another old unpublished post from last spring
Leadership, Programs, and Other Things
We've got this class at the school where I teach that is called "Leadership Class". It's made up of class officers, I think. Every day they have class during 5th hour to meet and plan how they are going to lead. I asked them the other day, "So...who are you leading?" Which got me some rather curious looks from the students, so I changed the question to one they could resonate with in a culture of accomplishment: "What do you do?" This was much easier. They told me how they planned this and that. Currently, they are planning a pizza party for the 8th graders (this is a class of high school officers). I asked them why do the party. They said, "To let them know that we think they're important, and we want them to be a part of high school." If you know me at all, you know where this conversation goes next. I said, "Soooo....you're going to show them you care by throwing them a pizza party?" One student (who quickly caught my...umm..angst) answered, "Well, we are buying it with our own money."

Now, at this point I'm sure you've got your own thoughts formulating. Tons of them ran through my head in just a moment. It ran something like this: "They can't be serious. No. No, they are serious. We've trained them to be this way. We've done everything we can in church and society to show these students that programs and activities--in some form--are always the answer. They really think this party is going to do something that will help the eighth graders to feel 'welcomed' and 'care for' by high schoolers. No...actually...they haven't even thought that far, because if they had they would realize how silly that sounds. They're just doing it because that's what we've told them leaders do...plan things. No reason to really ask the hard questions...the school year is almost over and it's time to make some contact with Middle School students, so its time for some sort thing, a party or whatever. We'll add the special touch by buying it ourselves." Never mind that we've ignored and even harrassed under classmen all year...now it's time to care.

It's too hard and too simple to do the obvious things. The advice I would give to this leadership class is similar to the advice I would give most churches. It goes something like this:

First, admit that we don't really care that much about the people we're trying to 'reach'. Admission of such things goes a long way to helping one decide if he or she is wasting time anyway. I mean, if you don't really care then you're just putting up a front to make ourselves look good or feel better. But why waste your time? Go do something else. End of problem.

Second, if we find that we don't really care but we want to (which is valid, I think), then we have a starting point. "I don't really care, but I want to...so what's the next step?"

Third, I think the next step is to begin caring. It's time consuming. It's difficult. It demands that one change his/her lifestyle, schedule, priorities. In terms of these high school students, it means that instead of planning a party, I go to 8th graders' games, events, hang-outs. In general "churchy" terms, maybe it's going to all the places 'good people' don't go. It means I invite them to do things with me and my friends. It means I spend a heck of a lot more time listening than talking. It means I share my own weakness and lack of answers. It means that I'm identified with the people I care about whether they be 8thh graders, alcoholics, gays, losers, fundamentalists, liberals, addicts, etc. I carry the joy and the flack for associating with those I for whom I care.

I'm not sure about leadership, but I think that's when we become Christian.

posted by Jimmy at 1:21 AM | |

 
old draft #3
The Sin of Contentment, pt. 3
Moses could not have existed in the modern Christian culture. From the world's perspective, at the time of the burning bush he was a loser. A noboby. A failed, has-been of a revolutionary who had spent 40 years of his adult life tending his father-in-law's sheep....they weren't even his own. He was a senior citizen sheep herder who would have been retired for 15 years in our culture.

It's interesting to me that when Moses tried to free his people from the burdens of slavery on his own that he failed. Where was God during this time in his life? Didn't God want his people to be free? Didn't he need a motivated, self-individualized leader to step up and make something happen? What was the deal?

We could talk about it not being the right time. Or maybe it was Moses' focus in his early attempt and failure to liberate his people...which led to the charge of murder.

Maybe it was that Moses needed to learn contentment. Maybe that's part of being "faithful in little". Maybe until we can be content and appreciate the life we have, we won't really have the humility, patience, and courage to lead others.

posted by Jimmy at 1:18 AM | |

 
an old "draft" post that I never published
Reminders and Distinctions
A couple of friends of mine from way back have recently ventured onto the blog here at liquidthinking. Strangely, they both found there way here by reading things in Spencer Bourke's book about church, in which Mark, Zed, and I are quoted quite often (as liquidthinking, footer, and fakeskinfrank). One of them had a relative reading quotes to him from the book, and my friend's response was "Hey, that sounds like Jimmy". Unfortunately, he was thinking Mark's quotes were mine....I guess Mark and I think too much the same. He was a little disappointed when I told him I was "Footer" in the book, not "Liquidthinking" as he had gone through the rest of the book looking for my quotes.

