The Alternative Story

Disillusioned with Church?

2011-06-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt disillusioned with Church? You should have, because we all do from time to time, or if you are like me, all the time. But have you ever wondered why it is so easy to be disillusioned with Church? My sources of frustration are simple; people who hurt me, the political nature of the leaders, the inward focus, neglecting the poor, not caring about the outside world have all caused me to feel disfranchised with the Church.

I have realized however that I have false expectations from the Church. I realized this reading through the new testament epistles. I challenge you to read Paul's letters to the various Churches (Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians). You realize how messed up those churches were. People getting drunk during communion (that would have been me), sleeping around with each other, suing each other, families and marriages being ripped apart. It was messed up. Paul's approach was not to throw in the towel and leave, his approach was to rebuke and love.

I had to let go. I was expecting too much out of my church and feeling responsible for it. I had to come to terms with the fact I do not give an account before God for this Church, the leadership does.
Biblically, the "Church" are all the believers in Christ. The Bible calls the Church Jesus' Bride. God promised to protect it. We conform to his image as we are cleansed by his blood to be presented a chaste virgin to Jesus. So if God and Jesus and the Church are so great, why are so many Churches so bad? Your local Church is a man-made, man-run entity. The leadership is fallible, the organization may not work, the structure may be littered with inefficiencies, the Church will do things you do not like, always. But, the local church is a tool God uses to protect, nourish, equip and send out believers to do the mission of God. The Church will not be infallible, the pastors will not be perfect, nor should you expect them to be.

Once I let go of that, I could see the local Church for the appropriate role it plays in my life.
Results: A whole lot more love, and a whole lot less bitterness.

What do you do?

2011-06-05T19:47:00.000-07:00

Like most people, I have a hard time explaining what I "do" for a living. Technically, I am an Electrical Engineer working on an automation team; we design/build manufacturing equipment for the food and pharmaceutical industry. Thats a bunch of geek speak for a team of guys who are responsible to make machines move.

But that got me thinking, how aware are we of how things work? Not just mechanical things, but people and systems. How do they work? And the bigger question: How does the world work? I don't think anybody really knows.

Look at your own job for example. People tell me all the time they butt heads with "the powers that be." Management and owners have little to no idea what or how people do what they do in the work place. Therefore, when they make decisions that make life harder and more difficult for everyone it looks to us like they are ignorant or inconsiderate. But maybe they made that decision so that everyone could save their job. On the other hand, maybe that decision so angered the employees that production went down 15%. The reality is, people make decisions based on their personal perspective. So if someone is not privy to all of the information, it will not be the best decision possible. No one is privy to ALL the information. Decisions are made and life goes on and sometimes the outcomes surprise us.

My point is, no one really knows how it all works.
Maybe that is why all world powers come to end, eventually.

My totally weird path of adopting a child

2011-06-04T07:18:00.000-07:00

Most of us are familiar with adoption, but it is weird. Christa and I decided to adopt last December and started the process in January. February we found out we were also pregnant. Living the experience in parallel has been amazing and very intriguing. Having a biological child as well as waiting to be matched for our adopted child has made us realize major differences in the emotional journeys of each scenario. I want to share one aspect.

When you decide to get pregnant or you get pregnant without deciding, that's is something intimate between husband and wife. It is exciting and overwhelming all at the same time. It is personal and in a way sacred. No one tells you how you should parent or tells you what you are supposed to do. Figuring it all out is part of the experience. Adoption is slightly different. When you decide to adopt, complete strangers assess whether or not you are qualified to parent. They come to your home and search through every room. They sit on your couch and ask you very personal questions about your marriage, your childhood, and probe into your finances, your religion, your education, your personality flaws, and your weaknesses all in an effort to assess whether or not you are "worthy" to be a parent. Once the assessment process is done you wait. Then one day your phone rings and you are informed that you are qualified to parent. Before you allowed to adopt however you must complete hours of training and education in "how to parent your child." For weeks, you receive data, studies, books, counseling, and advice from the agency. Once your training is complete you make a scrapbook. You create a scrapbook of your life that birth mothers will see. Birth mothers use this information when deciding who the parents of their child will be.

I feel like the adoption process is awesome for preparing you to be a parent. I really do. It forces you to assess "why" you want to be a parent and the ins and outs of "how" you are going to parent. It also exposes those uncomfortable differences between husband and wife when it comes to parenting style and technique. The agency forces you to talk about it. They also educate you on the differences between adoption parenting and biological parenting and the social and psychological differences in the children. They show you data on parenting methods, discipline, emotional development, physical development. It sort of like a crash course in Early Childhood Development.

In a perfect world, I think everyone should have to go through the adoption process before having any kids.

Adoption

2011-06-02T06:54:00.000-07:00

The fate of a little boy rests in the hands of political posturing. Lawyers and Judges will determine a defenseless child's life. The opinion of the parents that love that child, sacrifice, provide and invest in that child have no representation. Put yourself there. A child you have known since it's birth. A child who knows only you. If this child is taken away from you, you have no closure. This Child didn't pass away, This Child didn't die. This Child continues to live, but in another home outside your care. This home is not antiquate, not safe, and not loving. You are left helpless and forgotten.

This is the risk of adoption, you know it going in, you pray it never happens.

Today is court day for my dear friends, I ask you to Pray.

Don't just do something, Sit there!

2011-05-31T10:45:00.000-07:00

I was listening to post cast of Michael Frost at Dallas Theological Seminary. He gave some pointers on missional living, and I have been reflecting on the 1st one, "Don't just do something, sit there."

Simple and counterintuitive, yet communicates the flaw with the traditional view of mission. In an effort to share, evangelize or even disciple people, I carry an attitude with me. That attitude is, I have something that you need. Therefore, you need to listen to me so that I can share that with you. Now, this is simple and great! I just had one frustration with it, it didn't seem to work all the time. I had actually gotten used this approach not working. I figured people just didn't want the Truth. I was in the clear, what people did with the Truth was their problem.

But this approach of sitting, observing and listening opened up doors. I was able to share as much as before only this time it was in their context. I was able to make Truth applicable to their circumstances. I told them what I had learned instead of telling them what they should do.

Where world view and physics meet

2011-05-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

I think there is a fascinating connection between physics and world view. As westerners (on the global scale) we put a lot of weight in the scientific arena. Why? Some cultures have no interest or value placed on scientific understanding, so why do we care?

And has that not changed in the last several decades? Have we not been changing as western thinkers? What direction of thought are we going?

If you think about history and the world after some of the major contributers to science like Isaac Newton and Galileo for example, you see a world transforming into organized systems. People discovered that the world is not run by random emotions of gods, but rather a very organized set of "laws." Newton understood gravity; Maxwell, electricity and magnetism. These were fundamental forces in nature that ruled our everyday life. So naturally, it follows that all systems, psychology, sociology, theology, government, music, art have fundamental "laws" that makes one successful in their respective field.

I can see in history how this rule of law dominated western world view for several hundred years. I believe the physicists gave humanity some handlebars to implement these organized boxes.

I also see some major cultural changes in the last 100 years. It is interesting to me to reflect on the connection between physics and world view once again.

The major contributers have like Einstein, Bohr, Schroedinger, and Hubble shifted paradigms in physics. Einstein questioned the constancy of time and introduced Relativity. He showed how an event can happen and two people will observe conflicting results. Schroedinger and Bohr were shocked by quantum theory. Particles communicated faster than the speed of light, followed different types of math randomly, particles could go through walls and didn't obey traditional "laws". They discovered, that things were not fully determined but rather statistical. It went completely against our developed assumptions that everything followed these determined paths.

As time went on and world wars grew to a close, humanity (western context) began looking at the world in "flexible" mode rather than "law" mode. As time went on systems and organizations started becoming a little more flexible and less deterministic. Tolerance became a virtue. People began to look introspective and see truth from their own perspective rather than looking at a Universal Truth, found in nature.

How Art affects your view of Truth

2011-05-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

The arts, and in particular visual art, has had a profound impact on how society views Truth. Movements in art are always taking place but, I believe a major transition in art took place right before the 1900s which ignited an interesting trend.

The best way to think about it is to spend some time looking at the art by Picasso, who like most artists never knew the scope of impact his art had. I believe his art really influenced the philosophical backdrop of our society today. Artists almost in unison began to move away from Art as interpretation of reality or "Art as likeness" to "Art as Alteration" after the 1900s. Art as likeness is art reflecting things as they are. Art as likeness attempted to capture the elements of an idea and put them in a painting. Art as alteration alters the reality in order to communicate a deeper idea. For example cubism, surrealism and post-modern art were alterations of reality designed to communicate ideas through the alteration. So what does this have to do with Truth? Truth has also become an alteration of reality. In the modern era (Before the 1900s) paintings reflected reality for what it was. An apple was an apple, a woman a woman. The concept of Truth was very tangible and universal. Art now is complete, almost unrecognizable reality. Now, we must ask the artist her or himself what the piece means. We must probe the mind of the artist to understand the inner emotions and ideas being communicated through the piece. A relationship with the artist is almost essential to the interpretation of her or his piece. Truth has become personal.

Total Inoculation

2011-05-08T17:14:00.000-07:00

The typical growth model for church has minimal to moderate impact on the world. Many of the growing churches out there are enjoying the relocation of Christians or of Christians who have not been a part of the local church for quite some time. Most of us are ok with this because we don't know any better. We assume growth from the world is few and far between. This is a fallacy. And a fallacy I have bought into.

I believe that we have stopped expecting growth because our ways of reaching the lost world have become ineffective. Rather than changing ourselves, we stayed the same. As we reached less and less of the world, we simply concluded that the world is not interested in a genuine relationship with the Lord. The fact is many are interested; people have simply been inoculated with our methods, not our message.

People respond to a genuine interest in who they are and what they are about. Ask questions, understand people's passions, spend time in their world and then watch God work.

Biblical Vs. Traditional

2011-04-03T21:19:00.000-07:00

One goal I have is to learn to view the Church biblically rather than traditionally. What this means is my definition of Church should be governed by what the Bible says rather than what I have traditionally called "Church."

I believe that we are at a point in history where many of our traditional norms have reached a point where they do little to grow believers in their faith or impact the lives of those around us. Our paradigm is traditional and attractional which can keep us immature and selfish while inoculating the world to Jesus through our traditional Christian culture. We hold on to these traditions out of comfort or obligation not out of obedience to God's Word.

