new missional resource: the meeting of the waters

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: books, church, community, culture, economics, emerging culture, futurism, mission, missions, post-Christendom, postmodern, social justice, technology, video, web, world issues
• Date: Feb 27,2010

The tall skinny kiwi, Andrew Jones, recently blogged about a new book that is coming out March 1 that he believes “is the most significant book on international mission” that he has come across in a long time. Big words…

The book is entitled The Meeting of the Waters: 7 Global Currents that will propel the future church and is written by Fritz Kling. According to Jones, Fritz has traveled to 40 countries to interview key leaders on these changes and the book is a result of those findings.

In his book, Fritz identifies seven trends that he believes will have a major impact on the church around the world. They are:

1. Mercy: Younger people of faith around the world increasingly demonstrate their piety and their love for others by serving–by feeding the hungry, addressing AIDS, rescuing girls sold into slavery, saving the earth, etc.

2. Mutuality: While Americans and the West had long been the leaders of worldwide “Christendom,” now Christians from countries all around the world have the education, access, resources, and confidence to share leadership with powerful countries like the US.

3. Migration: People everywhere are on the move, to meet economic needs, flee repression or combat, seek freedom or asylum, enjoy tourism, etc. While in the past Christian missionaries reached diverse people groups by ships or planes or trains, now everywhere in the world is more diverse.

4. Monoculture: Focusing on helping individual people in the unique cultures and countries in which they live, the Christian church has trained and sent missionaries around the world for a long time.

5. Machines: The importance of technology is not news to anyone, but its impact on Christian communities around the world has its surprises. Studies on technology and evangelism abound, so I highlight examples of how technology is radically changing disaster relief efforts.

6. Mediation: Many people say that the world is “flattening,” and that we’re all coming closer together. But the internet and available media are actually providing more opportunities, tools, and points for polarization and division. Who will mediate, and how?

7. Memory: In the shadow of so many game-changing trends, every country, region and village has its own “backstory” — those historical features, clues and codes that may be unseen but affect everything in those societies.

You can download the first chapter here.

Here is a promotional video about the new book:

mcknight on pastor’s pages

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: authenticity, Christianity, church, leadership, pastoring, web
• Date: Jan 5,2009

Scot McKnight talks about pastor’s pages on church websites today. He has some interesting thoughts. And I’m almost sure I agree.

Here is a snippet from Scot:

What annoyed me about these sites was the utter absence of a sense of the sacred in pastoring, of the overwhelming sense of God’s call upon a life that reaches so deep that everything becomes holy, of the profound respect and privilege of the call to lead God’s people, and of the total lack of order. The sense we hear today of being real and authentic doesn’t mean we devalue the pastoral calling of its sanctity. I couldn’t and wouldn’t call any of these folks “Reverend.” If I were a visitor, I’d go somewhere else.

Many in the comment sections make some good points on both sides like. Here are a few:

I see this as partly an over-reaction to the centuries of a strong clergy/laity divide. Even the designs of churches encouraged that separation (altars for example). Today the push is to break down those barriers, and the internet makes that even easier with the ability to immediately become “approachable”.

I’d agree with your observation that as a person with calling to lead we should convey a sense of sacredness… on the other hand, shouldn’t all of us as priests of new testament should show “overwhelming sense of God’s call upon a life”, and not just pastor? Maybe, if our informality could do that (ie show God’s glory), then it is ok to be informal all the time.. [and how to put that in real life?]

…this lack of taking seriously one’s call and role in the Christian community has bugged me for a while. And unfortunately I see it often go beyond just pastor web pages. As one called to ministry, I take it personally.

I fear there is an even more sinister motive at work here… the need to be ‘hip’ and accepted.

I have seen a few pastors who try way too hard to prove they’re ‘cool’ to their congregation… which ironically, is often seen as desperate for attention, and kinda ‘uncool.’

…as a pastor’s kid as well as someone who has served as a church staffer, I intensely dislike the notion of elevating the pastor (and staff/leaders) as someone “above” or “more called” than the rest of the congregation. I am also against the idea that the pastorate is any more “sacred” than other callings and vocations. That idea flies in the face of the “priesthood of all believers.”

McKnight responded in the comment section:

Belief in the priesthood of all believers, however, does not mean that all callings are the same; it does not eliminate the pastor and the prophet and the apostle.

Nor is the priesthood of all believers a radical call to religious individualism so that everyone does what he or she wants; it is a calling to be priests with God for one another. Thus, priesthood refers to service before God for others. We all have that calling.

You can read the entire post here: Pastor Pages on Church Websites

Last night I was re-listening to an interview of John Piper by Mark Dever/9 Marks and I was struck by something that I think Scot may be on to. Dever ask Piper how he teaches his people to do the things that God asks of us without adding works to our justification.

