Post #129 Poets, Prophets & Preachers: Day 3, Session 4

Day 3, Session 4
Rob Bell
"The one thing I've never heard someone talk about that has changed everything for me."

When you are in leadership, you will be given many backhanded compliments and hurtful suggestions. These, Rob explains, are "chocolate covered turds."

We tend to focus on the one negative comment even if we have heard nine positive ones.

Rumors, gossip, and lies will happen. In Acts 21:37-39 a soldier asks Paul, "aren't yo the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the wilderness some time ago?"

There will be someone who belongs to the "official committee for doctrinal purity, orthodox rhetoric, and general theological correctness."
- These people are usually self-apponted
- THey always seem to hit you when it hurts the most.

Rob explains that it can feel like "death by papercuts." On their own, they hurt and irritate, but receiving one after another after another will cause us to bleed out. These tiny slices will eventually kill is.

In order to avoid all of these things, we do 3 kind of things:
- we hold back: we don't push, don't challenge, don't try like we used to
- we create lists and labels: we label those who hurt us, we put them on a specific list
- we get revenge: passive - purposely not giving our best
active - slander, anger, malice from the pulpit

The one thing that we need to hear:
You have to learn to forgive.
- you forgive people not institutions

Someone says something negative about you. The anger or pain we hear is actually because of our feelings of vulnerability, of being studied, or analyzed.

"Even sheep have teeth!"

Some people are toxic: Proverbs 26:11
They will return to their "vomit" again and again, and you do not need to be there when they do.
Some people need very strong boundaries!


Speaking of boundaries: Titus 3:10
-You are not an ecclesiatical punching bag, hired by the masses to take the punches. You are a precious resource, a gift to your community. It is ok to guard yourself.

Luke 12:13 "Man, that's not my job!"
There are areas of life that other people are actually better trained and better suited for. The pastor does not have to be the problem solver and life fixer for every issue in life.

Forgiveness relieves us from the pain and anger.
Forgiveness also relieves those who hurt us from our punishment.

Luke 23 "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

Tim Keller: "Forgiveness means refusing to make them pay for what they did..." it also saves us from the "life-long, living death of bitterness and cynicism."

The cross says, "The pain stops here."
"...absorbing pain instead of passing it on. Transforms pain from a destructive impulse into a creating power." - Parker Palmer

Post #128 Poets, Prophets & Preachers: Day 3, Session 3

Day 3, Session 3
Shane Hipps
"You are the Medium"

Who you are, as a person, is the message.

-the rest of the iceburg
1. you have a body, do not underestimate the power of it.
a. There is a reason God utilized the form of a human when he came as Jesus.
2. You are more than just a body, you are actually three bodies
a. physical - 5 senses
b. energetic - emotion (love, anger, sadness, fear), thinking, presence, sexual energy
- sexual energy is connected to creativity, connection, and life. it is not necessarily about sexuality.
c. essential - our essence, that part of us that has always been part of us.
1. every cell that made you when you were 6 years old is gone, but that thing that makes you you is still there.
2. essence is unlimited and unchanging

There is nothing you can do to increase or change your essence, but you can change your consciousness to it and how you tap into it.

Romans 8:11 - Paul equates the Holy Spirit with essence.
John 17:22-23 - Jesus gives us "His Glory"
We are merely gestures of Spirit.

Jesus demonstrated mastery of the physical body, his energetic body, and his essential body.

Think of it like this: physical = land, energetic = ocean, essential = sky

When we are tapped into our essence it would be inevitable to live a changed life. We would have no desire but to forgive others, love others, give to others, etc.

Practices
1. Physical body is a conductor of the energetic body; like a hose is a conductor of water.
a. unkink the hose
- understanding our breath can open us to our energetic and essential bodies
- breathing can dissolve tension
- we can use our energetic body or misuse it.
2. We all have a "shadow" or a dark side. That part of us that hides in the darkness
a. in order to overcome it, we must...
- acknowledge it
- uncover it: examine ourself and those things that we despise about others.
- own it: "I don't see the monster, I am the monster."

3. The essence is something you must "eat and know" not just "read and believe."
a. Breath: physical, energy, and essential -> cultivate and experience

Breath and Spirit are the same words in Greek, Hebrew and almost every other ancient language. To understand something really special about God, contemplate the nature of "breath" throughout the Bible.

