Arbor and Fence

Friar Tuck(Ed), Daniel and Jeff are going crazy fast on the
construction of the garden. This Saturday at 9am they need around 6
guys to work in the garden moving the planters for the tractor to put
in the dirt. If you can help out, show up.

Daughters of Kings....

Sunday I preached a non Saccharine Sunday message on Luke 10:38-42. In that passage we explored the radical act of both Mary and Jesus. Mary broke with the cultural defined and allowed norms for women by taking a seat among the men, at the feet of Jesus, to listen. He allowed her to do so, taught her and even reprimanded Martha for trying to draw Mary back into the role Martha felt was more appropriate to the situation....ie. back in the kitchen.

Jesus was radical in a culture where some Rabbis prayed:

Praised be Thou O Lord, who did not make me a gentile
Praised be Thou O Lord who did not make me a boor
Praised be Thou of Lord who did not make me a woman

And some taught, like Rabbi Eliezer wrote in the 1st century CE: "Rather should the words of the Torah be burned than entrusted to a woman...Whoever teaches his daughter the Torah is like one who teaches her obscenity."

Or Greek men would express gratitude by gushing: “I was born a human being and not a beast, next, a man and not a woman, thirdly, a Greek and not a barbarian.”

Where leading Jewish historian's like Josephus, a contemporary of Jesus, and the apostle Paul said:“The Woman, says the law, is in all things inferior to the man.”

Where church fathers like Augustine taught that a woman can become the image of God by marriage and fulfilling their designed to be procreative partners.

In light of that, you can see just how revolutionary Jesus was in His ministry and methods. How liberating His words and actions were in Jewish culture. From talking to foreign women, to allowing bleeding unclean women or prostitutes to touch Him (kiss his feet, wipe their hair on his feet). His calling a healed woman a "daughter of Abraham" which was a unique title, including women in His band of disciples(Luke 8:1-3), being funded by single, business women with a history of demonic possession(Mark 16:9 )as well as others who funded his itinerant ministry. Choosing a woman to be the first preacher of His resurrection(John 20:17-18) which in that culture where women's testimonies were not legal in court...that was a major dignifying act!

I also used a passage in the book "The Two Towers" that retells the same issues in a different setting and way. The book expounds upon the feelings of Young Eowyn of Rohan and her struggle to become the warrior within her that was hidden by the princess she was outwardly. Her deep inner turmoil of duties and roles in the face of the times in which she lived and the needs of the hour. The book explores the fiery and sharp insight she had about the limiting roles our cultures place upon us and how often those most dear to us are most blind to who we really are in the heart. The book "The Return of the King" digs into the wound she bore in her soul in the chapter "The Houses of Healing" and the words of Gandalf and Aragorn are illuminating as any to the power of any man who can see a woman for who she truly longs to be seen. There is healing in those passages for those who have ears to hear.

I know some were upset and misunderstood the use of the film clip I used here and granted it was a bit intense for a typical Sunday morning church experience, in the future I will be more sensitive to children that sometimes are present. But I showed it because I truly felt led to include it in the discussion. The film captures the ethos of some of Eowyn's drama that is better for some people to captured visually. The look in her eyes when Aragorn, a man who also was wrestling with being a warrior on the outside and a king on the inside...saw her for who she truly was... " A Daughter of Kings"; was powerful. The high drama of her battle with the witch king and her fulfillment of the ancient prophesy that "No Man" could kill him...was potent and biblical from a certain angle (genesis 3).

I was able to use the book and the film in the evening service and I think a better weaving took place because of it. I hope the message was liberating and will burn through the surrounding controversy it may have evoked...because in the end...it was for freedom that Christ set us free and don't let anyone or anything subject you to the yoke of slavery again...(Galatians 5:1)

Pure, 100% buttrock and I love it....

You got to watch the whole things to see the different stuff they do...that is, if this thing is your kind of thing. Thanks Chris, for the heads up buddy.

Oh, by the way....

Jacob Eli....

Welcome Jacob Eli. Proud parents Colleen and Dale welcomed him into the world this week and we are humbled as well, because they partially named him after Jacob's Well.

Fence and Dirt....

The work on the fence is taking place in our Church/Community Garden...here is Daniel working on it.
We had the dirt delivered yesterday and it looks fine...as Ed can attest to...
It's coming along, we just need to finish the whole designated area around the garden and treat the wood. All in all its happened pretty fast. We have some of the seedlings growing indoors and this Sunday we will put out a sign up sheet for all who want to grow some more indoors in preparations to plant in the garden.

