emerging ministry: lion chasers

chasing has emerged?

2008-03-12T11:52:00.004-04:00

I want to thank you, Kim, for starting this blog, and for faithfully following God's call. I know this book study/blog study group sort of petered out and I think that is for a reason. (although I don't claim to know what it is) I have discovered in my own chasing of lions that the lion in the pit with me is none other than myself. I thought it was the 'church'... when we started this...what I've started to hear lately... is that working within the church is part of what God is asking me to do. I'd like to say differently.. really... would like that not to be so (I have a hunch that is a bit trickier than going out into the community...lol)... but also I've learned that God's mission in this world is not waiting around for churches to effect change.

I don't need the leadership team to authorize anything, I don't need the people in the church to validate where God is leading me, I don't need the worship team design to implement a worship service that is actually authentic and not watered down by fear offense. (no offense intended) I don't mean to imply that I am alone. Certainly this is God-led and I have no doubt God will provide resources and people along the way. And.. also to be clear... I have no specifics as to what I will be doing...

Because what is emerging is a deeper faith. What is emerging is a new call, a call to move into a new shift of priorities and practices that God is building in my prayers.

"..our societal systems are perfectly designed to yield the results we are now getting" a re-quote from Brian McLaren

"No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it" ~ Albert Einstein

I think I better understand now the use of the title.. deep shift... that McLaren uses.

the importance of looking foolish

2008-02-04T06:41:00.000-05:00

"We try to be too reasonable about what we believe. What I believe is not reasonable at all. In fact, it's hilariously impossible. Possible things aren't worth much. These crazy impossible things keep us going." - Madeleine L'Engle

resources
- 1 Corinthians 1:27-30
- Looking Foolish

share your thoughts
- Mark says that part of spiritual maturity is caring less and less about what people think of you and more and more about what God thinks of you. Do you feel like you are missing out on blessing because you're too afraid of looking foolish?
- What does your foolish wishlist for Peace look like?

grab opportunity by the mane

2007-12-18T06:26:00.000-05:00

"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, they make them." - George Bernard Shaw

resources
- Colossians 4:2-5
- seizing opportunities

share your thoughts
- Do you agree that your destiny is determined by whether or not you seize the God-ordained opportunities presented to you?
- How do you live in prayer mode?

everything must change tour

2007-12-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

My mother-in-law knows I'm a fan of Brian McLaren and sent me a link to deepshift.org. I'm thinking of going to the session in Washington D.C. - March 7 & 8. Anybody else up for a roadtrip?

Update:
Darn - I think this is the same weekend as the women's retreat. Decisions, decisions.

butterfly effects

2007-11-20T13:50:00.000-05:00

What are the small changes, the seemingly small choices made at Peace that have magnified over time and been a blessing? Share your experience in a comment.

chapter 6 - playing it safe is risky

2007-11-19T14:20:00.000-05:00

"On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or as I suspect, does not one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning." - Annie Dillard

resources
- Matthew 16:24-28
- taking risks

share your thoughts
- There is no such thing as a risk-free faith. What risks are stopping you?
- Every decision we are faced with becomes a crossroads of sorts.
- Do we need to give up something good to experience something great?

chapter 5 - guaranteed uncertainty

2007-10-29T06:28:00.000-04:00

"To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways; we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation." - Oswald Chambers

resources
- Acts 14:21-28
- embracing uncertainty

share your thoughts
- What if we sought God with some ancient intensity instead of spending all our energy trying to eliminate His surprises?
- You have to do something counterintuitive if you want to reach your God-given potential and fulfill your God-given destiny.

chapter 4 - the art of reframing

2007-10-14T20:45:00.000-04:00

"The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make a Haven out of Hell, a Hell out of Heaven." - John Milton

resources
- Acts 16:22-26
- overcoming adversity

share your thoughts
- How do you feel God is remodeling you for ministry at work, with your neighbors, at Peace, in the world?
- How can we reframe apparent obstacles to emerging ministry at Peace as opportunities?

emerging reality

2007-10-09T06:28:00.000-04:00

I take one weekend off and I'm hopelessly behind. So instead of trying to play catch-up with this week's chapter, I thought I would share some words from a pastor of an emerging church in Seguin, TX. This is where I grew up and believe me, it is no metropolis. So it's very encouraging to me to find that this "emerging" thing is happening all around us, even in Seguin, TX.

Here are excerpts from Jim Taylor's summary of their 9 year journey to birth Mosaic:

"We began by examining our identity and mission. Once we established that both fall within the Great Commandment & Great Commission. We decided that we needed to live out the Gospel incarnationally in our community. Because our identity is in Jesus Christ, we are Christo-centric in our faith & practice. For us, Jesus Christ forms our interpretive grid for what it means to be "Christian." This would exclude, by the way, various doctrines that are plucked out of the Bible from other places. Not that there might be meaning somewhere in there, but it won't be central to our faith & practice. We seek to be the presence of Christ in Seguin as a local expression of His church (community gathered by the Holy Spirit). We are ecumenical, post-modern, social justice oriented, and emerging. We celebrate diversity, dialogue, spiritual formation as journey, and service. We think it's critical to be in the world, active, living out the Gospel in front of people by what we do. We hope to be a blessing to our community in the name of Jesus Christ!

