Radical Faith."  During the session and the lecture Williams gave out a paper dealing with Core Convictions of the Anabaptist Network (in the UK....but could be affirmed by all Anabaptist) , on one side and thoughts on Post-Christendom on the other.  I wanted to take the next few blog posts looking at the Core Convictions, Post-Christendom, and my thoughts in reading his book. Here are the 7 Core Convictions of the Anabaptist Network of which I resonate deeply with.

1. Jesus is our example, teacher, friend, redeemer and Lord. He is the source of our life, the central reference point for our faith and lifestyle, for our understanding of church and our engagement with society. We are committed to following Jesus as well as worshipping him.

2. Jesus is the focal point of God’s revelation. We are committed to a Jesus-centred approach to the Bible, and to the community of faith as the primary context in which we read the Bible and discern and apply its implications for discipleship.

3. Western culture is slowly emerging from the Christendom era when church and state jointly presided over a society in which almost all were assumed to be Christian. Whatever its positive contributions on values and institutions, Christendom seriously distorted the gospel, marginalised Jesus, and has left the churches ill-equipped for mission in a post-Christendom culture. As we reflect on this, we are committed to learning from the experience and perspectives of movements such as Anabaptism that rejected standard Christendom assumptions and pursued alternative ways of thinking and behaving.

4. The frequent association of the church with status, wealth and force is inappropriate for followers of Jesus and damages our witness. We are committed to exploring ways of being good news to the poor, powerless and persecuted, aware that such discipleship may attract opposition, resulting in suffering and sometimes ultimately martyrdom.

5. Churches are called to be committed communities of discipleship and mission, places of friendship, mutual accountability and multi-voiced worship. As we eat together, sharing bread and wine, we sustain hope as we seek God’s kingdom together. We are committed to nurturing and developing such churches, in which young and old are valued, leadership is consultative, roles are related to gifts rather than gender and baptism is for believers.

6. Spirituality and economics are inter-connected. In an individualist and consumerist culture and in a world where economic injustice is rife, we are committed to finding ways of living simply, sharing generously, caring for creation, and working for justice.

7. Peace is at the heart of the gospel. As followers of Jesus in a divided and violent world, we are committed to finding non-violent alternatives and to learning how to make peace between individuals, within and among churches, in society, and between nations.

I especially liked number 5 in relation to multi-voiced worship, something we have done since the beginning of Veritas, and something others are resonating with in the emerging, missional discussion.  In fact I just finished a book called "Free for all: Rediscovering the Bible in Community" by Tim Conder and Daniel Rhodes from the Emmaus Way community in NC, in which the whole premise was about this ideas of multi-voiced worship and a communal exegesis and hermeneutic.  I finished that book and thought just how Anabaptist their book really was.

Veritas has been founded from an Anabaptist understanding of the faith and we are trying to live out these same core convictions in our individual and corporate life together.

Give Me Your Eyes

Give Me Your Eyes I"ve been thinking about this song lately.  On Sunday morning Veritas will be going into downtown Lancaster and prayerscaping around the town.  Basically prayerscaping is praying that God would "Give Me Your Eyes" exactly the thing that this song is about.  May these words be more and more in our prayers and our lives and then when we have his eyes we'll be moved with compassion, love, grace and mercy and will seek to be a blessing in our world.

Music and Art Fundraising Night

The above poster is for our Music and Art Fundraising event to be held on Saturday December 11.  It will be a great night of great drinks provided by Prince Street Cafe, great desserts provided by Geneva Bakery, great music provided by the Veritas Worship team, Matt Wheeler and other musicians.  There will be great art that you can bid on via silent auction.  You can pick up a copy of the Veritas: Music and Art from our Community Volume 2.  There will also be testimonies from people involved with Veritas about what God has done in their life through Veritas.  There will also a time of sharing about the mission, vision, and dreams of Veritas with an opportunity to partner with Veritas in prayer, people, and finances.  So consider this your invitation to this event and invite any one that you might have interest in learning about Veritas and supporting church planting.  Just RSVP to me by December 8 so that we know how many people are coming.  Hope to see you there.

The 4 P's of Missional Life and Ministry

Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 04:49PM

Last night while driving from my house to Franklin and Marshall College to speak at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship I was listening to some seminar given at Dallas Theological Seminary by Michael Frost.  In the seminar Frost was talking about the missional life and he laid out 4 P's of missional life.

