The Story of Jesus

So I am working on writing a 25 episode narrative curriculum about Jesus... I promise it is more exciting than it sounds.


Here is my problem though... the 4 gospels are not easy to wrestle into a simple narrative outline.

SO here is where you come in. If you were going to try to outline the life of Jesus, and were limited to 10 events... what would your outline be?


I will publish my full outline and my short list in a future post.

The Roof is Done!

Everything went great and we finished the roof at 8pm on Sunday.

Special thanks to:

Rainer

Bob

Gery

Emily

Moni

Kyle

Drew

Jason

Katy

Dan

Ashlyn

Claude

Jerry

Caleb

Joshua

Brian

Joy

Thom

Mike

Wendy

Megan

Chrissy

Curtis

Becky

Nick

Alex

Nick

BP

Dale

Art

Chris

roofing progress...

Progress is being made.

On thursday and friday we were able to clear the entire roof of the old shingles, replace some damaged plywood, clear out some overhanging trees, and remove an chimney which was no longer in use... we also put down our first shingles and got a great head start today.


If all goes well today, and lots of help come, maybe we will get finished today.

It is going really great!


There was one humorous moment yesterday...


The delivery guy who brought the singles put the wrong four pallets on our roof... but we didn't notice until we had unloaded them all and were missing some stuff.


When I asked him where the rest of my stuff was he looked at his clip board and said,


"Holy $%!#."



HE was right...


we had to reload those four pallets for him, and then wait for him to bring the right ones...


and then unload those... 90 bundles of shingles, 8 rolls of felt(tarpaper), 8 rolls of Ice and water shield, 12 rolls of starter strip, some 2x4's, gutters and drip edge, and new ridge vents. Not a bad way to spend 2-3 hours.

roofing this weekend

Hey... I am roofing Emily's parents house this weekend... If you are bored and want to help out the house is in brookfield... email me and I will give you more details.

People watching should be a sport...

I have another confession to make. I love to people watch. This is actually something that Emily and I have in common... so much so that often at restaurants we find it difficult to hold a conversation with each other because the people around us are so fascinating.

I have noticed that many people do not like to be watched and that it is considered rude or weird to stare at them. I get where they are coming from... but that doesn't stop my fascination with being a watcher.

Imagine this. Someone walking around in a public place taking pictures of people that he does not know... sounds almost illegal doesn't it.

This week we went to the wisconsin state fair, and my people watching urge was out of control. Luckily, they had a chair lift that allowed us to ride over the whole park watching everyone unobserved.

The other thing that I have noticed is that my Nikon d70, which looks like a professional camera, gets me in less trouble than my little digital camera. At the Harry Potter book release most people assumed I was a reporter... even a few reporters asked me who I was shooting for.

I think people think sorta like this:

Someone taking my picture that I don't know with a really small camera = weird.

Someone I do not know taking my picture with cell phone = creepy.

But, Someone professional looking taking my picture = cool.

I am like the "everyman's" paparazzi.

Anyone else struggle from people watching addiction? Maybe you should get a professional camera as well.

Going Green

If you find yourself with a few extra minutes, you should check out Megan's blog on living more green. It is really interesting.

Megan also has another post that is really helpful here

Green has been on my mind a lot lately... I would also highly recommend Rob Bell's message series on "God is Green" (It can be found there for the next few weeks)

Here is a question for you... what do you think about Christian's going green... and what are you personally doing about it?

More on my thoughts soon hopefully.


PS does anyone know what this flower is? I took the picture in Mukwonago WI if that helps.

Glass Houses (rough draft)

Demetri Martin, a super funny comedian has a humorous thought about living in glass houeses.

"There's a saying that goes, "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." Ok... how 'bout nobody should throw stones... thats crappy behavior. My policy is: No stone throwing regardless of housing situation. There is one exception though... if your trapped in a glass house.. and you have a stone... then throw it! So really... it's only people in glass houses should throw stones provided they are trapped in the house with the stones."


I was thinking a few days ago that we all struggle with sin. Nothing new, but this presents a unique challange for those who live and serve in the "Glass House" of the Church. Wanting to be truthful we desire to be tranparent about our sins and struggles and to some degree most will allow us to share stories of how God has helped us to grow, even if they include reference to sins we "used to" struggle with. However, this assumes a false constant, namely that a particular sin in our life is in full remession and that our progress in our spiritual life as pastors and leaders is progressively linear and toward ever greater victory.

This is a lie.

Progress, in nearly every case, is spasmatic- a jerky and random and painfully inconsistent journey toward Jesus. A journey that often goes around bends which are painful and wrong but later are healed and restored by God. We do grow... but what about the period of indetermined length where we live in regression -- the valley between the last victory and the next. I feel like this is the true home of most christian lives... sure we may have a summer cottage on the mountain top, but our every day abode in the valley... the trench where we are shamefully aware of our own shortcomings, even if his grace is sufficient.