The three things that Piper does is: teaching/preaching the dynamics of “becoming what you are” – it is a natural outworking of “seeing” the glory of God; praying the Holy Spirit “down” on his people; and modeling.

On modeling, Piper says something so profound that has stuck with me for months now. He says:

We must live before them in such a spiritual and obedient and radical way…that they can smell the aroma of Christ…I consider it my job to walk close enough to Jesus so that I go in to elder meetings and staff meetings and TBI meetings, so in communion with Christ that there is an aroma of: “He is not mainly an administrator, he is not mainly a savvy [minister]…he is mainly a man of God, he mainly thinks of God, he mainly talks to God, he mainly relates everything to God, he’s mainly leaning on God, he’s mainly in the word of God.”

That’s the flavor every pastor should want to communicate. He should want to be known as a man of God. Not anything else first…

That is why I think agree with McKnight…

What do you think? What about issues of contextualization?

one of these things is not like the other…

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: blogging, humor, photography, web
• Date: Jul 28,2008

noisetrade

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: music, relationships, web, web 2.0
• Date: Jul 2,2008

From the mind of Derek Webb:

It was through the support and success you gave the Mockingbird experiment that inspired Derek, with the help of a few friends, to start NoiseTrade. Now any artist can freely distribute their music online, via NoiseTrade’s remarkable and embeddable widget, offering fans the choice to tell 3 friends or to pay any amount in exchange for an immediate download.

Derek concludes, “If artists and fans realized how they could help each other and started making direct connections, without a middleman, the whole industry would change overnight. It would start a revolution.”

Rather than over-charging for music, we want to let you choose your price or will give you the record for free in exchange for a little help. NoiseTrade believes it’s time to stop applying the old rules to a new world. If we can work together, an environment is created for the long-term benefit of both fans and artists.

fingertip knowledge

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: blogging, web
• Date: Jul 1,2008

I’m amazed at the blogosphere. I know, it’s a unique place. The bad: Lots of self-promotion, uncensored thoughts, and stream-of-consciousness. But the good. Oh, the good. I was reminded of this today as I sifted through my 150+ feeds. So much amazing information at my fingertips. It all feels like such great ‘insider’ info. Some of it is. Just check this out from my feeds today:

-Aubrey Malphurs, Senior Professor of Pastoral Ministries at Dallas Theological Seminary and worldwide consultant, delves into the multi-site/church planting debate

-Bob Hyatt links to Ben Witherington’s wise words regarding the controverisal “Pagan Christianity”

-Bob Roberts gives us four resources to help preachers for their 4th of July weekend sermon, which typically revolves around love of country. He focuses instead on resources that will help you speak to religious freedom and why it matters…

-Church Planting Solutions give great advice on what equipment a new church should obtain as they are launching

-Kent Shaffer gives specifics on how to deal with a mean pastor…

-Tony Rienke of Sovereign Grace links to 9Marks recent ejournal on containing a number of resources on marriage, helpful for pastors and for all married couples. The eJournal includes a chart of 30 books on marriage, manhood, and womanhood all ranked and compared to one another.

-Jonathan Dodson shares Driscoll’s thoughts on movements from the recent A29 Pastor and Wives Retreat in Vail

If anything, the blogosphere promotes information overload. I’m wading through how to use it to promote information edification. Maybe less feeds? Better organization of things I want to read again? What do you do?

twitterddiction

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: relevintage, social networking, technology, twitter, web, web 2.0
• Date: May 22,2008

Okay, I took the plunge. I am officially a Twitter devotee. And I’m a bit addicted. Trying to get things together on the apps side. Using: browser add-on Twitbin to follow and post tweets and Twitterfeed to keep Twitter up with my blog posts and Last.fm recent tracks.

Who I’m following:

B.J. Mumford
Mark McAllister
Dan Kimball
Mark Driscoll
Bob Hyatt
Randy Elrod
Jason Allen
Kevin Cawley
John Voelz
Carlos Whitaker
Joe Day
Steve McCoy
Andrew Jones
A.J. Vanderhorst
Matthew Paul Turner
Todd Rhodes
Tony Morgan
Kent Shaffer
Bob Robbins
Isaac Downing
James Nahrgang

the 7

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: Christian season, church, incarnational, music, pastoring, Psalms, web, world issues, worship
• Date: May 16,2008

1. Very cool to see young pastors putting their ministry philosophy on paper – literally – for other young pastors to see. See the different incarnations of The Pulpit, The Table, and The Square: Joe Thorn, Steve McCoy, and Kevin Larson.