In our essence is a place of unending peace, wisdom, and compassion. It is our responsibility to taste and know it.

Post #127 Poets, Prophets & Preachers: Day 3, Session 2

Day 3, Session 2
Peter Rollins
"For those with ears to hear: Parables and the lost art of provocation"

A system or an ideology is not what you see, it is the lens through which you see everything.

The question is not "Is Christianity true?" The question is "What does it mean when Christianity claims to be true?"

The importance of "name..."
Exodus 3 "What is your name? Who should I say has sent me?"

God cannot be truly known, not because there is a lack, but because there is so much.

Words are not sufficient when the infinite comes into contact with the finite.

When God reveals his name to Moses he actually says, "My name is Presence."

Revelation has 3 features:
comprehension - understand that we do not understand
bedazzlement - God shakes everything up
transformation - the presence of God changes us

When God reveals himself, we cannot remain the same.
- Jacob wrestles with God and God gives him a new name, a new identity
- Paul encounters Jesus on the road to Damascus and he is transformed so deeply that he embraces what he once fought against.

Everyone talks about how God will make our lives better. When I allowed God into my life, he wrecked everything. Nothing has been the same.

Post #126 Poets, Prophets, and Preachers: Day 3, Session 1

Day 3 Session 1
Rob Bell, "Fumbling around with your radar"
Ways to prepare for the sermon.

Rob talks about radar, buckets, chunks, and marinade.

"The worst thing for a pastor is to sit down on Saturday to a blank screen."
How do we get started and not have a blank screen?

There is "having to say something" and "having something to say."
What would it be like if every time you got up to teach you really were excited about having something to say?!
What if it had the chance to interact with the Spirit for a month, 6 months, or a year?

Radar
All around us, everywhere, all the time, everybody....vs. 9:00am office hours.
Genesis 28 When Jacob awoke...God was in this place and I am just now aware of it.
God was already there, we just showed up

We must be tuned into the presence of God and his work in creation. It must be on our radar.

We prepare for the sermon in two ways: through life and through the text.
Through life: when we see, hear, or otherwise experience something that might show God, we must write it, clip it, take a picture, save it, ask for it, get it, tear it out, store it, mark it, and remember it....with NO edit button.

Through the text: when we read the text, we should memorize, inhale, look at key words, focus on location, culture, concepts, stories, time, pictures, actions, and connections. Understand Greek and Hebrew texts. Understand what else has happened in this location. Understand the specific time in human history.

If you run into dead-ends, at least you have 7-10 minutes of material about what the passage DOESN'T mean!

-If you could not use any biblical or religious language...
how would I describe the text or illustrative material...to a child, to an alien from space, without using any words, with only drawings or pictures, with only actors?
-What is the thing behind the thing? What is the mystery behind the mystery? What is the truth behind the truth?

Is there a way to act, perform, show, do, ignore, circle around the idea or hand it out?

Those things on our radar end up in buckets (a collection of loosely connected material).
-one bucket per idea/fragment/insight/sentence
-review buckets once a week
-no pressure, no time frame
-revisit regularly
-be intentional and pay attention
-look for material for series
-some buckets grow
-if isn't hot, drop it
-there is a difference between accumulation and arranging

Once you have buckets that start to mean something, they become chunks: pieces of a message, an illustration, story, picture, or thought that you plan to actually utilize in a message.

Once you have several chunks, you allow those chunks to marinade for as long as possible. They marinade in the Spirit. They soak up the flavor of God and they enhance each other's flavors.

"The worst thing for a pastor is to sit down on Saturday to a blank screen."

Post #125 Poets, Prophets, and Preachers: Day 2 Session 4

Day 2 Session 4
Rob Bell
"The Fig Tree and the Failure of Language or Why some sermons work and others don't"

-A sermon has an engine...this is the "why?"
-A sermon also has an energy source...this is the "what?"
-A sermon comes from a specific place...this is the "where?"

When we give a sermon, we must ask ourselves...
-Why are we saying this
-Why do they need to hear this
-Why should they care
-Why do I care

What is the spark, impulse, insight, or twist that has compelled you to say these things to these people at this time?