The 4 P's are:

Proximity-  This is based off of John 1:14 where Jesus takes on flesh and blood and moves into the neighborhood.  This is being in close relationship and close space to those who Jesus misses the most.  This can mean to move into a new neighborhood that God is calling you to move into, or to just spend more time in the relationships and neighborhood that God has already placed you.

We step into the experience of those we seek to win and serve. We need to step out of our comfort zone and move into proximity of those who would not be in our normal circle of friends. Ministry happens in the neighborhoods.

Presence- When we spend time in the world we are litterally the presence of Christ in the world.  We are the hands and feet of Christ.  We will be with people in relationship and in the midst of that relationship Christ will be present.

We are to practice the presence of Christ in the midst of the world. We should be doing what Christ would have been doing if he was still physically walking in this world.

Powerlessness- This is probably one of the hardest thing from the perspective of a white middle-class educated male who at times doesn't realize that he has always been on the side of the "power" dynamic.  But what Michael Frost is getting at was shared in the context of a story about 2 Texans who were teaching english to some burmese refugees.  Frost said to ask the refugees to teach them something, like cooking to change the power dynamic.

Proclamation- This is one piece that all too often is missing in the missional conversation.  We react so strongly against the "evangelism" that is about manipulation, hell-fire and brimstone, and lacking in relationship that sometimes we just let our actions speak for us.  (especially from the perspective of an anabaptist).

Should we actually tell people about Jesus? If we move into the neighborhood and build relational proximity and are the presence of Jesus, going empty handed and naked as the powerless ones, sooner or later someone is going to want to know who you are and why you do what you do. The answer to that question is of course the proclamation of the person of Jesus. Without this proclamation we will be seen as just another good person. Of what value is that?

So I am digesting what this means for my family and I as we discern our next steps together and also as leaders within the Veritas community.  I also am wondering how Veritas might live out these 4 P's in our communal life.  How are you or your community living these 4 P's out?  I would be interested in hearing comments, thoughts, and suggestions..

Oops...take 2

Monday, November 8, 2010 at 01:40PM

When you leave me in charge of the technical aspect of stuff..like what happened yesterday....you end up with nothing recorded......So here is the text from the message from yesterday and the questions we discussed.

We have two more weeks left in our sermon series entitled “The Generous Life” and until we transition into Phase 2 of Veritas.  This week we’ll be covering the Stewardship of Talents and next week we’ll wrap it all up with discussion centered on the stewardship of God’s creation.

So as I was working on developing this series I knew that I needed to do one week on being good stewards of our talents.  And I knew that I needed to use the Parable that we are going to look at this morning.  I knew this because this parable is one that led me to planting Veritas, calling me to take a risk and use what he has blessed me with.  God spoke so strongly to me through this parable and continues to speak through it to me.  And I am sure that he will speak to you through it as well.

The parable that we are looking at together today is found in Matthew 25:14-30 and is called the Parable of the Talents.

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more.  So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.  “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’  “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’  “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?  Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. “‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents.  For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.  And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

This is one of the better known parables that Jesus told during his ministry here on earth.  But what was the point of the story for his hearer’s?  And what about us 2,000 years later?  Is the point of the story the same and an even deeper question, is the story and the point of it even relevant in our time?  Let’s spend some time this morning discussing the parable, its point made by Jesus, and the relevance of it in our modern life.

The first thing that we need to look at together is this word talent found in the parable.  In the English language we commonly use that word when we say people have received talents of music, business, leadership, and the like.  That use of the word is derived from this parable.  But what was a talent in Jesus’ day?  It was originally a measure of weight and later the word came to denote a fixed amount of gold or silver.  A talent was a unit of money which in modern terms equal roughly 1,200 dollars.  So while we may think that the third servant wasn’t given that much in the way of talents, we see that it was significant nonetheless.  Servants of God are not all endowed with equal gifts and talents.  But it’s not how much the servants were each given, but what they did with it once that had it that truly mattered.  Just look at the Master at the end of the story, what did he look for?  Goodness and faithfulness in his servants.  Whatever financial success these servants enjoyed came because they were good and faithful.  The Master looked first for these things, not the bottom line.