Captain's Chair For a Cult Leader....

I was once accused of being a cult leader and supposedly I made people call me "Skipper"...I know, don't laugh too hard...I dont have people call me Skipper and the only cult I lead is one based around the iphone. But I could see building a dais in the meeting area of our church and place this beauty right on top...I could even handle being called "Captain"...it's more inline with my science fiction geekiness and less Gilligan's Island. I could buy it here for only $2,199.99 it could be a dream turned reality...any start up investors for up and coming SCFI/religious cult leaders out there?

It will save a lifestyle....

Go ahead...act like Jesus....

1. Get baptized by the craziest guy in town.

2. Say and do things that are guaranteed to make religious people want to kill you. Repeat again, and again, and again, and again, and again and don’t stop unless forced.

3. Do amazing things for people and ask them to not tell anyone.

4. Hang out with the most despised, marginalized, looked down upon, and shunned people you can find.

5. When possible, forgive and restore people, even if they betrayed you.

6. Live in a way that provokes gossip.

7. Win the most grace competition.

8. Keep the party going.

9. Serve people (note: nose plugs may be required).

10. If you’re sad cry.

11. Empower people to do the extraordinary.

12. Act like a rock star in a "hotel" temple.

13. Radically simplify theology.

14. Break human-made religious laws. Repeat consistently.

15. Prioritize the most important over the important.

16. Let women with questionable backgrounds pay your bills.

From GraceRules

Orthoparadox...

“Orthoparadoxy is an effort to make God’s main thing the main thing for all the people of God: reconciliation. Not sameness or agreement but differentiated oneness - where the fullness of one can be in relationship with the fullness of another. Orthoparadox is right paradox - holding difference rightly. Orthoparadox seeks to hold difference, tensions, otherness, and paradoxes with grace, humility, respect, and curiosity, while simultaneously bringing the fullness of self to the ‘other’ in conversation, not to convert or to convince but with the hope of mutual transformation through interpersonal relationship”. -Dwight Friesen

This is an Iraqi family that have become regulars at our Community Resource Center. The mother on the right has been volunteering at our center to fulfill State work requirements. Since her English is basic, she can gain work experience, be stretched linguistically and meet Government mandated requirements for refugees. We have had the privilege of getting to know her husband and all her children during our Tuesday dinners. We are learning about different cultures and religious traditions. Beef over pork, sensitivity in customs, prayers and general relational humility towards one another as we become friends. It's been a rich experience for all of us, gaining new acquaintances, sharing the work of care for our community and listening to their stories of trial and challenge. This family fled Baghdad...their journey was sobering.

In our CRC on a regular Tuesday night, you will meet people from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, North America and South America; that's pretty amazing! Learning to extend hospitality and friendship to diverse cultures, in an unconditional way, is one of the most rewarding aspects of urban ministry. The beauty of it all, is how you end up discovering God in the process of sharing His love. Those who are sent to proclaim Him...end up finding Him within the very people He sends you to love.

Last night as I was standing next to this family as they were preparing to leave, the little girl, looked at me and reached her arms out for me to hold her. I picked her up and the family started chattering about how that was a first for her. I was blessed to see us all connecting on such a simple, yet tender level.

God is love...it's the heart of the gospel....and it never fails.

Garden dirt money....all $800 raised!

Thanks peeps...we will purchase the dirt this week!

Daughters of Kings....

Aragorn: You have some skill with a blade.
Eowyn: The women of this country learned long ago, those without swords can still die upon them. I fear neither death nor pain.
Aragorn: What do you fear, my lady?
Eowyn: A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them and all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire.
Aragorn: You are a daughter of kings, a shield maiden of Rohan. I do not think that will be your fate.

"He has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen" -Revelation 1:6

Here are some peeks at the content that is in the mix for our upcoming Daughter's Of Kings: Mother's Day Experience...it's not going to be a typical Saccharine Sunday.
Most women face the challenge of not being seen for who they truly are...they are warriors inside a princess or princesses inside a warrior and those around them fail to see the hidden person of the heart (1 Peter 3:4)
Our culture has fed women lies, filled them with inflated visions of a false reality that becomes a tortuous master that grinds their spirits into submission to the elementary principles of this world. To many daughters have lived for too long in servitude to someone elses vision of who they should be.
"We cannot live in a world that is not our own, in a world that is interpreted for us by others. An interpreted world is not a home. Part of the terror is to take back our own listening, to use our own voice, to see our own light." -Hildegard von Bingen
(Germany 1100 AD)

"Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you," declares the LORD." -Zechariah 2:10

We crawl...

