Just clicked through each of the blogs in my "bloggs of interest" list. Great stuff happening around the world. I will have to clean some of them up as a few of them are dead links, but it's interesting to check in on people I've been following for several years now. I don't write here as often as I should, but I must say, I do love everything about blogging.
In other news, we just completed an intensive "no pants" weekend potty training "experience" (it was that.) And the good news is that is has been largely "successful", so long as success is defined in relative terms. : )
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
April 13, 2009
June 23, 2008
Missional Defination in Art and Scripture
Philippians 2:6-7
Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.
Matthew 28:18
Jesus came and told his disciples,“I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go...
John 20:21
As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.
Mark 2:16
But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?
1 Corinthians 9:22
I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.
A word of explanation
Rich over at Blindbegger, as well as many others I am finding, feel that the word missional is loosing it's meaning. Consequently he has called for a synchroblog event, happening today, to discuss the defination of the word missional.
Since I'm sure other people will do a better job than I at putting pen to paper, what you see above is my contribution to a working defination. Those pictures were not chosen randomly, rather, I believe they each carry great meaning. The word missional means the life of we who are the church centered on three things: Jesus, The Mission of God, and a sense of community; meaning an awareness of the interrelatedness of humanity, and the need to be in relationship.
The first picture obviously depicts Jesus, the center of all things, but just as important is the fact that in this picture Christ is incarnate in and for a particular ethnic community. There is nothing wrong with a blond hair/blue eyed Jesus'... in Scandinavia, or any community that is truly that homogeneous. (though I would question how truly homogeneous communities that think they are, are.) Jesus was God made flesh, for a particular community, the Jews in his historical case. We too must seek to reflect Christ in our particular communities, authentically engaging people where they are at.
People should not have to cross cultural boundaries to come to Christ. Unfortunately on it's worst days, the size and weight of the evangelical community has created its own sub-culture, one allian to those not initiated. It is a subculture wholly un-Christ like in that it serves as a barrier to those on the outside. We don't GO as Christ taught us, we say COME; and when your just like me you can belong... if you take this class and pass the test. (Of course there are good days too. Take a look at who is actually rebuilding New Orleans.)
The second picture is meant to convey a sense of "going", or being on the move. It's an added bonus, that in the picture the world seems to be passing the church by. How true. To avoid this we have to evaluate how we spend out time. How many relationships do we have with people outside the church? And how much of our time goes to those people? Jesus left the comfort of church err... heaven, and went to where people were at, usually the "sick" not those who are "well"... (in church?) (This is an area I certainly struggle in.)
The final picture is meant to convey a sense of community and relationship. To love our neighbor as ourselves demands an awareness of our communities both local and global, and an understanding of how what I do impacts others. The teachings of Jesus demand lived beliefs that impact the communities we are a part of.
In contrast, much of the church lives with a dualism that acts as if A) doesn't impact B). Ironically the church often talks about breaking down this dualism, and in some ways does. But several Biblical concepts, justice and equality in particular, have been given very little attention. Instead, we who are the church have reflected a greater commitment to a kind of capitalism which is unencumbered with the ethics of Christ or a concern for those most in need. Sure we give of our time and money. But then our spending and investing habits, and the actions of our elected representatives (on both sides of the aisle) undo all the good we were tying to do, illustrating the dualism we are talking about.
Having said all of this, I am concerned that we who are authentically using the word missional (i.e. not just tagging it on to a very attractional thing.) none the less struggle to live it out. I certainly do, especially in the area of economic justice. There is a real danger that all we are talking about is degrees of separation on the wrong side of the equation. Do we really want to trumpet Jesus as our guide and example if we struggle as much as we do to live up to his over-the-top example?
Take these pictures for what their worth, and by all means, feel free to critique. For a fuller defination see the links below.
Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.
Matthew 28:18
Jesus came and told his disciples,
John 20:21
As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.
Mark 2:16
But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?
1 Corinthians 9:22
I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.
A word of explanation
Rich over at Blindbegger, as well as many others I am finding, feel that the word missional is loosing it's meaning. Consequently he has called for a synchroblog event, happening today, to discuss the defination of the word missional.
Since I'm sure other people will do a better job than I at putting pen to paper, what you see above is my contribution to a working defination. Those pictures were not chosen randomly, rather, I believe they each carry great meaning. The word missional means the life of we who are the church centered on three things: Jesus, The Mission of God, and a sense of community; meaning an awareness of the interrelatedness of humanity, and the need to be in relationship.
