Late Night

In the early years of our marriage, we used to stay up really late a lot of nights hanging out with friends or watching movies. Since we had kids, that all changed. But ever since we moved to the east coast, we've kind of gotten back into this late night thing. It's weird, I don't know why we do it. Most nights we're up until at least 11pm. But on top of that, I get these occasional really late nights. Nights when I lay in bed wide awake, with a thousand things running through my head. This is one of those nights. So it's 12:20am right now, and I can't sleep. Most of the time when I can't sleep it's due to worry. I worry about finances, about relationships, about our future. Tonight I can't quite place it. I think I'm troubled, not so much worried. I'm troubled for other people. Their burdens,...

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UnChristian - Part 6

Ok, so this is the last perception that Kinnaman deals with in his book UnChristian: Christians are prideful and quick to find faults in others.Pride. The chief of all sins according to C.S. Lewis. This perception is one that we really need to hear. When we speak to those outside of the church, many feel that we are simply more interested in proving that we are right than we are in sharing about God, or about caring for the person with whom we are speaking. Many said that we simply love to hear ourselves talk, and we have no interest in hearing what someone else believes. "Nearly nine out of ten outsiders said that the term judgmental accurately describes present day Christianity" (182). Later, he says "Arrogance is perhaps the most socially acceptable form of sin in the church today" (191)....

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UnChristian - Part 5

Here's the next perception that Kinnaman deals with: Christians are primarily motivated by a political agenda and promote right-wing politics.In this election year, I've personally really struggled with the level of involvement a Christian should have in politics. I've had conversations with other pastors about how much the church ought to get involved in politics and/or patriotism. Should we celebrate the 4th of July in the church for example? I'm looking forward to reading Shane Claiborne's newest book that deals with this topic. But anyway, back to UnChristian. Where does this perception come from? Statistically, Kinnaman shows that people outside of Christianity "recognize Christians in politics more readily than in any other sector, including music, movies, sports, or business" (154)....

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Thank you!

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone that has been praying with us that our house in California would rent. We just got word tonight that a tenant has signed a one year lease!! God is go...

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It's back!

Fall is a great time of year for many reasons. The cooler weather, the wind, the colors. But let's be honest - this is why we all celebrate fall. The return of "The Offic...

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UnChristian - Part 4

The next perception is this: "Christians are boring, unintelligent, old-fashioned, and out of touch with reality."The perception is that Christians are simple minded people who aren't very educated, believe in some silly things, and basically have no idea what the real world is really like. I have to say that in some circles of Christianity, that probably isn't too far from the truth. But overall, while the perception may not be true, the reality is that it's how we are perceived. Here's the main thing to me - younger generations are more than willing to live in a world without all the answers. Previous generations have prided themselves on figuring it all out, from science to theology. Everything was neatly categorized and boxed. Newer generations are excitedly exploring all the intricacies...

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UnChristian - Part 3

I'm reading the book now faster than I can keep up with the blog, but I'll try and do a couple here tonight to catch up a bit. The next perception Kinnaman tackles is this: "Christians show contempt for gays and lesbians." At least so far, this is probably the most difficult perception to deal with, and maybe a bit controversial in some circles. First, what Kinnaman is not saying. He is not saying that homosexuality is ok. He's also not saying that we should read Scripture any differently or adopt a new theology of any kind. But here's what he is saying. He is pointing out the hypocrisy of the church as it relates to this issue. There are many, many sins in the church that get simply overlooked. Divorce, gluttony, greed, pride, materialism, etc. And yet, homosexuality somehow gets raised as...

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UnChristian - Part 2

The second perception that Kinnaman deals with is this: Christians are insincere and concerned only with converting others. In this chapter he touches on a number of myths about how people come to be Christians. I was going to go over each one, but I think instead I'll just talk about the one that stood out the most to me. That is this - "Anything that brings people to Christ is worth doing." Many churches pay huge dollars to do evangelism efforts that will reach tons of people at the same time. They may mail Bibles, or tracts, or other Christian material to homes in their community. Or they will do an event and then sneak in Jesus at the end. Kinnaman says that the research shows that such efforts will create three to ten times as much negative response as positive. In other words, for every...