Our world has changed so much on a fundamental level that church should have reciprocated. Instead I believe what happened was we changed on a superficial level. We did not adapt and survive. Therefore we became irrelevant, misunderstood, and judgmental. Effectively what the world hates about Christianity is Christian culture, not Biblical living. Interest in Jesus is very high and interest in church is very low.

The solution cannot be another implementation of what we already know and do, that would be expecting different results with the same inputs the very definition of insanity. So I believe true freedom will come with a Biblical understanding of Church, Christianity, and Mission.

Know Bible

Know God

Salvation Conundrum

2011-04-03T20:51:00.000-07:00

In today's mantra of "All roads lead to God," it is easy to take the fundamentalist position of "only through Jesus is the road to Salvation." Easy because it stands in bright contrast to Society's position of inclusivism. I believe that only faith in Jesus Christ can save a person's soul. But A recent conversation with a friend of mine got me thinking about how this plays out. God tells us that we are held accountable to the Truth we have been given. Even Rom 1:20 states that the creation of the world is sufficient enough to reveal the God head so that people are without excuse. So naturally my question is at what point are we held accountable to Truth and at what level. Obviously someone who has never had the word of God and only Creation cannot be held to revealed truths found only in the word of God that I have read about. Furthermore, if calling on the name of Jesus is the road to salvation and through creation this is revealed then salvation from a creation only stand point is still through Jesus only the name and act of faith may be totally unrecognizable to you or I. This brings up all kinds of questions about devoted religious people following false doctrine, yet pray to God, have faith in Jesus and obey what they know. To what degree in western society is God considering a Truth to be revealed? Because we have Bibles available everywhere and free resources, is God considering the western world reached....just desolate. He may consider unreached people groups as people without the revealed Truth so because we have it in written form everyone here is covered?

Most Christians do not understand the Bible very well, and many are not aware that they are not Christian. As I testify of the grace of Jesus and witness his love and Gospel I am amazed at how ignorant people are of the faith. I would expect this from a group who has not been reached, but not people in the modern western world. When I explain it to them it is as if they are hearing it for the first time. So is God then considering this interaction as actually "hearing the Truth" and therefore they are now held accountable for what they know.

I would almost venture to say that God gives each one of us an "A-ha" moment when it all clicks and makes sense and our hearts are ready to accept. It is at that point that our crucial time has come to decide on Truth. I think to some degree what may be happening is everyone is getting the "A-ha" moment to varying degrees based on culture contextualization. This is the moment we are held accountable too.

So the Truth of the Word of God is upheald. Grace through faith, faith alone in Jesus Christ.

Don't forsake your friends for the sake of sinlessness, add friends for the sake of the Gospel.

2011-02-23T21:35:00.000-08:00

Too many times in our attempt to be "In the world and not of the world," or "unequally yoked" we sacrifice mission for security. God did not call us to live a sinless life, he called us with a purpose, to conform to the image of Christ and live out Matt 28:19-20, by teaching all nations.

Forget what they tell you, engage the world.

Biblical Gender Roles

2011-02-15T10:19:00.000-08:00

There are clear roles defined for men and women in the marriage relationship. God seems to want Men and Women to have differing roles. But why? I have always been taught in school that the differences between men and women are just physiological. Boys have penises and girls have vaginae. All other differences are purely social pressure. Girls are supposed to play with dolls and ez bake ovens to make them domesticated damsels in distress while boys are to run around with light sabers to be knights in shinning armor.

However, the Bible takes a different view. When reading I Timothy chapter 2, you get a good look at Biblical gender roles.

1Ti 2:11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.

1Ti 2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

1Ti 2:13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve.

1Ti 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

Sound harsh? It should, most of society has been culturally conditioned to responded negatively to gender roles. People think that this makes women less in terms of capability, value, and equality and that is unacceptable in an enlightened society.

However, the problem here is equating role with value. God is very clear in "Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." And Galatians and 1 Timothy were written by the same guy. So God values everyone the same but we all play different roles in life.

But what if a woman wants to lead the home? What if she is better equipped than the man? These are valid points but have nothing to do with the root issue. It is an issue of what God wants not what we want.

Maple

2011-02-01T13:39:00.000-08:00

The young Maple Tree cast a pathetic shadow over the back lawn. I used to see it from class.

The Large Oak and Walnut held their majesty and gave little recognition for young Maple. After all young maple could not cover, could not shade, and did little to stand against the wind.

Maple grew taking its place among the Oak and Walnut skyscrapers. Her persistence and patience kept her strong as the seasons resonated their temperaments. Time, seemingly the only difference between birth and death.

Drought bled the life from Oak and walnut. The dry cold branches stood lifeless in the moon's shadow. A better use for them; maybe to keep us warm.

But maple held her fruit. her branches were lush. Green life spread out from Maples core. It was four. Time to pray. As many gather to kneel, they fell to the ground each eye soaked with tears for a lost soul.

It wasn't always this way. As years had passed the group had grown. Every week at four at the maple tree. Their influence shallow and weak.The majesty of secular human thought nourished each young heart to walk away from their creator.

In the beginning, the young prayer group, helpless and alone, not able to give comfort and rest; prayed. They gathered in pathetic numbers casting pathetic prayers over lost souls that walked on that back lawn.

But now, many are no longer lost, many are growing. There is a feast at the maple tree where the burning branches of Oak and Walnut kept us warm.

Holy Sacred Cow

2011-01-30T12:25:00.000-08:00

Without the willingness to let go of the fundamentals, we cannot assume that fundamental change can take place.
The definition of insanity, is doing the same thing but expecting different results. We must also be careful not to think change is the repackaging the same thing.

Church attendance nation wide is in decline yet spiritual interest seems to be an all time high. People are not turning to atheism in mass but turning to a personal construction of God, religion and church. Society views Truth differently now, so we must change how we present Truth. This requires Fundamental Change.

But, there are a few things church wide that keep us from doing that.

We are more concerned with not offending the "Christian Community" than getting our hands dirty and reaching people where they are at.

Derek Webb in his song "Wedding Dress" uses the word whore. He effectively banned himself from Christian book stores and even i-tunes.

The church refuses to be "Gay Friendly." This Effectively tells the world they have to change before coming to Christ. Homosexuality is a sin. We don't discriminate on many other sins, don't discriminate against that one.

The church continues to cater almost exclusively to white middle class heterosexual suburban households. I think we should open that up a bit.

The Christian Culture is a counter culture. But it is supposed to be outreach oriented. Where many other counter culture's are exclusive in nature, Christianity shouldn't be. Our counter culture is different from secular culture in all the wrong areas. We don't differ on divorce rates, or pornography viewing for example. But our movies for example are so different they don't make sense to the secular world, thus don't do accomplish their mission.

And when you bring these issues up, they are defended intensely. Well, that's fine, just don't expect any change. Because if you are not willing to change fundamentally, your fine with the state of Christianity as it is.

I am not.

7 insights for 7 men

2011-01-29T12:29:00.000-08:00

"7 times the righteous man falls
It only takes once to give up, and give power to my 7 enemies
490 times God forgives me
Seventy righteous men fall seven times"

Honor God on the seventh day, do this 7 times

Honor God on the seventh Year, do this 7 times

7 Continents to roam the planet

7 seas to cover the globe

7 keys to make music

7 colors to make a rainbow

Communicate vs. Articulate

2011-01-24T17:33:00.000-08:00

Evangelism: "Communicate the Gospel to those who don't know it."

The mark of a good Evangelist: People come to Christ, and stick around to grow.

There is a difference between communicating the Gospel and articulating the Gospel. I didn't know this until recently. I had lived my life in pursuit of opportunity to articulate rather than communicate. I took my Bible to school, I tried to share Jesus in class, I invited friends to church; I did everything I could to see them come to Christ.

No one did.

I was at a wedding reception talking to someone I had just met. We got on the subject of faith. He told me he had a friend that recently converted to Christianity. I asked if he was a Christan. He told me no, but was happy that his friend was. "He is so happy now, and its really changed him." He said with admiration.

I thought about this for a moment. I decided to share the Gospel with him. I went through the plan of salvation and the reason for Christ. I then waited for his reply.

He smiled politely and told me about his religious experiences with his new age girlfriend and their talks about acceptance and co-existence.

He responded how I suspected he would respond.

In that scenario, I never communicated the gospel to him. I simply articulated truth. He took it as me simply talking about the particular religious club I am a member of. So he felt the need to reciprocate information about his religious club.

After he told me about his religious experiences I told him that what was interesting about the Gospel is that it was not only true for me, it is true for everyone and not just me.

This is unwelcome information. It goes against everything we are trying to do as a society in our efforts of inclusivity, tolerance and co-existence. But you can always bet society is not where Truth is. We must look to the Word of God for Truth to be revealed to us.

We must meet people where they are at and realize that they are translating our faith through the lens of society's norms. Understanding that gives us the ability to communicate the Gospel and not just articulate it.

To a society that believes there is no moral Truth, The Gospel must represent absolute moral Truth.

To a society that believes Christianity is an option at the buffet of Religious experiences, The Gospel must represent the exclusivity of Christ and the false hood of all other religions.

To a society and to most Christians who believe that Hell is a metaphor, the Gospel must represent the physical reality of Hell and the damnation of those who do not turn to Christ.

Loving Someone is loving them enough to tell them the Truth. God is more interested in their eternal well being than their temporal well being. Many seemed to have that reversed.

Articulation is not the Goal, Communication is

9 Kings

2011-01-22T13:57:00.000-08:00

Sunday Morning: Mission number 1 Performance

I behave how I want to be Interpreted. The band performs, the speaker performs, we all perform; curtain call for the Brick and Mortar.

The Dichotomy:

We pass off adornment as love; love should be priority number 1. You're with me or 2 you're against me. To Perfect the "Christan Code" is to Advance on Jacob's Corporate Ladder. We scorn those who do not conform.

Hate the SIN love the SINNER, Great on paper but lost in translation to action. We judge 3, liberals, Homosexuals, and fornicators.

We need young families, people with money to finance the mission to the 5 least reached People Groups.

These 8 blocks are off limits. Protect yourself & Be Vigilant. We rebelled against racism 13 years ago and adopted socio-economic division.

Avoid the streets where men hope for 21.

Only allow true fellowship with those who believe in the Trinity(3) and are 4 point Calvinists.

9 kings

Do away with Sunday Morning

2010-12-11T15:12:00.000-08:00

In my opinion, Sunday morning is not a good time for "Church." Ie, the gathering of the faithful in worship, fellowship, and teaching. Because of a few significant cultural shifts I have 2 reasons for moving our "Time" of corporate worship.