Anyway, my friend and I are now engaged in a conversation about my feelings and attitudes towards "church". It such a hard conversation because we are both coming from two different places and experiences. He's heavily involved in an instituational church, and his concern for me is that I've "given up" on church and I'm off to start my own new thing. Which I don't feel is true at all. It's just that I think church is something bigger than he defines it.

The truth is that I feel like I'm beginning to understand what church really is and what it is not. I make a distinction between the Church as the Body of Christ and church™. I think we've done that here at liquidthinking intentionally to show that there is a difference. I believe that the Church exists wherever there are believers...and that includes church™.


posted by Jimmy at 1:50 PM | |

 
Sacra Furia
Interesting thoughts from Tony Jones's blog about anger:

...lately I've heard a wave of, "You're so angry," and "You emergent people are so angry." To which I say, if you're not at least a little angry at the impotence of the church, then there's something wrong with you.I sometimes wonder if the you're-so-angry defense is really a duck, so one does not have to deal with the real issues that the emergent church is raising.

I think Tony is right. There's a place for anger...and sometimes holy anger and fury. It's part of the process of change to point out the need for change. Another thing I hear quite frequently (well, actually mostly here on the blog comments) is "all you ever do is complain...what are you doing about the the problems?" But I'm not sure pointing out problems is complaining. It's simply pointing out problems. And it is a necessary step in the move towards change.

I also don't think it's fair to expect people who see and point out problems to also have solutions to the problems. How many of us have a solution to the health care issue for the U.S.? Should we quit talking about it? What about Iraq? Would you tell an alcoholic, "Hey, I don't want to hear about your problems until you've come up with a solution!" It could be that the first instigators of change are simply those who know something is wrong...that things could be better though they may not know what the better is. It could also be that someone's calling is to point out wrong and imminent disaster. We have a healthy dose of Biblical predecessors to find models of such a calling.

Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach all day long.--the prophet Jeremiah (chapter 20, verse 8)



posted by Jimmy at 9:47 PM | |

 
Words to Think About...
Too Many Applications For This, So Choose Your Own
Today while we were tutoring students at Greeley, Zedler was reading The Hobbit to 4th and 5th graders and giving out candy to those who could answer correctly questions he asked about what he had read. One student had his hand up every time, won lots of candy, and was being passed up for those who hadn't won candy yet. Finally, at one of the stopping points, before Zedler had even asked a question, he blurted out in frustration, "I want you to ask me a question!" Stephen asked, "Why?" The child replied, "Because I have a really good answer."

posted by Jimmy at 8:40 PM | |

 
another old post that never made it
Reading Encouragements
--Read books about being rather than books about doing as often as possible.
--Read two old classics for every hot new publication that you read.
--Read something outside your preferred style/topic/authors at least twice a year.



posted by Jimmy at 1:55 AM | |

 
Dr. Dobson and Pseudo Reality
Well, I got a letter from James Dobson today. Apparently, he needs my help to "keep traditional family values in America!" All I have to do is send some money to accept his "invitation to become a charter member of Focus on the Family Action"...which I'm assuming is his Political Action Committee. He also endorses Tom Coburn for Senate over Brad Carson.

Interestingly, as a part of this letter, he states the following: "It's no secret that Oklahomans are among the most pro-life and pro-family people in the nation."

Now, being from Oklahoma, I know that there is a sense of down-home traditional values here...at least we really like to represent ourselves in such a way when it comes to discussing values and family. The funny thing is that this is not based upon reality. No matter how we think we are, the statistics show that Oklahoma ranks 2nd in divorce in the U.S.--with 2 times the divorce rate of those pesky Europeans and 3 times the rate in Japan. Just three years ago for every 100 marriage licenses issued, the state granted 76 divorce petitions. Family values? Maybe the Bible Belt should be called the Divorce Belt.

As far as pro-life values, the numbers are a little off due to Oklahoma's lack of participation in several surveys concerning abortion. However, according to the Oklahoma State Department of Health, "Oklahoma ranked 8th highest in the nation in teen births for females age 15 to 19. About two-thirds of the 7,415 babies born to Oklahoma teens were to those ages 18 to 19." So, we may not be participating in abortion as much as other states (although I would question whether or not that is true), we do have an issue with teen pregnancy. The teen pregnancy rate probably plays a role in our divorce rate as well, since many teenagers try to "do the honorable thing" and get married due to their pregnancy. According to a 2002 report for the Governor of Oklahoma, the experts cited a tendency of Bible Belt couples to marry young as reasons many marriages fail.