The first picture obviously depicts Jesus, the center of all things, but just as important is the fact that in this picture Christ is incarnate in and for a particular ethnic community. There is nothing wrong with a blond hair/blue eyed Jesus'... in Scandinavia, or any community that is truly that homogeneous. (though I would question how truly homogeneous communities that think they are, are.) Jesus was God made flesh, for a particular community, the Jews in his historical case. We too must seek to reflect Christ in our particular communities, authentically engaging people where they are at.
People should not have to cross cultural boundaries to come to Christ. Unfortunately on it's worst days, the size and weight of the evangelical community has created its own sub-culture, one allian to those not initiated. It is a subculture wholly un-Christ like in that it serves as a barrier to those on the outside. We don't GO as Christ taught us, we say COME; and when your just like me you can belong... if you take this class and pass the test. (Of course there are good days too. Take a look at who is actually rebuilding New Orleans.)
The second picture is meant to convey a sense of "going", or being on the move. It's an added bonus, that in the picture the world seems to be passing the church by. How true. To avoid this we have to evaluate how we spend out time. How many relationships do we have with people outside the church? And how much of our time goes to those people? Jesus left the comfort of church err... heaven, and went to where people were at, usually the "sick" not those who are "well"... (in church?) (This is an area I certainly struggle in.)
The final picture is meant to convey a sense of community and relationship. To love our neighbor as ourselves demands an awareness of our communities both local and global, and an understanding of how what I do impacts others. The teachings of Jesus demand lived beliefs that impact the communities we are a part of.
In contrast, much of the church lives with a dualism that acts as if A) doesn't impact B). Ironically the church often talks about breaking down this dualism, and in some ways does. But several Biblical concepts, justice and equality in particular, have been given very little attention. Instead, we who are the church have reflected a greater commitment to a kind of capitalism which is unencumbered with the ethics of Christ or a concern for those most in need. Sure we give of our time and money. But then our spending and investing habits, and the actions of our elected representatives (on both sides of the aisle) undo all the good we were tying to do, illustrating the dualism we are talking about.
Having said all of this, I am concerned that we who are authentically using the word missional (i.e. not just tagging it on to a very attractional thing.) none the less struggle to live it out. I certainly do, especially in the area of economic justice. There is a real danger that all we are talking about is degrees of separation on the wrong side of the equation. Do we really want to trumpet Jesus as our guide and example if we struggle as much as we do to live up to his over-the-top example?
Take these pictures for what their worth, and by all means, feel free to critique. For a fuller defination see the links below.
Synchroblog Participants
Alan Hirsch . Alan Knox . Andrew Jones . Barb Peters . Bill Kinnon . Brad Brisco . Brad Grinnen . BradSargent . BrotherMaynard . Bryan Riley . Chad Brooks . Chris Wignall . Cobus Van Wyngaard . Dave DeVries . David Best . DavidFitch . David Wierzbicki . DoSi . Doug Jones . Duncan McFadzean . Erika Haub . Grace . Jamie Arpin-Ricci . Jeff McQuilkin . John Smulo . Jonathan Brink . JR Rozko . Kathy Escobar . Len Hjalmarson . Makeesha Fisher . Malcolm Lanham . Mark Berry . Mark Petersen . Mark Priddy . Michael Crane . Michael Stewart . Nick Loyd . Patrick Oden . Peggy Brown . Phil Wyman . Richard Pool . Rick Meigs . Rob Robinson . Ron Cole . Scott Marshall . Sonja Andrews . Stephen Shields . Steve Hayes . Tim Thompson . Thom Turner
November 06, 2007
Labels and Seminary
I've been going over all 274 of the posts I've written over the past three years, most of which were written while I was living in Pasadena, attending Fuller Seminary. Why? Mainly to add labels to them, labels which you can now view in the right hand column. This will also help me locate posts I've written, when I want to refresh my thinking (and past thinking).
What is interesting is scanning all of this relatively useful babbling of mine. It reminds me of all these classes, and all this theology, much of which I really love. I have to say, I really miss Fuller, and will alway enjoy my memories of my time there and the wonderful people I met.
Here is a link to a list of other bloggers that went to/are attending Fuller.
What is interesting is scanning all of this relatively useful babbling of mine. It reminds me of all these classes, and all this theology, much of which I really love. I have to say, I really miss Fuller, and will alway enjoy my memories of my time there and the wonderful people I met.