I think this song captures the human factor of living kingdom that is essential and I think it goes swell with this quote I ripped off of my Dad's blog too.

“I cannot fail, however unwilling, to see much that is dry and stiff and unlovely in the style of Christianity around me. It has no attraction for me. I do not like the people who illustrate it; and the reason is, not that they have got too much Christianity, but that they have not got enough of any thing else. Flour is good, but flour is not bread. If I am to eat flour, I must eat it as a bread; and either milk or water must be used to make it bread. If a little milk is used, the bread will be dry and heavy and hard. If a good deal is used, the flour will be transformed into a soft and plastic mass, which will rise in the heat, and come to my lips a sweet and fragrant morsel. Christianity is good, but it needs mixing with humanity before it will have a practical value. If only a little humanity be mixed with it, the product will be dry and tasteless; but if it be combined with the real milk of humanity, and enough of it, the result will be a loaf fit for the tongues of angels.” Timothy Titcomb

Smokers, tokers, pokers...and forkers?

"If you find honey, eat just enough, too much of it, and you will vomit" -Proverbs 25:16

During my Monday morning coffee at my favorite local coffee shop (The SHOP); I noticed the ginormous coffee mug some lady brought in. You can see it in the picture. Now, nobody likes a persnickety person, especially a health and nutrition one, but I was taken back by the glutenous bravado of such a mug. Does anyone really need such a bladder buster? Shall I belly up to the coffee bar with my washed out milk jug and ask them to fill it up with the drip brew of the day?

When will we realize that we are killing ourselves with such lunacy?

Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice deeds of wickedness with men who do iniquity; and do not let me eat of their delicacies. -Psalms 141:3-4

An elderly man, sat down next to me with a cinnamon roll the size of his head and he washed it down with a bottle of fruit juice! Heck, I think I was catching an insulin buzz off him from across the couch!

The more I seek to contemplate my own sinfulness in light of how I have abused my body...the more I realize there are pushers of pleasure all around me. The Pastry Pimps and Munchie Madams are seducing us on every corner. There is more mainlining of sugar and caffeine going on around us than any meth-a-demic...and its completely acceptable...in fact, its encouraged! If you try to decline or moderate your consumption...you encounter a weird cultural pressure and disdain.

Its maddening how complicated this path can be...especially in the church.

As a preacher, you can hammer on the smokers, tokers and pokers...but dare to touch the forkers and...well, you know.

I remember the guilty feelings I would have as I would run off to the corner of the church property as a young adult, to catch a quick smoke after sunday school and before the worship service. Oh the shame I pummeled myself with; while my overweight pastors and fellow muffin toppers were cramming themselves into those small pews. Those condescending eyes and noses glaring at me in my post smoke stench; as I shimmied past their overweight stomachs.

The hypocrisy was nuts.

"You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols. Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you. But remember that they will have to face God, who will judge everyone, both the living and the dead." -1 Peter 4:3-5

I'm not sure if I ever have heard a sermon on the issue, in over 40 years.

"Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags." -Proverbs 23:20-21
"Put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony." - Proverbs 23:2

"Let your moderation be known unto all men." -Philippians 4:5

"Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things". -Phil 3:19

It's tough walking this path, trying to change and opening your mind and heart to new ways of living. It's not easy embracing new foods, moving and relearning how to have a relationship with food and culture. It's frightening how much self deception, bondage, self medicating, illusionary living, slavery and self hate is rooted in the industry and pushed from the store shelves. It's eye opening to see the matrix of servitude and self delusion that is going on with fork and spoon. The powers that be are harvesting off the lusts of our own hearts and the brokenness of our society. The poor are at the mercy of the industry, food is now bought not grown and the impoverishment of our society is funding a medical industry that benefits from our idolatry...and as long as we think its cheap and tasty we love it so.

The bombardment is mind numbing...and saying no...has become a radical act of defiance.


Unplug...it might not always taste as good...but remember...living free is always better than being a slave.

The Hunt for Gollum...

Oh Happy Day...We Watched it....and it was grand!
Go here and view the full 40 minute film for free.

Slimey the worm....