Teen pregnancy in our state also leads to these great family values:
· 70 percent of teen moms drop out of high school
· Teen moms are three times more likely to live in poverty than moms who delay childbearing until after age 20.
· Mothers who had their first child at age 17 or younger are four times more likely to be victims of physical violence than women who wait until at least age 20 to have their first child.
· Children of adolescent females are more likely to be born prematurely and 50 percent more likely to be low-birth weight babies due to inadequate prenatal and medical care.
· Daughters of adolescent females are 83 percent more likely themselves to become mothers before age 18.
· Sons of adolescent females are 2.7 times more likely to be incarcerated sometime during their life than sons of mothers who delayed childbearing until their twenties.

Sometimes I feel like the Bible Belt is like an alcoholic that won't admit its problems, so we never get better. Sorry Dr. Dobson, I don't think I want to promote the type of family values that Oklahomans represent.

posted by Jimmy at 5:49 PM | |

 
Beyond the "Re" to the "Formation"
My whole experience at the National Youth Worker's Convention last weekend was eye opening. It became very clear to me all over again how much we are drowning in a consumer culture that creates and feeds our "felt needs" with gimmicks and techniques. If we spent half as much time being the hands and feet of Jesus as we do learning how to be entertainers....well...I'll leave that for later.

In the midst of this consumer carnival, there was something that struck me to the core: the brokenness and lostness of so many youth leaders. It seemed to me that many youth workers (young and old, novice and experienced) seem to know that something isn't exactly right in western Christendom, but they don't know what it is or what to do about it. They've heard rumors that change was in the air...They've seen the Emergent stuff, and it brought them some hope, but now it seems like the same old stuff.

How do we move past this?

I think there is a place for the critique of old concepts and practices. Afterall, that's what the majority of our site has been. But the question for me has become "when do I move past the 're' (backwards, revisiting) to the 'formation' part of change?" Is the ecclesial anarchy of non-organized Christian community enough for me? Must I throw the baby (organized community) out with the bathwater (broken systems of Church?)? As my friend David Welch asked me last weekend, "What was good about the past?" By which he meant, "what were the good things you found inside the institutional church"?

I find that I have tendencies for organization that are built on a desire for sacrificial communities focused on helping people. Mike King shared on our panel in Dallas that he knew he found the right church (Jacob's Well in Kansas City) when he was served communion by a prostitute from their outreach ministry. When he made that statement I felt a surge of envy...that's the kind of community I desire. The kind of community of which I've grown skeptical, but it does and can exist.

I don't know what all of this means for me. I no longer want to be trapped by the past. I want to be formed. I want to have something to say not built upon the hopelessness of systems that have run their course, but to speak out of a hope founded and formed by a present community living out the values of God's Kingdom. However, I have a lot of fear that attempts to be formed...to be created into something new...will just turn into some form of Frankenstein's monster: an uncontrollable, angry, re-animated version of something already dead.

So I'm left with another question David asked me, "Where do you want to be"? Which for me becomes "Where does God want me to be?" Are these desires for the type of community Mike King described the hand of God forming my intentions, or are they my own unhealthy, idealistic visions. I'm acutely aware (and I think agree with) Bonhoeffer's language about the idealistic dreamer who destroys the community of God because of his own unattainable illusions. I've become so confused about these issues that making any type of step with certainity is difficult. So I'm left with two things: faith and the community of believers in my life. And that's where I'm going to start...I'm going to consciously share my desires with God's people and see what happens. And I guess that's the process I'm starting here.


posted by Jimmy at 9:54 PM | |

 
Kirk Cameron!!!

In a new hit show
Growing Pains... God's Way

Kirk Cameron returns to the screen (again) in a new show sure to convince mainstream television producers that Christians are a marketing block to be respected and pandered to, just like everyone else!

In its pilot episode, Mike Saver(Cameron) gets into a fix when he goes trick or treating and stumbles upon a real witches house! Mike must swallow his pride and enlist his father, Reverend Jason Saver (played by Christian "musician" and "actor" Carman) in an epic struggle of good against evil!

Meanwhile, Mike's brother Ben engages in moral rebellion and is locked in the dryer, where he has to "cry it out."

This show promises to entertain, teach some valuable parenting lessons, and present a gospel message in every episode. SEND US MONEY!
posted by Stephen at 10:28 PM | |

 
Re:Post
Someone thought it would be good for me to emerge from my blogging sabbatical to repost this. It's something I wrote on Sept. 4. I think it's good to repeat....
Now i'm submerging back into my sabbatical... You didn't see me... i wasn't here....