In this parable Jesus points out that talents are given to be used, and not buried in the earth.  These talents are to be used, shared, and given to help others, and not keep it to ourselves (whether we are talking about money, time, or talents).  It reminds me of another passage of Scripture which talks about the reason for our gifts.  1 Peter 4:10 (a letter written by an early Christian leader named Peter) says, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”  Any gift that we may have received from God (money, time, talent, etc..) everything that w have should be viewed as being entrusted to us, not for ourselves, but to be used for ministering and serving the body of Christ and the world.  Our possession’s are not ours in a selfish sense, for we are just stewarding them for God, as he has given us them to further his kingdom with.

This is where the connection lies between last week’s discussion and this weeks.  Each of us have different talents (music, teaching, art, athletics, dance, drama, etc..) and so we desperately need each other in order for the body of Christ to be complete and whole.  No one’s gift is more important than any other in the body of Christ, all are needed.  Whether we feel that we have been given 5 talents, 2 talents, or only 1 talent, we need to use those talents in concert with others within the body of Christ to further the kingdom.  Again it’s not how many talents that you have been given, or how you are using those talents to further your own kingdom, but it is how you are using them to further the kingdom of God that truly matters the most.

I’ll tell you what messed me up the most when I read this passage about 4 years ago.  It was the ending of the parable in the Message translation that God called me to jump ship and take a risk in planting Veritas.  In the Message version the ending of the parable goes like this, “The master was furious. 'That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest. "'Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this "play-it-safe" who won't go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.'”

Did you catch the difference between this ending and the one from the New International Version?  The issue that the master had with the servant was that he didn’t take a risk, and the one who received the most was the one who took the greatest risk.  We must venture with Christ at risk.  We can’t be content with “things as they are.”  We must break new soil.  We miss the point of this story if we fail to see that Christ requires of his followers the hazard of the untried road.  Or as Charlotte Bronte put it, “Better to try all things and find all empty, than to try nothing and leave life a blank.”  So when all is said and done regarding this parable, the central thrust and meaning of the story is that it is a plea that we live in courageous faith.  Willing to take risks for the kingdom of God.  When we are good stewards of the talents that we are given, that means we will take risks in using them to spread the Good news of Jesus and seek to further his kingdom.  To use our talents means risk.  Listen to this poem regarding risk….

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool. To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. To reach out for another is to risk involvement. To expose feeling is to risk exposing your true self. To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd, is to risk their loss. To love is to risk not being loved in return. To live is to risk dying. To hope is to risk despair. To try is to risk failure. But the risk must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live. Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave, he has forfeited freedom. ONLY A PERSON WHO RISKS – IS FREE

So how can you and I be good stewards of the talents we have?  How can you and I risk for the kingdom?  And how can we as a community of faith take risks to spread the good news of Jesus and seek to further his kingdom?  That is where we’ll seek to talk about in our discussion time.

1.  What thoughts, ideas, comments, disagreements, insights, etc... do you have in regards to the passage of Scripture and in being a good steward of our talents?

2. What is one talent that God has given to you, and how have you been a good steward of it?  Or how could you be a good steward of it?

3.  How has God called you to risk for the Kingdom of God?  In the next week what risks might you take for the Kingdom?

4.  What risks might God be challenging Veritas to take for his Kingdom?  In what ways can we as a community risk for the Kingdom?

The Generous Life-Stewardship of Relationships

Monday, November 1, 2010 at 12:46PM

Due to technical difficulties, (the message wasn't recorded yesterday) I'll be copying my message below along with the questions that we discussed.  Would love to hear your thoughts, comments, ideas, etc...

So we are in the midst of a new series called “The Generous Life” looking at the issues of stewardship.  Stewardship of finances was our first week, last week we did stewardship of time, this week we are covering stewardship of relationships, and the final two weeks we will cover talent and the environment.