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UnChristian

I'm finally getting around to reading David Kinnaman's book UnChristian. I bought it right after it came out, and then it joined the list of books to read at a later date. For those of you who may not know about this book, Kinnaman is a researcher who works with the Barna Group. This book is the result of research he did into the perceptions of 16-29 year olds on Christianity and the church. As someone who has worked with this age for the last few years, I'm finding the book to be an affirmation of so many of the things I have seen and heard in young people both inside and outside the church. So here's the plan - Kinnaman says that in his research there were basically six broad themes that continued to surface from people. Over the next week or two (depending on how long it takes) I plan on...

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Acts

I've been reading through the book of Acts. I figured that's it a good thing to be doing seeing as how we're trying to start a church here in Durham. It's amazing to me the way things were happening in the early church. Entire paradigms were being shifted. There is the shift from Old covenant to New, the extension of God's grace from the Jewish people to include even Gentiles. There's the shift in dietary rules, the movement of the Holy Spirit, a well known terrorist becoming one of the apostles. Wow. Why do we tend to think that all the cool stuff happened way back then? I mean seriously - is God still moving and active or isn't He? Didn't Jesus say that the gates of hell would not be able to hold back the church? Didn't Jesus say that we would do even greater things that He did? It sure...

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2008 Western Division Champs!

That's right, my halos just got through polishing off the Yankees to capture their 4th title in 5 years. Bring on Boston or whoever the heck comes out of the East. I may be on the east coast now, but I will always be an Angels fan. Now, let's keep the best record and get home field advantage. How about 100 wins? That would be ni...

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A Franciscan Benediction

The church we went to this morning here in Durham was awesome. They ended the service by reading this Benediction together, and I think it is one of the most amazing prayers I've ever heard. May this be true of all believers everywhere.May God bless you with discomfortAt easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationshipsSo that you may live deep within your heartMay God bless you with angerAt injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.May God bless you with tearsTo shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war,So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them andTo turn their pain into joy.And may God bless you with enough foolishnessTo believe that you can make a difference in the world,So that you can do what...

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You throw a baseball like a girl!

I don't usually venture into politics or discussions about politics. But I have been really blown away by what is going on in our country over the last couple of weeks. Regardless of what your specific political views are, this last week has been a history making week for us as a country. One party has nominated an African-American man to be their presidential candidate, and the other party has nominated a woman as part of the presidential ticket, meaning she could be president if McCain keeled over, or potentially after his terms are up. Wow. How far have we come? But as someone who works in the church, I am quite intrigued by the incredible support for Palin coming out of the conservative Christian ranks. I don't think it's a bad thing at all, she is pretty impressive. But it is interesting...

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Look at these girls!

Holy cow they are gorgeo...

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Good Times

I've realized lately that I tend to focus on the negative a lot. So today I wanted to comment on all this is good. Durham is really cool. I love the combination of living in a historical, old city and also one that is growing and progressing - full of college students and people moving into the area. We walked the other day down at the American Tobacco District - a really cool restored part of the city that was once a thriving tobacco industry, and is now a bunch of restaurants and businesses. It was really fun to hang out there and to explore.The storms here are really cool. Lightning and thunder like you wouldn't believe. The trees are unbelievable. For those who live here they probably don't realize how different this is from the rest of the country. The green here makes my home town look...

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The Job Search

So my hand is getting tired of filling out applications, I've done quite a few of them lately. I think so far I've applied to Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, Lowes, Chili's, 2 different golf courses, a cafe, a restaurant, Dick's sporting goods, and I'm sure I've forgotten something in there. So far, no takers. I would love to work at Barnes and Noble, and I've had two significant conversations with the manager, who happens to be from Fontana, CA - so that was cool. But it looks like there aren't any openings right now. I'll keep looking though! The goal is to get a job that will not only help us pay the bills, but that will allow me to get to know people in the area and to better understand the community. So I'm trying to get jobs that will allow me to interact a bit with other employees as well...

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