1) The world has changed.

Church attendance was almost mandatory in the United States 100 years ago. Most of the population went to some church. Even if segments of the population did not attend church, the world shut down on Sundays. People stayed home with family and friends. It was ideal. Since most of the population went to a church, it was a good time to share the gospel teach the congregation and have activities for fellowship and ministry. Non Church-goers are generally available during traditional Sunday services. How many people could we have an impact on, if we stayed home, cooked breakfast and invited our neighbors and friends over?

2) The Worship Experience.

There is a reason why many events are held in the evenings. There is a certain natural vulnerability in the evenings. Most of my deep conversations have been in the evenings. Worship on Sunday nights to me has always been much more intimate. To me all of the efforts put forth on a Sunday morning could be multiplied simply by moving to a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night.

Weak Sauce

2010-08-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

Church shopping could seriously be a full time thing for me. I know its wrong and Joshua Harris, "Stop Datting the Church" was right on. But like other sins, I like it! I do think it is quite interesting to visit several faith communities just to see what they have going on. What I found remarkable is the diversity in how everyone is dealing with changing of the times. Here is my assessment...(take it with a grain of salt, or a bag of salt)

We are Scared:

From the Progressive House churches, to the traditional mega or semi-mega establishment everyone is shooting from the hip about what to do to reach, teach and send this generation. Its like everyone is very scared about "missing it" or being behind, or not going about it the right way. So most of what you see is very PC, with a Social Justice Bent. Scared to death of how the media can portray anyone to be a hero or a villian regardless of the facts has everyone running to "Base" and playing it safe.

Consider the following statistics by Barna:

o 71% say they will develop their own slate of religious beliefs rather than accept a package of beliefs promoted by a church or denomination

o Three-quarters of adults (75%) believe that God is motivating them and others to connect with Him through different means and experiences than were common in the past

o Two-thirds of adults (64%) are willing to experience and express their faith in new or different environments or structures than they have in the past

o Only one-third (34%) believe in absolute moral truth

We tend not to view these statistics from a strategic standpoint of "How do we approach a culture in this state." Instead, we view this as market research..."71% want to combine religious experiences lets give them more." "34% don't believe in absolute moral truth...lets not go there then."

I am all for changing the current face of Christianity and agree that People connect with God in ways that are not offered in a traditional church setting....BUT, I believe we are unbalanced.

Jesus ALSO spoke the Truth to Enlighten People and was hated and killed for it.

Come on boys, its ok to grow a pair.

Christianity Doesn't Work

2009-12-13T19:08:00.000-08:00

"Christianity doesn't work." That is what a friend of mine shared with me in his lab at UMKC. He continued "It teaches that women are inferior, homosexuals are going to hell and the Bible is severely outdated. Humanity has moved on and Christians seem content to remain 50 years behind humanity. They slow progress by spreading ignorance."

So I asked him, have you ever read the Bible?
He replied, "well no, but I know what it says."
"How do you know what it says if you have never taken the time to read it?"
"Well, everyone knows what it says and there are plenty of books on it."

This attitude is surprising coming from a graduate student. In graduate school you learn to try and consult as many primary sources as possible. Secondary sources always bring an interpretation or perspective. So you cannot form an educated opinion using someones interpretations and not the primary source.

Anyone who has read the Bible understands that people, regardless of man, woman, or sexual orientation have an equal part of God's heart and desire.

"(He is) not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9. His love is not partitioned more to one over the other. There is no sin that puts you farther away from God than someone else.

Rom 3:23 "For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God;" So no matter where you are coming from God accepts you. If you are a drunk, a drug user, liar, cheat, perverse, womanizer, slut, homosexual, judgmental, prideful, arrogant or whatever God promises forgiveness to anyone who accepts Jesus Christ to save them and lead them.

When posed with this information my friend refused to accept the idea that Christianity accepts all people. Because my friend did not mean "accept all people" he meant "accept all behavior." He wanted a God that tolerated everyone's sin and allowed your human nature to "self-actualize." God is not tolerant, God is patient.

If Everyone loved...then nobody dies

2009-10-17T21:30:00.001-07:00

Forget your personal attitude toward Nickleback for just a moment. A few years ago they wrote a song, "If Everyone Cared." The video shows several social movements that have taken place through the years for different social justice causes. The video ends with a quote by Margret Mead mentioning the grand scope of work accomplish by just a few people motivated by love. I have posted a link to the video below.

The lyrics say that if everyone loved, cared, didn’t lie, and shared, then nobody would die. Essentially, if we became selfless we would find a way to all get along, prolong life and rise to the next level for humanity.

In Christian circles we have a tendency to point out flaws in this world view. A world where everyone loves each other and gets along and thinks of their neighbor before themselves is not realistic. Christians rightly point out that while we live in a sin infected world, this ideal will not come to pass. They also feel it is a gross waste of time to pursue social justice over the spreading the gospel.

I understand that, however, we are missing a great opportunity. Rather than pointing out flaws in this world view we should recognize that this song really illustrates well the desires that God put in our hearts.

I believe that we are created in the image of God. God has a plan for man that is actually outlined well in Nickleback's song. If we accept Christ, there will be a world where no death exists, or disease, or selfishness. This perfect sinless world will be ruled by love. As humans our hearts resonate with that. God designed us to look for that. But when people look for that, sometimes as Christians we make fun of them or push them away and they go search for that somewhere else. You can watch how people desperately try and create a perfect world through politics, religion, and social programs. Even in thier personal relationships everything is about love, acceptance, tolerance, and equality. They persue a noble ideal so hard only to wake up and live another day in a sin infected environment. They are hurting and need Jesus.

We need to offer hope, use the current mantra and ideals of our day to point people to God rather than tell them where they are flawed. To a culture brought up in broken homes, disappointments, and marketing campaigns, authentic unconditional love is the most satisfying thing for their aching heart.

Don't belittle, be expedient

If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we'd see the day when nobody died

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEUE-wMQBv8

If Everyone loved...then nobody dies

2009-10-17T21:30:00.000-07:00

I'm Single, out of college, now what?

2009-10-14T18:48:00.000-07:00

Being Single at church is awkward. In the traditional evangelical church, you graduate college, get married then have kids. It is not that hard to understand. That is what you do. Any deviation from this might as well be sin.

Church Growth models show that if you target the young family demographic you can successfully grow your church. So, churches, that want to grow, naturally focus on young families. However, the marrying age grows older every year, creating a growing demographic of 20 somethings and 30 somethings that the church can't ignore forever.

As a single person you often wonder if church really plays a role in your life at all. Most single ministries are full of people you would rarely hang out with let alone date. Most church activities, functions, classes and resources are for families. You are simply, left out. You really can't be put in any position of leadership because of you have no way to relate to people who do have families. Not only do you feel out of place, people at church feel out of place for you. So they try and "help" you the best way they know how; they help by setting you up with someone. Out of respect and appreciation, sometimes you are duped into a blind date. These scenarios are rarely successful.

What is funny to me is that the most influential Christian in the New Testament was most influential during the time he was single. I Cor 7. Paul is all over the world planting churches and ministering because of his singlehood. Paul actually has to argue for the legitimacy of marriage (I Cor 7) because everyone wanted to be single like him. Paul states that if you’re single, don't worry about marriage, serve God. If you’re married, your first responsibility is to your family. This young single demographic is best equipped to "kick butt for Jesus." This is also the very demographic the church has no idea on how to handle. Being a 20 to 30 something puts you in contact with very passionate, very driven and very influential people. They are also the most progressive, creative, zealous and moldable. However, the church is really has few to no resources designed to teach you how to handle the parties, the clubs, bars, and essentially the 'single scene' in any effective way. These places are written off as 'places of sin,' and the church will go as far as guilt tripping you for engaging people's lives in these venues. Rather than realizing that on any given Friday or Saturday night this young person will be in contact with boat loads of hurting people, we see them as the enemy ready to consume and devourer.

The Bible says, "Be in the World, not of the world." So in an effort not to be 'of' the world, we take people completely out of being ‘in’ the world. Some of the best life education takes place in the world. Some of the best opportunities to share the gospel, to minister to someone, to represent Christ where darkness abounds takes place in the world. The problem, I think, is that the Church has a tendency to be too domesticated. We are sort of like Hobbits, we create cozy little communities where we are safe and we can grow bored and complacent as a result. We do need to be more balanced.

I believe the church should embrace this demographic of young people, equip our young adults to engage the world around them. Provide the support they need. They are on the front lines. In this generation Satan targeted the family. He redefined the role of a parent, the meaning of marriage and love. This generation is rejecting marriage, has a flawed idea of God, a flawed idea of love, and is desperate for something authentic. Satan left them with nothing. Why turn your back to them? You have what they cry for.

Don't keep it from them.

Our Song

2009-09-26T15:16:00.000-07:00

Leadership is difficult right now. We know things should be different, but we don't know what they should look like. The mystery of the church is mystifying.

The role church plays in our individual life has changed. An emerging generation with less parental examples, flawed view of Love, and flawed view of God. Who will train them? Who will teach them?

The rift grows between old and young. The old used to teach the young. Now the old slow down the young. The young destroy what is important.

Our Song
To long we have gone without a song.
A dangerous song igniting forgotten passions
Of war, youthful zealousness, and love

A song whose rhythm is victory
The chorus humility
And the verse speaks of cruelty

If he has ears let him hear
A song crying in fear
Whose lyrics move us to death in tears

When dying we feel no sting
Singing a song only exiles sing
About a dream
to see our KingOur Song

Outlawed by the powers that be
To dangerous for complacency
To far for ordinary Christianity

A song that might unite the brethren
Rooted in the ancient glory of the eden
Making a congregational anthem sound like heaven

That’s Our Song
But when will we sing

What is True for you is Truly True Son, enter the game, ethics party of one

2009-09-12T07:24:00.000-07:00

I believe in absolute Truth. I take it a step further and evoke the authority of the Bible as the standard of Truth. I say the Bible is not just true about history, origins of the Universe, and spirituality, but that it is the framework from which all Truth is derived. (John 17:17, I Th 2:13).

It is important to remember a few things about Truth.

Truth is discovered not invented. One cannot invent something to be true; it is either true or it is not true. No amount of coercing or work will turn something not true into something true. But you may ask, what about the statement, “men cannot fly?” This would appear to be true in the 1800s but not after December 17, 1903 when the Wright brothers made their first sustained flight. In fact, the truth here is that even before the Wright brothers flew their plane for the first time the physics existed for them to do so. They did not invent a new truth they just hadn’t discovered it yet. The Wright brothers didn’t change any intrinsic laws of the Universe they just figured out how to use them.

