What is in between Exclusive and Inclusive?

In a discussion on evangelism I made a comment about the exclusivity of the gospel, and how I saw that as a barrier to effective evangelism. I thought I should unpack that a bit.

First of all I have a dilemma because while the claims of Christ are unique (making Christians - or those who respond to these claims - unique as well), but there is something inclusive about the work of God's love.

Where exclusivity plays a negative role is in an attitude of exclusivity in our ecclesial structures. Hard boundaries that define in absolute terms who is in and who is out. The problem is that the churches then decide that a single method is the way in (formulaic "gospel" presentation in the West) which creates yet another barrier of exclusivity. So in the end we have largely self-isolated communities of a disconnected subculture trying to assert itself in the flood of a macroculture that it has handed over to the "world".

Is inclusively the only alternative? I hope not. The idea of inclusivity also has real problems, not the least of which is that if everybody is "right" then what do we do with the claims of Christ? So there has to be another option, one that respects the unique claims of Christ, as Saviour of the world, and the inclusive love of God for the world in which Jesus Himself sent us into.

Isn't that really where this wrestling falls? Jesus, as the manifestation of God's perfect love, gives us the same mission as the Son - Go into the whole world. John's gospel is great for this - I have not taken them out of the world Jesus explains to us in His final prayers. It is for the world's sake that Christ came. And it is for the world's sake that the Church was born.

The Western idea of evangelism goes like this: you repent and get saved, then you come to Church rejecting the world, the Church takes over your life. The Celts did it a bit different: you welcome and invite folks into your community, you minister with and to them, you disciple them and then you baptize them into the body. The Celts also became part of the community in which they were called - literally adopting its rhythms. Thus the converts are not taken out of the world, but left in the world where they can actually do the work of the gospel. The Celts were remarkable at converting whole communities in this way. When is the last time you've seen a whole community come to Christ? And I don't think getting the people in your church re-saved every week counts.

So maybe I'll call my paradigm - Godclusive ;-)

I have to admit it...

You know I love crafting a liturgy. I can't think of anything that is more expressive an art for me than carefully crafting prayers, arranging worship and readings, meditating on the elements in light of Jesus' words, bringing forth an experience of intimate encounter with the Lover of my soul. It is so life giving.

I might be a liturgy junkee.

The myth of unmediated access to God...

Does it bother anyone else when military leaders like George Bush claim they act on direct communication from God? It scares the bejeebus out of me. It is not that I don't think God is talking to us - but it is that one step so many miss. Everything we hear we filter through a grid of experience, expectation and our own falleness. This is why even scripture is only rightfully interpreted in the context of the body of believers.

I love the prophetic side of Christianity, I love hearing from God and speaking into peoples lives. But, and this is a big but, it is not loving or God honouring to usurp the role of God in the lives of others. (Let alone for the whole world as in the case of Bush.) We expect God to speak, but when we share we always want to recognize that God first speaks to us and then confirms through the body. I don't care if you are quoting scripture to someone - it is so easy to grab a verse out of our own framework and hammer it into an application that just doesn't fit.

Anyway, it makes me think this book might make a good read for those who are not troubled by the myth of unmediated access.

Way too late

Just wanted to check in. We had a great poker game tonight, but an ever better talk about exploring liturgical forms afterwards! Just me and Fabio, but I was so excited I didn't watch the time. So here I am winding down just a tad before heading to bed. Good night all.

I am published!

My first time being paid to write an article, and the magazine just came to our church mailbox! The article is called Towards a Post Modern Liturgy and talks about how we have allowed the liturgy of our community to morph under the influence of ancient and modern liturgical practices. The magazine is Inside Worship, which is the worship magazine for the Vineyard. I am stoked! I hope they post an online version of it sometime as well!

Love what you have done with the liturgy...

My friend Ryan and I wentto mass Sunday at Lift Jesus Higher, a Roman Catholic community in Ottawa. What they had done with the liturgy was really cool. Almost every aspect of the service was tied to music (a lot of 80's and early 90's Vineyard stuff), they had prophetic action and real community involvement. But better still the presence of God was all over the place.

