Some Thoughts on The Shack

As of today, The Shack has been #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List for 36 straight weeks. At the time of this writing, The Shack was the #6 best-selling book of all categories on Amazon.com.

I cannot remember when I've finished a book and then promptly began it a second time the very next day, but that's exactly what I did with The Shack a couple of weeks ago. I finished my second reading of the book a few days ago.

I found the book to be quite powerful. Realizing that the book is controversial, I nevertheless am giving the book a qualified recommendation and am encouraging my friends to read it discerningly.

Some of the critiques that one reads of Young's work are theological. I do not believe it's invalid to criticize the theology behind a creative piece of fiction, but I do think it's unrealistic to expect comprehensive systematic theology from such a work. Some things are simply not addressed in a work of fiction that we would expect to be addressed in systematics. And so I'm hesitant to agree with those critiques that have foundation in a charge of incompleteness. Nevertheless, I did find theological shortcomings in the book though I also appreciated other aspects of the work.

I did not agree with all of the comments in the book regarding authority and hierarchy. I got the impression from reading The Shack that all hierarchy is an unmitigated wrong. I, on the other hand, believe loving authority is not only legitimate on earth but that we also see it in the Godhead (in distinction from what Sarayu claims on p. 122).

I also was not sure what Young was getting at when he had Jesus say that He did not wish for folks to become Christians (p. 182). I have no problem with anyone saying that organized Christianity does not always equal true Christianity, but Jesus comments here seemed to be overstatement.

One critique of The Shack is that it promotes Ultimate Reconciliation (UR). When I read the book, I wondered about this myself. My feeling is that the book had the flavor of Ultimate Reconciliation. Moreoever, Young's story collaborator Wayne Jacobsen in his article Is THE SHACK Heresy? asserts earlier drafts of the the book did reflect William P. Young's leanings toward Ultimate Reconciliation at that time.

However, Jacobsen writes, "While some of that was in earlier versions because of the author’s partiality at the time to some aspects of what people call UR, I made it clear at the outset that I didn’t embrace UR as sound teaching and didn’t want to be involved in a project that promoted it." However, Jacobsen also implies in his article that the collaborative process itself had an affect on Young's theological views including, it would see, any predispositions Young had toward UR. And I believe Young when I have heard him say emphatically in subsequent interviews that he believes in Hell.

Regarding the critique that the book does not accurately convey the Trinity, for myself I was not looking for it to definitively portray the Trinity. It's a work of creative fiction and clearly the author took some liberties. When I have taught theology I have told my students that the day that I explain the Trinity to them in such a way that they go, "Ok, now I get it! That makes perfect sense" that is the day that they can be assured that I have no idea what I'm talking about. We should not be shocked that our finite minds cannot completely comprehend the One Who is infinite. And I felt that there was a definite tension in Young's portrayal of the Trinity that was consistent with the mystery of "God in three persons." But do I think Young got it right? No, of course not. But I do feel that he gave an interesting portrait of God.

One aspect of the book I appreciated was the honest treatment of the most difficult theological question encapsulated in Mackenzie's terrible tragedy: Why would a loving, all-powerful being allow six-year-old Missy to be brutally murdered? I was satisfied that Young did not attempt to provide a definitive theodicy but that in the book the author gave some hints toward an answer that had to do with humanity's freedom to choose. I personally believe that a completely satisfying theodicy is not possible this side of the Jordan. I appreciated that Young did not wrap this theological problem up in a artificially contrived bow.

But perhaps the aspect of the book I appreciated the most was the portrayal of God's personal involvement with Mack. I do believe that God's omnipotence implies his ability to deal with each of his creatures with loving individuality. It was moving to see Young's portrayal of this.

And so I found the book helpfully provocative but I am sensitive to, and in some cases sympathetic with, those who might critique its theology in places. I am also open to being shown that I have missed theological deficiencies in the book that should be highlighted.

But all these concerns expressed, I cautiously recommend The Shack as one way to helpfully challenge our paradigm of God in a way that might lead to a fuller understanding of Him.

Other Information Available Online About The Shack:

• You can learn more about William P. Young here.
  
  
• See a video of William P Young sharing the story behind the story.
  
  
• Mark Driscoll on The Shack (mostly critical)
  
  
• Wayne Jacobsen: Is The Shack Heresy? (mostly favorable)
  
  Jacobsen is an author who was one of Young's collaborators on the story and co-founded Windblown Media that publishes the book.
  
  
• Tim Challies' Review of The Shack (pdf) (mostly critical)
  
  
• Al Mohler on The Shack (audio) (mostly critical)
  
  
• Greg Boyd on The Shack (mostly favorable)
  
  
• Christianity Today Review: Fiction for the Faith-Starved by Cindy Crosby (mostly favorable)
  

all tim keller, all the time

Just took a look at this great site after learning about it from my friend dj chuang.

Talking with Pete Rollins about Knowing

Peter Rollins and I are talking about knowing on Tony Jones' blog after he critiqued a comment I made in the Ten Years Out article on the history of the emerging church in North America.

Reminds me of the chat Brian McLaren and I had about epistemology 8 years ago (which I mentioned to Peter, as I thought it might be relevant to his critique.

Next-Wave has a New Editor

Next-Wave's new editor is Scott Bane. Many thanks to Bob Hyatt for his two year stint in the same role. Next-Wave's founder and publisher, Charlie Wear, talks about the history of Next-Wave and this transition here.

The Emerging Church: Diverse Voices in North America and the Worldwide Conversation

Be sure to check out the good conversation in comments on Andrew Jones' blog post around the Next-Wave Retrospective on Ten Years of the Emerging Church in North America.

There's a healthy interest in hearing more about the history of the emerging church in the rest of the world and more about the diversity of voices in North America that were not represented in the article.

Next-Wave's publisher Charlie Wear expresses a desire for more articles covering these other aspects of the emerging church.

Ten Years of the Emerging Church: A Retrospective

Charlie Wear of Next-Wave asked me to pen a piece on ten years of the emerging church in North America. To pull this together I interviewed:

• Brian McLaren,
• Jordon Cooper,
• Tony Jones,
• Dan Kimball,
• Scot McKnight, and
  
• Andrew Jones.

The piece was published today and can be found here.

The interviews behind the piece (which covered more topics than I did in the article) can be found here and here.