Beliefs cannot change a fact. This is hard for our society today; we like to hold our truth claims because they make us feel good, make us feel like better people. Whether or not they are true doesn’t matter as long as I feel good about it. I was reading a note by Steve Saint, president of Itec. He mentioned how so many missions today trips do very little good and in fact are detrimental to the very country or people group they are going to “minister too.” See Trendy can have a Dangerous Twist” on Itec’s face book page. He argues that our Missions trips in fact are not helping anyone. They are a selfish way for us to feel about good about ourselves all the while believing we are “making a difference.” Our belief that we are making a difference does not change the fact that we are not making a difference. This is true no matter how hard you believe it.

Since Truth is only discovered and belief cannot change facts then as culture, time and language change Truth will transcend all of that. Tim Keller said that someone can reason to a point of probability, but it takes personal commitment to reach a point of certainty. The general 3 positions on God are Theist, Agnostic, and Atheist. All are faith positions.

Atheist: Assumes that if there was a God, the scientific method would reveal the existence of God. This puts the scientific method and Man’s ability to objectively observe on a very high pedestal when there is no reason it should be. The only reason we have for believing this is the consistency our 'models' have with nature. This idea assumes God is a natural product of science which to be compromises the very character and definition of God. That is why science can never reveal the existence of God. Atheist then take the next logical step and say because he is not a product of nature he does not exist.

Agnostic: Contrary to popular belief the agnostic position is also a position of faith. It assumes the Truth about God cannot be known. God may or may not exist, but we cannot know. The idea is that it is unattainable, and that both the atheist and theist are simply emotionally caught up in their belief system. Agnostics will tell you that if there is conclusive evidence they would believe one way or the other. But most of them don’t change their mind when evidence is presented. Their faith is in themselves. They trust in their own ability to decide when facts are facts. They want to be viewed as intellectually honest when really they are just being politically correct. You are considered to be more Enlightened if your view is more “all inclusive.” The more of Humanity is included in your view the more True is is.

Theist: Assumes God exists, created everything and has a plan for humanity. Theists do not assume that the scientific method could reveal God because God does not relate to his creation that way. C.S. Lewis said that God is to his creation as Shakespeare is to Hamlet. The relationship is such that Hamlet would only know of Shakespeare’s existence if Shakespeare were to write himself into the story. Hamlet could not perform any experiment that would reveal Shakespeare. This is precisely what God did in the form of the Bible and personified in the form of Jesus Christ.

Discipleship

2009-09-04T17:48:00.000-07:00

It is always comical to me the way churches preach about authentic, radical, and Biblical Discipleship, all the while implementing discipleship "programs" that are anything but authentic, radical or Biblical. The problem I see is that almost all discipleship programs are 1 dimensional. They mostly consist of one-on-one or small group relationships that teach basic biblical truths. Although they teach ABOUT marriage, parenting, relationship with God, character, leadership, service, evangelism, fellowship and ministry there is more explanation than implementation. After a few discipleship relationships I had through my church I decided to change my approach. I would run myself crazy trying to meet with all of my disciples and coordinate schedules with them. I began to realize that the majority of our time was spent discussing this Biblical concept or that Biblical concept and how it pertained to their life. This was profitable but I never felt that true Biblical discipleship was ever taking place.

I ran across a sermon about discipleship from Dan Stolebarger. He outlined the Jewish concept of discipleship in Jesus' day and how a disciple of a Rabbi would really live his life. It then dawned on me that my concept of discipleship came from the church and not the Bible. The discipleship relationship between a Rabbi and his disciple was 4 dimensional. The growth was both academic and practical. The Rabbi would teach an upward growth toward God, inward Growth (depth) and outward growth (the one another’s). The Rabbi would teach this to his students using the 4th dimension, time. Most of our discipleship concentrates on the first two dimensions (God and self). Our Christian culture is obsessed with your "personal relationship with Christ." There seems to be little focus on the third dimension of the one another’s. Although many Christians are very outward focused, there lacks a systematic way of teaching this to our disciples. We sort of assume it is a natural gift and leave it at that. And finally, we always try to minimize the fourth dimension of time entirely. But that is our culture, we try and minimize the 4th dimension of time in everything that we do. "Lose weight fast," "get ripped fast," "learn a language in just months." Everything we do in our western civilizations disrespects the legitimacy of time. Our discipleship relationships are one dimensional and seem to concentrate on just our spiritual life. It was interesting watching Rob Bell's "Everything is Spiritual" lecture. It once again underlined the tendency for us to over compartmentalize our lives. He argues that the concept of a spiritual life is a false one and that everything we interact with, our reality, in essence is one and is spiritual. But as westerners we tend to compartmentalize our lives. We seem to have a disciple for every aspect of life. Our mentor on the job, our disciple for our spiritual life, our mentor for our hobby or our sport, or what have you. In the Rabbinical school system a disciple would adpot every part of his Rabbi's life, because ha was becoming the Rabbi. He didn't have his own identify, he was becoming someone else. I believe, that as americans, we are so consumed with the idea of independence and freedom that we miss some valuable Biblical truths. We tend to miss these concepts because we view this perspective as un-American and have a hard time seeing the nobility in it.

What I then changed was I made it a requirement for my boys to be involved in every service, ministry and extracurricular activity I did. They also have to come and spend time with me and my wife. If you could not commit to that I would not disciple you. What this does is automatically puts my disciple in a position to watch me lead, teach, minister, party, love my wife, and love the Lord. They sit next to me at church, they help me teach my Bible study, they help me do hospitality, they are on my prayer team, they watch me evangelize, the whole 9 yards. I also refuse to commit to a time limit. As I watch them grow and really get to know them it allows me to challenge them and cater a discipleship "program" accordingly. I still use the disciple "lessons" that my church requires and I have no problem with that. But if you really want me to disciple, I refuse to cheapen disipleship through a watered-down program.

Religion may be Child abuse

2009-08-29T12:02:00.000-07:00

In his Book, "The God Delusion," Richard Dawkins recalls a particular lecture on Religion. During the Q&A period of the lecture, a woman asked him about the sexual abuse of younger boys by Catholic priests. He responded by saying that although the sexual abuse was horrible, it was not as awful as the mental abuse of growing up a regular catholic. In other words, just being a regular church going individual means you are suffering great mental abuse at the hands of a priest, a rabbi, a pastor, a cleric or whoever. Dawkins argues that Religious dogma destroys your intellect and mental capacity because you are forced to believe things that are simply not true. In the defense of children, he views freedom from religion as a great moral tenant.

Timothy Keller recently stated that the "New Atheism" does not just promote that religion is dangerous but that religion in any form should receive no respect. That is to say, religious people really should not hold office or teach in schools because they will error to their religion and not the truth. The mental state of those individuals is irrational.

So in a total secular society, you could have your children taken from you, not because you physically abused them or sexually abused them but you mentally abused them. Mentally abused them by taking them to church and teaching them that God created everything, Jesus was real and died for your sins and if you don't believe that you are going to hell. What are your thoughts?

How to define a successful ministry

2009-08-19T10:47:00.000-07:00

I was posed this question in the last Bible Study I taught. How can you really know if your ministry is successful? It can be tricky to answer. First, you can look at it quantitatively. How much has my ministry grown? I was X amount of people last year and now I am Y amount of people this year. As long as Y is greater than X, I have a successful ministry. I don't think many church leaders would phrase it like that but a capitalistic society trains us to look at numbers as a determining factor. Well, butts in seats do not necessarily mean success in spirituality. Second, you can look at how 'pure' your ministry is. Many churches are content with stagnant numbers as long as the leadership and everyone else is preaching the 'pure' doctrines. Here, there is more of a qualitative assessment than quantitative.

But I believe the Bible poses one measuring stick, The Fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23, Eph 5:9). If the Holy Spirit of God is actively at work in your ministry and the hearts of people are being changed and transformed then you will see evidence of this in their lives (James 2:20, 2:26). They will make wise decisions. They will impact people around them. They will have great children, families and marriages. The Fruit of the Sprit will manifest itself.

If you teach some off the wall doctrine just to increase your membership, well the Holy Spirit is not going to manifest itself. Conversely, if you teach a 'pure' doctrine with no fruit or evidence of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit, then how can you claim you have a successful ministry?

Growth for an idealist

2009-08-18T10:30:00.001-07:00

Never quite being able to realize the ideal is hard for an idealist. But God tends to allow this to humble me and let me know my ideals are a little off. I must realine my priorities.

Take our new group study with my hometeam as an example. We will be working through the primer for "The Tangible Kingdom." The book authored by Hugh Haulter and Matt Smay tells stories about creating incarnational ministry. http://www.tangiblekingdom.com/ Ideally, we could work though it with other couples. Since it does apply so richly to relationships that couples have. However, this will be a "guys only" study. I suggested what other group studies have done with the Primer and that is have half the couples meet and the other half take care of the small kids. Once the kids are of age, I think they should join the study. I have never really been excited about compartmentalizing all our groups all the time.

More recently I had such a hard time finding a job. My 'ideal' job just did not seem to be out there. Then it came, from a company not even hiring. Through a friend I received an interview and boom this job seeminly fit like a glove. Utilizing both my education and talents. It was fun to see God put me into a place that I wouldn't have really considered on my own. I was open to the idea but not excited at first. I looked into it more out of necessity and desperation. Then after prayer and consideration, I realized God did have a plan for me here.

illuminati

2009-08-05T08:28:00.001-07:00

Yo,

So apologies to those who follow my blog...mom. Since I am 1/2 unemployed I figure I should be diligent and continue on some issues I have been pondering.

Let's begin with a small assessment of my current 'Bible Study.' The bible study itself covers quite a few subjects. We meet for anywhere between 2 and 3 hours. I know what you are thinking..."Wow, that's incredibly ineffective and so NOT post-modern." Well, post modernist, before we judge lets remember that the greatest contributor to ignorance is condemnation before investigation. My group is composed of all guys between 18 - 24 years of age. It started out with a slightly older demographic then the younger demographic stayed and the older ones had families and careers to think about. (3 hours is a time commitment most serious people will not commit to) It is a lot to ask, I realize that, but my target demographic is the 18 - 24 range. The formidable college age and entering career stage in life.