DDM in Montreal

My buddy Jeff and I drove to Montreal this morning to play 6 games of Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures (Kinda like chess on LSD!). He came in 11th and I came in 20th! I do wish I had turtled on you CarnivalKid, but it was a fun game.

It was nice to meet some more folks from the DDM message boards on the Wizards of the Coast website. They were planning on going to GenCon, I wish I could go but it is harder to do things like that when you have a family. Maybe I'll go with those crazy Redshirt guys sometime and run games for them so they can pay my way.

I played a Beholder/Skullcrusher/Urthok+Snig band (15 activations, 14 miniatures - I call it Behold the Activations). I played it because I really wanted more to have fun than be all stressed out about winning. I feel like I played well, but only won half of the games I played. Even though I brought more of a fun band, I think it is a fairly decent Beholder build - the many activations lets me get to use the Beholder when it is most opportune, the rock throw from the ogre caught a few opponents off guard as well - killed an Inspiring Marshall in the first round (critted and he had already taken 10 from an eyebeam). I also had some fun neutering (slow attack) Lord Soth and a HEBI.

All in all it was a fun day - I'd do it again.

Happy Canada Day!!!

The sky looks clear. The concerts are all lined up. Time for us Canucks to enjoy ourselves. Hoping to get out to some fireworks tonight with Elyssa. I think she'll really enjoy it.

[Edit]We made it down and had an awesome spot right under the fireworks! What a special time. In the middle of it Elyssa asks me if the magic from the fireworks is going to land on us - I told I hoped not ;-) But then we agreed that fireworks must give you good dreams - now that is great magic!

Happy Birthday Canada!

Harry Potter TCG

Click to join The Duelling Club
Just set up a new Yahoo! Group. I am always trying to network gamers, I just like gamers a lot. I realize that Harry Potter is a controversial subject for many Christians, so I offer you this - Connie Neal has some excellent insights on the subject. She presents both sides of the debate in "What's A Christian to do With Harry Potter".

Personally I am a big fan of fantasy. We have been running Dungeons and Dragons games for over 2 years now. I am convinced that we need to foster intellect, emotion and imagination as the threefold ways we encounter God's presence. One of my favourite Celtic theologians is Noel Dermott O'Donaghue who has a great discussion of the role of the 'imaginal' in our lives of faith in The Mountain Behind the Mountain.

I am also very keen on seeing kids foster their minds, hearts and imaginations as well. Harry Potter is amazing for that. I love the classic struggle of good versus evil. The emotional connection with the characters struggling to make the right choices in life. The way Harry Potter has encouraged a generation to read. What's not to love!

Now the Harry Potter Trading Card Game isn't made anymore - too bad (they did publish 5 sets of cards though). It is amazing how my 5 year old seems to get it - it helps that she's a Harry Potter fan. The game is great at teaching counting, remembering and strategy. In it you play lesson cards which let you cast spells and release animals. There are also lots of fun add on cards (we use some of these but without them the game is much simpler). The format is like a wizards duel, each of you has 30 cards (including at least one character from the books) and the first one to use up all their cards looses. It is simple and a lot of fun. Elyssa likes to be Hermione and I like to use lots of potions. The game doesn't capture the moral issues that the book handles - but hey you can't have everything.

Blessing My Brother

Had a chance to just hang out with my dear brother Andy today. He is planting a Calvary Chapel in Ottawa. The Vineyard used to be part of Calvary Chapel. It was great, we share a lot of the same history - and more important a common love for Jesus.

Salvation

Had an interesting discussion with a friend on the whole topic of salvation today. It is interesting because within a post-modern framework the markers for salvation are quite different. It is easy in a salvationist paradigm to identify things like who is saved, when is a person saved, etc. But in a post-modern setting there are barriers to overcome like firstly - what is being saved?

What has helped me the most in adjusting from a salvationist (classic evangelical I guess) sense to a post-modern evangelical sense is the whole notion of invitation. Rather than seeing salvation as an event, often to the denegration of anything preceding the event. I see it more as a process - one that God invites us into.

I think the big fear about such a view is one of confidence. In the fear rife pop Christianity there is a big deal made about knowing if you are in or out. However, the God of scripture is anything but a God of fear. Fear is not the motivation for any of God's actions. Fear is named as something that cannot stand in God's presence. But despite this I think that it is a valid criticism. In response to that criticism I would point out that as one continues to move in a Christward direction, one cannot help but be bolstered by the witness of the Holy Spirit that tell us deep inside that we are God's very own, children of Father drawn near through the love act of the Son.

