oasisCHURCH

conversation for the journey

Had a great visit today with "new" friend Chad (one of those things, you know, where we were acquainted with one another for years, but after one sit-down conversation you really get to know someone more in that one conversation than years of just being "acquainted"). Today, before we realized it we had been sitting in Donkey for 3 hours talking about everything from ancient church history, to modern day church, to music, to writing, to a whole list of topics.

Thanks Chad, for taking time out of your day to share your stories and listen to mine. Looking forward to doing it again.

donkey observations

Sometimes when I am sitting here in Donkey Coffee & Espresso I only appear to be working, studying, or writing… but I am actually just glancing around the room and listening to conversations. I’m not trying to be nosey. It’s just interesting to see the diversity of people, and to hear the variety of topics and perspectives being discussed. Lately I’ve heard several political conversations. You can even read them on the bathroom wall (there is a chalk board for posting whatever thoughts you have while eliminating the cup of coffee you just digested).

There seem to be several meetings of Democrats in the coffee shop. I hear lots of talk about the economy, lack of jobs created by the Bush administration, and outright disgust for our “power-hungry, illiterate” president.

A couple of weeks ago there was a man sitting at the table behind me, and I am assuming he is a worship leader at a local church because he had headphones on, and was singing along to some gospel choir tunes while filling out a worship service agenda on his computer.

Last Friday there was a guy describing to a girl the frat party he was planning for the weekend. He sounded very excited to let her know that there would be lots of opportunities for a variety of “activities” if she attended.

About a month ago I sat next to a couple of guys who were sharing their journey in Christ. They discussed chapters from a book they had been reading and then they prayed together. I think they noticed that I was reading my Bible… they gave me the nod and smile of camaraderie.

On the furthermost back wall of Donkey there is a small stage. In the evenings there are varieties of performances, open mike nights, etc. But during the day there are a couple of tables up there. I like sitting up there when I go. Like now, as I type this I am sitting and overlooking the entire room. It is filled with people. Do these people know who Jesus is? Have they ever been involved with a church? What do they think of Christians? I am by nature sort of an introverted person (believe it or not). I’d rather keep to myself as much as possible. But sometimes I long to break into these conversations. I long to have the courage to ask questions… to introduce myself… to befriend… to listen to their conversations, not from another table, but at their table. How do you extroverts do it? What makes you want to talk to a stranger out of the blue? Teach me.

You see, here’s some insight into how my mind works. Rather than thinking about how I can sit down and talk to one person, I dream about creating a place like Donkey to provide the opportunities for conversations. I’d love to create the atmosphere… and then let you take over from there. Maybe that’s why I like sitting up here on the stage… because I more naturally think about the whole crowd of people more than the individual. I desire to think about the individual. I really do. I just have to make myself do that.

I don’t know where this post is going. Just some thoughts I had after my third cup of coffee… maybe I should eat something.

an interesting comparison

When it comes to cultural context, there can be an accurate comparison made between the culture in which Jesus came from and the culture in which we live (southeast Ohio). Although he was born in Bethlehem of Judea and resident for a time in Egypt, Jesus was known as a native of Nazareth in Galilee. A common description for him was “Jesus of Nazareth.” So what is significant about that? In those days Galilee was seen much like people view “Appalachia” in our day. Galileans were commonly regarded by Judeans as hillbillies. If they fit the patterns we are accustomed to, they had their own musical taste, their distinctive foods, their way of life, and they spoke Aramaic with a hillbilly accent.

Jesus was one of them, and would have been regarded as culturally disadvantaged by many sophisticated Jerusalemites. I think it's also significant that Jesus selected those for his “inner circle”, with one exception, from fellow Galileans. One indication that they kept their hillbilly accent was when Peter later attempted to deny that he was one of the inner circle, but the people of Jerusalem could not be fooled…because of his “speech.” Later, those of the Sanhedrin characterize Peter and John as “uneducated and untrained men” (Acts 4:13), a stereotype on their culture.

Why do I think this is an important comparison for us to consider?

How many of us southeastern Ohio folk sometimes wonder what we can actually accomplish in the kingdom of God? The original followers of Jesus... a handful of hick-town, uneducated men and women... were the foundation for what we know and live today. Together they turned the world upside down… beginning in their neighborhoods, extending to their cities, to their country, and eventually to us.

