Book Review: Listening to the Beliefs of the Emerging Church

I just recently finished a great book called Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches.

There was a ton of great information in the book, but it was also the format that was just as intriguing as the beliefs that were discussed. One of the big deals of the emerging church in the post-modern world is to have a continuing conversation about God. Rob Bell talks about this in Velvet Elvis, and the idea is manifested in the pages of Listening to the Beliefs.

Each contributor has a chapter to discuss his or her beliefs on God, and then each other contributor responds. This is about as close to a conversation as you can get in print, although I imagine this one will continue at conferences such as Emergence 2007, where 4 of the 5 authors will be featured along with a couple of other names in the emerging church leadership.

Another thing that I liked about the format was that each contributor wrote the chapter in his or her own style without much direction. At times, it seemed like some of them didn't get the memo about what the chapter was supposed to be about (which was apparently their beliefs on the Trinity, the atonement, and the Scripture). If a reader approaches the book with a need to come away with solid understanding of all the beliefs, then it may prove to be an annoying read. But the reason I liked this was that it really gave a feel for the individual's personality and highlighted the diversity among emerging church leaders. Mark Driscoll wrote his chapter as a well-structured argumentation. Dan Kimball wove his beliefs into the story of his own spiritual journey, and Karen Ward's chapter was patterned more like a myspace blog than a book chapter. I found each of them to be captivating and compelling.

The content in each chapter was just as diverse as the styles in which they were written. One of the warnings against the emerging church (and a warning that 3 of the 5 authors [Driscoll, John Burke, and Kimball] themselves bring up) is that as it moves with cultural relevance, it must not water down the truth of God in exchange for a post-modern pluralistic social gospel. I felt like Driscoll, Burke, and Kimball were all pretty solid. The exception to that being that Burke believes in an old Earth. Doug Pagitt was probably where my questioning on sound doctrine came in. It's hard to nail down exactly what struck me as off because sound bites from his chapter all sound okay. It was more of a feel from both his chapter and his responses to others' chapters that caused me to think that he was a bit too open-minded for my taste. He seemed to approach theology from the starting point of experience, instead of starting at the Truth we know and integrating our experience into it to find a more complete picture. To finish the discussion, Karen Ward and her community wrote a great chapter that makes me want to re-form my church to emulate hers. I felt like she kind of suggested that they do church the right way, so that kind of attitude wasn't as cool as I'd like. But her main response to others' chapters was to emphasize the unity, and that was cool.

This information was all framed by an introduction and conclusion by Robert Webber. It was nice to have his information there because it really put the currently emerging church into perspective over the course of 2000 years, and especially in terms of the modern church that we're moving away from. He explained why the modern church grew into its place, which was helpful information for those who are disenchanted with it to hear about. To know why something happened in the first place can help us to understand more and condemn less. After reading his intro, I felt like I could better appreciate some of the people and methods that have been at the forefront of the recent church. Do changes still need to be made? Yes. Our culture continues to change, and our church is a living organism that will need to change. But at least we can understand the purpose that modernism and the church in the modern context served, and we can realize that culture is a progression, and we would not have the same ideas now about where the church should go if we hadn't seen it be where it was.

This book is a great tool to learn about both of those issues.

8 Weeks to Optimal Health

So, yesterday, I went to our fancy-schmancy library that cost WAY TOO MUCH money to build, and not nearly enough money to stock. I went in search of the book to change my life --Dr. Weil's 8 Weeks to Optimal Health. Alas, they had it not.

I was looking for it because my friend over at Musing of a Housewife was talking about her quest for better health and the new program she was trying from this book. I told her I'd tag along. I thought it was lame for me just to read her posts and copy without the benefit of the good doctor's explanation, but as our library is crap, that's just what I'll do.

So, week's one's assignments, according to the Housewife:

Clean out cabinets from all foods with artificial sweetener and artificial coloring.

I was happy to find that I didn't actually have that much in my cupboards to begin with. So, I cleared out a few canned items that I probably wouldn't have used anyway, since they've been sitting there for about a year. These are gross things like Vienna Sausage that I got from the church food pantry because they were about to expire. That was last summer. I also had some things like those bright yellow peppers. Talk about artificial coloring. I was going to take them all to a food pantry, but I've always thought it was pretty mean to take things to a food pantry that I wouldn't eat myself. So, I just threw this junk all away. I did NOT throw away my Ritz Bitz cheese sandwiches or the last package of fruit snacks. I ate these, as a last rite.


