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theologyontap

Wednesday night, I had the privilege to attend “Theology at the Bottleworks,” a Midrash ministry of The Journey [my family's home church + where I am doing my church planting internship] at a pub, Schlafly’s Bottleworks, in beautiful Maplewood.

In older, simpler times, a pub or “public house” was often the focal point of the community, playing a similar role to the local church, where people gathered to openly discuss significant issues of the day. The Journey is re-entering the “public house” to reach into culture by tackling spiritual, political, and philosophical themes in an open environment.

And yes, this has been the setting for the infamous “Beer and the Bible” controversy that brewed, pun intended, back in 2007. There is great comment from my good friend and Journey pastor, Jonathan McIntosh, on the web home for Mike Corley of The Mike Corley Program here about TATB [unfortunately, the audio seems to be nonexistent]. You can read a couple of somewhat objective articles about TATB from the Baptist Press here and the Christian Post here…

I am shadowing the moderators for the next couple of months to eventually become a part of the moderation team over the next year. And let me say, after observing my new friend Matt moderate last night, this is going to be one of the most difficult yet shaping things I have ever done. I’m excited about what God is going to do in me through this…

This particular evening was unique in that it was the 4th anniversary of this outreach event. To be specific, this was the 48th TATB event. Pretty astounding.

There were probably about 50 people there and I was told that there are usually 70+. And my best guess was that it was split down the middle: 50% religious, 50% non-religious.

The topic was “The Impact of Technology on the American Way of Life.” And a lively topic it was. Here were some of the great points made/questions raised across a wide spectrum:

>technology makes us lose touch with reality into isolation
>human interaction is overrated
>technology pits art + creativity vs. efficiency + mass production + instant gratification
>technology makes you more human, not less
>does technological innovation undercut traditional fundamentals?
>technology makes us skip the fundamentals of knowledge, i.e., spelling
>new technology wouldn’t be realized with the fundamentals changing
>are we headed to a Wall-E or Matrix world?
>technology can enhance relationships but cannot substitute for human touch, empathy, etc.
>do we like where technology is taking us?
>technology moves us away from real sources, i.e., analog musical recording vs. digital
>to curb abuse of technology, we have to discipline ourselves and self-moderate
>technology is neutral; we use technology, it doesn’t use us
>technology is good for scientific + medical purposes but not relationships
>we are trading quantity of connectedness over quality of connectedness, i.e. Facebook friends vs. real friends
>there is no counterbalance with technology from the spritual + ethical side of the equation
>should we limit/restrain technology?
>Bible gives principles not specifics on how we should handle “stuff”, i.e., Genesis 1 “subdue” principle

So what does this have to do with why we aren’t missional?

I sat at a table with a non-religious, 50+ year-old Greek curmudgeon, a non-religious 30+ year-old Asian-American (originally from Hong Kong) molecular biologist and resident at Children’s Hospital, and a 30+ year-old skeptic and non-practicing Orthodox Jew. Uh, yeah. And it wasn’t the large group discussion that impacted me. It was the discussion with my three new friends after the discussion that did. Big time…

My experience Wednesday night unearthed some things inside of me that I need to preach to myself to help me understand where my heart and head don’t line up with regards to my missional posture to culture. So I thought I’d invite you to join me on the journey.

As a part of a series, I am going to unpack what I believe are the 5 main things that keep us from being salt and light in culture. I hope you join me in the conversation…


This is a treat via Adrian Warnock. Two full-length talks from Tim Keller at New Frontiers in London on transforming culture and the importance of cities for ministry and culture making.

In light of the growing momentum towards church planting in urban Tulsa, these videos capture the ethos of what I believe God is calling me to there. To be honest, Keller is the impetus for much of my thought on urban core ministry. Enjoy:


Tim Keller – Cultural Transformation from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.


Tim Keller – The City from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.


ddevito

“If you want to talk to somebody honestly as a human being, ask him about his kids, find out what his dreams are, just to find out for no other reason because as soon as you lay your hands on a conversation to steer it, it’s not a conversation anymore, it’s a pitch. And you’re not a human being you’re a marketing rep.”

-Phil, played by Danny Devito, from The Big Kahuna

I have begun meeting with an older mentor who is providentially working God’s truth deep into my soul. Last week, we met and he challenged me on the issue of what I “lead with.” Especially in conversations with those who don’t follow Jesus.

