today hasn't been the best of them...
awakened by a phone call from SBUX wanting to know where I was
then having to tell Gerald Barker inc. that no... I won't be there on time because I got my hours wrong at job # 2 or ..#1 or..
then screwing up the electrical system in the basement we are finishing. ( it's the senior p's )

now I'm here at the library and I'm not at home being a good husband and father...
I suck today and God seems distant. Obviously I'm not resting in Abba's embrace and have little solidarity in my belovedness.

On the visible community

Jim Wallis' book formed our discussion last night @ our gathering. People had mixed feelings... what do you think?

“Our need in the rich countries of the northern hemisphere is for a fresh consciousness of conversion. In the midst of social conditions so oppressive to others and to ourselves, we must again turn to Jesus…But first we must examine and honestly face up to the ways our evangelism has been corrupted and our conversion distorted.” – The Call to Conversion , Jim Wallis

Corrupted Evangelism

“Evangelism in our day has largely become a packaged production, a mass-marketed experience in which evangelists strain to answer that question which nobody is asking.”

(I Peter 3:15)

· engages in endless contortions to convince people that they are missing something that Christians have.
· aggressive and gimmicky – methods are reduced to salesmanship and showmanship.
· special activity awkwardly conducted in noisy football stadiums or flashy TV studios,
· behavior management

“Unless accompanied by a clear demonstration of what it means to follow Jesus now, the evangelistic message falls on deaf ears or, even worse, calls people to a conversion empty of real content”

Distorted Conversion

Wallis states that our self-centered culture has produced a self-centered religion. “In other words, the question is how Jesus can help us make it in the present order, not how we can respond to the new order.”

· Presented as a way to help us uncover our human potential – our potential for personal, social, and business success
· Modern conversion brings Jesus into our lives rather than bringing us into his.
· Jesus is here to help us to do better that which we are already doing.
· Jesus doesn’t change our lives, he improves them.
· Conversion is just for ourselves, not for the world.
· We ask how Jesus can fulfill our lives, not how we might serve his kingdom.

Wallis goes on to say that the result of this distorted conversion is “ ‘saved’ individuals who comfortably fit into the old order while the new order goes unannounced.”

I found this quote very interesting from an unsuspected source in the book that I am reading Another World is Possible: Conversations in a time of terror:

"Why of course the people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the common people don't want war: neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliment, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."
- Hermann Goering, Hitler's #2 Man

required reading

my wife loved this list::it helped her see that we are not alone-
Here are The Lost 10 Traits of Postmodern Apostles, uncut and unedited:


1. Postmodern Apostles blog a lot. They double as theoblogians.
2. Postmodern Apostles most likely quit or were fired from their last jobs as Pastors (aka Church marketing directors)
3. Postmodern Apostles aren’t afraid to admit they want to go fishing on Sunday Mornings, or watch whatever is on ESPN
4. Postmodern Apostles lost their ties, and the tie rack after their last move.
5. Postmodern Apostles read TheOoze and Ginkworld and don’t delete their Internet Explorer Histories anymore.
6. Postmodern Apostles quit locking up the R Movies from the Kids and actually started explaining to them what the movies were about.
7. Postmodern Apostles used to Powerpoint, but since have joined Powerpointers Annonymous.
8. Postmodern Apostles used to make more at That Other Church, Inc. But that’s ok.
9. Postmodern Apostles cancelled their subscriptions to Christianity Today without the fear that they were losing their salvation, or going straight to hell without passing Go.
10. Postmodern Apostles drink beer, just like they used to, but now they don’t hide it when they bump into That Other Pastor in the checkout aisle at the grocery store.
posted by iggie

"Jesus’ program of discipleship was simple. Hang out with the disciples; let them see you at your best and worst; spend lots of time alone; teach truths none of your disciples can grasp at the moment; avoid crowds; go slowly; spend hours in solitude; don’t worry about opposition; ignore criticism; and don’t expect immediate results."
- mike yaconelli

I have lived the first 25 yrs of my life a beardless man...
to celebrate my birthday this year I quit resisting the stubble
we'll see how far this goes.

fresh page... new day...
all out of words/thoughts/ideas/activities