Comments welcome!

Info Request: Best Bruce Cockburn Albums?

Ok, Papa's mentioning of this artist in The Shack and that Brian McLaren and other friends like him have prompted me to buy a Bruce Cockburn album?

Suggestions?

Listening to God in 2009

The ever-productive blogger Justin Taylor provides us with a multiplicity of options for reading through the Bible in 2009.

David Wayne

Pls continue to pray for my friend David Wayne. He's learned that he has Stage 4 Liver Cancer. David has two large tumors in his liver and it has spread to his lymph nodes. His daughter, Jollette, is being faithful to post updates here.

Merry Christmas, Everyone

Look up because He looked down.

As a Public Service: Things Never to Do on Facebook

jordon cooper twitterpoints us to this great list.

Gallup: Economic Hard Times Isn't Increasing Church Attendance

"PRINCETON, NJ -- Despite some news reports to the contrary, a review of almost 300,000 interviews conducted by Gallup so far in 2008 shows no evidence that church attendance in America has been increasing late this year as a result of bad economic times. In September, October, November, and so far in December, about 42% of Americans reported that they attended church weekly or almost every week, exactly the same as the percentage who reported attending earlier in the year."

- see the whole article here.

Please pray for David Wayne

Please pray for my friend and fellow blogger David Wayne, who has just learned that he has cancer.

Churches as Strength Based Organizations

If you are aware of a church that would consider itself a Strength Based Organization, would you let me know in comments?

Thanks!

The Origins Project

I promise that my post this weekend questioning continued use of the term "emerging church" was just a setup for this post!

I had read Dan Kimball's post The Emerging Church: Five Years Later about a new network he Erwin McManus, and Scot McKnight were starting. Today, I found Dan's 20 November 2008 post about this new network initiative which is being called The Origins Project. Here's part of what Dan writes about the origin of this envisioned community:

The more I felt myself not connecting to the theological direction and arguments happening in some of the emerging world - the more I felt the natural desire to be formally linking up with these friends who had the same passion. I also kept hearing over and over and over again when I was speaking places around the country, that many people still wanted to be discussing evangelism, especially amongst emerging generations. Yet many people were understandably confused by what was being noticed as streams of "the emerging church" as Ed Stetzer, Scot McKnight and Mark Driscoll were communicating about them in various articles and talks. So it was getting quite confusing as people were hearing all these things with so much variation occuring within the emerging church circles. I just know I was originally drawn into the emerging church world to be in it for mission, for evangelism, for seeing new followers of Jesus and whatever it takes innovatively without compromising the teachings of Jesus and Scripture.

So it just felt right to begin talking together with others to be encouraged, to be reminded of mission, to be fueled in creativity for the mission. Yet we all were theologically committed to the importance of doctrines like in the globally and multi-denominationally shaped Lausanne Covenant. (We are using this covenant as our statement of faith, so to speak, so from the beginning although we are diverse in many things we do, we are in alignment about the things within that).

I am someone who thrives on relationships with other leaders who are in this whole crazy mission together. So I have lately had such a boost of energy being around this group and dreaming about how we could all be partnering together in fueling this passion we all have. We are a diverse group for sure, but I believe there are a lot of people like this. So as we have been praying and thinking, we want to be extending this conversation and community to be together figuring out how to support, energize, dream and forge ahead on this evangelistic mission of Jesus.

The rest of Dan's post is here.

I personally am glad to see the utilization of the Lausanne Covenant as a theological foundation for this new organization and I'm genuinely excited about learning more. Their website is here though it's obvious this network is just now being formed.

Should we still say "emerging church?"

I've been following with interest what seems to be a bit of a trend away from the emerging church/emergent nomenclature (Dan Kimball, Andrew Jones, etc.). I have to say that I find resonance with this discussion. In the past, I've written quite a bit about defining "emerging church." A lot of the ink I and others have spilled on this topic have revolved around the various agendas behind the use of the term. In my opinion, the fulcrum for the controversy is the theological revisionism that's attached itself to the labels. This is in contrast to the essentially evangelistic impulse that was originally - in my judgment - behind the popular use of the term "emerging church."

Now, I'm painting with a broad brush, obviously. I myself am a bit revisionistic theologically, but most of my participation in the movement in my writing, etc. has been along the lines of the "relevants" and the reconstructionists (using Stetzer's famous taxonomy). But I do wonder if the term has lost its punch because of all the confusion.

Some people moving away from "emerging church" are moving towards missional, as in its popular conception it's not theologically revisionist. Many know that for the last year I've been interviewing missional leaders and doing some writing for Leadership Network around this topic (my second piece on this should be out soon). But I think it remains to be seen if this term will take in any intergenerational sense. In the meanwhile, I do find "missional" a helpful term. That being said, I find it highly interesting that no less a missional luminary than Mike Frost recently complained that "missional" also is losing its distinctive meaning as it's increasingly being used as the new, hot buzzword.

Terms are important, but what's more important is the heart and spirit behind the terms. I am deeply grateful for what I've learned from the emerging church and what I'm learning from the missional conversation. Terms come and go - what matters is that we are listening to the Scriptures, to God's Spirit, and to each other and then, as a result, loving God with everything within us and our neighbors as ourselves.

"Pushing Daisies"

Beth and I used our DVR this weekend to catch up on our Pushing Daisies.

The show, which was nominated for 12 Emmys after its first season run, is completely unique. The storyline revolves around

• Ned (Lee Pace) - a pie maker who can bring people back from the dead with a touch, but who then must touch them again to send them back to death before sixty seconds elapse or someone else will then die.
• Charlotte, aka "Chuck" (Anna Friel) - Ned's childhood sweetheart and girlfriend who Ned can't touch because he brought her back to life and kept her there,
• Emerson Code, played by the delightful Chi McBride - a private investigator who has discovered Ned's usefulness in solving murder cases and who insists on continually referring to Chuck as "dead girl," and
  
• Olive Snook, played by the wonderful Kristen Chenoweth, who works at Ned's pie shop and has a crush on Ned.
  

The cast is rounded out by Chuck's "aunts," Lilly and Vivian Charles, played respectively by Swoosie Kurtz and Ellen Greene, who raised Chuck after her mom (supposedly) and her dad died.

