Healthy Dialogue

I didn't sleep much on Tuesday evening. My restlessness wasn't caused by anxiety or worry. And while the iced coffee I had at 7 PM may have contributed to it, I really don't think that was the primary reason either.

You see on Tuesday evening I gathered with six other members of our faith community at Uptown Coffee in Mt Lebanon for the first of five summer conversations on the gospel and culture. I walked away from our two hour conversation energized, invigorated, hopeful, and proud. Proud that people with different backgrounds, life experiences and perspectives could engage in thoughtful, honest, open and searching dialogue.

Central to our discussion was the idea of worldview. Is there such a thing as a "Christian worldview?" Or might it be better to think about developing and nurturing a biblically faithful worldview?

I was especially proud of my people in light of some of the mud slinging that is going on this week. Perhaps some of our national leaders could learn some lessons by joining us at the table.

If you are interested, here is a brief description of the conversations.

What is the Gospel? How do we understand the story of God's salvation history and what impact does that have upon they way we live our lives in the world today? Where and how does the Gospel interact with our culture and what is our role as ambassadors for Christ in the south hills of Pittsburgh and beyond?

This summer you are invited to join in a series of conversations about these and other important questions. Our series of discussions will be based upon five Fermi Project Shorts - commissioned essays created and designed to keep the People of God informed and exposed to the ideas shaping our context and the opportunity for cultural influence. Each week we will learn together from some of the sharpest thinkers and practitioners in the Church today and from one another as we discuss together how to connect with God, one another, and our world in a deeper way. Our schedule and topics include:

June 24: Living the Gospel in Culture
July 1: The Problem of Good
July 8: Post Modern Wells
July 15: Glocalization: Engaging a Flat World
July 23: Picture Justice: Embracing a Global Neighborhood

If you are in the neighborhood, why not stop by and join us? Next Tuesday we will be discussing, "The Problem of Good." Be forewarned: you just might lose a little bit of sleep.

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My Beloved and My Friend

Today is a special day for me and my bride. Today we celebrate 27 years of marriage. Outside of the gift of salvation in Christ, Patty has been God's richest gift to me and in so many ways, season by season, she has been a flesh and blood manifestation of the grace and goodness of God to me.

Knowing I would be awake long before her, she placed a card on top of my Mac last night (as well she sent me an email at 12:54 AM). The card contained these powerful words from the Song of Songs which describe the heartbeat of our relationship:

"This is my beloved, this is my friend..."(Song of Solomon 5:16)

Love you babe! Happy anniversary!

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Not in Vain

These words from NT Wright's book "Surprised by Hope" have provided great encouragement to me this week. What do you think about them? How is God using them to speak into your life?

"What you do in the Lord is not in vain. You are not oiling the wheels of a machine thats about to roll over a cliff. You are not restoring a great painting that's shortly going to be thrown on the fire. You are not planting roses in a garden that's about to be dug up for a building site. You are - strange through it may seem, almost as hard to believe as the resurrection itself - accomplishing something that will become in due course part of God's new world. Every act of love, gratitude, and kindness; every work of art or music inspired by the love of God abd delight in the beauty of His creation; every minute spent teaching a severely handicapped child to read or walk; every act of care and nurture, of comfort and support, for one's fellow human beings and for that matter one's fellow non-human creatures; and of course, every prayer, all Spirit-led teaching, every deed that spreads the gospel, builds up the church, embraces and embodies holiness rather than corruption, and makes the name of Jesus honored in the world - all of this will find its way, through the resurrecting power of God, into the new creation that one day God will make...What we do by the Spirit in the present is not wasted. It will last all the way into God's new world. In fact it will be enhanced there. (Surprised by Hope, 208)

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:58)

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Mustard Seeds and Soccer Balls

Jesus said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade." (Mark 4:30-32)

Yesterday in our worship gathering I shared some reflections on “creating the future one mustard seed at a time.” I lifted that phrase from Tom Sine and his latest book, The New Conspirators. In the forward to the book, Sine quotes Shane Claiborne (who is actually quoting songwriter Martyn Joseph’s song, “Strange Way”):

“What a strange way to start a revolution. . . And what a strange way to end a world tour.” We worship the seed that died. The revolution will not be televised. It will not be brought to you by Fox News with commercial interruptions. It will not be sandwiched between ads to accelerate you life or be all you can be. There will be no re-runs. The revolution will be live. The revolution will be in the streets. The revolution will be cleaning toilets and giving another blanket to Karen. The revolution will not be talking about poverty in hotel banquet rooms. It will be eating beans and rice with Ms. Sunshine and watching Back to the Future with our neighbor Mary. Get ready, friends… God is preparing us for something really, really - small.