The thesis of the Bible Study is "Closed Principles and Open Methodologies." I got this from watching Mark Driscoll videos on Youtube. A very post-modern way to have a youtube... I mean bible study. It was the 2006 experiencing god conference. What Pastor Driscoll lays out is the tendency for churches with a great stance on the Word of God to have very closed methodologies and for churches with open methodologies to sometimes undermine the Word of God. He calls for a balanced approach: "Closed Principles and Open Methodologies."

After cramming 3 seminary courses into just three weeks, we started a slower paced investigation into being missional.

My goal is for the students to be more open. Open to be used of God in ways they would not have been open to before. You may think, wow that's a little scary. It is. Thus the need for, dependency on the Holy Spirit, Maturity, Discernment, Fruit of the Spirit, everything we are supposed to be working toward. It is kind of like being a bird learning to fly. You fall, you flap around like a crazy bird, and eventually you learn how to leave the ground. Leaving the ground is scary, your support system is gone, the nest is nowhere in sight. So you need discernment, maturity and experience. We can't just hang out in the nest all our lives watching movies and going out to eat with our christian friends, we need to venture out.

Anyway, the kids like it. At least 8 of them do. We call it Illuminati cause we are conspiracy theorist, go mel gibson, and like to pretend we are all secret agents.

How's that working out for ya?

2009-03-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

"How's that working out for ya?" - Dr. Phil sometimes uses this to help someone realize that their problem is a result of their own behavior or way of thinking. Sometimes as humans we are a little too prideful to admit that we are the cause of our own issues. It is not logical to assume things could "change" if we are not willing to change our habits. This same line of reasoning can be applied to the Church.

Consider the following statistics from The Barna Research Group

Slightly less than half of the born again adults (46%) believe in absolute moral truth.

The Bible is accurate in all the principles it teaches. four-fifths of born again adults (79%) concur.

Is Satan is a real force? A minority of born again adults (40%) believe he is.

Not quite half of all born again Christians (47%) strongly reject the notion of earning salvation through their deeds.

Slightly less than two-thirds of the born again segment (62%) strongly believes that Jesus Christ was sinless.

93% of born again adults hold the conviction that God is the all-powerful, all-knowing creator of the universe who still rules it today.

The above statistics reflect that Christians lack a foundational understanding of the Bible. Anyone with a 3rd

grade reading level and a Bible can figure out these basic tenants of the faith. The Gap comes, not because people

cannot read, but because people don't read the Bible. In addition to not reading many people, simply do not study

the Bible. Even though the Bible instructs us study and understand. (II TIm 2:15) we refuse. Even though the Bible

warns us about not growing in the faith (Eph 4:14-15) we refuse.

Just look at the state of Christianity, "How's that workin out for ya?"

Re-thinking Church Part 3

2009-03-04T08:36:00.000-08:00

(2 by 2 paradigm- Discipleship)

1 on 1 discipleship is very popular in our western culture. We are linear thinkers who like to compartmentalize our lives so 1 on 1interaction seems the most efficient for us. We have a linear approach to teaching people the Bible and "growing them in their faith." There is nothing 'wrong' with this approach. In fact, I use it all the time incounseling situations. However, I challenge you to look at the goal of discipleship and see if you are open to some creative ways of seeing our congregations mature in Christ. We may deprive ourselves of some key opportunities if we allow a 1 on 1 scenario to dominate our discipleship method. If we decided to expand our idea of Discipleship a little more and view it a little differently, I think we can accomplish a broader range of goals.

Jesus invested his earthly existence into 12 men. On the last day of his earthly existence, the day before the greatest event in human history (Jesus dying on the cross), Jesus decides to just hang out with his 12 disciples. It's like the capstone of his ministry was just these 12 men. He spoke to thousands and he debated the elite Jewish Priests. However, in his last days, Jesus decides to spend his last moments with his 12 men. He taught them how to pray, how to teach, about grace, heaven, and how to lead your life. Jesus valued his relationship with these 12 men the most. He specifically gives THEM the Great Commission to carry on.

It is interesting that Jesus modeled a multidimensional mentoring method where he taught several together through experience. Experience in conjunction with knowledge is what matures us in our Christian lives. If we viewed our purpose this way, like Paul did, we wouldn't compartmentalize discipleship. Follow me as I follow Christ. We begin tobe influenced on a deeper level by our mentors and we influence those within our proximity. You 'do' life together. That is what it is all about.

Re-thinking Church Part 2

2009-02-26T06:00:00.000-08:00

(2 by 2 paradigm- Service/Ministry)

If we were to mobilize communities of 2s or 3s, 2 or 3 single people, 2 or 3 couples, 2 or 3 families to infect this immediate culture, I believe we would see great return. If these same small communities joined other communities cross-generationally, they could grow through service sectors of our church, greeting, ushering, and nursery, whatever. We can also minister to the world via these small communities.

Instead of doing all missions trips demographically separated, I think it is a good idea to have a few be multigenerational. You can accomplish some specific goals with demographic specific missions trips like High School boys doing inner city mission work or Jr. High Students going to retirement homes to minister. But I think there are some holistic lessons we could learn through multigenerational ministry.

If the couples, the singles and the families all joined together for a missions trip to Peru for example, imagine the conversations that could take place between families, couples and singles. Real mentorship could emerge through these interactions because they are multigenerational. Deep bonding can take place as you accomplish a risky mission together.

If this same group composed of single, married and family oriented individuals served together in the church, I think you would increase the bond between people in the same congregation. Today, many ministries within the church are primarily composed of 1 or 2 generations even though the church may be multigenerational. I think we can do more to bridge the generation gap.

I believe our society wants to see a family that works. With broken families and marriages, our greatest witnessing tool can be a God fearing family. Most of our domestic delinquents come from broken home lives. Many young people have lost faith in the family and lost faith in Marriage. To a generation that rejects the institution of marriage, this is a great way to plug people into community that models a great marriage, and a great family.

This generation won't learn through 5 point outlines, they will learn through engagement, experience is what determines Truth. Truth for many comes from experiance not logic.

Re-thinking Church Part 1

2009-02-24T06:46:00.001-08:00

(2 by 2 paradigm- Evangelism)

If we were to mobilize communities of 2s or 3s, 2 or 3 single people, 2 or 3 couples, 2 or 3 families to infect this immediate culture, I believe we would see great return. If these same small communities joined other communities cross-generationally, they could grow through service sectors of our church, greeting, ushering, and nursery, whatever.

If 2 or 3 families infected a baseball team in a local city league, what type of impact could they have. They could encourage other believes, share with non-believers, model Christ, demonstrate a family that works and create a community among the 2 or 3 that is focused on a mission.

If 2 or 3 singles infected a fraternity/sorority at their local college, they could serve the down trodden in their most vulnerable times in life. They can be there as student search and experiment in life always showing what Christ offers. What an opportunity to love and not judge and see God work.

If 2 or 3 couples infected a ball room dance club and had opportunities to hang out, minister the word, and model a beautiful marriage. People would be challenged to see marriage work. This is revolutionary to a world that no longer respects the institution of marriage. Great opportunities lie in that.

We would live out the great commission. We would grow closer in fellowship as we engage in ministry. I believe this can be a great paradigm for the responsibilities of the church.

Financial Crisis, or Fanancial Blessing

2009-02-21T09:28:00.000-08:00

God decided to have mercy on our Nation. The Financial Blessing is forcing Christians to grow in their faith. Satan wants us to prosper, he wants us to be in a position where it is easy to rely on ourselves. Because it is easier to depend on yourself and not on God. For if we rely on our own means for success and happiness, at most we can only experience what our humanity limits. When through humility we rely on the creator, only he has the power to bless beyond our manipulation. Because we are blessed in our character and integrity and not solely monetarily. Our Financial Blessing allows us to reconsider our priorities. It is important to note that prosperity as a nation is not inherently evil or bad in any way. It leaves us in a more difficult position to rely on the Spirit. Having our current situation on our lap is a blessing because it becomes a little easier to rely on God.

Habitual Blessing

2009-02-19T23:52:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year, I decided to write encouraging notes to all of my coworkers. On the card, I stated things I appreciated about them and thanked them for their friendship and work. My best friend and I used to do this on valentines day for many of our single girl friends. Just a few weeks ago one of those girls told me that what I had written was very prophetic in her life and meant a great deal. I remember God once placing my boss on my heart to pray for. My boss was new to management and I just stated how much their ability had grown and how I appreciated what they did. It was received very well.

I started thinking. What would happen if within our small groups in addition to living out life with other groups of people, praying and proclaiming the Gospel, we habitually blessed those within our group. If we demonstrated love to the world through words of affirmation, gift giving, quality time ect, what message would that send about Christ's love for them. For a culture that really values experience over empirical evidence, what a great way to demonstrate love to someone rather than trying to prove it to them.

The Alternative Story

2009-02-18T08:44:00.000-08:00

I was part of a group of students who took John's Gospel to remote tribes in the Ande's mountains in Peru. We hiked for days and spent our nights above the tree line. 4 of our group members fell sick. I had to stay up one night and work hydrating solution into one of the sick members who was in danger of dehydration. To keep warm above the tree line we had to make a fire out of animal dung. The trip really stretched everyone in the community. This experiance forced serious comunitas. Building your community around a mission, braving elements and trusting God for good weather and safe travel grew me.

These types of liminal experiances are useful in growing our faith, dependency on the Holy Spirit, and it really brings to light our attitudes and motives.

I have also been on missions trips where there were no challenges. There were no opprotunites to really grow. Although I did learn qute abit about a culture, language and way of life. I really did not engage.

I think liminal experiances are a good way to build community.

Ways to have Liminal Experiances through small groups
Initiate small groups built around prayer and evangelism.
THe small group infultrates a community, club, organizations built around common interest.
(Most small groups are built around geographic proximity not as much in common
interest proximity. But life, whether sports, job, church, politics is built around common
interest)
The group is a tangible representation of Jesus Christ.
Pray for the members in the group
Share life around food and other experiances
Use your proximity to proclaim the gospel

Corporate Church

2009-02-14T13:02:00.000-08:00

Corporate Church. In post modern society, people have been trained to distrust any corporate entity. Whether that entity be Big Business, Education, Media or the Church, an assumption from people is that the underlying motivation is money. The survival of the corporation over integreity of business or character of the individual is always assumed. Now this method of logic is inhertanly flawed and void of empeical evidince but can certainly be understood given the post-modern climate. Corportate scandals, church scandals, and the lack of authenticity from parents in the emerging generation are all very real factors in contributing to the mindset of our young people. Most Corporate Church leadership structures and methodologies do little to meet this mindset where it is at and simply take pleasure in attacking the flawed logic. Paul, whoes powers of logic and reason were well demonstrated on Mars Hill and throught the book of Romans thougt it wise to be weak to the weak. (I Cor 9:22) Paul's desire was never to prove a point but simply recognize the root issue. Jesus wants to rock your world. Unconditional Love, authenticity, volunerability, raw community void of the church babel and flavor is exactly what the emerging generation is flocking to. And that is exactly what Corporate Church is lacking. To have a venue and credibility to reach this generation requries some fundamental paradigm shifts. The epistomology of this generation is not consistend with that of the previous one. Personal experiance is the highest influencer in a young person when determining what is Truth. For the pervious or modern generation, Emperical Evidence is the highest ifnluencer when determing what is Truth. If God has called you to reach the post-modern world, study it.