Use olive oil.
I bought some extra light flavor because I don't actually like olive oil. Plus, I can use it in Ashlyn's formula when I need to give her a bottle. It's really good for her.

Eat broccoli and salmon.
I hate salmon. My skin actually crawls at the thought of eating any fish but fishsticks. Still, I was willing to try it with a cranberry compote. Especially for the sake of not wussing out in my post here. I went ahead and got the broccoli in too. It actually turned out to be okay. Not great, but okay. The rice with cranberries mixed in, though, was amazing.

Use Dr. Weil's recommended supplements.
I thought this was cool. He has a Vitamin Advisor right on his site. Unfortunately, he wouldn't give me recommendations because I'm breast feeding. So, I'm just sticking to my normal Shaklee supplementation.

Walk 10-15 minutes 5 times a week. I went grocery shopping yesterday for an hour. And tonight I made a point of taking a walk around the 'hood with Ashlyn (I should get extra pointsa for pushing around 15 pounds, I think) while Billy and Eve rode bikes.

Take 5 minutes a day to breathe and meditate.
This is something that is nice for me. Housewife said that it bores her, but I could probably spend all day doing nothing but breathing. Today, it was especially nice to lay down to nurse Ashlyn and get some quiet prayer time in.


Get some live flowers for your home.
I will do this...really. I have a whole rose garden outside. It is actually a source of stress, because I never have time to weed it. But TOMORROW I will go cut some pretty flowers for my house. I'll even post about it just to be accountable.

From the Mouth of Babes

The other day, I took the girls to Lic's Ice Cream Shop because Eve had won a coupon for a free kiddie cup.

While we were there a song came on the radio and Eve sang along. I asked her how she knew it and she said it was on the radio in her room.

So, I asked if she's heard it a lot.

Her response: Yeah! (read: duh!) They always play the same songs!

True, true...very true.

HOT!

Is it wrong to get turned on in church?

Last night was Billy's first time leading worship at CFC. Fortunately, we got a chance to see him before the service and he could ask me to sit in a different spot than we normally do. This way, we could see each other while he was on stage, which was nice because in my selfishness, I really want to be able to worship with him in our service. And even though I was super happy that he has found the time, energy and passion to join the worship team, I didn't really want to miss out on having that joint time together. So, this way, we worshiped together, even though we were apart.

I have to say, though, that while I was worshiping God, I was also thinking about how totally HOT! my husband is. Made me really super proud to see that shiny band around his finger.

I think that other girls will be seeing him right about now (he's at church for the Sunday morning services) and be disappointed when they see that ring. And I'll be the girl they're all jealous of cause I get to hold his hand walking down the hallway...

And I get to go home with him at the end of the service.

Praise the Sweet Lord Jesus

Ashlyn's had a hard time with the whole sleeping thing ever since the Michigan disaster.

Tonight, I thought, was bound to be the same. After being an incredibly agreeable girl all evening, though, Ashlyn laid happily on Eve's bed as I tucked the latter in. I then carried Ashlyn to her room, swaddled her and proceeded to try nursing. No cooperation. So, I gave up on that, and tried rocking with her pacifier. No thank you, she argued.

So, I said, "Oh, yeah? Then you can just be by yourself for a while." I laid her down in her crib, and her an hour later haven't heard a peep from her.

I'm going to bed!

He-e-e-e-e-re We Go....

Every time I've been on a roller coaster, there's always been someone that hears the click of the mechanism unlocking the cars from the start gate and feels the need to announce to those around: "Heeeeeeeeeeere we go!" My mom is that person. It's quite endearing. So much so that I've become one of those people, too, out of habit.

There's an amusement park in Pennsylvania called Kennywood. It's a small, local-type deal outside of Pittsburgh. My family went to it when I was around 5th or 6th grade, as we were visiting the town where my mom grew up.

Kennywood has an ancient wooden rollercoaster that's built into the side of a huge hill. It was jittery as the train rushed over it, and honestly, it was a bit scary, but in that adrenaline-pumping, I-can't-get-enough sort of way. Ultimately, it was exciting.

But the thing that I remember most about that particular coaster was that the Thunderbolt was where I realized my mom was "that person."

But this isn't about my mom being "that person." It's really about the emotional and spiritual roller coasters that we ride throughout our lives. I'll be the first to say I'm on one now. With a 6 month old baby, I never know when sleep will elude me or when I'll be well-rested. Likewise, I never know if I'll be happy to be a mom or depressed to the point of drastic measures. And unfortunately, where my mood goes, my faith follows.