What do you lead with? Do you lead with what you do? Is what you do who you are? Or is what you are not defined by what you do? Is telling people what you do even important?

People are not commodities. Evangelism is not a recruiting scheme. Conversation and relationship should not be bait-and-switch.

We must be compelled by love.

See also: Doug Pollock: Ten Spiritual Conversation Killers


create

It’s two days late but here was my Day 2 at cre:ate:

Morning W\worship with a genuine, humble dude named Carl Cartee. He has a new album coming out in March. Check it out. He is the real deal. Reminds me of a young Paul Baloche with more grovel…

Profound session with Ian Morgan Cron, author of Chasing Francis, on the mystic-artist. Can’t begin to say how cool it was to hear from Ian’s heart. My big takeaway was something he didn’t even talk about per se, but modeled: God has made us a certain way so we must find our voice – and that voice won’t be like anyone else’s. Ian is an artist at heart even though he is a pastor, author, blogger, etc. His presentation was heady, artsy, rich, serious, clever, humorous. I’m an artist through and through too. He gave me permission to be an “artsy” communicator…

After Ian’s session, we had the first of many surprises of the week. I thought I had seen this guy at the conference but wasn’t sure. Randy brought up Matthew Ward, formerly of 2nd Chapter of Acts, and Billy Ray Hearn, EMI Christian Music Group founder, who discovered 2nd Chapter before there was such a thing as CCM. They reminisced on their relationship and Matthew closed the time by singing “The Lord’s Prayer.” It was truly an anointed time. Matthew is one of my all time favorite singers…

Lunch was at the Boxwood Bistro here at the Factory. Jasmine salmon with white rice as a main entree. Yummy. Met and sat with uber-blogger and great guy, Carlos Whitaker and his wife, Heather. Also, had the priveledge to have lunch with Ian. Asked Ian alot of questions about his pastoring role in southern Connecticut. He started a church that has grown to 700 folks and he feels that his time to be the “lead” guy may have come to an end and hand it over to someone else. He shared his frustration of the slow shift from mission to maintenance. Also shared a vision he has for what he calls the “atomized” church. If I remember, I’ll try to unpack this later for you. In all, another providential time to connect with an anointed man who spoke truth into my life. [There was also a surprise visit by Stu G, the electric guitarist from Delirious?. Fun stuff...]

After lunch, we had our second surprise of the day. Billy and Cindy Foote, writers of songs like “You Are My King (Amazing Love)” and “Sing to the King,” led us in a mini-worship session. What a sweet time of worship! God manifested Himself in a powerful way…

Afternoon session with Steve Guthrie, assistant professor of theology @ Belmont University. The highlight was his “exegesis” of book 10, chapter 32 of Augustine’s Confessions. Awesome stuff…

Supper was at Harpeth Community Church here in Franklin. Great food and even better music. I got my nostalgia on. Michael W. Smith led us in an intimate time of worship. Just Smitty and a piano. Check out his song “Highly Favoured” on the new album, CompassionArt…

Tomorrow I hope to recap day 3 & 4 for you…



Ed Stetzer & David Fitch – a missional conversation from Missional Tribe on Vimeo


From Missional Tribe:

Shot in Chicago in November of ‘08, Part One of this 45 minute conversation features Ed Stetzer and Dave Fitch discussing what they each mean by the term “missional”. They also spend some time discussing attractional vs missional – and whether missional church, as it seems to be presently framed is “interested in converts.”

A very good conversation between two PhD’s, who are also church planters, teachers, authors and missional instigators in their own right.

This video was produced by Toronto’s mkpl.tv – Producer, Imbi Medri. Director/Editor, Bill Kinnon. It is made available under a Creative Commons License – Attribution – No Derivative Works. Copyright Holders: Medri Kinnon Productions Limited, Ed Stetzer, David Fitch.


2. David Fitch – Reclaiming the Mission

David Fitch, Betty R. Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology at Northern Seminary; founding pastor of Life on the Vine Community, an emerging church in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago; co-founder of Up/Rooted, an emergent cohort that gathers leaders and thinkers to engage issues of the emerging church and the post-modern context; and author of The Great Giveaway comes in at #2.