I'm blogging about Pushing Daisies simply because the show is so very excellent. The writing is amazing - Beth and I often rewind just to hear such scintillating lines as Emerson Cod's "The mimes just pulled up in a trailer, and they ain't talkin,'" when the team was at a circus attempting to solve a series of murders. The sets and backgrounds are consistently whimsical and beautiful. The acting is top drawer. And the stories and subplot lines are sometimes profound.

I grew sad after the first few episodes of the first season because I did not believe the writers could keep the quality up. But so far this season is even better than last season. I am a longtime fan of Kristen Chenowith (the West Wing, Wicked), but felt that last year she was shoehorned in because of her enormous talent. But this season they are integrating her into the mix of ongoing plot arcs and the separate week-to-week story lines very nicely.

In short, Beth and I are very much enjoying this delightfully produced show and I recommend it.

"ESV Study Bible Goes Back to Press Prior to October 15 Publication Date "

Crossway just issued this press release that reads, in part:

"Wheaton, IL— With pre-publication demand surpassing the first 100,000 printing, the ESV Study Bible has already gone back to press for a second printing of 50,000 copies, with a 50,000 third printing soon to follow.

Mark Traphagen, Web Sales Manager for Westminster Bookstore in Philadelphia, PA, reports record-breaking sales for the new Study Bible, making it “by far the fastest selling new product in the history of our store.” But industry insiders don’t expect sales of the new study Bible to slow down after the publication buzz subsides. “Early results indicate that this is going to be a very key item for Mardel this Christmas season,” explains Dylan Hillhouse, Bible buyer for the key retail chain."

- my "First Look" as the ESV Study Bible

The Future of Smartphones

found a nice article on PC Magazine that I excerpted at Leadership Network's Digital blog.

Light as a Feather

I've been happy the last couple of days and I realized why. Skye's impending surgery had been such a dark cloud. Now it's over and she's fine. She's been recovering beautifully and is going back to school tomorrow, though in a wheelchair. She doesn't really need it; our primary strategy is to protect her from other kids bumping into her!

Thank you all so much for prayers, notes, food, cards, etc.

This surgery is considered 98% effective and we should learn in a few weeks if it worked, i.e., stopped the reflux so that she'll stop getting infections in her one good kidney.

So far so good.

The ESV Study Bible: A First Look

I commented on my initial impressions of the new ESV Study Bible on Leadership Network's Book Blog.

Profane Audacity

In response to my earlier expressed sentiment, I've begun reading again Greg Bahnsen's Van Til's Apologetics and just came across this great John Calvin quote:

"Contentious disputes arise from the fact that many think less honorably than they ought of the greatness of divine wisdom, and are carried away by profane audacity."

from Calvin's Commentaries on 1 Peter 3:15

overwhelmed

Well, it happened again. More people from our church we don't know dropped off more food for us. One myth about megachurches is that they've forgotten how to be church. Surely sometimes that's true, but our megachurch has been taking care of us ever since Skye went into the hospital. Honestly, we're deeply moved.

The New ESV Study Bible

Looks like it's being published Monday.

Lately, I'm reading the NIV and TNIV more, but I'll definitely be picking up a copy of this fine translation and Study Bible.

skye and theology

There's something wondrously clarifying when you have the luxury of just focusing on one crisis.

My wonderful company has freed me to completely focus on the recovery of our dear one.

Skye, by the way, is doing very well. Her pain level since Tuesday's surgery has been far lower than we anticipated. And - more importantly - our surgeon says the surgery went well and he has no reason to think that her recovery won't go well. This surgery is considered 98% effective in stopping reflux which will protect her one remaining kidney. There is even a low probability that her other kidney - currently working at 4% - might improve in its functioning. But if it doesn't, you can live to 100 with one kidney.

Johns Hopkins, the FDA and Q-Med in Sweden, who makes the Deflux Skye received in 2003, are studying the material Dr. Mathews removed, as Skye is the only known case where reflux returned 5 years after the injection of Deflux. And we're only aware of three cases where the Deflux calcified, which we discovered earlier this year when we learned one of Skye's kidneys had failed.

So we're hopeful for Skye and hopefully something will be learned that will protect other children.

But this sudden stopping of my life after nearly four months of intense ramp up in my new job with Gallup has made me want to get back to basics.

I need to read theology again.

Far more foundationally - and more to the point - is that I need to get a fresher and deeper vision of God.

It's so easy to get lost in the wasteland of continuous activity.

Skye Update

Skye went into surgery at 10 AM and was supposed to be done at noon. At 2 PM Dr. Mathews came out and let us know that she had done well.

Thank you for your prayers!

Now we enter the recovery phase. A big milestone will be walking sometime tomorrow. If all goes well, Dr. Mathews says that Skye should be able to go home Thursday or Friday.

She will be in a good bit of pain, but Hopkins will be giving her something for pain management. And we do need all her plumbing to fall back in sync, so please pray about that.

Thank you, everyone; and thank you God.

our dear one

Skye's in surgery tomorrow at Johns Hopkins at 10 AM est.

Dr. Mathews is planning to remove her deflux and to reimplant her ureters in an attempt to stop the reflux and protect her remaining kidney.

Your prayers would be greatly appreciated

- history

Out of Ur Reboots

Jordon Cooper delivers a pointed critique of Christianity Today's Out of Ur blog (and makes a much appreciated and unexpected gracious comment about the faithmaps blog) and, in comments, Out of Ur responds with some news.

Skye - Baby

A most sincere thanks to those of you who have emailed us asking for an update on Skye.

Yesterday as I was flying home from Phoenix, Beth met with Dr. Roger Voigt, getting a second opinion about Dr. Mathews suggestion that we remove the Deflux our dear one received in 2003 and, instead, do a surgery that will reimplant Skye's ureters.

Voigt concurred and speculated that Skye might have lost her kidney due to an obstruction precipitated by the Deflux to begin with. This was very frustrating as we did the Deflux to begin with to protect our little girls kidneys. So we are scheduled for surgery on Tuesday 7 October. I've blocked out 10/7-10/14 as no travel days for Gallup while Skye recovers. Your prayers are appreciated.

It's our hope that this is the end of Skye's kidney problems.

- this history

Churches in the Missional Renaissance

I just returned from a two day meeting in Dallas at Leadership Network with Reggie McNeal, Eric Swanson, DJ Chuang and church, civic, and business leaders representing ten cities.

