Christian

What does it mean to be a Christian?  If someone were to walk up to you today, and ask you, “What is a Christian?”,  what would your answer be?

Let me know.

This About Sums It Up

I’m reading “A Purple State of Mind,” by Craig Detweiler. In the first chapter, he quotes Fight Club, and it really struck a chord with me. It perfectly defines what we’re going through today. It defines the zeitgeist, the moral sense of life, that we as Christians have to face head-on and address.

Here’s the quote:

“Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… Our Great Depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.”

Welcome to the world, folks.

What does the gospel have to offer in the face of this? Church on Sunday, then a nice dinner, then back off to work for another week? What sort of radical life is Christ calling us to? What alternative does he hold in his hands?

The world is dying, literally dying, to hear the gospel.

We just need to make sure we’re getting the message across.

And, truthfully, I’m still kind of in the process of finding out what that message is.

What is it, people? What can we, as Christ followers, offer a dying world, enslaved to consumerism and self-worship?

What can we do?

The National “Worship Leader” Conference

I was in Texas for a week.

The first night I was a bit disoriented, I think from the long flight and having to go straight to the conference without any downtime.  Matt Redman played that night, and Skip Heitzig spoke.  I think that’s how you spell it.  But I was not vibing with the conference that night, and thought to myself that if this was how it was going to go, it was going to be a bad week. 

Luckily, things sweetened up.

The next morning I heard Leonard Sweet give a talk on metaphor in the church.  I had never heard of him.  They had his books there, and I bought “The Gospel According to Starbucks.”  I also went to his seminar “Summoned to Lead.” It was a great privilege to meet him. 

Then I went to the “Pastor as Storyteller” seminar, taught by Bishop Joseph Garlington, which was also a complete blessing, as well as “Into The Dark,” a seminar by Craig Detweiler.  

Needless to say, I came home with a lot of books.

Two things going on today that were featured at this conference are the Odes of Solomon and The Voice.

The Odes are early Christian hymns put to music, and I think they’re beautiful, and the Voice is a new “translation” of the scriptures, which I’m really excited about.  I got to meet Greg Garrett, the reteller of the gospel of Mark.  I think The Voice is going to be a great contribution to the church.

My time in Texas really did a lot to dig out some entrenched, judgmental attitudes and gave me the opportunity to meet really amazing followers of Jesus.

Things of note to sum up:

Riverbend Church: location of the conference, was quite an architectural feat.
Odes of Solomon: excellent tunes you need to check out.
Leonard Sweet: Cool dude, has things to say that the church needs to hear.
Craig Detweiler: Look into his film and books to see how the church can relate to the culture.
Joseph Garlington: Great speaker and teacher.
The Voice: New retelling of the Scriptures that you should definitely look into.
Lincoln Brewster, Tommy Walker:  Two cool musicians.

Dig it.

CvC Season 3

Are you ready? 

Season 3 of Culture vs. Christian is getting ready to hit the streets.  We’re single-handedly taking on the emergent church and declaring ourselves post-emergent, we’re thinking about bringing back the prophet beards, we’re less bitter, yet filling…..

It’s all happening!

Action Jackson

Did you hear what Jesse Jackson said when he thought his mic was off?  Ohhh, the things we say when we think our mic is off. 

But it shows you one thing:  For people like Jackson, Sharpton, and all those other political clowns (white, black, yellow, or red), it’s not about equality, hope, justice, or any other quaint word we can all believe in.

It’s about politics and power.  Special and personal interests. 

When Imus made a remark about black basketball players, he loses his show on MSNBC and is publicly chastised.  When Jesse Jackson makes off the cuff remarks, thinking his mic is off, he expects everyone to be okay with it. 

I am not okay with it.

He’s one of many individuals who spend their careers criticizing and judging other people when they make a verbal slip, but doesn’t want the heat when he himself makes one. 

Do you see how political this is?  We see what he really thinks of Obama when his mic is off.  But he’s asking us to ignore the candid remarks and listen to what he says when the makeup is on, the lights are ready, and the camera is rolling. 

It’s all politics, my friends. 

Not a person on the top really believes in what they’re doing.  They believe in more money, and more power.

They’re all as corrupt as you or me.

Ain’t one of ‘em got an ounce of hope, or change, that we could ever believe in.

Justice at “The Border”

From my friends at the Bridge:

Friends,

Most of you have surely heard of the tragic shooting of the young mother at our local Taco Bell Restaurant on Patrick Street this past Saturday.

Taco Bell management has allowed the store to remain closed until tomorrow, Thursday, at 10AM, in the interest of their employees.

Management invited several local pastors and counselors to meet with all of their employees yesterday. We spent much of the time with them as a group and also broke up for individual ministry. It was a powerful time that surely will aid the healing process in their lives.

The Patrick Street Taco Bell is going to contribute the total proceeds of Thursday’s sales toward the needs of the family of the young woman.

We are encouraging all who read this e-mail to purchase at least one meal there tomorrow, Thursday, July 10, 2008.

Please forward this message on to your local contacts and make a point to visit this restaurant tomorrow, even if you only buy a coke.

The management is to be commended for their interest in doing justice for their employees and for the family of the young woman.