David has been one of the most influencing voices in the development of my ministry/church planting philosophy. It started with The Great Giveaway, but continuing on with the stream of consciousness on his blog, let’s just say, it’s a gold mine. I believe it will be shown that David was one of the most important shaping influences on the grounding of missional orthopraxy in the twenty-first century.

I’m looking forward to becoming a regular part of the missional leader learning community in the future. I was personally invited to the one in January but can’t make. I hope to down the road..

Check these:
Please Lord, Don’t Let Me Get Pragmatic: Spiritual Formation for Missional Leaders
“The Numbers Are Going Up But Something Doesn’t Feel Right”
Conversion a casualty of Missional Theology?
When They Will Not Come – Community: The anti-attractional process of beginning a church with community
The Middle In: The Unique Missional Opportunity

Top 8 Recap
8. J.R. Woodward | 7. Jonathan Dodson | 6. Neil Cole | 5. Drew Goodmanson | 4. Bob Hyatt | 3. Alan Hirsch


4. Bob Hyatt – bob.blog

One of my favorite blogs of the last few years also happens to be thick in the missional. Bob Hyatt, pastor of Evergreen Community in Portland, is a “heart-on-the-sleeve” blogger who gives us a unique window into his ministry. I appreciate Bob’s humility in sharing the journey with the rest of us. He is particularly savvy in relating the challenge of maintaining a missional mindset amidst a church culture that is increasingly becoming ingrown. Pithy, pithy…

Check these:
Kimball’s Missional Misgivings
Truly missional…
Missional Leadership Development…



In his blog entry entitled “Church of the Now,” Bob Roberts outlines the three “words” that defined the church of the last two decades and waxes on the “now” words of the 2000s. Here it is in a nutshell:

1980s: excellence, relevance, anonymity
1990s: belonging, real, community
2000s: spiritual, global, activism

Bob believes, “…if Jesus were to identify more with the church of the 80’s, 90’s, or 2000’s – I think it would be the 2000’s – they seemed to define his ministry more than the other 3 categories…”

I think Bob is on to something, although I’d carry over community into the 2000s – as in small, intimate, life-on-life bands of missional “communities” sustaining local churches as the catalyst through which a spiritual, global, activist Gospel mission is instigated.

And instead of the word global, I would use Bob’s almagamation, glocal, to describe the importance of the missional church keeping both local and global mission in creative tension (note: Bob uses this word much more expansively in his books).

Bob wisely warns us of our overemphasis, though, on spirituality, global mission, and activism:

The downsides to this, in time we will see …spirituality becomes too associated with emotion…global if not seen in the light of the local can be too overwhelming and lead to the massiveness of the worlds problems causing people to do nothing. We could become activist driven more by people’s pain than God’s love – and that would be a tragedy.

The historical trajectory of missio Dei theology in the late 1900s is an example of Bob’s last comment on activism. Some believed if Christians expressed “solidarity” with the oppressed, salvation for the oppressed was a given. Soteriology no longer included justification. And proclamation of the Gospel was no longer necessary. Everything was mission. Everything was salvation. That is a problem.

My prayer is that we can see that the Gospel is the impetus first, for individual and then, societal conversion. We should be both/and activists; engaging in both proclamation and presence activism.

Read the entire entry here: Church of the Now


My good friend, Art Rogers, lead pastor of Skelly Road Baptist Church in Tulsa, recently completed an excellent series on the institutional vs. missional church.

I can’t begin to tell you how much I resonate with Art’s thoughts, particularly the difference between a centrifugal and centripetal church community. Also, you have to check out the “icons” of the institutional church. Love it…

The reason I am so encouraged by the series is Art is the real deal – he is on the ground, endeavoring to transition his church toward a missional mode. Not just theory my friends…

Check it out:

Institutional v. Missional Church: The Individual

Institutional v. Missional Church: Culture

Institutional v. Missional Church: Structure

Institutional v. Missional Church: Centralization

Institutional v. Missional Church: Attractional and Going

Institutional v. Missional Church: Incarnational Servanthood

Institutional v. Missional Church: Societal Infrastructure

Institutional v. Missional Church: Centrifugal/Centripetal

Icons of the Institutional Church

Institutional v. Missional Church: Small Groups

Institutional v. Missional Church: Serving Community

[Graphic above by Art Rogers]


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Husband and father of four, university instructor, seminarian, worship consultant, and church planting intern.

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