The group is part of Leadership Network's Missional Renaissance Community which is being co-lead by Reggie and Eric. LN asked me to write up some of the learnings of the gathering for their larger constituency and other interested parties.

They've just published the first paper based on my interviews with nine of the churches participating.

Churches in the Missional Renaissance: Facilitating the Transition to a Missional Mindset

Here's an excerpt:

Some of the leaders in today’s missional churches began moving in that direction as they became increasingly uncomfortable with traditional church-centric ministry.

Greg Bouvier, executive pastor at Sheridan Lutheran Church in Lincoln, NE, explains, “Essentially we realized that we were really consumer-oriented and just helping people get their needs met. It came to feel that we were really just very focused on ourselves. I came to feel that I was doing a fair amount of good for people who already have a lot. I felt that I was providing wonderful services for people who already have a plethora of services at their fingertips. I didn’t feel that I was making their lives better because if they didn’t get what they needed from me they could probably get it from someone else. We felt that the Spirit was calling us to take the focus off of ourselves and to move it out!” Greg feels great about the switch, feeling that they are moving into a position of helping folks who wouldn’t be assisted otherwise. He says that their ministry is “really to the least of these. It warms my heart to know that I’m not just making the comfortable that much more comfortable.”

The second paper I'm working on now will benefit from the further insights of the additional ten churches we've added to the original nine.

Reggie also has a book called Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church that's coming out in February 2009.

These city, business, and church leaders are truly pioneers as they seek to holistically serve the needs of their respective communities.

The New Media Frontier

Just received a box today of copies a new book being published at the end of September called The New Media Frontier being published by Crossway. I had been asked to contribute a chapter on the nexus of social relief/justice and new media in terms of what churches and Christians are doing.

The editors have set up a blog for the book which can be found here.

Roger Overton, one of our editors, has helpfully listed here some outlets where the book can be purchased at a discount.

Here's the full table of contents for the book and a summary:

The New Media Frontier: Blogging, Vlogging, and Podcasting for Christ
edited by John Mark N. Reynolds and Roger N. Overton

will be published by Crossway Books in September 2008.

Table of Contents:

Foreword: Hugh Hewitt (HughHewitt.com)
Introduction: Roger N. Overton (www.ATeamBlog.com)

Part One: The Landscape of New Media

1) The New Media: First Thoughts -Dr. John Mark Reynolds (Scriptorium Daily)
2) The Future of New Media -Dr. John Mark Reynolds (Scriptorium Daily)
3) Three Cautions among the Cheers: The Dangers of Uncritically Embracing New Media - Matthew L. Anderson (Mere Orthodoxy Blog)
4) Beginning Bloggers Toolbox -Joe Carter (Evangelical Outpost)
5) Beginner’s Toolbox Part II: Even Newer New Media — Podcasting, Video Casting and More – Matthew Eppinette (Americans United for Life) and Terence Armentano (TerenceOnline.blogspot.com )

Part Two: Engaging New Media

6) Theological Blogging -David Wayne (JollyBlogger)
7) Blog as Microwave Community – Dr. Tod Bolsinger (It Takes a Church Blog)
8.) Pastors and the New Media -Dr. Mark D. Roberts (MarkDRoberts.com)
9) Navigating the Evolving World of Youth Ministry in the Facebook-MySpace Generation - Rhett Smith (RhettSmith.com)
10) Evangelism and Apologetics - Roger N. Overton ( www.ATeamBlog.com)
11) Professors with a New Public: Academics and New Media –Dr. Fred Sanders (Scriptorium Daily)
12) Virtual Classrooms, Real Learning –Dr. Jason Baker (BakersGuide.com)
13) Politics & Journalism -Scott Ott (Scrappleface.com)
14) Blogging and Bioethics - Joe Carter (Evangelical Outpost) and Matthew Eppinette (Americans United for Life)
15) Social Justice, Social Relief and New Media -Stephen Shields (FaithMaps.org)

Here’s a summary of the book:

We’d like to offer some direction for how Christians can use the new media with discernment and grace. Many of the contributors to The New Media Frontier began using new media at the encouragement of national radio host Hugh Hewitt, so we are delighted that he has provided a foreword for the project. Roger Overton presents a brief introduction to the concept of new media and why Christians should engage it with wisdom. Part One of the book addresses new media in general. Dr. John Mark Reynolds begins with a chapter examining the history of human communication in order to provide a fresh perspective on what new media really is. In the second chapter, Dr. Reynolds looks to the future of new media and stresses the urgency for Christian involvement before the opportunities vanish.

Matthew Anderson contributes our third chapter by looking at what dangers new media pose for those who uncritically dive into it. His chapter advocates the careful use of wisdom in consuming and creating digital content. With the foundation laid by these first three chapters, chapters four and five spell out exactly how consumers can become creators in the new media. Joe Carter explains how to blog in chapter four and in chapter five Matthew Eppinette and Terence Armentano explain how to podcast and vlog.

Part Two of the book looks to specific areas in which Christians can utilize new media more thoroughly and specifically. These areas include: Theology (David Wayne), Community (Tod Bolsinger), Pastoral Ministry (Mark D. Roberts), Youth Ministry (Rhett Smith), Evangelism & Apologetics (Roger N. Overton), Academics (Fred Sanders), Education (Jason Baker), Politics (Scott Ott), Bioethics (Joe Carther & Matthew Eppinette), and Social Justice (Stephen Shields).

While these brief explorations of each topic will in no way say everything that could or should be said, we do hope they can help to start a process of critical assessment so that when Christians use new media they will do so in a manner consistent with the character and quality of Christ. After finishing the book, readers should have an effective understanding of how they can advance, demonstrate, and utilize the Christian worldview through the use of new media.

Though it’s only in the beginning of development, we will have a blog dedicated to the book at NewMediaFrontier.com We also have a Facebook group up and running. I’ll post some of the major announcements regarding the project as they happen here, but you’ll always be able to find out more through the NMF blog and Facebook group. We’ll also do some sort of tie-in with next year’s GodBlogCon, which will be September 18-19 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

please pray for steve mccoy's wife molly

link

alltop.com

Wow.