Progressive Legalistics

2009-02-13T15:08:00.000-08:00

For most people in the Christian Community 'legalism' is a term we use to describe the way fundamentalist lead their lives. Christians who wear a suit to church on Sunday, men who wear short hair, women in long dresses and no makeup are types of people we would consider legalistic. But that is not what legalism means. Legalism is when you judge someone by a non-biblical standard. The long skirts and hymnal huggers are only legalistic if they claim that is the only way to please or honor God. If they think that I have to cut my hair or wear a suit to church to be spiritual then that would be considered legalism. But, if you wear the long skirt and the no makeup and not define your spirituality or anyone else's by it then you are by definition NOT legalistic. If someone who express church in a more holistic and organic way and judges another expression of church is by definition legalistic. If someone who lifts holy hands during worship and judges someone else for not lifting up their hands that would be legalism. Now this flies in the face of our traditional terminology. I think that is healthy because if we associate life style or methodology with legalism then we miss the whole point altogether. So you have to ask then, is there a right way to do church? What you will find, as you study your Bible, is that there is very little said about the organization and implementation of the church. In fact Paul said that there are differences in how people would implement a "church." (I Cor 12:5-6) God knew that cultures, philosophy, mores, languages and people change over time. He built a freedom into the Bible that allowed the church to accomplish the great commission in their appropriate context. You can have the argument of whether or not a model is more relevant but you can't have the argument over whether one is more spiritual or not. But relevancy only targets people who are relavant. Not everyone is relevant. There are many lost people who are not relevant. But God did call us to everyone. Relevancy itself does not equate to spirituality. The only two ordinances were the Lord's Supper and Baptism. Outside of that you can meet in a house with 3 people or have a large-suit wearin-hym singing church and glorify God in both contexts. The moment you assume your 'way of doing church' is superior or more 'spiritual' is the moment you become legalistic and just remember that pride comes before the fall.

Parents as Helicopter Pilots

2009-02-09T20:42:00.000-08:00

As any college rep would admit, one of the not-so-great-perks of being an admissions counselor is the ever so zealous helicopter parent. Helicopter parents are not a new phenomenon, but it used to be the exception to the rule. Now, we expect it from just about every student's parents. A helicopter parent is a parent who "hovers" over their child as the child tries to become independent. This eliminates the child's ability to learn to be independent which prolongs maturity. These students become the "Boomerang" generation. After college, many get jobs only to realize that the real world is pretty crazy so they move back home. I have compiled what I consider my Top 5 best Helicopter moments in the office:

5)A mother was upset that her son would have to help clean the bathrooms in the dorm room. Her response was, "he doesn't know how to do that!" (That is why the kid is in college so he can learn a few things about life)

4)I met with a parent and their student in my office. The parent had brought in all the student's transcripts, application and application fee for admission. The sad part was the student was almost 30 and had to rely on parents to keep track of all his academic records. (He still lived at home)

3)We interviewed 10 students for 5 job positions in my office. We chose the 5 students we wanted and then began taking calls from irate parents. One parent told us that we just didn't understand how great their daughter was. We explained that she had a good application like the rest of the students but other students did better in the interview. The parent thought we should reconsider. (Reconsider? I should drop one of my students and hire your kid because her mom things she’s great? Get real)

2)Family Drama. I met with a student and her parents in our conference room. The parents obviously just finished a fantastic divorce. While trying to answer the STUDENT'S questions about housing and classes, Mom and Dad decide to have a Jerry Springer moment over whether or not Susie, their daughter, is going to be living on campus. Dad stormed out of the room and mom was to angry to continue the discussion. The student left mortified.

1)I enjoy the amount of power and authority a Dad will bestow upon me when he finds out how much tuition is.
He will first ask, "Why is it so much?"
That amount is determined by the board of curators and state legislators who grant us state funding.
"Well why don't you guys get more money from the state?"
Apparently I wasn't cute enough when I asked sir.
"Why do you only give this much out in scholarships?"
Scholarships are given by private donors, non-profit organizations and our board of Trustees.
"You need to give out more scholarships if you want people to come here."
You need to pop a tic-tac in that mouth.

Lets face it parents. The child will have to grow up one day. On what moral authority does anyone act on when never allowing their kid to function in the world. How will the kid get ahead in life? Who wants to start learning about life well into their 20's? My advice to students (move to Europe)

How to find a Black Hole

2009-02-06T05:58:00.000-08:00

I attended a lecture by Dr. Charles D. Bailyn of Yale University on how to find a black hole. I learned a few things I didn't know before. First, Black Holes are only theoretical. You assume they exist only if you assume Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity to be true. Second, I had always heard the term "Event Horizon" but never really knew what it meant. In one of these Theoretical Black Holes the escape velocity is greater than the speed of light, thus the term Black Hole. So matter, energy, and even light is sucked down into the core of a Black Hole. Since light cannot escape, there is no way to "observe" one. But the further you move away from the center of the Black Hole (Singularity - A point of infinite density) the less the escape velocity has to be. Anyway, Event Horizon is when the escape velocity equals the speed of light. This creates sort of an end point, a boundary to the Universe if you will. I ring of light surrounding a Black Hole. Black Holes are in effect a place where nothing can escape. So, will the universe collapse in all of these Black Holes? Nope, the Universe is expanding and the Black holes are rushing away from one another. How do you observe these? The technique Dr. Bailyn uses is to look at a black hole in close proximity to another star, a two star system. Here the black hole will tear off gasses from the partner star and then emit X-ray flashes. We can observe these X-ray flashes and then determine where a Black Hole might be. We can then measure the rotational velocity of the gasses or the Star around the Black Hole. If it is a Black Hole, this velocity will be huge in comparison to other two star systems. If these criteria are met, then you may have a Black Hole. Currently we think there are around 20 Black Holes in our Galaxy, the Milky Way. How are they created? It is the natural end of life of every star.

Dr. Bailyn Website http://www.iau.org/administration/membership/individual/10503/

2009-01-13T20:37:00.000-08:00

I sat in my first Contemporary Theology class this week. The class consists of weekly lectures, book assignments and online discussions. The class was not what I had anticipated. I had anticipated open discussion about where we are going as a church, how the emergent church has balanced our evangelical approach to our current culture and force us into real discussion about methodology and tradition. Instead it was a study in Theology. The pastor reminded us that there was "nothing new under the sun." But I don't think anyone in the room subscribed to their Theology. I think this approach fosters the very attitude that holds us back and does not move us forward in the great commission. My issue is not even in the presenter's content. He is very knowledgeable and I followed his critique logically and agreed with his position. In fact, I am for this type of class at the appropriate time. But the room is full of students of the bible from a fundamentalist background. They don't need ammo against the emergent church, they need a mature perspective.

The Local Church, where is it going?

2009-01-01T22:04:00.000-08:00

What will church look like in the future? It is a fundamental question that most people like to ignore. Why? We are comfortable with what we know. There is fear of the unknown. People generally do not like change. Especially change we don’t understand. But it doesn’t have to be scary when we understand why we need to change. If we keep our priorities biblical, we make the right changes. If we make changes for the sake of change, or attitudes of rebellion or any other reason other than our mission here on earth we fail to do what God wills in our lives.
Let’s begin with Matthew 28:19 – 20. This passage states that we are to work toward making disciples of all nations. That is our mandate. If you do not agree, then we will not agree on much beyond this point.

I also believe the mechanism God uses to reach new people, grow our people, train our people, send out our people, meet needs, worship, serve God, serve one another, and serve our leaders is the Church. So, if you believe that in order to be MOST effective these can or should take place outside of a local church our perspectives will differ greatly. (I grant that there are plenty of organizations and entities doing a better job than most local churches. However, that does not erase our responsibility to model our ministry Biblically.) The parts of the organizations that are very impactful are simply carrying out aspects of the church’s responsibility. What if the church executed its God given responsibilities? I believe the church would see healthy, life-long fruit in its ministry.

So with all that said how do we:
A. Take part in the great commission most effectively?
B. Be church to a lost world, properly representing Christ?

To answer ‘A’ we must realize our mandate is holistic. The great commission embodies evangelism, growth in our understanding of scripture, corporate worship, growth in our prayer life, and growth in our relationship with Christ. Therefore, the church should position itself to best instill this in our culture. With the rise in post-modernity, there is more of an emphasis in authentic relationships. More and more young people are coming from broken homes, and many come from homes where parental presence is lacking. Vulnerability, friendship and authenticity are vital and accepted. A good rule of thumb is to keep group sizes medium small (10 – 15 people). Using Jesus’ example of his 12 disciples; He had his 12, then his 3, then his 1. He also had them for only 3 years. The disciples then divided and conquered. We help people stay motivated if we push them to teach, lead their own group, take on a prayer circle and or team, and lead in worship. There is no magic formula because people are all different, however all people should be growing, continuing to move into positions of influence. There also exists a generational gap, so the more ministries are geared to bridge that gap rather than divide that gap the more effective the ministry. The church represents a “family.” The more we separate people the less we operate as a family. Don’t get me wrong, I believe there are effective ministries for specific people with specific needs. Addictions, Jr. high boys and girls, single moms, single dads, singles, young couples, parents ect. But I feel we over divide and that the demographic divisions become the emphasis. I believe the divisions into smaller groups should looks more like little families, covering multiple generations because we have much to learn from people of all walks of life.
To answer question B we must realize that perception is important. The Bible even says to abstain from the appearance of evil. So appearances are important. We can’t do anything about how people view us right now but we are held accountable for we personally and corporately do. So how do we show people Jesus? Do what Jesus did. Hang out with sinners, tell people the truth, feed people, meet people’s needs, challenge people and tell the alternative story (The Gospel.) There is another way to do this and it’s the way Jesus paved. So how do people see Jesus in action from the outside? Where are we feeding the hungry? Hanging with sinners? Where are we meeting our community’s needs? Where are we challenging people? Where are we telling the alternative story? As an organization how seriously do we take our city’s problems? How are we engaging them? As a church we can be recognized this way publically. We need to make sure that our public sees Jesus for who he really is, including the parts that make us uncomfortable. We are not responsible for changing Jesus we are responsible for representing Jesus. The problem that has risen in the past is that the church has not always represented Jesus. We can even see the stark contrast between Pharisees and Jesus.
I really think most of this is simple paradigm shifting. Moving from a church where the pastor and a few deacons do everything, and Super-Christians doing all the work and wanting all the credit to an ad hoc network where multiple people are engaged on multiple levels and growing.