And I was wondering today why I'm scared of those roller coasters. This isn't the excited kind of scared. This is the fear-ridden kind. Why am I afraid to be sad? Why am I afraid to be hurt? Why am I afraid to be passionate?

When I married Billy, I vowed to him before God and our witnesses that I would join him in the adventure that God ordained for us. That adventure will include a coaster, and I don't want to be too afraid to enjoy it.

Why can I say, "Heeeeeeeeeeere we go" on the man-made ride, but not on the adventure that God is guiding me in? Why are amusement parks' rides exciting, but life's roller coasters paralyzing?

Bible Journey > Paul's Passion

I went back to Romans 19 today. This Bible study this is the place where my token ADD rears its head.

I was reading of the riot in Ephesus that the idol makers started. I found it interesting that they were mad first that their trade would fail if Christianity overtook Artemis-worship, and then...oh, yeah...Artemis will be degraded. It was more their impending loss of work than their belief in the worship that they were concerned about. How many parallels can we make on that today?

But what really stuck out to me was a couple verses into the account where it talks about Gauis and Aristarchus, two of Paul's companions. My Bible had a couple of cross-references notes and I have a growing fascination regarding who traveled with Paul when, so I checked into some other verses where these men are named.

Long story medium length...it struck me that everywhere Paul went, he seemed to drop someone off and pick someone else up. This speaks strongly of the passion for Christ that is in him and his disciples.

I'm on an upward climb, I think, back toward passion for God. It's been a while since I've felt like Christ's love compelled me the way it did for Paul and his friends. I think one of the things that's exciting to me is to see how community affects this passion.

There are a couple of women in my life right now that have played a big role in getting this momentum going again. One of the is Kara, and the other is Elaine. I am beyond grateful and forever indebted to both of them for their encouragement and love and, above all, their understanding.

It makes me excited to press on and find out some day...who will my passion encourage?

Bible Journey > Colossians 2:2

When I'm not studying for my adventure with Kara, I've been looking at confidence in God. As part of that, my friend Elaine suggested that I read Colossians 3 often. But I wanted to do so in context, so I started at the beginning of the book. This was a month ago.

Tonight, I started at the end of chapter 1 and looked into chapter 2 just a bit.

I stopped when I got to verse 2. Yeah...I'm truckin along.

It was encouraging to read this verse and helped me to gain a little passion back for serving others. After New Life, I felt like people at church weren't worth it. Elaine is helping me to learn that most people will not be interested in truly knowing God, but there will always be a faithful few that want to learn and grow and serve.

So, for them, I cling to Colossians 2:2, "My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ himself"

The Worst Weekend in the World

world record for number of door slams in a half hour...
allergic reactions...
people who cuss at their kids telling me what's wrong with mine...
alcohol emanating from pores...
nausea...
non-stop noise...

All I can say is I'm glad it's almost over.

Bible Journey > Acts 18-19 > The Dao of Jesus

As background for studying Ephesians, Kara and I started in Acts 18, when Paul leaves Corinth to set sail for Jerusalem. Apparently, the boat needed to make multiple stops, which makes sense, and one of those was Ephesus. Here Paul spoke for a couple of weeks, but promptly left to finish fulfilling his vow.

This vow is not completely described, but it was most likely a vow of consecration to God, as outlined in Numbers 6. This is an optional act of devotion that Jewish men and women are able to do, but one of the parts of it is to not cut hair until after the vow is over. The hair is then to be cut at the end of the time and taken to Jerusalem as a burnt offering. And so, this is where Paul was bound.

But he returned to Ephesus and remained there for about 3 years, which was longer than any other one spot in his missionary journeys. In this time, churches were planted all over Asia, which meant that he was sending others out and of course, those coming into Ephesus were returning to their homes to spread the Gospel.

By the middle of chapter 19, we're seeing the spiritual battle between the magicians in Ephesus and the followers of the Way. Because the Spirit of God was so powerful, many magicians revealed their secrets and burned millions of dollars worth of witchcraft paraphernalia. Pretty amazing things.

But one of the things that we loved the most was that Christians were called Followers of the Way. I guess we liked this cause it sounded cool, but as we discussed other culture-related issues (Kara and I can never quite stay on task, and that's what makes our times so much fun!), we talked about the idea of "redeeming" the things of this world for God. That said, it was our newest idea to proclaim ourselve Daoist (a.k.a. Taoist, Follower of the Way). It's a lot more acceptable to be part of an Eastern religion these days, so calling ourselves Daoist reminds us that Christianity, too, is an Eastern religion, that has been taken over by Westerners.