Guy Kawasaki's alltop.com has selected this blog for its church page. I'm honored! I'm going to have to start blogging again! :)

Just discovered that and I had never heard of the site until Andrew Jones mentioned it. Neat.

Seriously, though, I have never traveled so much in my life and that's precipitated the dearth of blogging.

Two weeks ago I was in Omaha, NE for a week, then Waterloo, IA. Tomorrow I'm going to Chicago, then Ocean City for 2 days at the beach, then to Dallas for Leadership Network's Missional Renaissance Community. Then September will be the busiest month I've had since starting Gallup 16 June. I'm absorbing Gallup's primary constructs, meeting great people, and working with some incredible clients. When I'm home, I try to really be home and focus on the family. I anticipated this much travel early but we've some government clients coming on line now and that will be a special focus of mine moving forward and so I won't have to travel as much. But for now, it's a season of chosen imbalance. I'm grateful to God for my new role. I've also been able to meet some of the folks in Gallup Faith and hope to one day begin working with them. But I'm also happy I've been able to continue my work with Leadership Network.

My three greatest challenges are consistent quality time listening to and responding to God and working out. Still trying to figure that out with this schedule and I must figure all three out.

Prayer for Skye Requested

- Background on Skye's condition

Update: The good news is that Skye has experienced virtually no pain since her hospitilization in Hopkins in February. However, we were surprised to have learned a few weeks ago that Skye's Reflux had returned. Then later, Skye experienced some infection that broke through to her blood. Antibiotics seem to have cleared it right up, but Skye's surgeon at Johns Hopkins nevertheless wants to talk to us tomorrow morning about the possibility of doing major surgery to remove the Deflux that's calcified and reattaching her ureters as a means by which to stop the Reflux. Obviously our primary goal is to protect her one working kidney and the continuance of Reflux is a serious concern that must be addressed.

Your prayers for wisdom - and Skye's healing - would be appreciated.

galluping away

That seems to be the favorite metaphor of my friends to describe my life right now. I am utterly in the midst of a season of chosen imbalance as I orient myself to my new job. I'm having a lot of fun, working with different organizations, traveling a lot, learning a lot, making new friends in this great organization. It's deeply humbling.

Not sure when life will reach a new equilibrium. Everything is a learning curve but I don't think it'll always be that way. I do plan to come back to blogging one day.

Meanwhile, here are some pics of my new work digs.

prayer request for skye teresa

Hi, all.

Thanks so much for your friendship, prayer & support for us and Skye. Skye is being tested again tomorrow & Tues at Hopkins, both for kidney function and for reflux in both kidneys. We are asking God to totally heal her. It's our understanding that's the only way her kidney function will be restored. At the least, please pray that her right kidney will still be functioning at a high level and that she will not show reflux at all. The best news we have so far is that she has not had one SINGLE BOUT of pain on her left side since February! That in itself is so wonderful, I cannot tell you. Before then she had a full day of serious pain in her left side every 4-6 weeks [for 3 years]. We are very thankful for this and also that she is still active and basically feeling well.

Aside from the above, please pray for excellent nurses, veins that cooperate (she has lousy veins from my side of the family), and swift test results so we're not left wondering (her doc is on vacation until the end of July).

We will let you know as soon as we have answers. Thanks again,

beth :o

- background on skye's condition

sort of out of pocket

ramping up to new gallup job is time-consuming! blogging may very well be quite light.

i'm enjoying the change. I'm blessed with a beautiful new office in downtown DC. I've lived in the DC area since 1988 but have spent very little time in DC so it's a neat exploratory time. I'm using the train to commute daily. Gallup is a great organization and the people are truly wonderful.

rexmiller.net

my friend rex miller of millennium matrix fame has launched a new site!

Tim Russert - 1950-2008

The tragic passing of Tim Russert has resulted in a veritable flood of statements praising his political passion and journalistic acumen. Sometimes such a passing results in hyperbole. That such encomiums are justified is indicated by the praise that Time Magazine gave him when they recently chose him as one of the top 100 most influential people for 2008.

UPDATE: There's so much good material online and on tv now about Tim and his life. I just noticed a particularly insightful piece on USA TODAY's site by Michael Gartner, who was President of NBC News from 1988 to 1993 and persuaded a particularly reluctant Tim Russert to take on the Moderator role at Meet the Press.

Newsweek Editor Jon Meachem has also posted a piece on Russert's religiosity.

Books on the Emerging Church

A-List Emerging Church blogger Andrew Jones holds forth.

Emerging, Emergent, & Missional

Dave Dunbar, President of Biblical Seminary, goes on record with a helpful piece regarding distinctions between the terms emerging, emergent, & missional (pdf).

Dave's piece prompted Scot McKnight to ask his readers to weigh in.

I've commented on the emerging church/emergent distinction in a number of places:

• are there emerging church shibboleths?
  
  
• resonances with the emerging church
  
  
• the emerging church is protean
  
  
• tony jones on the emerging/emergent distinction
  
  
• toward an emerging church primer
  
  
• history of the emerging church and emergent
  
  
• is the distinction between the emerging church and emergent obscurantist?
  
  

ht: steve knight

The Future of Emergent Village

"Having accomplished much more than we’d expected, we, the Emergent Village Board of Directors, feel we are at a crossroads as an organization. As we look ahead to the future, we are seeking input and counsel from three groups of people.

• First, we are asking people who are highly committed to Emergent Village to give us their counsel.
• Second, we would value input from people who value the emergent conversation.
• And third, we would also like friendly critics to offer their input."

- see the entire post and a link to their brief survey here.

New Online Resources

• I Howard Marshall's New Testament Theology
  
• Craig Keener's Bible Background Commentary

ht: Justin Taylor

Einstein's God

I posted a review on Walter Isaacson's recent Einstein: His Life and Universe on Leadership Network's Book Blog.

Our Continuing Search for the Quintessential Baltimore Diner

kenny sheppard provides details here.

whither twitter

I've been twittering since 10 March and still feel conflicted about it. So, faithmaps blog readers, why do you twitter (if you do) and what do you get out of it?

thanks.