A sermon circles around...
-a moment
-a movement
-a mystery

Matthew 21 - the fig tree and the temple
-fig tree symbolizes the religious establishment; cursing the tree would be similar to burning a flag today.
in this passage, the sermon would focus on the moment.

2 Kings 5:15 "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel."
-there was a cultural concept that deities were localized, they lived only among those who worshipped them.
-in verse 18 Naaman explains that when he returns to his master, he will be required to bow down in another god's temple. He asks that Elisha's God would forgive him.
-does Elisha curse him or tell him "you must stand for something or you will fall for anything"? No...
he tells him to "go in peace."
this is movement, it is the movement of one man's (Naaman's) spiritual conflict.

Here is another example of movement:
In Genesis 27 We see Jacob pretending to be his brother. When his father asks who he is he says, "I am Esau."
Then, in Genesis 32 Jacob wrestles with God (or an angel of God) and is asked "What is your name." Jacob responds by claiming his identity. "I am Jacob."
This is movement.

One more example of movement:
Matthew 7:6 Pearls before swine.
In order to understand the passage, we must look at the previous text. Check the context.
7:1 Do not judge...
6:25 Do not worry...
Judging others is controlling others through negativity or oppression.
Just like refraining from worry is entrusting ourselves to God's care, refraining from judging others is entrusting them to God's care.
There is a movement. If we start at one point, we must back up to see where the story has been.

Psalm 1 "do not walk...do not stand...do not sit." = movement within the passage.

Philippians 1:6 "...He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
This passage has a connection to the creation story.
Philippians - began Genesis - beginning
Philippians - a good work Genesis - it was good
Philippians - competion Genesis - completed
What is the connection: the God who created the universe and all of life within it is big enough to care for you.

This is mystery. We cannot understand the enormity of God, but we can understand his care for us.

Revelation 4 gives us insight into the "psychology of worship"
We gather together to recognize that we are not at the center of the universe. It reminds us of our proper place in the cosmos.

Let's talk about the parts of a sermon:

Everything in a sermon is related to everything else in the sermon.
In order to understand those parts,
-name the parts
-know the parts
-be aware of the parts
-feel the parts
-step outside of the parts

Where does it begin, where is it going, how does it get there?

parts of the sermon:
reading the passage
information
story
questions
picture
rant
action
insight
observation
statistic
declaration
invitation*

If we only use one or two of these parts we are going to lose, wear out, confuse or put the listeners to sleep.

* a note about the invitation. It does not necessarily have to be an alter call type of invitation. It may simply be an invitation to do, trust, step out, step up, help, pitch in, or give.

"The sermon is like sausage...or the law...if you love it, respect it...but don't watch it being made." - Rob Bell

Rob tells a short story about an editor who said that every once in a while, he could take off the editor hat and just enjoy the manuscript. The reason is because he realized that he was in good hands.This is where we must bring our listeners: into a realization that they are in good hands.

During the sermon, we must be aware of:
speed
intensity
tension
pacing
tone
posture
arc

- beware of openers that overwhelm. An opener that takes the breath out of everyone is hard to overcome. An opener is actually ineffective if the rest of the sermon cannot overcome it. "don't let your best moment in the message to be in the rear view mirror."
-there are no rules to a sermon, except "know what you are doing."
-use a story board to outline the sermon. it can make it easier to remember

The best storyteller knows what to tell, what not to tell, how to tell, how not to tell, when to tell, and when not to tell.

A sermon creates a place that allows people to find themselves in it.

a great sermon must be,
Focused yet open
Said yet unsaid
Defining yet imagining
Resolute yet unresolved

Let's talk about parable: they work because people remember stories!
The parable of the prodigal son is really the story of the forgiving father.

A-B-C-D-------------------K-------------------P-Q----->
A sermon should meet everyone where they are and invite them to the next step.
We can't expect a "B" to move to "K" without first moving to "C, D, E, and so on."

Rob then tells a story:
Three disciples are walking home after a lesson with their rabbi. The first turns to the others and apologizes for monopolizing the time. He realized that the rabbi had been speaking directly to him. The second interrupts and apologizes to the others because he realized that the rabbi had been speaking to him. The third interrupts and apologizes because the rabbi had been speaking to him. Each would swear that the rabbi's message was specifically for him but the rabbi's message had actually spoken to all of them.

This is the challenge before us: Give a message that speaks to everyone as if only to them individually.

