The Merced County Fair begins this week. Every year the Fair sponsors a business connector for the three Chambers of Commerce: Hispanic Chamber, County Chamber, and Greater Merced Chamber. It is a really excellent way to meet people and network.
Category Archives: Missional
Missio Dei
Fred Peatross, from Huntington, West Virginia, is a friend of mine that I’ve never met in person. Our relationship is facilitated by e-mail. I live in California. We became friends because of Jim Henderson who lives in Seattle, Washington. West Virginia, California, and Washington—this is a great picture of our times.
Fred’s new book, Missio Dei, is an insightful look at what is happening in Western culture, particularly as it relates to disciples of Jesus. Twenty years ago the e-mail relationship Fred and I have developed would have been unheard of. Also blogging, Google, My Space, and social networking.
Dialogue with Atheists
A letter to the editor in our local newspaper was from an atheist who was taking exception to what a vocal Christian had written in the same paper. It was clear from the editorial that all the argumentation and debate had produced no concensus and no faith.
The argumentation and negative results make you wonder if there isn’t a better way to talk about one’s faith. Is debate really that effective? Can you change someone’s mind through debate and elaborate argumentation?
Sharing the kindness of Jesus
Bev receives Voice of the Martyrs every month. VOM is a publication about the religious persecution of Christians around the world. The May 2007 issue has a large article about the plight of Malaysians wanting to become disciples of Jesus.
Native Malaysians are considered to be Islamic by virture of their nationality. It is not permitted for a native Malay to be anything other than Muslim. Furthermore, churches that permit Malays to attend are subject to persecution, seizure of their property, etc.
So no matter how badly you may want to become a Christian it is extremely difficult and dangerous to do so. You may even be asked not to come to church by its members.
One of the Malay Christians named “Dian” described the approach that Christians have to take toward toward seekers.
‘Although it is risky, we share the kindness of Jesus with waitresses in restaurants and in villages…We pray for hurting people. We do not argue about the Koran or the Bible. Religious debates never saved anybody. In our young days of ministry, we made enemies trying to be smart with our Christian knowledge and bring them down. That is a waste of God’s time.
Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship between us and God. Every opportunity is a divine moment. You must not be self-centered but live for other people and care for them. Muslims are coming to Jesus.
Dian’s strategy is wise and insightful. No one appreciates a debate, and being a Christian is primarily a relationship and not a religious affiliation.
6:45 AM
I try to get to Playhouse Merced at 6:45 AM in order to get everything set up for our Sunday worship. This normally includes putting out signage, turning on the lights, unpacking the car, and rehearsing the morning sermon.
There’s not much going on at 6:45 AM on Sunday. Traffic lights are mostly green, and those that aren’t usually only take a few seconds to change from red to green. Starbucks has a regular clientele, but aside from that, not many people are walking around.
Jim and Casper
My book came in the mail today. A few months ago I got to read five chapters of it while it was still being written, and it drew me in.
Jim and Casper Go To Church is the joint work of a devout Christian (Jim) and an atheist (Casper). Over one summer they visited several churches around the U.S. The book contains observations about 11 of those visits. Continue reading Jim and Casper
Autonomy
If you become a pilgrim, you cannot live in isolation from others; you cannot ‘purposefully separate from others on the journey.’ As part of personal transformation, you become a member of community.
Radical autonomy, subjectively driven lives, and consumer choice lead in a predictable direction: toward cultural fragmentation.
My sermon last Sunday was about the otherliness of the Samaritan in Jesus’ parable. In the sermon we examined the mandate we have from Jesus to look out for the needs of others. I like what Diana Butler Bass says in this regard. “You cannot live in isolation from others…”
Truly, to be a disciple of Jesus means being connected to the people around us. It means giving them attention and putting their needs above our own. This is difficult to do because everything in our culture is dedicated to “radical autonomy” and living unaware of the people we rub elbows with.
I think that such unselfish attention is extraordinary in this world, and it also gives people who care about others an extraordinary advantage. But you have to be willing to put others first.
Reggae
One of Bev’s co-workers invited us to come hear him play at a local night spot. The band was going to play reggae music. We had been intending to do that for the past several months, so this was a good excuse and motivation to do so.
We got there about 10:00. The band was really good, and it was fun watching the crowd dancing and having fun. I knew fairly quickly that this was a place I want to return to.
It’s Official
About three weeks ago I resigned my post as moderator of Ordinary Attempts. I found out that if you want to have a top notch blog with a large readership and lots of commenting, you have to invest huge amounts of time developing that–time I didn’t have.
So I told the good folks at Off the Map that I was going to have to turn over the reins. December 22 was my last day as moderator of that site, and I must say that I feel unburdened in my new status of former moderator.
One of the benefits of the resignation is that I now have some time to give to this blog. Not that I’m going to pour lots of time here, but I will be able to make more regular contributions about what is happening at LifeSpring and Merced.
Unlike the last several months, you can now expect to see semi-regular postings here. I look forward to sharing our happenings with you.
"Happy Holidays"
She breezed by my table at Starbucks. “Happy Holidays” she said as she handed me something. She moved quickly toward the door, and I started stammering. It was a Starbucks card.
Inside was a little card that said, “To: Beautiful Smile, From: Happy Holidays.”
“What’s your name?” I asked just before the door closed. “Lola,” she said, disappearing into the parking lot.
I had never seen her before. As she came into Starbucks I greeted her, and we talked a little about the weather. She was as sunny as the weather. What a blessing.
I hope our paths cross again. She’s the sort of person that makes this world bright.
MonoLogue 