McCain, Obama, Clinton Joint Statement on Darfur

"Today, we wish to make clear to the Sudanese government that on this moral issue of tremendous importance, there is no divide between us. We stand united and demand that the genocide and violence in Darfur be brought to an end and that the CPA be fully implemented. Even as we campaign for the presidency, we will use our standing as Senators to press for the steps needed to ensure that the United States honors, in practice and in deed, its commitment to the cause of peace and protection of Darfur’s innocent citizenry. We will continue to keep a close watch on events in Sudan and speak out for its marginalized peoples. It would be a huge mistake for the Khartoum regime to think that it will benefit by running out the clock on the Bush Administration. If peace and security for the people of Sudan are not in place when one of us is inaugurated as President on January 20, 2009, we pledge that the next Administration will pursue these goals with unstinting resolve."

- read the entire statement here.

Rick Warren's PEACE 2.0

Rick's rebooted PEACE:

• Time has a piece on Rick's new modified plan
  
  
• Christianity Today has weighed in.
  
  
• The Christian Post covers it.
  
  
• The UK's Christian Today posts an article on the new initiative.
  
  
• The Orange County Register in Rick's backyard offers a treatment.
  
  
• and Leadership Network's DJ Chuang provides another one of his usually impressive around-the-rooms on the PD Summit and on PEACE 2.0 here.
  

kenny sheppard on tony jones' book the new christians

"The New Christians is a loose kind of narrative. It tells a story that moves from the “old ways” to the “new”, and it does so through a set of relatively discrete stories about this process. These smaller stories are punctuated in turn by sets of definitions, “dispatches”, and more concrete sets of arguments. It is, then, a kind of mosaic, where anecdotal narrative, theological disquisition, dictionary, and popular history meet. The book is meant to engage on many levels, providing, it seems, several ways of reaching the reader with the message: the emerging church has a history, a theology, a set of practices and institutions that are robust and here to stay. It’s an apologia. And it is here, I suspect, that critics who wish Emergents to set down their beliefs will find fodder for their arguments. It is where I take issue in this review, but for different reasons."

- read kenny's full review on tony jones' book the new christians

A New Chapter: Goodbye USA TODAY; Hello Gallup!

On Friday 23 May, I let my boss know at USA TODAY that after almost 20 years with this great company, I am leaving to join Gallup as a consultant.

I began working at USA TODAY in January of 1989 as a part-time Customer Service Representative shortly after I was laid-off from my data-entry job with the Washington Times.

At the time I was working on a degree in Management Information Systems. But when my dentist told me that I needed $1500 worth of dental work, I dropped out of school (it was my third degree anyway!) and became full-time so that I could get dental benefits! A year later I became a Customer Service Specialist and then I later became a Customer Service Supervisor. A few years into that, I decided to switch to a technical career within USA TODAY and became a Data Analyst, then a Database Administrator, then a Technical Manager. Then in 2002 I began working with a team of folks to roll out USA TODAY Subscriber Delivery Partners (which were usually other newspapers) first as a Circulation Manager and then finally as USA TODAY's National Home Delivery Circulation Manager also running a small group called Market Services.

It has been a wonderful ride.

The thing I'm most proud of is that we were able to expand USA TODAY's Home Delivery footprint from 20 million households to over 50 million households within a six year period.

A few years ago, I decided that I wanted to spend the rest of my life optimizing people systems for core value impact. I thoroughly enjoy reading about, writing about, and executing project management, conflict resolution, vision statement creation, running great meetings, in short all things org. And USA TODAY has provided me an optimal context to learn about these things and to practice them. I've written elsewhere about how much this has served me in ecclesial contexts. When I first came on staff at Cedar Ridge Community Church as a part-time small groups and adult education pastor in the late 90's, I used to say I didn't know if I had learned more about pastoring from seminary or from working for USA TODAY! And so with this decision to begin working to optimize people-systems, I started very intentionally looking for great organizations where I could do this. I never sent out my resume to tons of places, but over the course of maybe four years I worked to get jobs in just three organizations. I liked my job with USA TODAY; I wasn't in a great hurry, so I took my time looking. Gallup was the fourth organization I started looking seriously at about ten months ago.

A few years ago, USA TODAY began working with Gallup and their Q12 material (First Break all the Rules). Then about a year ago, USA TODAY asked me to become a Strengths Leader (Now Discover Your Strengths) working with my group - Market Services - and also with National Customer Service. I had the opportunity over the course of the year to teach the material and do one-on-one coaching, in addition to working with other USA TODAY directors and supervisors on their own coaching. I enjoyed it so much, I broached a conversation with Gallup about joining their team. After three months, testing, and six interviews, Gallup invited me to join their DC team a few weeks ago.

There may come an opportunity down the road for me to work some with the Gallup Faith group, though I also plan to continue writing for Leadership Network as long as they keep feeding me projects!

I begin 16 June and I'm very excited. I will miss my friends at USA TODAY and I told our director on the day I resigned that they have treated me like a prince.

I'm very grateful to both organizations and to God.

please pray for susan's husband

“God knows what he is doing. Susan and I met fast, fell in love fast, had a kid fast. Now I know why…God knew this was coming and he wanted us to have this short time together, because he knew it was all the time we had.”

At the age of 30, Noel Heikkinen's friend Susan died yesterday morning of a sudden blood infection. Please pray for her husband and her two year old soon.

See Noel's post for more and a video of Susan's testimony.

Toward an Understanding of "Missional"

I'm working on an article for Leadership Network as part of their Missional Renaissance Community, co-facilitated by Reggie McNeal and Eric Swanson. The Missional Renaissance Community is composed of nine churches who participate together with leaders from their local communities. They are basically resourcing one another as they strive to be more effectively incarnational within their local environs. Part of my writing project was interviewing leaders at the nine churches. But I'm also doing some background research on the history of the term "missional" and will make some brief comments about that in the piece.

Toward that end I've found some useful material online that I wanted to mention here.

• Andrew Jones has found what seems to be the earliest ecclesial use of the term in 1814 as detailed in his post Missional: First Occurrence of the Word.
  
  
• Andrew mentions Rick Meigs wonderful Friends of Missional Site, where in a side bar Rick explores some of the etymology of the term.
  
  
• When I contacted Rick to inquire as to the source of his info, he cited missiologist Ed Stetzer. I had earlier found a helpful series of post by Stetzer under the rubric "Meanings of Missional."
  
  
• preface
  
  
• part 1
  
  
• part 2
  
  
• part 3
  
  
• part 4
  
  
• part 5
  

Todd Hunter...