Post #124 Poets, Prophets, & Preachers: Day 2, Session 3

Day 2 Session 3
Shane Hipps
"How Technology Shapes the Sermon"

Shane, a former marketing and advertising executive, focused on the brilliance of Marshall McLuhan, the man he refers to as "The greatest thinker you've never heard of." McLuhan predicted concepts similar to Amazon.com 30-40 years before the internet was available to the public.

We often hear the statement "The methods always change, but the message stays the same."
Shane explained that "The medium IS the message."
The way you say something is more important than what you actually say.

"Our conventional response to all media, namely that it is how they are used that counts, is the numb-stance of the technological idiot...for the content of any message is the juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind." -Marshall McLuhan

In another thought, Shane explained, "We are what we behold."

He added, the printing press was the first assembly line of the industrial age. It was linear, sequential, uniform, and repeatable type. It helped to shape how we interacted with various areas of our lives, including other technology, even architecture. Before the printing press, churches met to share the stories of Jesus. But with the printing press came the concept of "transfer of information." Clergy deviated from leading the conversation and now started lecturing on the topic. The first pews were created and the church's architecture was changed in order to better provide the "transfer of information."

Between 1850 and 1900 many technologies had started to harness the use of electricity. Among these was photography.

Shane explained, "With technology comes an increased inability to utilize abstract thought."



The words create a thought of an image, but the picture creates an emotion connected to an image.

Shane explained that "a picture is worth a thousand words" is a good thought, but words are not interchangeable with pictures.

In "the boy is sad" the words stimulate the left brain....the image stimulates the right.
The words are conceptual...the picture is holistic.
The words are sterile...the picture is emotional.

"Images pin the logical side of our brains to the back of our skull." The image overrides any logical thinking. This is why advertisers use images instead of essays to sell their products.






On the left is text that represents a syllogism or an argument used in explaining a logical conclusion. On the right is the eastern symbol, the Yin Yang, used to explain the existence of opposing forces in nature, spirituality, or human thought.

Image based cultures move from western thinking to more eastern thinking.
Left brain - semi colon plus closed parenthesis
Right brain - :) emoticon

Letters in and of themselves do not mean anything. That is what makes them useful. We ascribe meaning to them when used in context.

The letter "L" does not, on it's own mean anything.
But when used in a specific context:



it means something very specific.


- Image based cultures create a literary deficiency.
- you will remember an image far better than the description of that image.
- image limits possibilities but creates a shared experience,
- what does the image actually do? vs. what do the words actually say?

-if you want to unleash imagination...use words.
-if you want to create a shared experience...use images.

Image vs. Words has shaped how we view many things.

Before the printing press, people focused on the Gospels when examining the Bible. Why? Because they were basically stories about Jesus. They were easy to share with others verbally.

Shane explored the use of images and words through modern eras:

Middle Ages - the message was the story of Jesus. Because of imagery, the ability to communicate through image, stained glass was utilized to tell the story. (it was difficult to put Paul into pictures)

Martin Luther believed that John, Paul, and Peter were more important than Matthew, Mark, and Luke, because they appealed to logic, thought, and reason.

We must understand how to use technology instead of being used by it.

-So what does all of this mean for the sermon?
In order to understand the shift in the technological impact on the sermon, we must consider the focus of the church service:

In the middle ages, the service was focused on the Eucharist and the homily. The alter was the visual focus.
The homily was given in Latin. This was not the common language of the people. In fact it was the language of the educated. Because of this focus, there was an emphasis on mystery...or not really understanding, but welcoming the unknown into the service.

In the industrial (print) age, the service focus was shifted to the sermon and the visual shift was directed to the pulpit. The church became a lecture hall. It was common for a "sermon" to be a four-hour scholarly dissertation.

In the television (broadcast) age, the stage became the focus. The church became a studio with lights, sound equipment, and projection. The pastor became the host or star of the show while a band became the opening act.

In the internet age, the focus shifted to connecting people and providing a shared experience. The church became a coffee shop. The pastor became the facilitator.

Interestingly, you can find an example of all of these types of churches within a 20 mile radius of most major metropolitan cities.