The other big advantage of a process theology of salvation is that salvation is not relegated to some assurance of a far off event - it matters in the here and now. It affects every choice we make, it permeates who we are and who we are becoming. It takes seriously the process of God's transformative work in our lives. It makes relevant this word 'salvation' by defining it as the restoration and completion of God's holy intent for our lives. It makes me want to be saved.

Ray Simpson

Just saw that Ray Simpson, the guardian of Lindisfarne, is addressing the 24-7 prayer folks. I met Ray at a retreat put on by Celtic Horizons in Ottawa. Great guy, always with a story to tell. I left there with all kinds of ideas swirling around my head and heart.

Day 3 - Resonate Fast

Just checking in before I start running around. I have to remember to pray for my buddy Joseph at 2PM when he is praying for a friend with liver problems. Had a good rest last night - even after a late kinship. This is the last day of the fast, I feel a bit shaky inside and am tired of constantly having bad breath (yeah that is wierd). But am looking forward to some extra praying time today.

I would highly recommend not going to the grocery store when fasting.

Elyssa off to school. Chelsea watching Dora again - now time to pray before I need to go play with her. Can't let her watch that all day don't you know. I have a headache and I should not have started the day with a coffee. Doh!

OK so I'm pretty much through the times I can get away to pray. We'll have to see what happens tonight - I have to prepare supper for my kids! I made it through lunch but that was easy, I just cooked up a hot dog for Elyssa and heated leftovers for Chelsea. I am not sure what to make tonight though. Oh no Chelsea has the phone!!!!

For me the fast ends. It was a great ride. At supper my little one fell asleep and when I woke her she was in a right snit - I was having trouble coping so I decided not getting angry at my kids was worth more to me than a few more hours of not eating.

I know that I blogged the frustrating bits, I actually found that a bit therapeutic. I usually like to keep fasting pretty private - so maybe that is why it is intensified. Also it has been a long, long time since fasting more than a day or less. I learned a few very valuable things:

1 - I don't take care enough of my own body. I am in bad shape. I don't get enough rest nor do I always eat properly. I knew this, but it is soooo evident when you are fasting. I don't remember ever having this much trouble with it.

2 - I think I like it more private. So this is likely the last time I'll mention fasting - unless I decide on another big corporate fast like this one. We were reading the end of Matthew's take on the Sermon on the mount this week and praying in private really caught my attention. I tend to be a pretty open guy and I am learning about pearls and swine as well - got tore apart pretty bad this week for spilling my God dreams. That is a hard thing for me, which is why I think I have an easier time with internalizing things like fasting - more favour I guess.

3 - Get away to fast. The most frustrating thing is trying to press into God and have someone step into your space. In fact I think I really need to organize a time away each week - a personal prayer retreat. I know just the space too.

Well that's it for me.

Day 2 - Resonate Fast

Much better - I think last night is the first time in a long while that I got more than 6 hours of sleep! I woke up feeling tired but more normal, that is a relief. Off to morning prayer, which was ok. It would have been better if we had prayed more and talked less - but when we did get to praying it was good. I love praying in public spaces - not that we do that in an obvious way. I like to do what I call conversational prayer - that is we recognize that God is sitting right there with us and we converse with God as we would if we were just talking to each other around the table. Works well in coffee shops and people only catch on if they listen to the content of our conversation (we've had folks join us that way). OK so lots to do today, gotta get ready for Kinship tonight. I have been meditating on the passage but it hasn't all come together in my head and heart yet.

I finally got away to the chapel at St. Paul's. That was super nice. I was mostly focused on my text for this evening - but the Holy Spirit was diligently stripping away my initial assumptions about the text and dealing with my own heart and life. Too cool. I have two 2 year olds to look after this afternoon - should be interesting.

OK kids are here watching Dora the Explorer. Sweet, some time to check in and then meditate.