Really though this luxury of being normal is afforded to all people... except those who work in the "Glass House." We are not allowed to get worse - even for a short time. Herein lies the root lie. We who are "chosen" to be servants of the gospel are often expected to be transformed, instead of transforming.

Here is my confession of truth. While I sometimes have growth spasms, I am painfully imperfect, untransformed, and most often live between the hills. I am not Jesus - perfect- I am flawed in so many ways, but under his grace just like everyone else. Please don't put those who work in a church on a pedestal... Pray for us... We struggle just as much as everyone else and need to be growing and be tranforming...

Missing the point about fantasy literature. (rough draft and too long... )

Fantasy literature was all I would read when I was growing up. I read hundreds of fantasy books. I read the Lord of the Rings by Tolkien, the Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks (one of my favorite authors), and many books by Piers Anthony. I was captivated by Robert Aspirin's Myth Adventures and by a little known book called the Miss-Enchanted sword. My role models were the Dark Elf, Drizzt, in the Crystal Shard, Gandalf in the Hobit, and especially Allanon in the Shannara universe. All through middle school and early high school it was not uncommon for me to read 1500 pages over the course of a weekend. My life would be put on hold whenever a new book in a series I was reading came out. Then when I got in youth group in High School I somehow started to feel like maybe, since I was the only one reading them, I must be doing something wrong... so I stopped.

A few years ago when the Lord of the Rings came out as a series of movies I went back and re-read the series. I liked it so much I went an pulled my Terry Brooks series out of my parents attic. I like that so much that I started re-reading all that I had read as a child.

What is so interesting about fantasy literature is that it pulls into a different world and in so doing allows us to examine issues and choices "outside" of ourselves and the every day world. If someone today talks about war or terrorism or abortion people immediately shut down because they are sick of talking about "political issues, they already have their opinion, or they just hold to the party line, whatever their party may be. Real thought is made difficult because the issues are a little to close to home. In fantasy universes, we end up looking at many of these themes, and are able to see the underlying issues more clearly because it is a contained universe where thinking is safe and doesn't cause my dinner to be ruined by an unwanted political disagreement with a now former friend.

Through the characters we learn about heroic sacrifice and begin to see it as something that we all ought to do. We are able to see through materialism as we watch the small selfish choices which lead the characters in these books into painful situations and ultimately lead to either allowing a great evil or becoming greatly evil.

As I read these books again, particularly the Sword of Shanara, I ended up thanking God that he had used these "evil" books to do so much good in shaping not only who I had become, but the very standards of morality that I measured myself by.

Fantasy "discipled" me in many ways, nurturing the heroic impulses within me and creating a longing to make a difference in the world... to be a hero. Ultimately as I look back I see that these mystical morality tales are a major piece of how I eventually came to want to be a pastor, and how I am able to use narrative and heroic epic to inspire others to follow Christ. The Bible, in so many ways is the ultimate fantasy novel (except that it is true)... it has miracles, giants, dragons, and a magical God who is able to do anything... but who chose to save the world through love, instead of subjugate it through raw power and fear. In fact... perfect love drives out fear...

I wonder if many who are so against most fantasy (I grow weary of listening to people try to attack harry potter while in the same breath defending Tolkien... both are fantasy, have dragons, cast spell, and cause kids to have wizards for heros...Gandalf is like Harry Potter all grown up..but I digress) are afraid of it because it actually causes people to think again about the issues of our day rather than simply stick to the judgments of previous generations.



one additional thought that I am not sure how to fit in... much fantasy is incredibly well written... almost art in itself... hp 7 is a great example of this... I wonder if it is not the exact so of thing Phil 4:8 is talking about... I know that while watching the 3rd installment of Harry Potter in the theatre I was so moved by one of the scenes God used it to draw me to work through a painful issue from my past. I am not saying the movie is Christian, but the God is able to use all beauty, because without him there can be nothing beautiful.

I realize this is a hot button issue and that there are strong lines drawn on this issue. I do not wish to enter a debate about it... I just want to be true to the great good that fantasy literature has been in my life. I am a christian, a pastor... and an avid reader of fantasy novels...

The Deathly Hallows.

Disclaimer: This a post about the midnight book release of the new Harry Potter book — if you are of the opinion that Christians shoudn’t engage with contemporary culture, that’s fine, but I’m not going to engage in that debate here… I suggest you skip the post and we can still be friends. (thanks charlie!)

A good friend of mine called me the other day and asked if I would go with him to the midnight book release of Harry Potter and the deathly Hallows (book 7). I was super excited to go along and happy to have a good friend for the adventure. The experience left a lasting impression on me that I am still trying to understand and interpret. Here are some observations.