There are some practices that can help us become better artists of preaching:
-the art of surprise: this is not necessarily the use of paradox or absurdity.
"When you keep them guessing, they pay attention."
3 types of surprise:
- exegetical: this is providing contextual information, asking questions of the text, find answers to those questions.
- rhetorical: used with familiar texts or topics. Create dissonance where there was none. Planting an itch so they can scratch.
- linguistic: become a student of language. Fine new words for old thoughts. Use poetry to get to the heart. Use prose to illuminate the crux of the passage.

Shane then walked us through a case-study of the John's account of Jesus' first miracle: turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana.
- rhetorical surprise: John mentions this as the 1st miracle. Why? Isn't this an odd miracle? Examine the Hebrew perspective on wine in relation to celebration, joy, and abundance. Rabbinical thought: "without wine, there is no joy." Connect Jesus with the "abundance of God."

-exegetical surprise: notice the jars - the container not the content. Jesus used the jars that were for "ceremonial washing" when empty wine jars (amphora) would have been available. Using ceremonial jars for anything other than washing would have violated purity laws. Jesus chose the ceremonial jars for a specific reason. What was that reason?

- linguistic surprise: examine the amphora, study Rabbinical sayings, look to other biblical passages for insight. Find a new way of saying what we have become familiar with.

The art of the sermon has much to do with mastering the art of letting go.
- We pour ourselves into a message and then we have people tell us it was "a good sermon." We didn't want a good sermon, we wanted pure life transformation.
"When I learned to be divested in the outcome, life change started to take place." Sure we want life change to take place, but when we fearlessly and honestly offer what God has given us without reservation, bias, or expectation, we will see His results.
"You do not need encouragement to breath, you just do it."
"I have not achieved, I have tasted."

Prior to image, we had heroes for what they had done or accomplished. With image, we now have celebrities who are known simply for being seen.

There are technophiles and technophobes. We must have both eyes open and see technology for what it is: a tool, not a solution.

Simplicity:
The problem is not simplicity, but simplicity on the front side of complexity. It is very different from simplicity on the far side of complexity. This is why wise sayings mean much more from an older person who has seen much life. Their simple, "God has a plan for us" has depth to it in light of their lives.

Post #123 Poets, Prophets, & Preachers: Day 2, Session2

Day 2, Session 2
(preface: Peter Rollins is a dynamic speaker, but he is somewhat difficult to follow. He is frantic and kinetic. He is excited and enthusiastic. He bounces from story to story and from idea to idea. This is definitely one of those moments that if the notes seem fragmented or confusing, you should have been watching it live.)

Peter Rollins
"Returning to the New: An Introduction to Transformance Art"

Rollins is part of IKON, a group that attempts to transform lives through innovative and often challenging environments.
Located in Belfast, Ireland; a city and country where religion is sacred but also potentially deadly.

"Life is lived forward and understood backwards." - Søren Kierkegaard

Fairy tales tell a society's values:
In the West,
- the poor become wealthy
- the marginalized become influential
- the weak become powerful
In the East,
- the wealthy become poor
- the influential become marginalized
- the powerful become weak

The first role of a leader is not to lead, it is to refuse to lead. If by stepping back we allow space for others to wrestle with questions, the answers will be theirs and in the process, will have more meaning to them.

Rollins told a story:
A man goes to see a therapist because he believed that he was not a man, but a pile of seeds. After months of therapy, the man left the therapist with an understanding that he was truly a man and not a pile of seeds. A while later, a farmer moved in near the man. The farmer had chickens and this created some anxiety for the man. He went back to the therapist and expressed is concerns. The therapist reminded the man that he was not a pile of seeds, but was a man. The man responded, "Yeah, but do the chickens know?!"

Sometimes, our identity is not just ours. It is also the perception that others have about who we are. We must do what we can to help them see that we are this (human) and not that (seeds).

Let's talk about Batman.
- By night, Batman goes around beating up those who commit crimes in Gotham City.
- By day, he is the major stockholder in Wayne Enterprises, a large multinational conglomerate. The chief function of Wayne Enterprises is to fund the research and development of chemical, technological, military, and industrial advances...and to make billions of dollars that Bruce Wayne skims from to help him fight bad guys.
- If we examine the cultural, socio-economic, and systemic reasons why some people commit crimes we might find that the poverty, lack of education, resentment, anger, or self-loathing of the criminals might be connected to a lack of something.
- Bruce Wayne might very well be creating the bad guys he fights.
- Wayne Enterprises is corporate greed that marginalizes people.