If you ever wonder if anything significant could come out of planting churches in southeast Ohio... just ask Jesus. He laid the foundation for ministry in a very similar culture, with very similar people. The Gospel is not sophisiticated. You need not be an intellectual to grasp the Good News. In fact, if history should happen to repeat itself, you are a pretty good candidate for seeing some amazing things in the kingdom of God simpy because of where you happen to live. God tends to choose the looked down upon, the poor, the meek... to do amazing things.

worship guitar 101 students...

I added the songs for you to practice with this month. You can download them from the "songs" column on the left. To save them to your computer, right click, then click "save target as," and then find the directory in which you'd like to save the file.

Email me if you'd like to purchase the entire cd that these songs are on.

Practice! Practice! Practice!

snowboarding in the plains

April, the kids and I went out to play in the snow a little while ago. Put some photos up on the photo album, and even added a category for videos. Took a few short videos of April and Brock snowboarding. You'll find them on the right hand column.

blessing the lord with poetry and songs

My normal last-Sunday-of-the-month trip to Waverly to fellowship with the Lotus church was postponed today. Snow is falling like crazy and ice is expected to pack it in later tonight. I would have been stranded for sure.

Today we had a couple of new worship-art experiences provided by the amazing Des Jeffers. The first was a song he had sent me to work on a melody (he sent it to me back in October). This past week I was feeling harmonious and so I sat down and looked at his lyrics and... bam, there was the melody. We sang it today. It's called Grace Poured Out:

I give you a broken life, you make me whole,
I give you my shattered dreams, you restore my soul,
No matter what the pain may be, when I come to you,
You are there with open arms, to heal and make me new

Your grace is poured out, like a flowing stream
Refreshing life it gives, renewing me
Your grace is poured out, wash over me
My God cleanse every part and set me free

I give you my righteousness, it's filthy just the same,
I give you the best of me, it's dark and filled with stain
There's nothing pure, apart from you, please wash me in the flood,
The life giving healing flow, of Jesus precious blood

Oh set me free, set me free
Set me free, Lord set me free
Oh I'm free, yes I'm free
I'm free, yes I'm free

The second offering Des gave to the Lord and allowed us to share in the experience was a poem he had written a coupel of weeks ago as he was pondering all the Lord has done for us. You can hear Des reading this poem at the end of our gathering today (click here). If you'd like to read along...

God Planted A Garden
God planted a garden, with kind loving care,
it was perfect and beautiful, no thorns anywhere.

Into this garden he placed man with his mate,
to live in paradise, the bounty so great.

In a perfect union, God walked with man,
until Lucifer devised, so crafty a plan.

"Adam thinks he's content and living in bliss,
I'll open his eyes," satan said with a hiss.

So into the garden satan slithered with glee,
"Hey Eve he said, take a look at this tree."

"Look at the fruit it's so luscious and sweet,
if I were you, I'd take some and eat."

Eve thought for a moment and then her reply,
"But God said no, for we'll surely die."

Satan laughed, "Oh Eve it's plain, can't you see,
why God told you not to eat of this tree."

"Your eyes will be opened, like God you will be,
here, take a bite, just trust me, you'll see."

Eve looked at the fruit, it smelled oh so sweet,
what harm could it do, "yes, I will eat."

She gave some to Adam, and he ate it too,
their eyes were opened, and then they knew.

"What have we done," too late was their plea,
"oh why did we eat, from this terrible tree."

With hearts filled with sorrow, they hid from the Lord,
now misery and guilt, had entered their world.

With a heavy heart, God reached out to man,
"even though you have fallen, I still have a plan."

"Satan, to Hell with you, get out of my sight,
My Son will crush you with all of His might,"

"These are my children, though flawed they may be,
My Son will rescue them, when He hangs on the tree."

It was a great morning... a great gathering. If you'd like to listen to the teaching, "Why Get Saved?"... just click on the link to listen. As always, you will be able to find it inthe list to the left. Make some hot chocolate, sit back with headphones on and snow falling outside the window... enjoy!

the emerging church journey

Every now and then I will pause for a moment and think about my entire life. Have you ever considered the paths you've taken? The turns you've made... and the turns that were made for you... that eventually led you to be where you are today? That's what I've been doing the entire time I have been reading this book by Dan Kimball. The reason is because his journey reads to be almost identical to mine... except for a few different turns onto different paths.

