Friday, October 31

Don't Read the Bible 'Alone'

Christopher Hall talks about how evangelicals should approach the church fathers.
Christopher Hall believes in the Reformation principle of Scripture Alone. But he doesn't think we should read the Bible alone—that is, in isolation from those who have gone before us.
Hall, one of the key evangelical theologians calling us to pay attention to the leaders of the early church, has written Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers (IVP, 1998) and Learning Theology with the Church Fathers (IVP, 2002). He is currently writing Praying with the Church Fathers, the third volume in that series. He is the associate editor of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (IVP), which gathers the church fathers' observations on Scripture passages from sermons, commentaries, and letters into a verse-by-verse commentary. Hall, who is professor of biblical and theological studies at Eastern University, will present a paper titled "The Role of Tradition in Evangelical Theology" during the American Academy of Religion's annual meeting in late November.
Because this is unfamiliar territory to many CT readers, editor David Neff recently asked Hall to explain how he actually puts the Fathers to use.
Interesting interview. Hall wrote one of my favorite books called Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers and brings out several interesting ideas here.

posted by Jordon | 8:07 PM | |


Thursday, October 30

"Blog reading for me is like going down to the cellar amid shelves and shelves of musty books that you're condemned to turn the pages of."

Camille Paglia on reading weblogs
Blog reading for me is like going down to the cellar amid shelves and shelves of musty books that you're condemned to turn the pages of. Bad prose, endless reams of bad prose! There's a lack of discipline, a feeling that anything that crosses one's mind is important or interesting to others. People say that the best part about writing a blog is that there's no editing -- it's free speech without institutional control. Well, sure, but writing isn't masturbation -- you've got to self-edit.
Now and then one sees the claim that Kausfiles was the first blog. I beg to differ: I happen to feel that my Salon column was the first true blog. My columns had punch and on-rushing velocity. They weren't this dreary meta-commentary, where there's a blizzard of fussy, detached sections nattering on obscurely about other bloggers or media moguls and Washington bureaucrats. I took hits at media excesses, but I directly commented on major issues and personalities in politics and pop culture...
If bloggers want to break out of their ghetto, they've got to acquire a sense of drama and theater as well as a flair for language. Why else should anyone read them? And the Web in my view is a visual medium -- I don't log on to be trapped on a muddy page crammed with indigestible prose.
...every writer must work on his or her prose to find a voice. No major figure has emerged yet from the blogs -- Andrew Sullivan was already an established writer before he started his. A blog should sound conversational and be an antidote to the inept writing in most of today's glossy magazines.
As a writer, I'm inspired not just by other writing but by music and art and lines from movies. I think that's what's missing from a lot of blogs. Most bloggers aren't culture critics but political or media junkies preoccupied with pedestrian minutiae and a sophomoric "gotcha" mentality. I find it depressing and claustrophobic. The Web is a wide open space -- voices on it should have energy and vision.

posted by Jordon | 6:09 PM | |

Mike Yaconelli, was in a fatal car accident in northern California late Wednesday evening

From the Youth Specialties website
Early this morning, Thursday, October 30, we lost a friend, a father, an inspiration. Co-founder and owner of Youth Specialties (YS), Mike Yaconelli, was in a fatal car accident in northern California late Wednesday evening.

The number of lives touched by Mike is beyond what we could even estimate. He is the father of modern youth ministry in many minds. Through his books, speaking engagements, and YS events, he has ministered to untold thousands all over the world.

Mike dedicated his life to what God had called him to do. He believed in youth ministry, and did all he could to equip youth workers to change the lives of students. He lived with a passion that was unmatched. He was the incarnation of his book titles, Dangerous Wonder and Messy Spirituality; he lived a life of wonder and amazement at God’s grace. He never claimed to be perfect; he just lived as he was—a man after God’s own heart.

posted by Jordon | 4:21 PM | |

mayhem in the midwest!

"Alrighty then. I guess it's time to bust this thang out. The crew in the Midwest is havin' a party, or a conference - you can call it that - in January. It's called Mayhem. We'll be talking about where we are as the 'emerging church' and hopefully building some relationships in the region - letting people know that they are not alone.