Now, what if our meetings, gatherings, and services actually help the systems that are in place just continue on their path without any real change.
What if we are the batmans who are creating our bad guys? What if our agendas actually hurt, not help?

Revolution changes a whole system.
Insurrection changes lives.

Cognitive dissonance (look it up) is accepted in the Church.
This is the fundamental problem in transforming lives.

Let's talk about sit-coms:
- Not only are all of the problems in a sit-com solves in 22 minutes. The show actually has an audible laugh track. Most people think this is so we as an audience know when to laugh. Are we so disconnected that we don't know funny when we hear it and we need to be told?! Maybe...
But what if the laugh track is not telling us when to laugh, but is actually just laughing for us?
- A lot of church goers do not feel that they necessarily need to believe everything that the congregation, pastor, or Church believes as long as those who lead us believe.

God is not an object in this world, he transforms my ability to see the world. I do not see the light, I see because of the light.

"We should not try to convince the head so much as try to convince the depths of the person."

-When we go to a museum, do we look for the "right interpretation" of the art, or do we interact with the art, allowing it to transform us on an emotional, spiritual, and philosophic level?

"A sermon should be the salt that makes the people thirsty!"

Rollins tells this story:
Two guys are walking down the street heading to the bars. They see a sign on the side of a church that reads: $200 for a conversion.
One guy says to the other, "This is great! You go in, do the whole conversion thing, get the money, and then we can drink all night!"
The other guy agrees and goes in.
About half an hour later he comes out of the church. His friend sees him and comes up to him. He asks, "did you get the money?"
The friend replies, "Is money all you non-believers are concerned about?"

- The point: does our motivation lead us and others to real transformation?

-If someone is seeking God because they are seeking eternal life...they are not really seeking God, they are just seeking eternal life.
-If someone is seeking God because they are seeking meaning...they are not really seeking God, they are just seeking meaning.
-If someone is seeking God because they are seeking love...they are not really seeking God, they are just seeking love.

These are all great things to seek. And by seeking God, we will find them. But the motivation isn't seeking God. the motivation is in seeking something else and God becomes the bonus.

As leaders in the church, we must remind ourselves that, "I am not he Bread. Hopefully I can provide the space and opportunity for others to smell the aroma of the Bread."

"Christianity promises substantive transformation. If we are really lucky, it might happen in church, but maybe I am optimistic." - Peter Rollins

Post #122 Poets, Prophets, & Preachers: Day 2, Session1

Day 2, Session 1
Rob Bell: “The Story We’re Telling”

Hope: AtomLab Video.
Watch the video!
“I went to a preaching conference and all I got was a crushed sternum.”

There is always a “thing behind the thing.”

What causes a message to really move people?
Where and how you begin and end a story shape and determine what kind of story you’re telling.

Let’s begin at the beginning.

Genesis 1:11
1 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so.

Dasha – Hebrew for produce/sprout
Progressive generativity
Creation is going somewhere
It is dynamic, not static
Tomorrow will be different from today.

Genesis 1:26-27
“26 Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
27 So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

Rada - Rule
Kabash - Subdue
Implies responsibility, stewardship,
Participatory Physicality
Harmony within Hierarchy
Everything in its proper place
Appropriate ordering of creation

Genesis 1:22, 28
22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth."

28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
Barakh - Hebrew for blessing
Soil and Spirit are united in chapter 1
Heaven and Earth are united in shalom
There isn't "somewhere else"
-there is not a physical vs. spiritual in Genesis 1...everything is sacred.

There is something about you that is found in Genesis 1:
Aesthetics
Creations/making things
Relationships/partnerships
Worship
Exploration
Organizing
Naming
Learning
Responsibility

Whatever it is that we love about life...it is all here....our roots are here.
The story starts here.

Revelation 21:3
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

The story ends here.

It starts with a garden and ends with a city. There is a dynamic movement

Genesis 1 and 2 = Shalom
Genesis 3 = Disruption
Rebellion
Missing the mark
Sin is any way we disrupt shalom

Genesis 3 is not the beginning of the story.
Genesis 3 is not the end of the story.

The fall and sin need to take a proper place within the story.

Confession (yad hah) - admission, recognition, declaration, agreement.
Repentance (t'shuva) - is return, we were off course and invited to return.