We are still looking for "labels" that can truly identify us. It's a bit difficult b/c no one label really does clarify what we are as a church. I like to tell people that we are just trying to get the label "Christian" applied well! Of course, everyone wants to know what kind of Christian? ... It seems it's not enough to say ones like Jesus ..."

chapter 3 - unlearning your fears

2007-09-30T16:02:00.000-04:00

"The price of our vitality is the sum of our fears." - David Whyte

resources
- 1 Peter 5:8 & 1 John 4:18
- facing fears

share your thoughts
- What do you think the church, Peace and/or you need to unlearn about following Jesus?
- What's the worse thing you can imagine happening as a result of pursuing emerging ministry at Peace?

first meeting thoughts

2007-09-27T15:44:00.000-04:00

First, let me say it for the record, I am so blessed to be a part of Peace. The idea that I could "be real" within a church community certainly seems to be a reality here.

So I just wanted to record a few impressions from our first face to face. Feel free to add your thoughts.

- Here's a link to the ELCA Mission Partners Focus newsletter on emerging church that I read some excerpts from.
- There is a desire to merge the different parts of our life, but a feeling of fear of how and if that can really be accomplished (eg. can we possibly imagine all our friends from all of our walks of life in the same room).
- We're looking for mechanisms to help us connect and build relationships in order to have meaningful faith conversations.
- While many individuals are making connections; a corporate response is desired for the support, learning and equipping it can provide.
- Whatever our response, it should be organic, authentic and real, not contrived.
- Public life transitions like death & divorce provide us with an opportunity to be there for the community around Peace. No strings attached.

Attendees: Jane, Laura, David H., Deb M., Eric, Kim, Angela, Ken, Nancy

chapter 2 - the odd thing about odds

2007-09-23T20:43:00.000-04:00

"How much happier you would be, how much more of you there would be, if the hammer of a higher God could smash your small cosmos." - G.K. Chesterton

resources
- Judges 7
- defying odds

share your thoughts
Lion chasers thrive in the toughest circumstances because they know that impossible odds set the stage for amazing miracles. What are the toughest odds we face at Peace?
Does how you think of God determine who you become?
The more we grow, the bigger God should get. And the bigger God gets, the smaller our lions become. How is God shrinking lions at Peace?

chapter 1 - locking eyes with your lion

2007-09-16T13:41:00.000-04:00

You are responsible forever for what you have tamed.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

resources
- 2 samuel 23:20-22
- the guts of leadership

share your thoughts
What does emerging ministry for Peace mean to you? Why is it risky?

What do you think might be the most difficult lion-chasing skill for you to master?
- defying odds?
- facing fears?
- reframing problems?
- embracing uncertainty?
- taking risks?
- seizing opportunities?
- looking foolish?

first things first

2007-09-16T13:04:00.000-04:00

This experiment in an online discussion forum for emerging ministry at Peace has got to start somewhere - so here we go.

why a blog?
A blog is a website where member(s) post content that is time-stamped and archived. Most blogs encourage interactivity, providing a mechanism for readers to provide comments to the posts. There are all kinds of blogs: personal journal, political, religious, technical, humorous etc.

The purpose of this blog is to allow people interested in emerging ministry at Peace to share their thoughts and ideas. Each week a post will be created for the lion chaser topic of the week. Anyone reading the blog can make a comment to a post. To make a comment, find the post you are interested in and scroll to the end of it.

* select comments
* select Post a Comment
* type comment under Leave your comment
* you can select Other (you don't have to provide name or URL) or Anonymous
* select publish your comment

face to face time
In addition to collaborating in cyberspace, we'd like to get together a couple of times a month. Let's try to get together the week of September 23. E-mail or phone me with times you could meet.

introduction

2007-08-24T06:56:00.000-04:00

What's the most challenging way to start an emerging ministry (a ministry of outreach in postmodern society)? The answer, apparently, is within an existing church. This probably has lots to do with preconceived notions of what church is. The box, if you will, that we put around worship & traditions. It's not impossible though. Are you feeling "called" to be part of an emerging ministry? Using Mark Batterson’s book, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, we will learn about some lion-chasing skills that can help us seize this God-ordained opportunity.

When: weekly online discussions and meeting twice a month (TBA)

Where: various public meetings places (e.g. coffee shop, park, food court, etc. – TBA)

Intensity: Moderate

Moderators: Kim Wilkens & Ken Hymes