Check out the site for more details > not alone > you can register online there."

posted by + Alan | 11:45 AM | |


Wednesday, October 29

Responding to Alan

I really resonate with what Alan wrote. My wife and I have been on the slow track for many years now. Neither of us work full time, and we've taken turns over the years being the "main bread earner". It's her turn currently, so I sit around and eat bon-bons all day (not really.)

Slow tracking is a white collar luxury, though. We don't work for peanuts, and we don't have a very extravagant lifestyle. I worked a few hours a week recently at Borders in the cafe, and had to quit. I can't imagine having to work for $7.00 an hour. Tough raising a family on that.

So I'm trying to be very cognisant of how furtunate I am to live this way. I don't dream of a McMansion and a drawer full of Movado watches. And I don't have to work for next to nuthin'.

posted by Craig | 8:05 AM | |


Sunday, October 26

Peterson's message...the Holy Spirit creates the church

Those Allelon guys, man, am I jealous. They get to have all the fund, including a recent visit with Eugene Peterson, translator of The Message. My favorite quote from Winn Griffin's report of the visit, "For him, the Holy Spirit creates the church, not us."

posted by Charlie Wear | 5:44 PM | |


Friday, October 24

Jesus Is a Punk

I've posted on my blog the draft intro to a book manuscript I'm working on about punk rock and Christianity. I'm calling the intro "Jesus Is a Punk," but my working title for the book is Jesus Calling: Punk Prophets and the Church. I'd appreciate your thoughts on the intro, and the concept. Thanks.

posted by Andrew | 6:47 AM | |


Thursday, October 23

affluenza,

n. a painful, contagious, social transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more.

It's also a pretty cool book based on a PBS documentary. Here is a quote talking about homes.
Take houses for example. The average size of a new home is now more than double what it was in the 1950s, while families are smaller. LaNita Wacker, who owns Dream House Reality in Seattle, has been selling homes for more than a quarter century. She takes us on a drive through the neighborhoods near her office to explain whats happened.
She shows us houses built during every decade since World War II and describes how they've gotten bigger and bigger. Right after World War II, Wacker points out, 750 square feet was the norm (in Levittown, for example). "Then in the '50s," she says, "they added 200 square feet, so 950 was the norm." By the 60s, 1,100 square feet was typical, and by the '70s, 1350. Now it's 2,300.
LaNita Wacker started selling homes in 1972, "right about the time we moved from a single bath to the demand for a double bath." Two-car garages came in then too, and by the late '80s many homes were being built with three-car garages. That's 600-900 square feet of garage space alone, "as much square footage as an entire family used in the early '50s." Wacker says. "It would house an entire family. But we have aquired a lot of stuff to store."
To drive the point home, Wacker takes us by a huge home with a four car garage. Expensive cars and a boat are parked outside. The owner comes out wondering why LaNita is so interested in his place. "I own Dream House Realty," she says "And yours is a dream house." "It was built to the specifications of charming wife," the man replies with a laugh. "So why four garages?" asks LaNita. "It's probably because of storage," the man replies, explaining that the garages are filled with family possessions. "You never have enough storage so you can never have enough garages," he adds cheerfully. LaNita asks if he has children. "They're gone now," he replies. "It's just me and the wife."
The four-car garage is an exception, no doubt. But everyone expects larger homes now." A master bedroom in the 1950s would be about 130 square feet." explains Wacker, "Now, in even moderately priced homes, you're talking about maybe 300 square feet devoted to the master bedroom."
In recent years more than ever, homes have become a symbol of conspicuous consumption, as beneficiaries of the recent stock market boom and unparalleled economic expansion have begun, in many communities, to buy real estate, bulldoze existing (and perfectly functional) homes and replace them with the megahouses of 10,000 square feet and more. "Starter castles," some have named them. Others call them "Monster Homes."
On America's Streets of Dreams, the competition is fierce. McMansions... Double McMansions... Deluxe McMansions... Deluxe McMansion with Cheese... Full Garage Deal... each one a little bigger and glitzier, popping up like mushrooms in a frenzy of home wars. In places like the spectacular mountain towns of the West, many such megahomes are actually second homes, mere vacation destinations for the newly rich.
Growing up, my Mom's dad and my grandfather used to talk about his Christmases and how they used to consist of a stocking with fruit and candy in it. (did I ever think that was lame) Now, the average consumer spends $850 (USD) on Christmas gifts and we have to store that stuff somewhere or spend a lot of time selling it on eBay. I am amazed of the stuff that Wendy and I will never ever use but we keep storing it (actually we are selling it on eBay). You can get the book (yeah, I notice the irony) at Amazon.com. It really is worth reading and passing on. If you don't like it, you can store it in that dudes four car garage.