He lived in Santa Cruz when the journey began for him. I lived in St. Louis. He was doing youth ministry almost identical to the way I was doing youth ministry. Lots of flash, lots of entertainment, lots of focus on excellent, seeker sensitive programming and fast growth... all with a very pure heart to see the Gospel spread to as many teenagers as possible, I might add. Then he began to see the same signs I began to see in the middle of all of that which appeared to be very successful. I couldn't put my finger on it exactly, but I could sense a subtle, disturbing trend as Kimball says. Something was changing. Little by little I began to see that non-Christian students were not nearly as impressed by all of our programming, dramas, and multi-media presentations as I thought they were. They were actually seeking a "spiritual" expererience (not necessarily a Godly one, but a spiritual one nonetheless). And up to that point I (we, Kimball and I) had removed everything "spiritual" from our programs in an effort to be seeker sensitive. As Kimball writes, these are some of the patterns we saw emerge:

- Non Christian youth and younger adults were not responding to outreach methods that had been very successful in the past.
- Youth and young adults generally were not connecting with the contemporary, modern church service and the same approaches that were very successful with earlier generations.
- Everyone was generally confused about what to do because we couldn't explain what was happening, we just knew it was happening. And those who actually made an attempt to explain it just got blank looks as if a deer was caught in headlights.

I knew that the majority of these students were not ever going to just grow up and "graduate" into the "big" church service and life. Some options remained. [1] We could continue on like normal and ignore the changes we felt, and insist that this was simply a "fad" and that we must persist through it. Or [2] we could rearrange our ministry of youth and young adults to become more like another church "within" the existing church... and in doing so, begin a proactive journey to reach an entirely new and emerging culture of people (This, by the way, was a proposal made by Dan to his church leaders around the same exact time I was making an identical proposal to my church leaders. The similarities are scary... he even called his worship service the "unplugged" service... the same name we used in St. Louis. However, the similarities change drastically at this point). Or [3] a third option would be to plant a new church entirely separate from the one we were currently involved in. Dan's church leaders in Santa Cruz decided to open the conversations to consider what could be done within their existing church. They planted "Graceland", a church within Santa Cruz Bible Church. Today Dan is still pastoring that congregation. The leaders where I served decided not to discuss the options I had proposed. So at that point, my journey significantly changed.

It is still amazing, as I continue to read I see him explaining things he has encountered in his ministry and spoken to his church that I just nod my head and say... "yep." I have never met this guy, but our walk is nearly identical, except for a few different turns and paths. For instance, he has an entire chapter about how he recently made some statements to his church while teaching from the book of Acts... statements like, "There is not one verse in the New Testament that says 'they went to church.'" And, "according to the Bible, it is actually impossible to 'go to church.'" Those of you who know me ever heard those words before? LOL.

I need to wrap this post up. It actually ended up being much longer than I had anticipated. Some of you may be wondering, "So Chris... do you regret the path you somewhat 'involuntarily' took?" Of course not. Yes, I think about the friendships that were severed, and others that were not severed but separated by miles, and I miss those. But the fact is... regardless of our circumstances, God accomplishes His purposes. Regardless of where we end up geographically, He continues us on the journey He set out for us spiritually. So regret is not something that should ever come as long as we continue on the journey of loving and unselfishly serving God.

site browsing

Every day it seems I find something new I can do on this little web site of mine. I'm sure there are countless things, but if I discovered them all at once then I would drive myself crazy trying to implement them all at once (I'm kinda like that, you know...).

Anyway, as you can see, on the left is a weather magnet that tells you what the current conditions are here in Athens. I like weather. I usually check four or five different weather stations every day (during baseball season it's usually every hour!). On the right hand column you will see a section called "search site". This is a search engine powered by Google that allows you to do a word search on my site alone (it only works for the text in the blog posts). Give it a try.

That's all for now. Just got back from the Alexander vs. Meigs basketball game. Really good game. I think Brock may have learned a fer new cuss words tonight though. A few Meigs fans right behind us got a little rowdy. He'll get used to it... sports are forever a part of his life.

Spent the evening last night and a little time this morning writing music for a song Des Jeffers gave me lyrics to a few months ago. I think we may give it a "test run" this Sunday morning.