The story is about God...
Renewing all things (Matthew 19)
Restoring all things (Acts 3)
Reconciling all things (Colossians 1)

If the story you tell begins in Genesis 3, then the drive of your story is the removal of sin.
If the story you tell begins in Genesis 1, then the drive of your story is the restoration of shalom.

The removal os sin is hugely important and deserves to be talked about, wrestled with, and understood; but it needs its proper place in the story.
A story that starts with Genesis 3 tells you what you aren't.
A story that starts with Genesis 1 tells you what you are.

If you start in 1, sin makes sense when you get to 3.

If you start in 3, the goal becomes some disembodied evacuation of Earth.
If you start in 1, the goal becomes the participatory physicality of the restoration of shalom!

What if "I'll fly away" misses the point? If God wants to come renew, restore, and reconcile this earth, we might fly away and pass him as he comes here!

In the Gospel of John, the writer mentions the "signs of Jesus."
the first on is in John 2 - water into wine
2nd is in John 4 - healing of the official's son
3rd is in John 5 - healing at the pool
4th is in John 6 - bread
5th is in John 6 - walk on water
6th is in John 9 - healing of the blind man
7th is the raising of Lazarus

In Hebrew thought, 7 is typically a number associated with God's power and with God's creation.
John 20 has the 8th sign: The Resurrection
The story is about Jesus' resurrection beginning a new creation, right here in the midst of this one.
Sidenote: Mary thought the raised Jesus was a gardener: the Greek word translates to "wink, wink, nudge, nudge."

The story is the reaffirming of the goodness of creation. It is the anticipation of the coming day when heaven and earth are united again. It is about the restoration of shalom!
If you start in Genesis 1 it changes the way you look at EVERYTHING!

Business is not just the exchange of goods, it becomes a vehicle by which you help others. The Hebrew word dasha from Genesis 1 - the earth produces and we use what it produces to increase shalom.

Art is not vain self expression, it becomes the arranging and rearranging of aesthetics in order to bless others. It is the separating and bringing together color, shapes, ideas, emotions, words, and melodies. In Genesis 1, God separated the light from the darkness, he created order from chaos. He created art!

Justice is not the human need to punish, it becomes an opportunity to renew, restore, and reconcile. A Genesis 3 understanding is not really interested in the poor, the hurting, and the hungry because the bottom line is that we will leave this earth and all of its misery. But a Genesis 1 understanding is really concerned because it brings that opportunity to renew, restore, and reconcile!

The sermon, then, is the insistence that the resurrection of Jesus brings a whole new world that everyone can be a part of. It is helping people see new creation with the eyes, mind, and hearts.

What you look for, you will find...
if you look for criticism, you will find it.
if you look for negativity, you will find it.
if you look for cynicism, you will find it.
if you look for greed, you will find it.

BUT

if you look for hope, you will find it.
if you look for love, you will find it.
if you look for devotion, you will find it.
if you look for giving, you will find it.

A sermon brings hope, not in escape, but in engagement; not in evacuation, but in reclamation; not in leaving, but in staying and overcoming!

2 types of hope:
Genesis 3: Hope that God will sweep us away, to leave this place.
Genesis 1: Hope that God would allow us to help change this world.

It always was, is, and will be God's world!

Post #121 Poets, Prophets, & Preachers: Day 1

What follows are a collection of my notes and thoughts from the Poets, Prophets, and Preachers conference in Grand Rapids. Some of these will seem very cohesive and coherent. Other parts may seem disconnected or confusing. As a preface, you should have been here. (They are apparently recording the seasons in order to make DVD’s for sale later, so you have that going for you.)

Poets, Prophets, and Preachers

Session 1, Sunday Evening

Rob took the stage and immediately asked the question, “What would the average person on the street say when asked to describe a sermon?”

Unfortunately, the response would probably not be “empowering, inspiring, revolutionary, and challenging.”

Much more likely you would hear, “boring, lecture, patronizing, or irrelevant.”

With such negativity towards the art of sermon, why would anyone want to give a sermon?

As the world becomes for virtual (twitter, facebook, blogs) people will eventually crave personal interaction. We will eventually be drawn to “actual reality.” This is good news for those who have a message to give. People will crave real conversations, in real settings, with real people.