Here is a link to a list of other bloggers that went to/are attending Fuller.
October 24, 2007
Still no blogging
So a lot of time has gone by. Why have I not been blogging? Good question. Maybee you can tell me. Why do bloggers stop blogging? I did it on average several times a week while I was in school, and after the birth of my son, about once every two to three weeks, some times more. So why did I just stop? It wasen’t that I didn’t think about things that could be blogged, it was just that I had no desire to take the time and effort to put my thoughts into writing.
July 31, 2007
no blogging - here
Sorry about the lack of blogging. I will be returning shortly, with more from the book Just Generosity, (see below). For what it's worth, I've been discussing the nature of God's will with someone of a secular humanist perspective on the La Crosse Tribunes comment pages. You can read it here. In contrast to how things normally go on the Tribunes faith section comment section, (a lot of ranting and raving) We are actually having a nicel little discussion, hopefully learning from each other's perspectives.
December 28, 2006
Library Thing
So i recently found a new on-line social networking toy. It's called Library Thing, and as you can see I have two of their widgets in the right hand column of this blog, "Recent books from my library" and "my tag cloud" which is the various labels I have asighned to my books. Library Thing allows you to tag and manage your books in a similar way that delicious allows you to manage your web bookmarks. You can find other people with similar interests when it comes to books, talk about them, trade them and many other things.
After three or four days I finally finished entering my library into the system. No longer do I have to figure out what section to shelve a particular book under. Now they can be tagged under multiple labels, and then shelved alphabetically by author. (For instance, Blue Like Jazz is tagged under emerging church, culture, ministry, and spirituality.) Do I have a certain book? I don't have to look, I just search my library on-line. What book do I want to read next? What topic do I want to read about next? I just click that tag and see all my books in that section.
How does this matter to you? If you live around here, you can see what's on my shelf and ask to borrow it... if you have three forms of ID, a personal reference, and a $100 deposit. : )
After three or four days I finally finished entering my library into the system. No longer do I have to figure out what section to shelve a particular book under. Now they can be tagged under multiple labels, and then shelved alphabetically by author. (For instance, Blue Like Jazz is tagged under emerging church, culture, ministry, and spirituality.) Do I have a certain book? I don't have to look, I just search my library on-line. What book do I want to read next? What topic do I want to read about next? I just click that tag and see all my books in that section.
How does this matter to you? If you live around here, you can see what's on my shelf and ask to borrow it... if you have three forms of ID, a personal reference, and a $100 deposit. : )
October 25, 2006
Going Crazy
Life's been a bit crazy lately. New job, new apartment, new child... no new posts here. Thanks for understanding. I'll get back to this when my internet conection is up and running at my home.
July 04, 2006
Next Blog?
Where should I go from here? As in how, when, or if, should I blog, seeing as how this one is wholly centered on Fuller and being a theology graduate student, and now I'm about to graduate. I think a new blog would probably just have to be a "moment's in David's life" blog, or something like that.
The three of you who read this on a regular basis, what do you think? Should I try and continue the pop-theology, here's what I'm thinking today, thing, or should I just start something completely new?
Leave a comment and tell me what you think.
The three of you who read this on a regular basis, what do you think? Should I try and continue the pop-theology, here's what I'm thinking today, thing, or should I just start something completely new?
Leave a comment and tell me what you think.
May 06, 2006
Blogging for Fuller
I while back I applied to blog on behalf of Fuller’s admissions department, and was selected. This week it went live. There’s no need for you to read it because I just paste my favorite post of the week from this site on to that one, but you can see it here anyway if you want to. There is another student there, and eventually they want to have several more.
May 03, 2006
Who read's this thing anyway?
Not many people, mostly new people that apparently don’t come back. This thing averages 7 hits a day. About a third are google hits, a third are returning visitors, and a third are “other”. What are people googling? Several times a week I get hits in conjunction with this post on the murder of Andrew and Jamie Schliepsiek by Andrew Witt. Emerging Church, Christ and Culture, Missional, and Swimming or Deep End or both are other routine topics. The other way people get here is from the blogs I’m linked to, of which the A-team and Urban Onramps send me the most traffic. When I first put the hit counter on here I labled it an ego inflating device, and I think that’s about right, though in my case it is a reminder that apparently it seems most people only stumble on to this site by accident, and don’t stick around very long when they do. I think many visitiors here are simply looking for more information about swimming pools and for whatever reason click on this site when they see the link in google.