1. At a time when 20 somethings are abandoning the church because of its irrelevance to their lives and in ability to make a difference in them, there were around a thousand of them at the Barnes and Noble I went to.

2. All of this buzz is for a book... a lone superstar piece of print in an increasingly digital age.

3. There were people of all walks of life... all ages groups... differing racial representation... differing political affiliation... the book has a following that is a made up of a shocking cross section of society. Yes there are those who are avid fantasy readers... but I am shocked at its appeal to those who would never have thought of picking up a book about wizards, and witches and magic before this one.

4. The people waiting for the book were really polite and accepting. There were around 1500 people crammed into B& N that night.... that is a lot of people friends. Literally wall to wall on the first floor, and yet people were polite and considerate and excited to reach out to other Potter followers. I spend much of my time talking to Caroline, a local High school student who was in line behind me. The line for Book 7 provided an opportunity for me to realize that she knows my sister johanna, that she wants to be a biologist... that one day she really just wants to make a difference in the world and even considered joining peace corp. I was able to talk to her about my recent trip to mexico to build houses for poor people... What is amazing about this is that at church, I seldom have conversations with people that I do not know in the hallways about anything of meaning... and I am often trampled by the flood of people in a hurry to leave after the service... Its not that they are being rude, its that something about this phenomenon of HP has so captured peoples imaginations that they feel connected in a real way with others who are into it. The extend automatic acceptance to strangers seen carrying the book.


So... yeah... I would love to have help decoding these observation... and I would love to here some of yours as well.

Really amazing Guitar Player

So a couple of years ago I ran into the "Wandering Endorphin" Playing guitar in downtown chicago. I had never see someone who could play a guitar like he did. He was really amazing... He sounds like a whole band, but is just one guy.

Check out the youtube link below if you are interested in seeing him at work.

Steve Jobs on Student Ministry

Ok... so I found this on a cool student ministry site... but I love His Steveness... so here it is:

To love is to serve. (Rough draft)

I think my favorite part of going on missions trips is the simplicity of life that you are allowed to live while on the trip. When I am at home, there are hundreds... maybe thousands of details in my life that must be managed daily. When I am in mexico building houses my whole day is measured and managed. Its limits are reasonable and the work is done at the end of the week. I think at home, I often am overwhelmed by how unmanageable and consuming "real" life is. Much of this is choice, but it doesn't feel like it. It feels like I have to live this way when I am hear. I have not doubt that if I moved to Mexico I would fill my life with just as much busyness...
Along the same line of thinking, I think that ministry in the states is much more complicated than in other places. Mission Discovery has a slogan that "To love is to serve." I think it is true. Often here we over-spiritualize what it means to be a "good christian." We make it into something that is mostly about certain rituals that I am to fulfill while not sinning. This dual concept of ritual and sin-free behavior seems somehow foreign to Jesus own passionate involvement in the life of the poor and needy. It is almost like we have substituted moral living as the highest expression of faith, when really, as destructive as immoral living can be, morality alone never helped the poor, or the widows, or the orphans, or loved a neighbor.
While Jesus certainly came to free us from sin, James is not missing the point when he writes that true religion is to care for orphans and widows. He is also right that faith without works is dead... as is the great concern for morality without and equal concern for the justice and well-being of others.
I grew up in a church that was really legalistic in many ways. I think this caused me to focus more on where I was failing, instead of choosing to serve others even though I am, and always will be flawed. When I serve I feel really good about my relationship with God. Better than a thousand quiet times... better than after ten thousand bible studies... better than after a week without a single swearword... I am not sure what this means... except maybe that true religion is about what we do... not about what we don't do.


This is a video I made to remind the Mexico team of what we saw this week.

Tecate Mexico with 50+ Middle school students!

Hey, I have been real busy lately, but this week I am in Tecate Mexico Building houses with a team of Middle school students.

If you are interested you can read about it here

or you can look at picture of the trip here


We will be back on the 14th of July.

Britain's Got Talent... Finding beauty in the most unexpected places...

Britain's Got talent is their version of American Idol... But I think they had it first...

This guy is a cell phone sales man with a special talent... check it out!




In the end it turns out that he actually won the show... and got to perform for the queen... I have no idea if he is a christian or not... but I think that this is a clear example of how God has hidden beauty all though his creation... To look at this guy you would not think he was anything special... but all people are special because they are created in the Image of God... I think we each reflect God's beauty in some way...

linguistics, cryptology, and "idk my bff Jill?" (rough draft)

I love the At&t commercial where a mom is trying to tell her daughter to stop texting so much. Check it out if you have not seen it.