posted by Jordon | 4:28 PM | |

Living & Loving God's Creation

An organization I admire & support published a fascinating book - Ants, Galileo, and Gandhi
Designing the Future of Business through Nature, Genius and Compassion

From their intro:

This collection, developed from The Natural Step’s conference on Sustainability and Innovation in 2002, provides radical ideas for generating a new perspective on the dynamics of business systems. Ants symbolise the lessons to be learned from nature and the dependence of individual beings on broader, complex systems. Galileo embodies brilliance in perceiving and proving that the current paradigm is flawed. Gandhi exemplifies exceptional compassion in fighting for fundamental change.

While I commend the book to you, what strikes me is that mainstream businesses (HP, McDonalds, Home Depot) have embraced the sustainability of God's creation much more rapidly than the old mainline or the new mainstream churches. Why is it that being stewards for God's glorius creation is seen as far left or even pagan ?

A friend of mine had a great quote on this - paraphrasing - how is it that we want to spend eternity with someone who we diss so much right now ?

posted by lisa | 9:20 AM | |


Wednesday, October 22

Soularize Fotoblog is done

While there are a couple of pictures that still could be uploaded, the Soularize Fotoblog is essentially done.

Flying into Boston and Tuesday night
Day One of Soularize
Day Two of Soularize
Day Three of Soularize
Saturday at Harvard
Sunday night hanging out at Logan International Airport
Greg Mulkey's pictures
John Wilsford's pictures
Adam Klein's pictures

Some great pictures of Boston, TheOoze Booze Cruise, Fleet Center, Soularize sessions and people here. Enjoy!

posted by Jordon | 8:51 AM | |


Tuesday, October 21

Consumerism, laziness, and the postmodern life

A little over a month ago, I ended a stint of onsite web work for a private university. My normal week consisted of eight to ten hour days five days a week, followed by keeping up with existing clients in the evening. I know many Americans have a schedule like I Had for those six weeks basically every week of their lives. The thing that has been getting to me is how fast those six weeks flew by. They seem like a couple of weeks of my 'normal' life. Something about that just seems wrong and dehumanizing. I was a product in the system and it burned my time faster than I could have imagined.

Now, the flip side is I don't think I am not supposed to do any work. The fact is, I try to live a very simple lifestyle so I can do things I love and don't often get paid for (like being the General Editor of THEOOZE, acting in community theaters, and writing). I think human beings should engage in activities which improve mankind and are in some sense productive. The problem I am running into is the consumeristic culture is destructive , but I don't know how much of my life can be truly considered productive in what I do. Am I just being lazy? Selfish? Or is there value in refusing to embrace the machine which would cause me to, as in the movie fight club, "work the job I hate, so I can buy things I don't need"???

How much can a web designer really remove himself from the consumeristic culture. I can cut down my work to the bare minimum, but I am still tapped in. Removing myself isn't the answer, but I feel like I have lived a much longer life at 30 than many at 40 or 50 who have allowed the "machine" to grind up their years.

Or am I just an idealistic punk? Seriously. Am I immoral for not wanting to work a full-time job in the traditional sense? I do more than 40 hours of work on my various projects, but most of the hours don't pay. I don't know ... am I making any sense at all?

posted by Alan | 8:43 PM | |

There is an 'A List' [of Weblogs]... and of course, the most important corollary: You're not on it.