Sure...we're heading over to the far east in our terminology, but that's just a cultural thing, right? People in America today are more tolerant of Buddhists than anything else, so we figure being Daoists will gain us a better audience to share our faith. Ohhh....so sneaky.

Bible Journey > The Concept

So, everyone knows how cool Billy is, and when he gets on a kick, I always want to emulate him. So, on his blog, he's started posting about his Journey through the Bible, and the insights he's gaining as he goes. He'll be writing about each book he finishes, or perhaps more often, I don't really know. You should find some good stuff there.

I decided to try this same thing, but there's a difference for me. As he's going for an overarching view of the story the Bible tells, I'm going for an in-depth study that I haven't really done yet. I'm starting in Acts 18-20 because my friend Kara and I are looking at that together as a preparation for reading Ephesians.

Anyway, this is the concept... as I learn, I'll share. I'll start soon, sometime when I'm not holding this ever-fussing baby.

Too funny to keep to myself

The wages of sin are death, but by the time taxes are taken out, it's just sort of a tired feeling.
- Paula Poundstone

A Few Good Reasons to Hate the 4th

In the past several years, I've become somewhat apathetic about politics on a day-to-day basis. I don't find myself very loyal to the American way of life. But something in me stirs around this time of year, and when I see posts comparing America to Babylon and and living here to exile, well, that makes me upset. I'm not completely sure why, but I guess I feel like being in exile on earth makes sense, but limiting that to calling America "Babylon"? Well, the problems with America are problems with humanity, not just with Americans.

Anyway, today, I come to complain about the day, too. Actually, the day was great. I donned my "America Rocks" shirt, and entered the family room to find Billy faithfully practicing with his new mixing software. After finishing finishing up some school with Eve-Marie (yes, I'm an evil dictactor. Freedom is fine for America, but not my home. Mwaaahaahaa), the girls and I headed over to my parents' house. Billy joined us later.

It was after returning to our humble abode that it started. The Fireworks. Now...I love fireworks. Well, actually, I think their kinda dumb EXCEPT for when you're celebrating your country's independence, so on the 4th I love them. But I digress.

So, the fireworks are going full force right around the kiddos bedtime (did I mention that the explosions had kept me up till midnight on the 3rd when a few eager neighbors just couldn't hold off another day?), so it was unnerving when Ashlyn just couldn't get to sleep for anything. Billy and I took turns swaddling her and rocking her, but nothing. The upside of this was that we also alternated creating drums loops on the computer. Finally, Billy had the idea of bringing in a CD player to drown out the noise. Thank God for Jack Johnson.

So. all this time I was trying to not begrudge my neighbors their celebration. I wasn't really mad at them, I was just frustrated with Ashlyn and feeling rather sorry for her. But when the fireworks continue despite sheets of rain and end up waking the sleeping beauty back up at 2:00 in the morning...c'mon people.

After I got her back to sleep in the complete dark (oh, yes...the power had gone out sometime between 10:00 and 2:00), I just couldn't get MYSELF back to sleep. Somehow, I've become addicted to my air conditioning and ceiling fan for ensuring a comfortable sleeping climate. So, in the heat of my bedroom, I lay awake for a while till the power came back on. Then, I reset clocks so Billy could get up in the morning for work.

Grrrrr....I hope I get some sleep tonight.

Tackle It Tuesday

This was our garage a few days ago. It's been like that, really, since Billy moved in. We've tried to get it straightened up a time or two, but there's just no where in the house to put his things, so our two car garage was being used for ONE car...and a whole bunch of crap.

That is until "Tackle it Tuesday" came along. Now, I'm not one to really fall for gimmicks, but this time, I was a sucker. I figured that my overwhelming household chaos could be eliminated one Tuesday at a time, so here's the newest plan: one day a week, we'll be tackling another section of our house until we're happy with the organization...or until we lose interest, whichever comes first. On Tuesdays, you can come to my blog here see how nice everything's looking.

Anyway, the garage was our first project because organizing the house includes actually finding places for things. The garage had plenty of space, just a bunch of junk disorganized in it. I guessed that this would be the quickest gratification project we have.

So, on Saturday, we were set to take Sunday afternoon to tackle the garage. Only problem was that I had some kind of crazy bad sleep or something, and all I could do Sunday was get dizzy every time I stood up. So, after church, I laid down, and I woke to find this...


There's even enough room for hula-hooping.


Thanks, Billy! I love you!