I saw this little guy crawling across the sidewalk this morning on my way to meet with the church. I was caught off guard by his journey. He reminded me of these guys....
I remember watching Sesame Street as a kid and loving oscar the grouch and his friend Slimey the worm. It's amazing how you can grow to be attached to a character that has an obvious stick or string dictating his every move, all plain to see to the naked eye. I used to daydream about what Oscar's can home was like inside. I also loved the Muppet Show too...

In a faster world, maybe we need a slower church...?

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who live outside-in and those who live inside-out. The outside-in folks allow the world to saturate their thinking. They are sponges, absorbing the agendas of this world without a filter. Like the Roman Empire, they are destroyed from within. in contrast, those who live inside-out change the world with what’s inside them… It’s the difference between a black hole and a burning star. It’s more beautiful to explode in light than implode in darkness. And we all know that there are enough black holes in this world already.” -Godology: Because Knowing God Changes Everything” by Christian George

I am working hard at slowing down lately. Cultivating a hearing heart, listening more than talking, looking more than seeing. I have found a rich well of nourishment for my tired soul in this season. Resting in the spiritual truth that is found in sleeping. In the scriptures the day starts in the evening...when I go to sleep.

He will not let you stumble and fall; the one who watches over you will not sleep. -Psalm 121:3

Our time clocks call the day starting when I awake...when I arise and tell the world I am ready to work. But in God's kingdom the real work begins when i go to sleep. In light of all that needs to be done, all the suffering, all the ministry to do, all the family stuff to attend to...you realize in the biblical clock...God is the center not me.

It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones. -Psalm 127:2

So much of Christianity practice and understanding of mission isn't rooted in rest but anxiousness...not centered in His work but my labor. It's a man-centered gospel and in the end...it burns people out.

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." -Matthew 11:29-30 (The Message)

“Jesus was often busy but he was never hurried. Being busy is an outer condition; being hurried is a sickness of the soul.” -John Ortberg

With so many conversations and activity going on these days to build it bigger, better and faster...I am finding a delight in exploring ways to do the opposite....and that is a radical gospel path indeed.

In a faster world, maybe we need a slower church -Leighton Ford

Saturday work...

The church gnomes were out and at work today...I came by and saw the work they knocked out....the beds are almost complete. Good job folks! It's so cool to have self motivated people on mission...they got the vision! I was talking to one of the hammer slingers, who has been recently laid off from work and he was sharing how it was good to get out and work. It's been amazing to see how projects like these can minister to different people at various places in their lives.

Poets don't make arguments, they reveal mysteries...

"What the congregation needs is not a strategist to help them form another plan for achieving a desired image of life, but a poet who looks beneath even the desperation to recover the mystery of what it means to be made in God's image." -pastor-professor, and poet, M. Craig Barnes, in his new book: The Pastor As Minor Poet: Texts and Subtexts in the Ministerial Life

"Just like a wild animal, the soul is tough, resilient, savvy, resourceful and self-sufficient: it knows how to survive in hard places. Many of us learn about these qualities in the darkest moments of our lives when the faculties we normally depend upon utterly fail us—the intellect is useless, the emotions dead, the will impotent, and the ego shattered. But sometimes, way back in the thickets of our inner lives, we sense the presence of something that knows how to stay alive and helps us to keep going. That something, I suggest, is the tough and tenacious soul. And yet the soul, despite its toughness, is also essentially shy—just like a wild animal. It will flee from the noisy crowd and seek safety in the deep underbrush. If we want to see a wild animal, we know that the last thing we should do is go crashing through the woods yelling for it to come out! But if we will walk into the woods quietly and sit at the base of a tree, breathing with the earth and fading into our surroundings, the wild creature we seek may eventually show up." -Parker Palme

I find that the poetic voice is desperately needed today, especially within the church.

Poetry fosters and nurtures life by finding wonder in the nooks and crannies of ordinary life.
-Suzanne Rhodes: The Roar on the Other Side: A Guide for Student Poets

Hope always draws the soul from the beauty which is seen to what is beyond, always kindles the desire for the hidden through what is constantly perceived. Therefore, the ardent lover of beauty, although receiving what is always visible as an image of what he desires, yet longs to be filled with the very stamp of the archetype. — Saint Gregory of Nyssa

30 People...$20 bucks each....

Our beds are nearing completion and we need to purchase 30 square yards of good dirt...it comes out to almost $20 per yard to purchase and deliver. If we can get 30 people to purchase one square yard per family...we can have this next part of the project taken care of. Any takers?