Fast Company was at PopTech in Maine
I think I can summarize Clay Shirky's presentation on "social software" in just a few words: The most popular Weblogs are a lot more popular than the least popular Weblogs. (This is known as a "Power Law.") He spent a lot of time making this point. "There is an 'A List' [of Weblogs]... and of course, the most important corollary: You're not on it."

But he also said that Weblogs, even those with only a few readers, are "more like friendship than like publishing." They're like dinner parties -- not "publishing the world's smallest magazine with the world's smallest readership."

posted by Jordon | 10:07 AM | |


Monday, October 20

Unpacking My Knapsack

A friend at seminary pointed me to this article - part of a working paper from a smart, smart Canadian ( seems like there are lots of them around, huh ?). Among the flotsam & jetsam that I post & link to, this one is worth spending some time with.

Her opening statement:

I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group


hit me like a ton of bricks. I am so often guilty of the most vile liberal guilt reactions to the institutional power that I assume. McIntosh's list of 26 examples of instances of the pervasiveness of racism & its demeaning nature left me silent with shame.

I am reminded that the person I love the most came to Earth in human form, hung out with folks of every stripe & affiliation and saved his sharpest comments for those in power. This week, I'll try to think more on:

Having described it, what will I do to lessen or end it?

posted by lisa | 9:18 AM | |


Sunday, October 19

Attending "normal" church...

My wife and I attended a church service this morning...This is probably not an unusual occurrence for most of those reading this weblog, but it has been somewhat infrequent for us. It was a communion Sunday. The pastor was preaching on Philippians 3:10 et seq. Pressing on toward the goal...We got bored and left. We were worried about our son in the nursery, sure enough, he had been crying. He was happy to be rescued by mom and dad. My wife and I are looking for community, the authentic Christian kind. But since we are both kind of introverted we are not looking very hard...

posted by Charlie Wear | 7:55 PM | |


Saturday, October 18

Soularize Photos

I am uploading the pictures that Jeb and I took while in Boston at Soularize. I have some Tuesday and Wednesday pictures posted online and will posting more during the day. Not only that but some other people have been uploading some pictures as well.

The Soularize Fotoblog

Tuesday pictures from Boston
Wednesday pictures from Soularize, TheOoze Booze Cruise, and the Boston Bruins/New Jersey Devils game from the Fleet Center
John Wilford's pictures
Greg Mulkey's pictures

More to come later today.

posted by Jordon | 1:00 PM | |


Thursday, October 16

Structure and Theology

Our theology needed tweaking. After hundreds of years of only talking to Christians like ourselves, we former or current evangelicals needed some outside input, there is no doubt. I have begun to wonder, however, what was most needed - theological change or structural change? It may not be a fair question, and I believe change was needed for both.

Structure has a way of capturing our theology, and I am beginning to think much of our theology resulted from our modern structures. By this, I mean that we created institutions which required a clear definition of who is in or out based on a belief system. By nature, this system reduced dialogue and created somewhat static theologies which were unbending and resistent to new tellings.

Could it be that by removing the body of Christ from institutions, our theology would naturally find its way home?

posted by Alan | 1:49 PM | |


Wednesday, October 15

Emergent church rejects 'Christianity lite' approach



BOSTON - His friends assumed his covert Sunday trips to a cross-town Episcopal church were about a girl, but Rick Bennett was actually looking for some inspiring liturgy.

Almost 20 years later, Bennett's desire to connect to the past has found a home in what's known as the emergent church, a small but growing movement nationwide.

read the rest of the article

posted by miah | 5:58 PM | |

On This Week's Culture War Jeoprady, I'll Take Ceremonial Deism For $400

A pledge that is central to the US is about go into the "culture war" playpen

Central to the case is the concept of ceremonial deism, which was introduced in 1962 by Eugene Rostow, the dean of Yale Law School. He used the term to refer to practices that are “so conventional and uncontroversial as to be constitutional.” In Rostow’s phrase deism refers to belief in a singular god. But the term has a more specific meaning. It refers to a belief held by a good number of the founders of America, the belief that there is one god, that it created the universe and the laws of nature and life, but that it does not interfere with its creation: it merely observes what happens. There are no miracles. There are no divine interventions or revelations. The god of the deists is not the God of Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson.