So here’s a little survey question for you to wrap this up.
How did you get to this site today, and did it meet your needs?
You can say something like, “no but it’s interesting”, or “no it’s retarded”, or “I read it everyday because I’m stalking you”, you know, whatever fits the bill.
So here’s a little survey question for you to wrap this up.
How did you get to this site today, and did it meet your needs?
You can say something like, “no but it’s interesting”, or “no it’s retarded”, or “I read it everyday because I’m stalking you”, you know, whatever fits the bill.
April 05, 2006
January 18, 2006
Links are Cool
Lately some guy by the name of blind beggar has been leaving some good comments. So I finally went and checked out his site last night. I may have once before, but I didn’t stay long. This time though, I scrolled around, and read some good articles. Then something caught my eye, under ‘interesting sites’ I found my link, swimming in the deep end. Finding your blog linked is always cool, in fact building that network is one of the best things about blogging, but it’s even better when it is someone with the wisdom and insights of Rick, a guy who’s been around for a while, (he has over 30 years on me) and has some good things to say. So check out his blog, I think you’ll find it interesting and rewarding.
June 21, 2005
Grrr!!!
I am so frustrated and disappointed!!! I wanted to try out a different template, and unwittingly I deleted all of my links on the previous template. Grrrrr…
June 09, 2005
Hitting the Home Run and Template Stuff
Big news, I’m going home on Saturday. Get to stay a week. All y’all that I grew up with that read this thing, which is probably about two of you, pass the word to our non-blogging friends, and maybe we’ll hook up.
I’m really looking forward to seeing friends and family and my small home town. I need a break from this fast paced, traffic clogged, “paradise”. It will be nice to go for a walk in silence for a change, and sleep without the lullabies of traffic ten yards from my bedroom window.
As you regulars can tell, I was playing around with the template last night. I’m not sure it actually looks better, but at least it is slightly different from every other blog, though not much. The thing is, I’m sick of having the same template as thousands of other people. I bought html for Dummies, so we’ll see how that goes, it that doesn’t pan out I may just take this thing over to TypePad, or some other host that will let me do more, but that would require some time, so I don’t know. If you have an opinion on blog hosts let me know.
I’m really looking forward to seeing friends and family and my small home town. I need a break from this fast paced, traffic clogged, “paradise”. It will be nice to go for a walk in silence for a change, and sleep without the lullabies of traffic ten yards from my bedroom window.
As you regulars can tell, I was playing around with the template last night. I’m not sure it actually looks better, but at least it is slightly different from every other blog, though not much. The thing is, I’m sick of having the same template as thousands of other people. I bought html for Dummies, so we’ll see how that goes, it that doesn’t pan out I may just take this thing over to TypePad, or some other host that will let me do more, but that would require some time, so I don’t know. If you have an opinion on blog hosts let me know.
June 02, 2005
Ego Inflating Devices
So I finally got a counter…hopefully it won’t bring down an awful plague on my head like a certain other David I know of.
The problem is that all those zero’s look awfully pitiful, so the three of you that visit this site on a regular basis, (there are thee of you right? not counting my mom?) Anyway, the three of you need to pass the word so I don’t look so stupid…though I can hear you now. “David, inflating your counter won’t make you look any better…your site already bounced off one to many branches on the ugly tree.” and you would be right, so never mind, don’t come back ever again, besides lowest score wins, right? ; )
In other news, finals are next week, so the posting may be a bit thin for a few days.
God Bless
The problem is that all those zero’s look awfully pitiful, so the three of you that visit this site on a regular basis, (there are thee of you right? not counting my mom?) Anyway, the three of you need to pass the word so I don’t look so stupid…though I can hear you now. “David, inflating your counter won’t make you look any better…your site already bounced off one to many branches on the ugly tree.” and you would be right, so never mind, don’t come back ever again, besides lowest score wins, right? ; )
In other news, finals are next week, so the posting may be a bit thin for a few days.
God Bless
May 20, 2005
Going Big Time
So here is the plan, I think I’m going to try and turn this into a “real” blog by posting something nearly every day. I’ll still make the occasional long post, actually one is coming up shortly, but I think I want to chronicle what is happing day to day now as well; besides, this way I’ll be cool, and that’s what life is all about right, keeping up with the Joneses?
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