I got personal toward Mark Driscoll in my last blog which is unfortunate. In my passion and disdain for the extremes I reacted extremely. I don’t agree with everything Mark teaches theologically. I definitely don’t agree with his attitude but calling names only pours gasoline to the fire instead of water. To THAT end I apologize. I still believe that Christianity is being robbed by the extreme voices on both sides. I still believe there is room and time for a new voice. Let’s see what happens.
Red State/Blue State Theology
I love politics. I love the strategy, the passion, the differing messages and the use of debate to get your point across. It is fascinating to me. However, this year it is almost sickening. The red states are redder and the blue states are bluer. The mudslinging is embarrassing and makes me wonder, where is the room for dialogue. A chance to offer differing views and let the electorate choose the better idea. I know a utopian view to be sure but man, wouldn’t be great.
Alas, we all know Washington is a mess and politicians are overall no dang good but the Church should be different. However, as I read blogs and read books and articles I think that Washington are a collection of monks and nuns compared to the current theology wars.
I find myself torn…I am a contrarian spirit by nature so I hate going with what is popular or normal but it is getting ridiculous. On one hand you have the Fundamentalists…The Mark Driscolls. These guys are judgmental thugs behind a pulpit. They are the Jerry Falwells with tattoos and skinny jeans. Every once in a while they will speak that they preach in love right before they slander another group of people. They claim to take Christianity back to the Bible and Doctrine. If you dare to question their “Doctrine” then you are a heretic. They pride themselves on being the new John Calvin. He was a brute too. They carry the Bible withe a chip on their shoulder and a bitterness in their tone, they claim the love of Jesus but seem to revel in what is wrong with everyone.
Then on the other side is the “throw the baby out with the bathwater crowd”. They want to throw out Salvation, Hell, Organized Church, Forgiveness, Virgin Birth and the Easter Bunny. They are the crowd that believes in nothing…except what they espouse in their latest book. Which seems to me to be inflammatory only to sell more books.
So you have these two extremes the Red Church and the Blue Church and the talk about the others are bitter, divisive and disgusting to those who are actually paying attention.
I believe both of these extremes are dangerous. I hate that Driscoll is so popular to young pastors because he has a tattoo, sings in a punk band and cusses in the pulpit (AND HE IS THE FUNDIE!)
I believe there needs to be a dialogue. I believe there is room to talk about where the Christian Church goes from here BUT I am still foolish enough to believe that we can have a reasonable discussion without getting inflammatory.
I think we need to question everything. I have blogged in the past that I believe what we call Discipleship, Evangelism and even Salvation are too Americanized. Too easy and clean…life is too messy.
I think Discipleship is more than a 101, 201, 30 class. I think Evangelism is more than a your going to hell, join our club process. I think Salvation is more than a rote prayer and a signed card. I DO believe there will be many people in heaven that will surprise you and many not there that you thought would be.
These are topics worthy of discussion. So I will listen to the clowns on the left like Bell and McClaren and to the clowns to the right like Driscoll and Piper and maybe find the truth in the midst of the noise.
For those of you that say “Simply look to the scriptures.” I would say that both camps claim their views are based on scripture. It is how it is interpreted.
I look forward in the coming months to do my own digging, research and praying to see if there is a different voice. One that can be compassionate and just. Where you can fully flesh out the role of Christianity…Love God – Love People.
Create a WOO HOO
This is Avery. She is my 6 year old daughter and she has more joy in her pinky than most people have in our whole body. The other day we went out for a bike ride and she went down the driveway screaming at the top of her lungs…WOO HOOOOO!!!!
That got me to thinking…when is the last time I woo hoo’ed? When is the last time I just stopped and laughed? When is the last time I enjoyed life for the little moments.
Scripture is clear that Jesus desires us to have joy. A Joy that comes from him is a joy that comes from within. John 10:10 says that Jesus comes to give us FULL JOY.
You know that JOY that comes from your gut. That joy you had when you were a kid before circumstances could steal them. Joy that forces a vocal response..WOO HOO, WEEEEE, YEAH or in the south YEE HAW!
Go today and find that inner child, that joy and create some more Woo Hoo moments.
Coffee Shop Sabbatical
Yesterday I closed on the sale of my coffee shop City Falls Coffee. It was a short stint. We began remodeling in October and opened on New Years Eve. Many questioned why? I will be honest some of the reason was the excitement of trying something new and different, some of the reason was to be part of Uptown Columbus but mainly I just needed a break. I have been in church work since I was 19 years old. That is 19 years ago. I am a self professed workaholic and ministry became just a job for me no longer a calling. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve in those churches and I learned a lot from Pointe North, Remount, Upatoi and Evangel Temple but I needed to take a step back and evaluate some things. I have never lived on the other side of the stained glass windows. Now, I worked in a bar district.