In the United States there are more than 4 million Presbyterians who believe in Jesus and more than 4 million Jews who don’t. Jesus is controversial. There are more than 63 million Catholics that believe God is a Trinity and almost 3 million Muslims that believe God is One. The nature of God is controversial. There are some 3 million atheists who don’t believe there is a God, and another 6 million agnostics who don’t know. The existence of God is controversial. There are millions of Americans—mostly Buddhists and Hindus—who believe that there is more than one God. There are all sorts of religious beliefs. They’re inherently controversial. That there is only one God is a controversial proposition, no matter how popular it is.

In a post (modern/Christendom/colonial) world, where does your brain & soul stand on this one ?

posted by lisa | 3:52 PM | |


Tuesday, October 14

THE CLASS SYSTEM

The heart of the message of the Gospel is that no matter what station in life we come from, ie. whether rich or poor, slave or free, have an education or not, no matter what race, or colour, we can all enter the Kingdom of God.

I have recently come to realise that while this may be true, there is a strong class system that exists within the Church and it is predominately middle class. The wealthy don't need it and the poor are not accepted in it. (I know this is a generalisation)

Jesus said very clearly that he came to help the poor, the broken, the hurting and those with mental illness, but are these the people that fill our Churches. A good friend while speaking at a conference boldly and honestly said, he found being around the poor and broken was "uncomfortable" he didn't like it. But he was also very aware that the heart of God was love for the poor.

So he continued to help and love the those who were in need. I even realised that in my attitude toward serving the poor was conditional - I had the expectation they would become "like me" middle class. How sick that is....

My attitude has changed a lot, not yet like Christ but certainly has changed in the right direction. Yet I fear that there are many who are crying out for help but but the help that, IF given, is conditional.

I am interested in knowing your experience with serving the poor, the broken, the hurting and those with mental illness. Are they an integral part of the community? or do they exist on the fringe? or is your church predominately middle class?

You can make comment below or post on my message board.

posted by Malcolm | 6:54 AM | |


Friday, October 10

What would you know about God if your only source of information were US television?

Beliefnet has a great article about the "God block" that is on US TV this season:

What would you know about God if your only source of information were US television?

It's a question worth asking this year, with no fewer than four new shows with theological implications. This week CBS takes its second shot at portraying God in three years with its heavily promoted "Joan of Arcadia," and next month Fox will introduce "Tru Calling" and "Wonderfalls." "Carnivale," on HBO, is the Almighty's cable debut.

I've watched Joan - and she is fairly ooze-y, pretty emerging and definitely grappling with the Divine Mystery. Two quotes that Barbara Hall (joan's creator) makes really grabbed me:

Who does TV cast as God?
I don't have time to watch a lot of television—it's the dilemma of the television writer. But my understanding is that God is the fixer. He loves us a lot and fixes everything. I don't see God as the fixer. We're not doing that. God works through people. He can guide. He gives Joan information.

What's your hope for "Joan"?
My purpose is to start the discussion. I have nothing to teach or preach because I don't know. It's a huge part of my spiritual practice that God is a mystery, and there's no way I'm going to break that down. What I wanted was to create a show that would get people talking about the kind of things we're talking about. I have a feeling that people want to talk about these things. People don't have a form in which to talk about them.

How do we live out a church that provides people a forum to talk about a God that is working thru each of us ? Funny that a broadcast TV showwould aspire to that.

posted by lisa | 4:49 PM | |



I got to meet Rudy Carrasco yesterday in Pasadena. Rodolpho "Rudy" Carrasco is the executive director of Harambee Christian Family Center in Pasadena, CA. Founded by Dr. John Perkins, Harambee Center has offered Afterschool, Summer, and Teen programs for African-American and Latino children and youth since 1983.