...is now blogging again!

pls pray for the family of steven curtis chapman

Associated Press:

"The 5-year-old daughter of contemporary Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman was struck and killed Wednesday by a sport utility vehicle driven by her brother, authorities said."

- see the whole AP article

Interview with Todd Hunter

Charlie Wear and I recently had the chance to interview Todd regarding his new adventures in the latest issue of Next-Wave.

but it's always like that

Since last Tuesday, I've been waiting for something. Putting it this way is a bit melodramatic (I think) but it has felt like I'm waiting for God to come through on something. Put more honestly and specifically, I'm waiting for God to allow or do something that I want Him to allow or to do.

So in the last couple of days, I've been more aware than usual of my contingency on God.

But here's the thing: I'm always contingent on God. The next beat of my heart will only occur because God in his grace and mercy allows it. I believe that it's only the confluence of my earnest desire and the likelihood of what I want to happen actually happening that's precipitating my hanging on to an illusion of greater contingency at this moment.

But the truth is that always "in him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).

I need to remember this.

one of the most amazing things I've ever seen

ht: noel heikkinen

a use of summize

just discovered a neat use of summize on twitter: Do a search on your twitter handle and find folks' that respond to your twitter posts whom you don't follow.

stuff you don't know

It's illegal to put money in to someone else's parking meter to help them avoid a parking ticket; at least, it's illegal in Charleston, SC.

See Seacoast's Mac Lake's brush with the law.

Associated Press: Another Church Attack

"A man with a semiautomatic rifle opened fire at a festival outside a Southern California church Saturday, wounding three people, one of them critically, police said."

- see the full AP story

Sweet Freedom Whispered in My Ear

"Dear Grammar Geekess, CMOS has not, since the thirteenth edition (1983), frowned on the split infinitive. The fifteenth edition now suggests, to take one example, allowing split infinitives when an intervening adverb is used for emphasis (see paragraphs 5.106 and 5.160). In this day and age, it seems, an injunction against splitting infinitives is one of those shibboleths whose only reason for survival is to give increased meaning to the lives of those who can both identify by name a discrete grammatical, syntactic, or orthographic entity and notice when that entity has been somehow besmirched. Many such shibboleths—the en dash, for example—are worthy of being held onto. But why tamper ...." [links added]

- I love the Chicago Manual of Style and I appreciate the convenience of being able to search the entire text online. I just renewed my online subscription.

Search Twitter Posts

I just stumbled onto this neat tool that lets you search twitter posts.

Pls Pray for the Family and Friends of Forrest and Preston Pollack

Todd Rhoades of Leadership Network and Monday Morning Insight posts about the tragic plane crash that took the lives of Forrest Pollack and his 13 year old son Preston.

LibraryThing and Shelfari

I've switched to LibraryThing because I like its simple widgets better than Shelfari.

the emerging church is protean

Yesterday Terry Mattingly referenced his ongoing confusion with what precisely is denoted by the term "emerging church" His GetReligion post was prompted by an interview that Brian McLaren gave with the Associated Press' National Religion Reporter Rachel Zoll.

I just wanted to make one observation. The cognitive dissonance to which Mattingly implicitly refers is not surprising considering the breadth of theologies - even theological methodologies - represented in the broad emerging church conversation.

In fact, I think even in the interview that Brian did reference the varied voices within the emerging church when Zoll asked:

"What are the weaknesses of the movement?"

Brian responded:

"A: Nobody had a master strategy for this. That creates weaknesses as well as strengths. It means you don't have anybody calling the shots and it means that things happen in a somewhat haphazard way. And I think there's a huge range of responses. ... Among evangelicals you have people who are not doing any theological rethinking at all. The theology that they inherited, they're staying with 100 percent. They're trying to do sort of methodological innovation (in styles of worship). And my personal feeling is that's great. Those'll be steps in a good direction... I'm not a purist about anything. I think it's all good. We're all trying to stumble along and take some steps in the right direction. Others of us are asking theological questions and that's always messy" (emphasis mine).

With this comment, Brian seems to be referring to those whom Ed Stetzer styles Reconstructionists in his influential Understanding the Emerging Church.

Those who might wish to dig a bit further into the differences that exist within the broad emerging church conversation can hardly do better than to read DJ Chuang's excellent many kinds of emerging church where he aggregates some of the more popular emerging church taxonomies.

A failure to appreciate the theological diversity within the movement itself would precipitate a significant degree of confusion and I don't believe that either Brian or anyone at Emergent would claim the position of spokesperson for a monolithic emerging church, despite Mattingly's reference to Brian as "the key figure." (And I'm not questioning that Brian has been a key figure in the history of the movement).

I think that perhaps the main common denominator of all stripes of emergers is a dissatisfaction with the status quo of the current institutional church and some degree of appreciation of the impact that modernity has had on her.

I know Emergent's Tony Jones has opined that the emerging church/emergent church distinction is an inside baseball conversation, but when the protean nature of the conversation isn't appreciated (or, at least, referenced), a significant degree of confusion is understandable.

AP: " Gospel singer Dottie Rambo dies in tour bus wreck in Mo."

"Joyce "Dottie" Rambo, an influential gospel singer and songwriter, died early Sunday when her tour bus ran off the highway and struck an embankment.

...

Rambo was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame last year and the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame in 2006.

Rambo has had more than 2,500 published songs, including gospel classics such as "He Looked Beyond My Fault and Saw My Need" and the 1982 Gospel Music Association Song of the Year, "We Shall Behold Him.""

- see the whole AP article here. Very sad.