YOU CAN'T SAY THAT!!!

2008-10-24T14:50:00.001-07:00

As a proponent for diversity, one thing that irritates me is the lack of intellectual diversity in the name of "diversity". We talk all day long about being diverse, but when it comes to religion and politics diversity is off limits. We are required to be homogeneous. I do grant that one challenge of multiculturalism is that it fosters an atmosphere of political correctness. There are many benefits to multiculturalism that are discussed in passed blogs. I am not saying I do not agree with diversity, I embrace it. But we have to stay accountable to the mission of diversity and that is to grow though our experience. One area to grow in is intellectual growth. Political correctness hinders Intellectual diversity. How? Allow me to explain.

Political Correctness dictates that one frame of reference is a nobler frame of reference over another. For example: "Don't say Merry Christmas because you may offend people who do not observe the Christian version of the Holiday Season." This implies that the person who does not say "Merry Christmas" is more enlightened than the rest of us. You also assume that no one will be offended if you do not say Merry Christmas. What then? By default the position that is most general will always be thought of as more "noble." Who decided that? Since when did the "generic brand" become the enlightened position for anything? By blindly including all forms of thought you restrict the intellectual freedom to question. It is this attitude of questioning and freedom of academic thought that brought all the great thinkers of our history into the recognition that they have today.

As a masters or PhD student you must defend your point of view (Thesis) before a panel of professors. Even if the professors totally agree with you they are required to question and drill you so that you are sure your theory can hold water. What if we took a political correct approach? If the professors didn't say anything that would offend the masters and PhD students, then we would have some pretty flimsy theories out there and we would not be making intellectual progress.

There was a professor at my school that said "I believe all illegal immigrants should be deported immediately!" Many people demanded that he step down from his position. They demanded that he be fired for his comments of "racism." I am a Latino. I have several friends that are here in this country illegally. I don't want to see them deported. I don't believe that simply deporting illegal immigrants is going to solve our immigration problem. However, I also know that we live in a country where we have the right to our own opinion and freedom to express that. If this professor were to be fired then what does that say about the value of intellectual diversity in a public academic institution? Why should I assume that my opinion is nobler than his? He simply stated that people who break the law should be punished a certain way.

By introducing a standard whose goal is non-confrontation and not intellectual honesty, are we not hindering intellectual growth of our society?

The physics of social change

2008-10-16T06:28:00.000-07:00

The Newtonian World view

Newtonian physics showed the world that the universe was intelligible. In other words, we could find all of the answers. We could break reality into small parts and then see how they interacted. Using this method we would soon learn all there is to know about Reality. This approach was developed by Rene Decartes, a French philosopher who first posed the idea of reductionism. This philosophy led Isaac Newton to view the world from a reductionist perspective. He represented this idea with equations in physics. Newton defined formulas that could predict the future accurately. This is known as Classical mechanics. Classical mechanics is still used today to build motors, bridges, buildings and what not. Society then began to view the world as a machine. Interactions whether physical or social were mechanical, predictable and free from emotion or mysticism. The intelligibility of the universe transcended into every aspect of our life. The mystical sort of vanished from our society. As a result we became very materialistic and our arrogance elevated as we considered ourselves the Masters of the Universe. Those repercussions were detrimental, take the Titanic for example.

Post modern world view

All this began to change when Einstein developed his Theory of Relativity, and when Quantum theory emerged. One misconception of Einstein’s theory is that he proved that absolute truth was relative. Einstein did not prove that absolute truth was relative. What Einstein proved was that instead of time being an absolute quantity and the velocity of light being a relative quantity, it was the opposite; the speed of light was an absolute quantity and time was a relative quantity. No matter how fast or slow you travel, the speed of light is always the same. So you never see light slow down when you travel faster and you don't see it speed up when you travel slower. This rattled Newton's view of the Universe and the contemporary consensus. Now, since the velocity of light is constant, time must change as we move at different speeds to compensate. Society viewed the Theory of Relativity as a way to say that reality or truth is relative to each individual. The idea of "relativity" is what transcended into culture even though that was never the implication of Einstein’s theory. During the same century Quantum Theory emerged. Technology developed so that we had the ability to study phenomenon on the Quantum level. What we found was that on the fundamental atomic level new doors had to be opened in the area of physics. Our classical mechanics did not apply. What further baffled physicists is that the logical implications of quantum theory are absurd. Quantum theory itself is full of logical contradictions that cannot be explained. We know that particles in the universe interact with each other instantaneously. Some type of communication is taking place faster than the speed of light! The fact that our physics completely changes on the quantum level proves we have not been enlighten enough to see the greater unified theory yet. But society again used this concept to further the post-modern view of the world that already began to take hold of society. After the devastating realities of WWII on modern society, people were ready for new answers. Simple formulas did not carry the weight they used to. People began to realize that reality dealt with a lot more than just the mechanics of nature. People wanted something that resonated with their soul. Physicists unintentionally gave them a pseudo justification for adopting relativism and dualism into society’s philosophical framework.

In communities the affects of post-modernism have driven people to search for authentic personal connections. Many businesses build clientele from personal relationships instead of using convincing pie charts and graphs that show how good the product is. Marketing schemes are being redefined. People are having to be treated as people and not numbers. Holistic medicine is becoming more popular. Communities are becoming smaller more personable and tribal.

Keep in mind that societies philosophical framework is not always perfect. Some areas of life are very mechanical. The economy, and engineering for example. But human relationships, emotion, supernatural intervention play a significant role in both the economy and engineering as well. A balance is what is needed. It is easy to operate from one framework and throw the other out completely. You can't be all mechanical or all touchy-feely.

Educating our Youth?

2008-10-09T19:08:00.000-07:00

I am in charge of visiting high schools in Kansas City and Southwest MO for UMKC. I visit small town high schools/inner city high schools/ and suburbia high schools. I get the opportunity to speak with students, teachers, counselors, and parents. My perspective on Missouri has changed. Honestly, up until very recently most of my exposure in MO was generally the larger cities, Kansas City, St. Louis and Springfield. But after being able to visit about 50 high schools I have made some observations about the schools.

The most mature kids generally come from diverse communities where they learn to interact with different types of people. Homogeneous schools tend to not have an environment in which their views on others are held accountable. It is easy to make assumptions and generalizations about people you never interact with. One of my favorite high Schools outside of the Raytown district is Central High School in Springfield, MO. This school carries the most diversity of any school I have been to. They have inner-city kids, suburbia kids, special needs kids, and the I.B., International Baccalaureate students (I.B. students are the highest achieving students in the Springfield area). The students come from all walks of life. Their complex looks more like a an old college campus than a high School. It is an old and eclectic structure. I really believe this mix is the way to better prepare our youth socially. So much attention is given to merely the academic education of the students in school. Not much is given to the social development. The social development has a direct impact on the advancement of a society. Our nations issues of racism, prejudice, foreign relations, and even personal relationships in the work place have a direct correlation with how we socially develop our youth. If we engage them in diverse communities early, they gain an appreciation and vision for a diverse village. They will carry with them these values in whatever they pursue. So our business leaders, politicians, pastors and workers of the next generation will be able to move us forward as a society.

Then nature of mentorship

2008-10-03T06:06:00.001-07:00

Business is changing in America. The ClueTrain manifesto http://www.cluetrain.com/book/index.html written in 2000 illustrates a divide of new vs. old business. The old structure of top down, pyramid you-serve-me mentality was built on fear of job security and a modle of master-slave relationship. Even customers felt they were merely part of a pie-chart or statistic that determined how the business was going to make more money off of them rather than being concerned for their needs. New business describes the upside down pyramid, I-serve-you mentality. Employees feel the freedom to question the status-quo and feel that their opinion matter. Managers serve their employees so the employees can serve the customers. Instead of the CEO at the top, the customer is at the top. I ran into a "new business" model this week in Raytown. The place is known as David Lea Training. http://www.davidleatraining.com/ When you walk into the venue, you expect to see trim individuals all working out on elaborate machines and free weights. Instead what you find is a guy, David Lea, who wants to hear your story. Personal training to David is not about giving you a schedule and letting you lose in a gym. He believes in mentorship. He believes in listening, encouraging and teaching you. He truly is a "personal trainer." His philosophy for physical health is three-fold, cardiovascular training, strength training, and Yoga training. He believes that true physical fitness involves an approach that's holistic. By focusing in all these areas, he will help you develop a disciplined, consistent, rounded physical physique. Don't believe me, just check out his story. David himself was overweight and unsatisfied with his physical fitness. He has transformed his lifestyle and wants to teach you to do the same.

Check him out at :
6217 Blue Ridge Blvd.
Raytown, MO 64133
816.356.5100

Cummunitas vs. Community

2008-10-01T07:29:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of talk about community today. The concept is simple: have activities to bring people together for a common cause. This takes on many forms in our culture today. One, the movement for community centers around festivals, 5K runs, BBQs and fairs. Two, it usually involves people of the same local church, neighborhood and/or work place. This concept of community has its place, but I would like to make an argument for communitas.

According to Wikipedia,
"Communitas is an intense community spirit, the feeling of great social equality, solidarity, and togetherness. Communitas is characteristic of people experiencing liminality together. This term is used to distinguish the modality of social relationship from an area of common living."

So communitas is centered around an experience where togetherness is not a conscious effort but born out of sheer necessity. The Liminal experience forces people out of their comfort zones, exposes the true nature of individuals and forces interdependence. This type of an environment is not common in our culture, especially when we think about community. Community in our minds is safe, secure, and predictable. Basically, community is the antithesis of communitas. Communitas builds a stronger, healthier and deeper community of people. It is a group that sweats, cries and bleeds for a cause together.

Types of liminal experiences:

War
Pilgrimage
Rescue missions
Mountain treks
The Great depression
9/11

For Raytown, community is already happening. People are grouping together for common interest. I think this is great. I enjoy a few of the community events myself. I have nothing against them. I would like to be a part of a Raytonian Liminal Experience that builds communitias with its members.