Rudy is one of the emerging leaders of the emerging church who is making himself available as a resource to those called to urban missions. His on the job experience over the last several years, first working as an assistant to Harambee's founder, John Perkins, gives him a database to draw on.

In our short time together, I took away two important points. One is in the form of a question: "What will it take to get your undivided attention?" As an apprentice of Jesus, does God have your undivided attention? Second, God doesn't always consider our convenience when he calls us to a ministry...

Thanks Rudy, for sharing your wisdom and experience with me....


posted by Charlie Wear | 9:04 AM | |


Monday, October 6



Shepherds without sheep

As I was reading the text in Mark 6:34, I misread what it said.

In Mark, Jesus looks with compassion upon the crowd because they were like sheep without a shepherd. However, I read in my mind "shepherds without sheep."

Hmmm…Shepherds without sheep?

Could it be that Jesus now looks upon the church with compassion because they are a warehouse of shepherds without sheep?

posted by joe | 12:05 PM | |


Sunday, October 5



Gender and the emerging church
The lack of women in the emerging church has been a discussion here, at living room and at Rachel's blog. I have spent the weekend pondering this issue, in between putting sick kids to bed. Having now done the ironing, let me add my two cents worth. (I post it rather than reply in the comments, below, because it is rather along post).

It is a fact that women are under-represented in the emerging church. So who to blame?

The SEXist church. An easy target, nameless, big enough to hit, and with a history of exclusion. However, I always thought the point of the emerging church was to move beyond the church as it exists in modernity. In fact, most of the best emerging churches I know owe very little loyalty to the established church. It is courageous individuals who have started something alone, independent of a modern mother church gifting life and finance. (In fact, Steves first law of entreprenurialism says that the further you are away from the institution, the more likely you are to be postmodernly sustainable and effective in mission.) As Robert Webber says, start your own. So the modern mother church cant be blocking women from ministry if we’re all starting up.

What about the culture? After all, that is who the emerging church is trying to reach. That mass of postmoderns - spiritual, consumptive, tolerant, diverse. Hmmm. Would they ignore someones gifts because she was a woman? The words, the acts, the visuals of eternal life denied in postmodern culture because of gender. I doubt it.

So who else to blame? The Sexist ooze moderators. Spencer Burke and Jordon Cooper, who have so much spare time, they plot ways to exclude women on this blog? I doubt it, and they are welcome to clarify the issue.

What about the deeper issue, the emerging church linked with white, middle-class technology. Boys with their wi-fi and flash! Boys attracting boys with their lastest piece of technology? Perhaps. I would love to know of the gender ratio of web-designers and video animators in the culture. Can anyone tell me?

Let me finish with a conversation. A number of emerging church leaders in New Zealand gathered in August to discuss Pete Wards Liquid Church.
>>"Does Liquid Church further the male zone because it prizes entrepreneurs and they are often male�, asked a female EC pastor.
>> “Does Liquid Church exclude men because the future is a relational, networked, and men are often more task focused�, asked a male EC pastor.
>> “I have found a rare degree of acceptance in this forum, and far greater opportunities on the edge of the church anyhow�, replied a young female leader.

And this is my point. Anyone can start a blog. Anyone can plant a church. Emerging church is all about the new, about living in the culture, about stepping into the tomorrow. It is opportunity.

If there is a gender imbalance, perhaps the best people to fix it are those who feel excluded, stepping up to offer the words of eternal life.

Enough. I must go and feed my children.

posted by STeve | 5:16 PM | |


Saturday, October 4



Downloading spiritual product
I've blogged off and on about the missional task of the church today, in a postmodern world, being to distribute spiritual product.

Myargument is that if society today has become individualised, and if consumption is now a primary way by which people confer meaning, then part of Incarnational mission is to co-operate with these routes of meaning by entreprenuerially offering what nourishes us inside the church for the world.

I've had a variety of reactions; from selling out to,
well, to selling out.

Every now and again I see an example of what I dream of. Two New Zealanders have just released a free download on the internet. With a budget of $800 they created a movie for the internet. It's 15 minutes long. It was shot on a Sony Handycam. It is a 170 or 135 megabyte download. It has been downloaded 70,000 times, over 3.3 terabytes of data.