- Dottie Rambo's website

I doubt seriously that many readers of the faithmaps blog listened to Dottie Rambo. But she was a huge figure in what's termed "gospel music. "

In Search of the Quintessential Baltimore Diner

This morning, Kenny Sheppard of Prolegomena fame and I continued our quest to find the quintessential Baltimore Diner. Kenny, his girlfriend Candace, and I (the picture was taken just after I detailed for Kenny and Candace what actually is in "Scrapple," a Delmarva breakfast delicacy) visited Frank's Diner near my house. So far we've visited

• The Double T,
  
• The Paper Moon,
  
• Overlea Diner,
  
• Golden West Cafe,
  
• Two Sisters Grill,
  
• Pete's Diner,
  
• & as of this AM, Frank's Diner

This morning we discussed

• Neal Gabler's Walt Disney,
• USA TODAY,
• southern accents,
• Nertz (or Popeye)
  
• Now Discover Your Strengths,
• The Bionic Woman,
• Bible translation theory,
  
• Charles Taylor's The Secular Age,
• marriage,
• the state of the Newspaper Industry,
• children,
• Walter Isaacson's Einstein,
• universal health care,
  
• Lost,
• the gender-variable size of the corpus callosum,
• memory and the brain stem,
• Gallup,
• Cedar Ridge Community Church
• Battlestar Galactica,
• Grace Community Church
• Pushing Daisies,
• Brian McLaren,
• JGA Pocock,
  
• What Color is My Parachute,
• salary negotiation techniques,
• Q12, and
  
• Ironman and Robert Downey, Jr.
  

and the obvious nexi of these topics with the Baltimore Diners in general.

Being President

"'The president’s task has become impossible for me or any other man,' said Roosevelt in January 1937. “A man in this position will not be able to survive White House service unless it is simplified. I need executive assistants with a ‘passion for anonymity’ to be my legs.”

As a sometime student of the American Presidency (my favorite reading is presidential biography), I very much appreciated Joel Achenbach's recent "Few Voters Know What the Presidency Really Entails."

a faithmaps facebook group

As many faithmaps blog readers know, from 2002 until 2007 I moderated an online discussion group associated with faithmaps.org. In 2007, I could no longer keep up with the volume of discussion and had to set it aside. Recently one of the 'mappers - Rick Presley - suggested that I start a faithmaps group on facebook where former 'mappers (though I'm not limiting membership) could gather and interact. I've now created such a group and am announcing it to the blogosphere!

Thanks Rick; good idea. I always felt that I was the landlord who tore down the building forcing the tenants to scurry and now I'm hoping that 'mappers will enjoy this cozy new space!

An Around the Room on Evangelicalism

Steve Knight is serving us by a megapost he's updating on evangelicalism and discussion precipitated by today's release of the Evangelical Manifesto.

So far it features comments by Tim Keller, Justin Taylor, Darryl Dash, and others.

Todd Hunter on Three is Enough Groups

"Three is Enough Groups bring together the five most important strands of my life-long pursuit of Christian spirituality for the sake of others: the Gospel of the Kingdom, the person and work of the Holy Spirit, evangelism, spiritual transformation and contemporary culture.

TiE groups assist three people in any aspect of human endeavor to be, through the empowering presence of the Spirit, ambassadors of the Kingdom in the rhythms and routines of their actual current life. Participation in a TiE group makes possible a couple of crucial practices (and re-practising Christianity is preeminent goal of TiE groups): one’s own spiritual transformation and an others-oriented, servant-hearted engagement with life."

Read Todd's whole article

Facebook: Little Help Please?

I don't see my Wall any longer on my facebook page (and I am logged in). I don't see a setting to toggle it on and off.

Any thoughts?

R Laird Harris with God

"Dr. Harris was a wonderful example of how God's grace flows through his servants to bless and build up His people. Though originally trained as a chemical engineer, Dr. Harris was called into ministry in 1932. He studied under J. Gresham Machen at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before going on to a long and distinguished career as a Christian educator. He helped to train generations of pastors and biblical scholars, first at Faith Theological Seminary, where he served from 1937 to 1956, and then as a founding faculty member of Covenant Seminary, where he taught in the Old Testament department from 1956 until his retirement in 1981. From 1964 to 1971 he also served as dean of the Seminary."

- from Covenant Seminary News & Events

Roger Overton let's us know that R Laird Harris passed away on Friday 25 April at the age of 97.

His Inspiration and Canonicity of the Bible was very helpful to me .

More than 10,000 Estimated Dead in Myanmar

CNN: "The death toll from the Myanmar cyclone is more than 10,000 people, Myanmar's Foreign Ministry office said."

- full story

"The Next Big Thing"

"I know so many people who read the next big ‘trendy’ book and endorse it as if its the Bible. I’m all for reading books, particularly some that you don’t agree with or that push you a bit, but make sure you do so discerningly. Whether its Tony Jones or John Piper, get some Bible knowledge in you so you can tell truth from opinion, particularly misguided opinion. Just because it sounds nice, doesn’t mean its biblical."

- Good advice from Chris Case

I can't comment intelligently on Driscoll's critique of The Shack, which Case mentions, but I thought Case's larger point was well worth noting.

iTunes Turns 5 Today

Happy Birthday!

I cannot overstate how much I've enjoyed my Nano. I almost left it in a Panera Bread the other morning and my breakfast partner asked me what I would do if I lost it. My answer was that I would have a new one by the end of the day. Rare is the day when I haven't listened to it at least 2x and many days more times than that - usually while commuting, exercising, taking out the trash, washing dishes, or cleaning the house. However, most of the time I'm listening to unabridged audio books - usually a historical biography.

Previous posts on iTunes or the iPod:

• Developing a Chronological Audio Bible in iTunes
  
  
• Responding to the David Crowder Challenge
  
  
• I Found my iPod!
  

On Not Buying a Mac

"...something weird is happening.

As I have made known that I was getting a new laptop and was researching various PC's - my friends who now own Macs have been acting very, very unusual. Instead of the normally loving and accepting relationships and interaction we normally have - I have been taunted, mocked, picked on and ridiculed - all for not buying a Mac. I believe I am seeing a platform-prejudice rising among recent Mac converts against those who do not choose to buy a Mac and remain using a PC. My dear, dear friends Bennett, Sarah and Kristin who all are recent Mac converts and others consistently have been sending me emails, subtle and not so subtle hints, text messages and photos on my cell phone about their view that I should not be using a PC. It feels like they are trying to convert me and they become perplexed when I have refused to convert.

Kem Meyer, (a PC user and fellow Dell owner who is on staff as the communications director at Granger Community Church in Indiana) and I have discussed this and found we have had the similar experience of seeing Mac users getting confused when you tell them you are very content and satisfied with a PC and don't see the need to change to Mac. So this Mac peer-pressure is not just a California thing, but something happening across the country."

- See Dan Kimball's entire post on his experience of buying a new Dell.

books, books, books

I've added Shelfari Shelves of what I've recently read and what I'm currently reading below and to the right of this blog.