Well not as much time as I would have liked, but I did get some quiet time in there. I find that I am better off in a liturgical space, somewhere I know I am not going to get interrupted. I think I'll head back to the chapel when Sharon returns. If so I'll check in after Kinship. FYI I tried laying on the floor in the room with the kids, you know to meditate a bit more, but they just jumped on my back which though fun - hurt.


I am hungry!

Kinship was great tonight. I took off for the chapel like I planned and it was awesome. I even spent some time a the Marian grove on campus. I haven't done that since the last time I visited San Jose (there was a huge aluminum Mary near where I was teaching). This was a good day overall - in fact I got into some pretty profound insights on the days gospel reading.

I am hungry and I am tired.

Day 1 - Resonate Fast

I really don't like fasting. The fast pace of life doesn't mean I can really fast effectively - that is taking the time I would eat to pray instead. It seems I am in motion a lot of the time. Always with a list of to do items as long as my arm. (Blogging doesn't help that BTW). It was nice though to start off with my regular early morning prayer group - there seemed to be a fresh fire in our prayers even though I never let on that I wasn't eating for the next three days. My hope is that this is just a small taste of what is to come. Time to get on with my day and try to find some of those precious quiet moments to just be with Jesus.

I love thunder storms, especially with lots of lightening! We only really got sheet lightning where I grew up - so I can watch fork lightning for hours and not get bored. We only got a little storm today - the clouds were moving at quite the clip. Kinda like my day. I feel an ache in the belly and am really hungry. God give me a hunger for You. Ahhhh, well I made a green tea, let's see how that makes me feel.

So frickin' tired. Grumpy, hungry, irritable. I really don't do well fasting when I am at home with my family. I remember fasting from speaking for a week - that was pure hell. This is only day one and I still haven't really had any solid prayer time except the morning. Everytime I get some solitude one of the kids comes or my wife has another job for me to do. Arrrrgggghhhhh. Soon the kids will all be in bed, Sharon has her scrapbooking friends over and I am going to slip away into the night. In all likelyhood I'll probably just fall asleep though.

Check in tomorrow and see if things pick up.

Refreshing the Hearts of the Saints

Met with some fellow Kingdom labourers today, it was good. I love to hear the stories of what God is doing through His communities throughout the city. And to tell the stories of what God is doing with us. I heard the stories of how one community is resisting the urge to speed ahead, to patiently wait for what God really wants to do. I am encouraged to do the same - we have done a lot of speeding in the last couple of years. I heard about how another community is struggling with the corporate chaos of their demanding denomination, but that there is light as a blooming value for autonomy breaks the horizon. Then we went back to their sanctuary where the most beautiful of art blasted my senses! One of the art pieces was created by the kids as an offering to God. My eyes kept being drawn to this one somewhat abstract patch that looked like a stuffed cat - then next to it a purple stuffed hampster and above that a pink stuffed elephant. These kids were offering their most prized possessions to God - their stuffed animals. Maybe it was just me, maybe it is because my daughter has a stuffed cat named Peanuts who is her most prized possession ever, but that touched me deep inside. All I can say to my great friends is - thanks!

Community

One of the things l love the most about my job (being a minister) is forming community. I love connecting folks together and seeing relationships grow. I love it when God shows up in the midst of community and begins a deeper work. We've adopted a slogan in our church: "One step closer to the Father." It is what we always look to do when we get together or even just interact with folks at work, play or wherever. We want to be people who draw others closer to the Father's heart. So tonight, in true Freedom form - we play poker!

Yeah, it should be fun. Who knows what God might do as we share our lives around a simple game of cards.

[Edit: BTW it was a lot of fun!]

Travis is convicted...

Man this is still freaking me out. I wish there was more information on why they seem to think this kid is a threat.

Resonate Corporate Fast

I don't think I fast enough. I don't really like fasting. There is something about food that I really enjoy - kinda like I am hungry for it. For a few days a bunch of crazies here in Canada have decided to forsake the hunger of food for a fresh hunger for God. If you are interested in joining us - you are more than welcome.

Obsessive Compulsive.....

My Thursday ritual includes many checks of the Wizards of the Coast website for a preview of the new D&D minis release. I feel like a fly drawn to sugar or something. I think it is apt that we refer to the miniatures as plasti-crack!

Ahhhhhh - the payoff! Nice imp baby!!!!!