This makes it New Zealand's most successful film. For $800, for doing a good job, being creative and offering it on the net. That's our future people. That's offering creative product to the world.

So when is the emerging church going to stop accusing me of selling out, and start thinking about what creative spiritual product we can offer the world.

When are we going to create good enough video loops, that 70,000 people will download them for free.

For more read here.

posted by STeve | 4:45 PM | |

Wifi from Soularize

I don't know if we will have wireless internet access from Soularize but I found the website for the Newbury Street free wifi zone which will allow us to access the net for free and is only a couple long blocks from the Jorge Hernandez Cultural Center. Saskatoon needs a wired avenue like this...

posted by Jordon | 10:36 AM | |

RE: Walmart=Evangelicalism

to add another dimension to the question:

walmart was recently sued for sex discrimination.

do you think anyone will ever sue denominations that don't currently accept female or homosexual ministers?

posted by Lydia | 7:40 AM | |


Thursday, October 2

WALMART = EVANGELICALISM ?

I have been bouncing around a bunch of stuff in my cranium about the ascendency of 2 major power sourses globally - Wal-Mart & evangelicalim. Here's my thoughts - what are yours ?

posted by lisa | 1:43 PM | |


Wednesday, October 1

Soularize Fotoblog

If you can't get to Soularize, you can check out what it looks like by checking out the Soularize fotolog where participants will be able to post their digital images while the event is happening. If you are going to be there and will be bringing a digital camera, check out the Soularize Attendee's Forum and get the username and password there. Anyone can play. If you any questions, you can find me at coop@theooze.com.

posted by Jordon | 4:49 PM | |

Is the Emerging Church just another Male thing?



One of my fav bloggers from OZ had a wonderful thread recently - Is the Emerging Church just another Male thing?. It really connected with me, particularly coming from a church tribe on the sidelines that is now almost 40% female clergy and 60% female leaders.

Does this ooze/emerging world lack a chronosome or is something afoot in the male enclaves of the new mainline ?

posted by lisa | 8:58 AM | |

October Next-Wave is online

The October issue of Next-Wave is online. The subject is social justice...

posted by Charlie Wear | 6:36 AM | |

how i was mentored

How were you mentored?

I was mentored by a guy who took me, once a month, on a trip with him. He exposed me 24/7 to the real. He wasn't the greatest one-on-one mentor. I mean, I don't recall sitting down with him and systematically going through anything. Usually I (a) extracted information from him by asking questions, or (b) he was mad / excited / frustrated / wanted something done, then he'd fill me in.

It was actually a great way to get mentored. You can read X number of books if you want clean and neat transfer of data. I wanted to know how one truly lived out Christian faith in my context, which was hardcore inner city America.

I remember my first year after Stanford, traveling the country with John Perkins. I carried his book bag (we sold books at every speaking engagement). I don't think I was very useful. But I remember those trips, and I even long to travel with him again. Here's an article I wrote about life alongside Perkins.

Starting Saturday night I'm going to turn around and do likewise. There is a young guy at Harambee, Ventura, who is a college freshman. I've known him since he was 5. Since 1990 he has participated in Harambee's programs. I'm on this East Coast trip next week (stops include Gordon College, the National Leadership Forum, and a big Hispanic Scholarship Fund dinner) and I wanted someone to travel with me. He is available. A friend is covering his airfare, and I've got him covered on the ground (cheese and ketchup sandwiches, anyone?)

I'm hoping some of the Christian transformation that blessed me while I followed Perkins around will happen in Ventura's life, too.

Bonus: Our final stop on this four day trip is to hear John Perkins speak on Wed. Oct. 8 at the National Leadership Forum. Besides Ventura, I'm going to pull Karriem Amos from Philadelphia and Jamaal Johnson from Nyack College to attend that speech. Karriem and Jamaal are both Harambee lifers gaining valuable skills on the East Coast. It will be great to be together again.

posted by Rudy | 5:45 AM | |