Eugene Peterson reminds us that “the metaphors Jesus used for ministry are frequently images of the single, the small and the quiet, which have effects far in excess of their appearance: salt, leaven, and the seed.”

World Vision has launched an opportunity to bless children and their communities one soccer ball at a time. Children love soccer. But many of the world's children live in poverty and have never played with a real toy — let alone a real soccer ball. Instead, they play with balls made of rags, banana leaves, or wads of plastic tied together with string. I see a soccer ball as a mustard seed – a small, seemingly insignificant thing – when given in faith, hope, and love it can bring blessing, joy, and help advance the kingdom. I know firsthand the difference a soccer ball can make. I had the privilege of sharing one with my sponsored child, Mandela during my visit to Ethiopia. It was a true joy for me to kick it around with him. And I pray often for him and ask that every time Mandela kicks that ball he would know in some way that there is a God who loves him dearly.

World Vision’s goal is to place 75,000 soccer balls on the feet of children around the globe. You could be a part of the solution. You can make a donation on-line - $16 will provide two new soccer balls. Or if you are in the Pittsburgh area, let me know and I would be glad to collect your gift and deliver it to the World Vision Distribution Center in Sewickley.

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Hard Driven-Ness or the Spirit's Gentle Wind?

Loved this reflection from today's prayer update from the Micah Challenge.

‘Our current political crisis is obviously not going to be solved by the usual tools with which we engage the powers. As with much of our life these days, we are stumped, baffled by all the technological changes around us side by side with the persistence of ancient wrongs that would not yield to all our efforts at social engineering.

That’s the conclusion that Dr Melba Maggay draws on the situation in the Philippines. She continues to ask: ‘As people of God, what does the Lord require of us in a time such as this?’

The prophet Micah answered with ‘peasant bluntness’ to the same question that was asked by the people of Israel in similar times as ours in Micah 6: 1-8.

‘There is no divorce between concern for justice and personal righteousness, governance and giving, liberation and loving acts of mercy…..Most of all, we walk with God, who is the source of all life and meaning. Without him, we become mere activists who degenerate into judge and executioner of those who don’t happen to fit our ideal social order, or mere social workers who get burnt out by do-gooding. Again and again, we need to ask: ‘where does the power come from?’ Is the force coming from a hard driven-ness or the Spirit’s gentle wind beneath our wings?’

Lord, save us from being mere activists and let us be driven by the Spirit of God in our actions.

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The Myth of More

During the past month our faith community has been in a series of worship gatherings called, "The Big Give." We intentionally tied this series to the economic stimulus plan and it is our hope and prayer that through the series compassion might be unleashed among our community and that our generosity quotient might increase.

Yesterday we looked at Jesus' teaching in Luke 12 and the Parable of the Rich Fool:

The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'


This is one of Jesus' masterful stories and during our worship gathering I invited our community to write an alternative ending to the story ending to this parable. "The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest . . ." In just a few moments some powerful ideas came forth:

• The rich man instituted a profit sharing plan for his employees...
• The rich man shared with the poor of his community, together they strengthened their village therefore having the power to withstand outside attacks...
• three ghosts appeared to the rich man...
• the rich man became bored with his wealth and was stirred to consider his ways and discover a new path for his life...

What kind of ending would you suggest?

The reality is that we all have the opportunity on a regular basis to live out this parable. As people of affluence we have all experienced an abundant harvest. What story are you writing with your life in regard to your possessions - your time, talents and treasures?

We opened the message up yesterday considering the words of Rene Padilla. This video, "Consuming Culture" is one segment of a three-part series that is available from The Work of the People. I love one of his opening questions: "do you live to possess or possess in order to live?" Take a listen and I would love to get your feedback on his perspective on our consumer culture.



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