What I love about it the most is that it is a perfect picture of the natural evolution of language. Language adapts to its context fluidly. The same thought that can be expressed through a 200 page book, can be expressed in a scaled down form through text messages on email. People naturally adapt their message to fit the context they are trying to communicate in. Two prisoners can communicate with a series of taps on a rock, two teenagers can communicate by txt msging, pen pals write letters back and forth and then email each other to say that they are coming.

People today are natural born linguists... they have to be because everyday they make thousands of decisions about how to communicate their thoughts to the intricate web of the wide world of information. Should they call, email, text, write, visit, Im, leave a Myspace or face book message... or maybe poke, or blog, or video chat, or an online e-card, or perhaps I should make a short video about it to stick on youtube...

What is even more interested in how people try to stop the evolution of language. They get attached to the verbage they are used to and lock in... One only think of the King James Debate about the Bible to have a textbook example, but it is hardly the only example...

It is fascinating to me that In my preaching class at a well known seminary, none of these forms of communication seem worthy of mention or use in the formation of future "Pastors." Here for some reason, the books are still teaching a communication style that has not changed since the turn of the 19th century or even before. Stand behind the pulpit and talk. They do allow a little creativity... you can move from behind the lectern if you really want to wow your audience...

Why would it be taught this way you ask? ...IDK. Maybe because of nostalgia... it is a way of preserving comfort zone... or maybe because the form becomes indistinguishable from the function over time so that people truly cannot separate the two...

People wanted to communicate the truth so they preached.... therefore preaching and truth are locked together...

But what if the truth does just fine on YouTube

Motion:getting the ball rolling.

“Motion: getting the ball rolling is the first step... or ... it is really hard to turn a ship that isn't moving....”
A lot of people are frozen. They are "stuck in a moment and they can't get out of it." Even though we live in a free country, we are in captivity to so many things. We are slaves to fears, insecurities, emotions, expectations, materialism, entertainment, achievement, and more. While people want to get on with their life, they are too paralyzed by fear and doubt and insecurity to move. They just don't know what to do next... how to hear God's call... what they should make of their life... While this is very complex and hard to sort out, it is compounded by a total lack of context... We can be anything we are told... but so much potential is hard to live up to... Committing to one things feels wrong... like we are limiting ourselves... But... limits are part of life... and without risking the first step, no one has ever changed the world... While Jesus intended to set people free... often Christians are chained motionless conflicted voices of the CHURCH...

Should I be worried?

So I took this online quiz... and I am not sure I fully agree... but it seemed like it would create some discussion.
Why don't you take the quiz and see how you turn out

You scored as Emergent/Postmodern. You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this. Emergent/Postmodern 89% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 75% Neo orthodox 75% Charismatic/Pentecostal 57% Reformed Evangelical 50% Roman Catholic 43% Classical Liberal 39% Fundamentalist 29% Modern Liberal 14% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Check out Toms Shoes

So I stumbled upon this and thought it was cool.

Check out the website if you don't want to watch the video

“gravity: caught in the invisible forces controlling our destiny”

Even after we discover the story we are living in, there are invisible forces that pull us off course. Gravity holds us to the ground and keeps us from floating away, but it also drags us relentlessly downward when fall. In the same way, a black hole serves as a gravity well consuming everything within its pull. Even light cannot escape it. This is a good but painful metaphor for the evangelical church. While it has so much to offer the world, often it is a source of gravity that swallows whole the very precious resources that the world needs. Jesus unleashed an radical movement upon the world 2000 years ago when he commissioned his believers... but now the movement has been swallowed hole by the gravity of mega buildings, professionals, structure, procedure, and many other excuses... The Movement meant to change the world is now chained and motionless in many places.

Some thoughts I am thinking about:
~God's intent was not that he would lavish love on a few lucky individuals, but that everyone would be restored to a loving fulfilling relationship with him...

~Christianity can become a monument to itself… When this happens, our faith goes stale, because it was meant to make a difference… without that difference, it is pointless..

~Whose Kingdom am I building? Even the early church, in all of its beauty, had to be “scattered” IT was having such a good time together that it did not want to part ways…

~But... Tearing down the Kingdom of Man, is not the same as building the kingdom of God… we are called to build… If you Faith has not touched the lives of those around us, it is not COMPLETE.

~Is the world a better place because of the presence of the Church of Christ?

~Is Milwaukee a better place because I am a Christian.

~What's my carbon footprint... ?

~If everyone in the world had the typical Christian attitude about __________ would Milwaukee be better?

Cool Stuff with Middle School Students.

Ok so I told you already about my other blog... Check it out: the life (five-three) There is a lot of stuff on it right now relating to our current series the Middle School Musical... This is a fun look at the world with a little help from Disney's High SChool Musical. The video is part of a Drama we are working on. It goes back and forth between live action and Video and really looks cool...