I think it would be helpful to apologize.
If you have unnecessarily thought that I was attacking you personally, then I'm sorry.
There has not been any intent to attack any one person.
If you have felt misled by my personal feelings at any given moment while I was writing, then I'm sorry.
Everything written on this blog (I can only speak for me) is nothing close to absolute truth, but opinion and perspective on life, life with God, life in ministry and lives lived in faithfulness. Sometimes opinions can hurt others feelings, and in as much as God is not convicting you through these various posts, then I am sorry for unsubstantiated guilt or piling on spiritually. The folks on this blog are not perfect. We say things from emotion. Some of these posts can be reactionary, things we see in the world, or in the lives of friends. We say things on behalf of others. Much of what I write is actually a response or reaction to something that happened to someone else that I've related to. Or an attack on myself.

So. I trust that if you are reading this you will understand these things.and that if you don't understand you will ask. in person. not in anonymity, as that violates the spirit of the open and honest questions by the real people here who are bearing themselves to each other.

thanks

posted by riddle at 3:16 PM | |

 
National Youth Workers Convention, Dallas
Anyone going to the NYWC in Dallas this weekend? Mark and I will be there. I'm helping him with some kind of late-night option, but really its just an excuse to hang out and watch the OU-Texas game in some bar and grill in Dallas (hey, if you can't afford the real thing, you might as well be in town).


posted by Jimmy at 8:26 PM | |

 
For Those of You Missing Mark...
We've put together the Virtua-Mark System 1.0. To get it to work, all you have to do is go to one of Mark's old posts and move your mouse over Mark's image. You can either imagine him saying the things in his post or read his post out loud for the full effect. We hope you enjoy this until Mark returns.



posted by Jimmy at 7:31 PM | |

 
Insiders Club
Okay...I'm a political cynic. I don't really think it matters that much whether Bush or Kerry gets elected. The truth is that most likely they will be more alike than different when it comes to the decisions they will make as President. Neither of them seems to have a real plan for anything. Both of them are in the hip-pocket of the corporate interests that help them get elected and fund their parties. I'm not sure either will have have the capacity or drive needed to take care of the important issues facing this next term such as health-care and the first baby-boomers reaching retirement age.

The truth is that this whole game is an insiders club. The two party system excludes and effectively shuts down anyone who isn't one of them. One of my students at school asked a great and simple question: "Why isn't Nader in the debates?" The answer is that the Republicans and Democrats run the show and he isn't in it. While I realize that the less popular candidates don't have a chance to win, their voice in the process should be important. I would love to see Nader asking hard questions of the other candidates....of course they don't get to ask each other questions anymore. That's apparently a little more challenging than someone applying for the job of President can handle.

posted by Jimmy at 6:46 PM | |

 
New Resources for The Emergent/PostModern/.alt Church
We've found some fantastic--but often overlooked--resources for post-modern ministry from the Emergent line:

Giving Direction to the Movement
Parking Lot Ministry in the Post-Modern Matrix
by
Phil DePedal

How do churches deal with the complex nature of changing parking lot paradigms for the 21st Century? Chapter titles :

Crossing the Line: Do traditional parking lot markings limit creativity?

The Organic Parking Lot: The dirt on pavement

Fanning The Flames of Change: the problem with candles in the open-air parking lot.

And More!
$24.00
(For more on the author, see Stephen Shield's review)

posted by Jimmy at 6:33 PM | |

 
Is the Bucket Half Full?
Post-Modern Janitorial Ministry
by
Dan Brushup

This book is written for the custodian of the PostModern Church. Covers such important topics as:

The Problem with Candles: Wiping out the Wax

Toilet Bowl as Art: Going Beyond Foundational views of traditional colors of toilet bowl cleaners

Your Own Personal Labrynth: The sacred introspection of vacuuming.

And More!
$24.00

posted by Jimmy at 10:34 AM | |

 


Shameless Plea
Okay...a while back I told you guys how much I was wondering whether or not I should get an IPod for my birthday. After much consideration I decided we really couldn't afford it. Well...I know you've seen those FREE IPOD ads all over the internet, but I just read from J. Huff's blog, who posted these links from Wired Magazine and Adam that this whole IPod thing is real. People are really getting free Ipods! All it takes is for 5 referred people to sign up for one of the various free trials offered (sometimes these trials ask for Credit Card info and sometimes they don't). I signed up for Mr. Huff...did the Online Blockbuster 2 week trial...actually sounds like a cool deal 3 DVD rentals by mail and 2 free in store rentals for just a trial that I can cancel after 2 weeks or at anytime once the trial is over.

Anyway...if you would like...follow this link to help me win a free Ipod.

Yeah...it is a shameless thing to do. But hey, it's free! If you participate please let us know through the comments so others don't feel the need to do so once we've reached 5...heck, maybe we can float this thing around to various blogs. Jay gets 5, I get 5, Aola gets 5....



posted by Jimmy at 9:13 AM | |