Opening a business is incredibly exhiirating but also a terrible headache to a guy not blessed with the talent for detail. I thank my awesome wife Audra, Rob Jarrett and some others that helped in the early stages. We sef financed and poured everything we had into this new mission called City Falls.
It was beautiful, we had a great staff and great coffee. We were on the map almost immediately. However, we opened at the worst time for retail, winter. So, we started with a sputter and had some equipment issues so financially it was rough. But soon, the shop was paying for itself and was ready to take off…here is my problem. I like building things but I am a horrible manager so my wife and I decided to sell the shop and use the proceeds to live on till we figure out what is next.
That is where we are.
I will miss a few things about owning a coffee shop.
1) Free coffee
2) All the great regular customers I had and the great conversations that were had
3) Friday nights hanging out with the Bar Owners talking about life…especially after they figured out that I was a pastor.
4) The conversations I was able to have with the homeless, the homosexual, the confused and the searcher
You see, I blogged earlier (somehow it got lost) that these people had never heard of Perry Noble or Steven Furtick or cared about the feud between Rob Bell and Mark Driscoll. They were just trudging through life trying to figure it out.
I learned a lot about my theology and humanity while on this coffee shop sabbatical. I learned that preaching is easy, pastoring is messy. I learned that this new form of reformed doctrine/fundamentalism/angry preaching is great for stirring up the troops in your churches but doesn’t communicate when you are sitting across a table from someone pouring out their heart.
I am going to finish my degree and get my seminary degree over the next 2 years and while I do I am praying God would continue to form me to be the Pastor he wants me to be. Not a clone like so many others but I want to work out my salvation and then lead others to him.
Through coffee, I have fallen in love with Jesus again. It feels good.
New Adventure
Well here we go again. After much prayer and deliberation Audra and I agree whole heartedly that it is time to get back into full time ministry. It has been about a year sabbatical for us and I will blog later about what working in the secular world has taught me but the conclusion remains…I am built to be a pastor. The hunger is back in me and I long for the opportunity to get back to the pulpit.
If you are wondering about the coffee shop, it is going well. We are indeed going to sell it because you cannot run a business if you are not connected to it. So, we will sell it and get our names out there.
It is weird because I have never gone out looking for a job…my whole career, I just kind of fell into the next position. This is a raw search. God only knows where we will be. I have resumes in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Florida. I’d like to stay close to home but I want the best overall position.
I am excited to see what God has in store next and my family’s prayer is that this next move will be the last for a LONG time.
If you know of a position my resume is posted in the about me link up top.
I covet your prayers because so many things have to happen…
1) we have to sell City Falls
2) we have to find a church
3) we have to sell the house
4) we have to buy a house and move
5) we have to settle into a new environment
An amazing woman
My wife’s birthday is tomorrow and it would not be polite to say how old she is but she gets better with age. Audra is truly my best friend. She is the most amazingly precious intelligent woman with the quirkiest sense of humor I have ever known. We have known each other for years yet each day I am finding out more and more about her.
Audra is a sweetheart and can sing like nobodies business…everyone knows that but you may not know that she…
- Is an incredibly gifted artist and photographer
- Loves quirky humor
- Has the faith of a missionary and the boldness of a lion
- Has a rock hard foundation
- Will fight you if you try to take what she has and loves
- Is brilliant with math and science (not so much with history)
Audra could have done so much…
She has so much talent as a vocalist, she could have been a recording artist.
She could have been a professional photographer.
She could have been a Doctor, a Missionary, a NASA scientist…whatever.
But i am glad that she is My wife, the mother of my children, the co-owner of City Falls Coffee and My best friend.
Happy Birthday baby,
I love you.
Jesus WANTS to be known
I was doing some reading through one of my devotionals today and it brought me to a familiar story. The woman at the well found here. However, this time as I read it the Spirit led me to an entire different perspective. Not of the woman or of the disciples but of Jesus. He went through this entire debate about culture, sin and God with this woman and then revealed who he was to her and it changed everything. It says later that her testimony to who Jesus was led an entire village to believe. When the disciples came back from their errand, they found Jesus perfectly content and satisfied no longer in need of physical food. Why?
Jesus LOVES to reveal himself to others. Of course as we come upon Easter we know that is when he revealed his greatness to the world. But through the scriptures we see it come out in drips. Jesus, longs to let others in on the good stuff. He is probably the guy that wants you to open your presents early at Christmas. He desires so badly for you to have what he wants for you…sometimes it just drips out. And that makes him happy.
Right now theology and doctrine are the buzzwords of the day. They are important to be sure…but Christianity is not that hard especially for a God that so desperately wants to be revealed to others. Sometimes we hold Jesus back…I wonder if the disciples hadn’t been on that errand if they would have allowed Jesus to have that quiet conversation with that woman or would their theology/upbringing have kept it from happening.