A lot of people seem to believe that a sermon only exists in order to be evaluated.
Some people see a sermon as pure propaganda.
Others see a sermon as a burden, and anchor that weighs them down and ties them up.

Why would anyone want to give a sermon?

Sometimes, when we give a message, we might think, “this is going to be the best one yet. It is going to blow them away.” Then, once the message has been given, we only get crickets in response.

Other times, we think, “Oh man, this one bombed. I really stunk it up today.” Then someone responds, “that was the most powerful thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life!”

Rob explained that often, people in our churches will want to go back to “the way we used to do it.” Or they might say, “great job, that was like the old Rob.” How can we move people forward if they are focused on the past?

Ezekiel 4
9 "Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side. 10 Weigh out twenty shekels of food to eat each day and eat it at set times. 11 Also measure out a sixth of a hin of water and drink it at set times. 12 Eat the food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement for fuel."

This is actually describing a sermon. Zeke is told by God to “go into the public and do something very specific.” Giving a sermon is going and doing. It is not merely saying.

In a way, the sermon is:
Performance art
Guerilla theatre
Actions that evoke

Sermon is:
A witness,
If you don’t share it,
Speak it,
Tell it,
Point to it,
Express it,
Preach it,
You’ll spontaneously combust.

Jeremiah 20
“…his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.”

Jeremiah 2:14
“14 Is Israel a servant, a slave by birth? Why then has he become plunder?”
This is not the way God intended things to be. Jeremiah has to let the people know this.

Mark 1:15
5 "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!"

Sermon is:
A call to return
An invitation
A fresh word
An implicit critique
The first punch

Isaiah 52
1 Awake, awake, Zion,
clothe yourself with strength!
Put on your garments of splendor,
Jerusalem, the holy city.
The uncircumcised and defiled
will not enter you again.
2 Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains on your neck, Daughter Zion, now a captive.
3 For this is what the LORD says: "You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed."

Sermon can be subversion
-there is another story.

Luke 4
“28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.”

Sermon is
Provocation
Loaded language
A warning

Stravinsky’s “Rites of Spring” actually evoke such a response from it first listeners that they rioted.
We have to be willing to take the bad and the good when we preach/teach.

Acts 17
32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject."

Göran Kropp – Mt. Everest Journey Wikipedia Article
If you do things that have not been done before or seen before or heard before you will get funny looks, angry letters, or worse. But you might get inspiration, truth, lights, revolution, excitement, anticipation, enthusiasm, dedication or even better.

Words can create worlds:
“In the beginning, God created…” “The Word was God and the Word was with God…”
Our words can show new worlds to people.

Sometime we have a series of seemingly unconnected thoughts and ideas. Trying to connect them is like “tying the clouds together.”

Sometimes the best sermon we can give is to tell someone, “Tomorrow does not have to be a repeat of today.”

There are layers to crafting a sermon:
Theological
Conceptual
Practical
Personal

Transformation happens when talks start talks.
The leader is often looked at to have the last word on a topic
It is more helpful if the leader has the first word and starts the conversation.

Post #120 Where Has Mike Been?

Well, it has been a long time since my last post. In fact, I did not even do a post for the season finale of LOST. What can I say? I am a slacker. To be honest there has been a ton going on and I feel justified in putting my blogging experiment on the back-burner. Let me clue you in on some of the happenings in my life:

First, Michelle and I have started the process of adoption. We meet with our social worker this weekend. It is a long and sometimes difficult journey, but we are confident that it will definitely be worth it.

In addition to that, we have put down roots with a church home. We have been “homeless” for more than two years. For most of the time, we have been wrestling with what we need and what we can offer in a church community. We found a great place and have started to connect with several people there. In fact that leads me to my third “happening.”

I have been asked to take on the responsibility of organizing and leading the small groups ministry for our church congregation. This is a very important step for me, as this is my first “legitimate” ministry position since finishing my degree. It is a great opportunity and I can’t wait to share some of my thoughts and ideas regarding small groups, discipleship, and Bible study.

So there we have it. This is what I have been busy with for the past month and a half to two months. I sincerely apologize to both of my loyal readers for letting them down regarding the 365 posts in one year. I am going to miss that mark. However, now that I have admitted my negligence, I hope I will be more diligent in posting in the future.