It's not just someone organizing a community effort where everyone shows up with trashbages and hedge trimmers it's a group of people ready to War for Raytown. That is what will set us apart. A community is only as strong as its citizens believe in it. The war of metropolitians for citizenship and revenue focuses on consumerism and services. But what if we were different? What if we OWNED our town?! What if we protected our homes and neighbors? What if we got involved in the political process? What if we bought up our downtown and revitalized it? What if we came together and beautified our town, created an environment safe for kids to grow up in, and modeled for the rest of KC what can happen when citizens fall in love with their community? Despite differences among ourselves we see the greater mission of a village. A barbaric loyalty to one another. Not swayed by a need compete with another town, just passionately living out our own unique talents and gifts as a community.

If we can do that, I believe we may see significant change.

The Ratyonian perspective

2008-09-28T17:15:00.000-07:00

As a Raytonian you may find yourself the object of confusion while in conversation with outsiders. I remember sitting down with some friends who could not understand why I lived in Raytown. "You mean you want to live there?" "Why?"they would ask. "Its not safe! Its rundown, there is nothing to do there," almost in concern for my personal well being. My usual explination for people like that is to explain my heart of being part of an effort to transform the look, feel and life of Raytown. I conceed that the current state is not ideal. I do however want to see a community develop in an area that is ethnically and socioeconomically diverse. For most communities around kansas City, diversity is a scary thing.What I have noticed from many individuals is that there is no vision for community with people too different from them. We enjoy people who are like us and make us feel safe but there exist just enough differences to make us feel good about how we are "embracing diversity." Last week I went to go pick up my fiance from her aunt and uncle's house. I drove by 6 miles of homes that were almost indistiguishable. The community consisted of almost all young couples with young kids. There were a few minorites sprinkled through the community, some residence did appear to be older but for the most part it was homogenous. My fiance is doing her student teaching at a local elementary school in that community and has commented to me several times about how homogenous, socioeconomically speaking, the school is. I also remember visiting another friend downtown. I drove through a neighboorhood and noticed I was the closest thing to a white person for miles. I also remember picking up a friend for church one day. His little sister answered the door and was petrified to find a "white guy" at the door. But that has been the nature of Kansas City as a whole. We tend to always create communities around people most similar to us. The benefit of diverse communities has yet to be embraced by this City. For most people, diverse communites are a bad thing. If there exists multiracial citizenship and significant differences in socioeconomic status, most people are uncomfortable and move towards the outskirts or inner city or northeast, depending on your preference, of Kansas City where they can find comfort and security in being with people who are like them. For many ex-citizens of Raytown, that was just the case. What has now emerged is a collective of people who do not fear diversity but see its intrisic value. This community is where I believe unique, creative and progressive things can happen. As a diverse community, we begin to appreciate the beauty in humanity. We learn things we never would have appreciated before about people. We begin to realize the broad scope of talent, creativity, innovation and success humanity has by broadening our perspective, which in turn broadens our vision on the possibilites humanity has for the future.

R-Town, the Possibility of Parkour?

2008-09-25T06:12:00.000-07:00

Please take a minute to view the following educational video on Free Style Walking
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCoFSmqnIjI

As a high school student I began preliminary training on free style walking. Martial arts ended up taking over and I didn't pursue it to the degree I originally intended. But, I have always been fascinated by this sport. Currently gaining credibility in the United States this French born athletic art form, known as Parkour, was pioneered by David Belle. He is a physical educator, stuntman and actor who compiled his knowledge of martial arts, gymnastics, climbing and stunt coordinating to develop Parkour. The idea of Parkour is to practice efficient movements to escape a potentially hazardous situation. In a way, it is self defense. But really, the art of escaping. There is not particular field, only the obstacles found in a common Urban environment. The French word for the sport, Parkour,I am told means the art of movement. In English I have only heard this sport referred to as Free Style Walking.

I would venture to say that there exist a few daring and creative enough to practice the art of Parkour right here in Raytown. How fun would it be to drive by the park watching people back flipping off of jungle gyms, doing flips off of walls and dumpsters. It gives us the eclectic urban flare that I know already exists here.

Regional Raytown

2008-09-24T06:05:00.000-07:00

City Mission Statement
The mission of municipal government in Raytown is to enhance the future of the city by providing the public with fiscally sound, efficient and effective service.

Core Service Values
The Board of Aldermen adopted a Core Service Values resolution during the January 3, 2007 Board of Aldermen meeting to communicate to the public the values and expectations under which all city employees operate.

Those core values:
· Customers drive our priorities and the services we provide
· We provide a safe, welcoming environment
· We communicate promptly, respectfully and accurately
· We value and support competent, well-trained and empathetic staff
· We encourage creative problem solving, teamwork and efficient use of resources
· We expect integrity, respect for diversity and a commitment to customer service
http://www.raytown.mo.us/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={D21B570B-C88B-43E3-8B99-7C53D1ADAD21}

Jackson County Court minutes, Book B, page 98, February, 1860, Order 929.66.S. Davenport Petition:
"The Undersigned your petitioners would respectfully represent that they, as well as many citizens of the county are much grieved and bothered for the want of a county road leading from their neighborhood in the direction of Independence. They therefore, pray your honors to appoint commissioners to lay out a county road from William Ray's shop on the Santa Fee (sic) road in a southerly direction, crossing Little Blue at the Rockford (sic) and intersecting the high grove road near Abraham Chrisman...."
http://www.raytown.mo.us/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={CB18141B-2333-4C09-A421-471CFBF6CB94}

In 1869 Kansas City was still a minor town, much smaller and less
important than Leavenworth to the north. The Kansas City
Bridge (later called the Hannibal Bridge) changed that situation
quite rapidly. Designed and erected by Octave Chanute, the bridge
was the first across the Missouri River, and it made Kansas City
into a railroad hub and a center for westward expansion. The
bridge was constructed of wrought iron, sitting on limestone piers,
with a swing section to allow shipping to pass through. It was
replaced by a steel bridge in 1916.

http://www.lindahall.org/events_exhib/exhibit/exhibits/civil/Centuries2x.pdf

I post these to remind Raytonians that to build a strong and long-lasting community we have to give people a reason to come to Raytown. Infrastructure has always played a key role in the pioneering of communities. Infrastructure brings people in. There are certain communities around Kansas City that have stood the test of time and Thrived. It is unusual to have both. Usually you have a flame of interest over a short period of time and then people lose interest. Or you have a community that is not thriving but still alive like Raytown. Two communities that I will focus on will be The Plaza and the Cross Roads.

First, The Plaza,
"The Plaza is an outdoor museum of romantic Spanish architecture and European art where people actually live and work every day amid its beauty. It was designed in 1922 as the nation's first suburban shopping district. Since then, its open-air public art gallery has continuously added to its collection, with fountains, sculptures and murals that bring to the heart of our city the very best of the Old World and the new."
http://www.countryclubplaza.com/plaza.aspx?pgID=893

Second, The Cross Roads,
"This area has recently undergone an amazing transformation. Once-vacant buildings now house unique shops, restaurants and a thriving art scene. First Fridays are a local favorite with galleries and shops remaining open until 9 p.m. the first Friday of each month."
http://www.discoveramerica.com/ca/missouri/crossroads-arts-district.html

What is interesting here is that Art and Architecture seem to be giving both the "Thrive" and the "Long Lasting impact." The other thing to note is that both the Plaza and the Cross Roads bring people in from the outside communities. These communities, Plaza and Cross Roads serve the needs of the outer communities. They have a regional mentality. They open their doors for shopping, art fairs, unique restaurants, coffee shops, wine bars, and community events. By simply always focusing on just us Raytown folk, we will have a hard time establishing a regional interest. We must establish consistent architecture and we have to attract talent.

In the arts, we could transform the strip mall area north of 63rd and Blue Ride Blvd. into art galleries. We could use the old First Baptist of Raytown church for a theatre. We could transform the old Caylor's Bibles and Books store into a new bookstore and erect some type of memorial for their long continued service to Raytown. Do something to start enhancing the "look and feel" of Raytown.

When I ask people who are new to the Area. What is your impression of Raytown? Many of them express no desire to visit Raytown, they say that there is "nothing appealing about the place."

I believe it is time to stop serving JUST ourselves and start serving the Regional community.

Lets give people a REASON to come to RAYTOWN!

Raytown, ahead of its time

2008-09-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

Growing up in modern America you are reminded of the need to 'embrace diversity.' Living in a society with the historical plagues of racism and slavery does not make it easy to 'embrace diversity.' Through the abolishment of slavery by the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862 and 1863, the civil rights movement of the 1960s, desegregation, Affirmative Action and many other community efforts geared to embracing diversity our modern society still strives to create an atmosphere that Martin Luther King Jr. described in famous speech, I have a dream.
Embracing diversity as a child growing in the Raytown School system is a given. I stated at Laurel Hills Elementary school and graduated from Raytown High School. No one had to teach me to embrace diversity. No one had to show me the value of other cultures and ways of life. Our Church here in Raytown was featured in the Kansas City Star as being one of the most Diverse churches in the country! The head line read 11/17, “Church family spans the globe; An outreach to international students helps create one of the most diverse congregations in the nation”. Currently over 20 languages are spoken at our church. Diversity was a way of life.

I noticed the way that Raytown had shaped me when I started attending classes at UMKC. UMKC is the most diverse school in the UM system. So naturally, it was an environment that I was used to. I had incredible ease relating to anyone from any ethnic background, race, creed or ideology. Other students were not so sure of themselves. Being outside of their buble was a real challenge. I could tell some people were uncomfortable with people who were not like them. But in life, we rarely chose who we interact with at work, church, or simply going out. We can do our best to shelter our way of life but I believe that only robs us from experiencing a deeper understanding of humanity and keeps us from growing as a person. As a professional, I now notice my ability to relate to anyone. Only Raytown could have taught me that!

Below are the statistics taken from www.greatschools.net Comparing Raytown High School racial statistics with the state average.
White, not Hispanic
Raytown: 59%
State Average: 77%
Black, not Hispanic
Raytown: 34%
State Average:18%
Hispanic
Raytown: 5%
State Average:3%
Asian/Pacific Islander
Raytown: 2%
State Average:2%
American Indian/Alaskan Native
Raytown: <1%
State Average:<1%
http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/mo/other/1624#students

As you can see, we either meet or exceed the state average in Diversity.