2. I found this very interesting. It comes via Alan Hirsch. It is a map from the World Values Survey that shows the levels of traditional and secular values in the major countries of the world. America isn’t as traditional as you might think. We better get ‘missional’ real quick…

3. Andy Farmer, pastor of discipleship and counseling at Covenant Fellowship Church, has put together a great document expressing important values to be affirmed by Christian artists. This would be a great framework for a covenant for a church’s worship ministry…

4. I’m a closet geek when it comes to the Internet, especially Web 2.0 stuff. I found this article intriguing regarding IP addresses – particularly the IPv4′s – and their “exhaustion.”

5. My love for the Christian year was peaked by this from T-Wax. I think you know what my answer would be…

6. Can a Christian sing the blues? I-Monk unpacks a very biblical concept that is resurfacing in the language of Christians.

7. This is almost three years old, but the Tall Skinny one linked to it recently and I thought it was an insightful blog entry on the debate about attractional/incarnational ministry.

the language of 2.0

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: blogging, community, culture, emerging culture, relationships, technology, web, web 2.0
• Date: Apr 18,2008

Loved this post from John Voelz, Coriolis:Experience dude at Westwinds Church in Jackson, MI – btw, one of the most innovative churches in the country that won’t be on any “most innovative” lists.

In it, he talks about how there is a strong contingent of society who think that technology makes life too frantic and schizophrenic. There is some truth to that. But it’s not the whole truth. Here is what John says:

We need to stop talking in terms of web technology “simplifying” our lives and stop defending that stance. Sometimes, it just doesn’t. We need to use a new vocabulary when talking about what web technology can do for us and stop apologizing.

So here is what John says technology does for him – I’m down with almost every point:

What technology (2.0, apps, digital, etc.) does for me : : :

• Puts me in touch with people I rarely have a chance to talk to
• Introduces me to new ideas
• Stretches my creativity
• Helps me learn processes that help me in multiple venues
• Keeps me sharp and talking the current language of our culture
• Helps me communicate what I want to say
• Makes me more accessible
• Makes my friends more accessible
• Helps me promote business
• Invites others into a conversation with me I couldn’t have otherwise
• Helps me network
• Helps me meet new friends
• Helps me share about Jesus and what He has done for me
• Promotes collaboration
• Introduces me to new things fast!
• Helps me learn what people are saying about the church and me
• I can speak my mind before others spread what they “think” I said
• Get my news fast!
• Helps me not lose touch with my kids
• Share and spark ideas in real time
• Emergency alerts through a variety of vehicles
• Conference with people when they are inaccessible
• Exchange important data stat!
• Warn people of impending robot domination (this one is just to make sure you are paying attention)

Preach it, Bro. Voelz!

new digs

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: blogging, relevintage, technology, web
• Date: Apr 11,2008

If you’ve stopped by relevintage lately, you’ve noticed some changes. The new digs include a three-column template. I’m really proud of it. There will be a considerable amount of tweaks over the next few weeks, so stay tuned…

Kudos to my bro-in-law Henry for all of his help!

“the grid” to make the internet extinct. maybe.

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: community, culture, emerging culture, relevintage, research, technology, web
• Date: Apr 8,2008

No, this is not a late April Fool’s Day farce. This may just revolutionize the way we engage with technology – and one another – in the future. From FOXNews.com via the UK’s The Times:

“The Grid” Could Soon Make the Internet Obselete

The Internet could soon be made obsolete. The scientists who pioneered it have now built a lightning-fast replacement capable of downloading entire feature films within seconds.

At speeds about 10,000 times faster than a typical broadband connection, “the grid” will be able to send the entire Rolling Stones back catalogue from Britain to Japan in less than two seconds.

The latest spin-off from Cern, the particle physics centre that created the web, the grid could also provide the kind of power needed to transmit holographic images; allow instant online gaming with hundreds of thousands of players; and offer high-definition video telephony for the price of a local call.

David Britton, professor of physics at Glasgow University and a leading figure in the grid project, believes grid technologies could “revolutionise” society. “With this kind of computing power, future generations will have the ability to collaborate and communicate in ways older people like me cannot even imagine,” he said.

The power of the grid will become apparent this summer after what scientists at Cern have termed their “red button” day – the switching-on of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the new particle accelerator built to probe the origin of the universe. The grid will be activated at the same time to capture the data it generates.

Cern, based near Geneva, started the grid computing project seven years ago when researchers realised the LHC would generate annual data equivalent to 56m CDs – enough to make a stack 40 miles high.

This meant that scientists at Cern – where Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the web in 1989 – would no longer be able to use his creation for fear of causing a global collapse.

This is because the Internet has evolved by linking together a hotchpotch of cables and routing equipment, much of which was originally designed for telephone calls and therefore lacks the capacity for high-speed data transmission.

By contrast, the grid has been built with dedicated fibre optic cables and modern routing centres, meaning there are no outdated components to slow the deluge of data. The 55,000 servers already installed are expected to rise to 200,000 within the next two years.

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