As we look at the stewardship of relationships I want to start with a story/cartoon that is found in the book that some of us have probably read called Blue Like Jazz.  The story is called Don the Astronaut and goes like this….There once was a man named

Don Astronaut.  Don Astronaut lived on a space station out in space.  Don Astronaut had a special space suit that kept him alive without food or water or oxygen. One day there was an accident.  And Don Astronaut was cast out into space.  Don Astronaut orbited the earth and was very scared.  Until he remembered his special suit that kept him alive.  But nobody’s government came to rescue Don Astronaut because it would cost too much money.  (There was a conspiracy, and they said he had died, but he hadn’t.)  So Don Astronaut orbited the earth again and again, fourteen times each day.  And Don Astronaut orbited the earth for months.  And Don Astronaut orbited the earth for decades.  And Don Astronaut orbited the earth for fifty-three years before he died a very lonely and crazy man—just a shell of a thing with hardly a spark for a soul.

So what is the point of this story?  I believe it has to do with the importance of relationship and community in the existence of humankind.  God made humankind as a social creature and without relationships; we dry up and become “just a shell of a thing with hardly a spark for a soul”.  Miller says more about relationships and gives us more insight into Don Astronaut when he says, “I thought faith, mine being Christian faith, was something a person did alone, like monks in caves.  I thought the backbone of faith was time alone with God, time reading ancient texts and meditating on poetry or the precepts of natural law and perhaps, when a person gets good and godly, levitating potted plants or pitchers of water.”  But, in reality, God has made us for relationships from the very beginning.  Let’s look at a Scripture found in the 1st book of the Bible, a book called Genesis.  Let’s look together at Genesis 2:18 and see what it might say to us regarding what it means to steward our relationships.

Genesis 2:18 says, “The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."  I find this text extremely interesting.  In the first chapter of Genesis we see this literary rhythm taking place where God creates, and then calls his creation good and the rhythm continues.  The only time that rhythm in the first two chapters of Genesis is broken is found in this verse.  For the first time, God seeks something that is not good: the aloneness of the man in the garden.  God never intended us to be alone.  But have you ever thought about it?  In a very real sense Adam was not alone; he had God to walk with him very literally.  But God knew that Adam needed someone that was like him to make him fully complete.  Humanity, in the state of being alone, is incomplete, unfulfilled and lacking in much that we were created to be.  Perfect solitude would turn the Garden of Eden (paradise) into a desert, and a palace into a dungeon.  To be alone in the world is a depressing condition.  The writer of the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes says this about being alone vs. being in relationship, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.  But how can one keep warm alone?”  In this text we see the necessity of relationships and I believe to be fully human and to fully live out what God calls us to, we desperately need each other.  In our best state in this world we have need one another’s help, for we are truly connected to each other.

This interconnectedness that God calls us to reminds me of the story of the redwood trees.  The huge redwood trees of California amaze mankind. They are the largest living things on earth and the tallest trees in the world. Some of them are 300 feet high and over 2,500 years old. One would think that trees so large must have a tremendous root system that reaches down hundreds of feet into the earth. But not so! The redwoods have a very shallow root system. If one was to get down on his knees and examine the redwoods' root system he would find that all the roots intertwine. They are locked to each other. When the storms come, the winds blow, and the lightning flashes, the redwoods still stand. They are not alone for all the trees support and protect each other. Each tree is important to all the other trees in the grove.

This is a great picture of what it means, to me, to be a good steward of the relationships we have.  To intertwine together so that when one experiences the blowing of the wind, the storms of life, and is threatened to be blown over, that we help support that person.  We do what the Apostle Paul (an early follower of Jesus) says we should do in the New Testament book of Philippians, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”  Stewardship of relationships requires that we look at others through the eyes of Christ. Jesus can help us see past the outside layer– whether that is a false bravado or a false “lone ranger” attitude– and see the hurts and pains that are really common to all of us.

Not everyone will respond nicely to us, but we can let them all know that the door is open. We want to share life with them just because they too are special, unique persons of worth created in the image of a loving, gracious God. No hidden agendas, no “check marks” on a list, no “brownie points” for inviting someone to church– just loving them because God loved them first.