All for now. I have a movie calling for my attention upstairs... Out of Time with Denzel Washington. Heard it was pretty intense.

the dead horse woke up... so i beat it again

I just finished sending an email to my Oasis list. In it I talk a little bit about our gatherings. On top of that, I have been pondering a few things today. Just some random thoughts in areas I haven’t pondered in a long time…

>> There is no “one-size-fits-all” way for doing things in the church. You know, I’m sure every emerging church leader, every postmodern thinker, would agree with that statement. But you know what is ironic to me? Those same people (and I include myself in this, because I have certainly been guilty of doing this) will still point at a certain method, model, or movement and say, “That’s it… that is what is going to work!” I agree that some things work better than other things. But aren’t statements like that just the beginnings of building another box? Who am I to say that God can’t or won’t use a modern approach and style to reach lost people, even in a postmodern context? The kingdom of God is made up of large churches, small churches, home churches, multiracial churches, intercultural churches, inner city, rural, and suburban churches. It refuses to be boxed in.

>> How would an average person in the church define the word “church”? This question deals not with styles or methods. It goes deeper, to the heart of who the church is. I will give two possible definitions people may give, and then elaborate just briefly.
- Definition #1: I come to church to be fed, to have my needs met through quality programs, and to have leaders teach me and my children about God. Church, in this definition is seen as a dispenser of goods and services… this is called “going to church”. In this definition a person will describe to someone else about the church to which they “GO”.
- Definition #2: I see church as a body of people sent on a mission given by Jesus, and who gather in community for worship, encouragement, and teaching from the Word of God, which supplements how I am feeding myself throughout the week. In this definition a person will describe to someone else the church to which they “BELONG”.

>> The issue is the mindset, not the model. When the mindset of every believer is consumed with a missional vision (definition #2) for the church to which they belong rather than a consumer vision (definition #1), then the model will really not make a difference. God will use the large church, the house church, the simple church, the complex church, the urban church, the rural church.

Some of you reading this are thinking… “Wait a minute, I thought you were adamantly for the simple church, and adamantly against the institution of the church? Are you changing your tune?” Perhaps. But I really don’t think I am changing my tune. I still have personal preferences and convictions. Maybe I’m not changing the tune, just turning the volume down a bit. I hope there is always room in my heart for God to “change my tune,” or perhaps to open my eyes to see things as He sees them. Sometimes leaders and critical thinkers get so bent out of shape over the stuff that really doesn’t matter. If the people of Oasis have a heart for the mission of God and an understanding of their membership in His family, then why would I need to create apologetics for where and how we gather together? If the heart is where it belongs, then it won’t matter if the church is gathered in homes, or in large settings, or in bars, or in legion halls, or in parking lots, or wherever!!!

Dear postmodern, changing culture observers, critical thinking friends: lets get over it!!! Get over your disdain for the modern forms and structures that didn’t teach you anything. Get over your cynicism of the institutions (or should I say, the “IC”) and the models that “don’t get it” the way you do. Set aside the discussion and the philosophy for a few minutes. Ask yourself, “Am I helping the mission of the church in the world by spending much of my time talking about what is wrong with it?” It’s okay if you meet in a simple, home church setting. And it’s okay if the pastor down the street leads his congregation in a large, formal setting. You are brothers. It’s okay if you use candles, and it’s okay if the youth pastor across town uses a disco ball. You are brothers.

Man… now I remember why I haven’t stirred these thoughts up inside of me for a long time. I’ve been so busy doing things with the wonderful brothers and sisters God has given me called “Oasis” that I forgot all about those important, philosophical problems that we must confront in this emerging church (that was sarcasm). It’s “living” versus talking about living. I’m having so much more fun living… being the church, than I ever had just talking about being the church. So many “postmodern” church thinkers are the most unhappy, unresolved, uncommitted, confused people I know.

Well, enough of this. I just had an itch and needed to scratch it. Discuss if you so wish.

shine on

I just did something that I am dead against.... I listened to country music.

A friend, Mike Kennedy, gave me a CD and told me I had to listen to the words of one of the songs. It's a love song written to a woman, but as God has done with so many songs I have heard... He turned it into a praise offering every time Mike listens to it.

It says...

I was lost in darkness and sinking sand
Well I was barely nothing, a broken man
But you picked up the pieces of my heart in your hand
Then you came and showed to me love's second chance

Shine on, shine on, shine on me
Whenever something's missing
You're exactly what I need
Your love has shown me the light and now I finally see
So shine on, shine on, shine on me, yeah

Lord knows that I'm not perfect but I sure do try
And I see the man that I can be in your eyes
Well there are times I still get lost in yesterday
But you put the past behind me and you light my way

I love the way God does that. Whether Rascal Flatts intended this song to be a song of praise to God or not, God claimed it because it was good, and He used it to encourage my friend Mike...

...and countless others who, for some reason, like country music. : )

Thanks for sharing it Mike.