I believe that understanding the sense that we truly and deeply need each other, that we need to put others first, and that seeing others through the eyes of Jesus, means that we will become better stewards of the relationships that God has given to each of us.  That we will begin to realize the amazing beauty of relationships and community.  God continues to challenge me, encourage me, convict me, and amaze me through the community that we are becoming together and I want to be a good steward of this community by loving each of you, by challenging each of you (and myself), by supporting each of you (as you support me), and by putting your needs and the needs of the wider community and world before my own.  That we would make decisions as a faith community that we be more focus on others needs than our own.  I don’t believe you can be a good steward of your relationships until you can put the needs of other before your own.  That is a foundational step to being a good steward.  Or as Donald Miller puts it in Blue Like Jazz, “If we are not willing to wake up in the morning and die to ourselves, perhaps we should ask ourselves whether or not we are really following Jesus.”

How do you and I steward the relationships that God has given to us?  What does it look like to steward the relationship between husband and wife?  Between parents and children?  Between friends, roommates, co-workers, neighbors, etc..?  How do we die to ourselves and put the needs of others before our own?  Let’s take some time and discuss together what stewardship of relationship looks like, times we have blown it, and times we have gotten it right and what it might mean in the midst of our Veritas community.

Discussion Questions:

1.  What comments, thoughts, ideas, disagreements, insights, questions, etc.. do you have regarding stewardship of relationships?

2.  How do you or could you steward the relationships/people that God has given to you?  What practical examples can you give in this area of stewardship?

3.  How have we or how can we as a community, be good stewards of the relationships within our community and also in the wider community/world?  Where have we done a good job and where do we need improvement?

Adrian Plass-Amen

Tuesday, October 26, 2010 at 04:50PM

Today while working on some artwork for a series called Echo the Story I was listening to some messages given by Michael Frost at Dallas Theological seminary.  Michael always knows how to smack you around about mission, the Kingdom of God, and living out the Missio Dei in the world.  On the second message that I listend to he quoted a poem that I have heard before (from other Frost recordings).  But it again struck me regarding the call of Jesus on my life (and on all of our lives).  So I thought I would take this space to share the poem called Amen by Adrian Plass.  Read it, digest it, struggle with it, pray and discern what God might be calling you to, and how he might use you to further the kingdom of God.

When I became a Christian I said, Lord, now fill me in, Tell me what I’ll suffer in this world of shame and sin. He said, your body may be killed, and left to rot and stink, Do you still want to follow me? I said Amen - I think. I think Amen, Amen I think, I think I say Amen, I’m not completely sure, can you just run through that again? You say my body may be killed and left to rot and stink, Well, yes, that sounds terrific, Lord, I say Amen - I think.

But, Lord, there must be other ways to follow you, I said, I really would prefer to end up dying in my bed. Well, yes, he said, you could put up with the sneers and scorn and spit, Do you still want to follow me? I said Amen - a bit. A bit Amen, Amen a bit, a bit I say Amen, I’m not entirely sure, can we just run through that again? You say I could put up with sneers and also scorn and spit, Well, yes, I’ve made my mind up, and I say, Amen - a bit.

Well I sat back and thought a while, then tried a different ploy, Now, Lord, I said, the Good book says that Christians live in joy. That’s true he said, you need the joy to bear the pain and sorrow, So do you want to follow me, I said, Amen - tomorrow. Tomorrow, Lord, I’ll say it then, that’s when I’ll say Amen, I need to get it clear, can I just run through that again? You say that I will need to joy, to bear the pain and sorrow, Well, yes, I think I’ve got it straight, I’ll say Amen - tomorrow.

He said, Look, I’m not asking you to spend an hour with me A quick salvation sandwich and a cup of sanctity, The cost is you, not half of you, but every single bit, Now tell me, will you follow me? I said Amen - I quit. I’m very sorry Lord I said, I’d like to follow you, But I don’t think religion is a manly thing to do. He said forget religion then, and think about my Son, And tell me if you’re man enough to do what he has done.

Are you man enough to see the need, and man enough to go, Man enough to care for those whom no one wants to know, Man enough to say the thing that people hate to hear, To battle through Gethsemane in loneliness and fear. And listen! Are you man enough to stand it at the end, The moment of betrayal by the kisses of a friend, Are you man enough to hold your tongue, and man enough to cry? When nails break your body-are you man enough to die? Man enough to take the pain, and wear it like a crown, Man enough to love the world and turn it upside down, Are you man enough to follow me, I ask you once again? I said, Oh Lord, I’m frightened, but I also said Amen.

Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen; Amen, Amen, Amen, I said, Oh Lord, I’m frightened, but I also said, Amen.