Pastors/Christians do whatever you can to let Jesus out! Turn him loose! He longs to be revealed…don’t keep him caged up in your ideas of how he should be shared with the world.
Return to WHAT?!?
I was reading a book this morning and I won’t reference it because that is not the purpose of this blog but in it there was a chapter that discussed the danger of modernity in the church. It went on to whine about the same old stuff about a lack of theology and too much focus on leadership and what not but there was a line that tweaked me. “When are we going to take America back for Christ?” Those statements annoy anger me to the point of sin. There are two main problems with that statement.
Problem 1) It completely discounts the amazing work being done by the church today. Just because your grandfathers church is dying doesn’t mean that Christianity in America is dying. There are many churches doing amazing work, preaching the gospel, seeing people get saved, growing in the word and leaving their churches to do new work! Elevation, Newspring, and others are getting it done on the big stage and then there is a little church here in Columbus feeding the homeless and caring for the least of these every week. The kingdom of God is advancing and rather retreat to the memories of yesteryear get involved.
Problem 2) To what time in American history do you really want to go? Do we go all the way back when the puritans in their religious passion falsely burned hundreds out of fear. Do we go back a hundred years to the days where the church was the main hub for KKK and posted signs for decades saying that there was NO integration in the church. Maybe we go back a few decades when politics in the denominations ran so deep that it split families. Because if you weren’t Baptist then you weren’t a Christian. When exactly did America have it’s finger on the pulse of God. There were days when sin wasn’t so public but it was there. Kids were drinking, having sex and partying in the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s 50’s, 60’s (mercy the 60’s), 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and today!
So, excuse the rant but let’s not focus on what we would like to go back to and focus on what God has in store for this incredible new era. An era with more ways than ever to proclaim the good news. An era that allows truth to be absorbed by a generation that longs for it as long as we don’t cloak it with religiosity. Let’s get to work.
Ditch the Elephant
I’m reading this old book that my pastor gave me and in it is a chapter rich with counsel on burnout. In this chapter is a glancing reference to an economic strategy for streamlining. Look at your spreadsheet and find the elephant (big thing). If you cut a bunch of little things you have stress over the organization without enough cuts to actually fix the problem. However, if you cut some of the BIG elephant out…little stress and obvious impact. This book took that economic philosophy and applied it to time management.
Pastors are typically horrible at time management. If you happen to be a creative pastor… well you are doomed. However, your time is a gift of God and should be handled properly for your health, your family and your congregation. So, how do you deal with your elephants?
Some elephants you have to cage.
I had to think about my schedule and cut out the elephant/s. Some things will require a measure of discipline to let go of it. For me, one of the elephants is Facebook. I keep that thing up all day and though I don’t stare at it all day, it does suck some energy from my day. Stalking, IM’ing, and developing witty tweets so that I can be seen as current can suck energy that should be used advancing my spirit, the church’s goals or the kingdom of Christ.
Some elephants you have to give away.
Another elephant is setting up and tearing down on Wed nights. It takes about 3 hours a week to do this. I have to give this elephant to someone else. Rather than praying or tweaking my message for the students, I am lugging chairs…not exactly what I thing Rivertown Church was hoping for when they hired me.
Some elephants you have to shoot.
This elephant may not seem like an elephant to you but for me it was huge. Indecision and dwelling were two elephants I had to shoot (sorry PETA). I have to learn to make decision quicker and live with them and move on. The pace we work in ministry doesn’t allow for a lot of time to dwell (evaluate to be sure but not dwell). I am having to work at decision making. This is something you can/have to train. Everything from where to eat to sermon series ideas to discipleship strategies. I would wring my hands for days, make the decision and then wring my hands for days after that wondering if I did the right thing…not cool…at all.
What are your elephants that you must cage, give away or shoot?
House Divided – Parent response week 4
So we talked about how as a family to Bridge the Divide we must…
1) Consider – Forgive each other for the weaknesses we posses and the baggage we may carry
2) Communicate – We must recognize that words DO matter, not only what we say but when we say it and how we say it matters.
3) Compassionate – Families that serve one another and serve together stay together. How are you serving one another this week?
4) Consecration –
This week we looked at Luke 8:40-42. 49-56 and used the dying teenager as a metaphor for the family.
In that passage Jairus…
– Had to recognize the problem (his daughter was dying) and had to recognize the only one who could do something about it (Jesus).
– heard that it was too late, his daughter had passed…sometimes we feel that it is too late…our families are too far gone, however that is when Jesus likes to get engaged.
– The world mocks faith but when Jesus enters a home…EVERYTHING CHANGES!
How are you bringing Jesus into your home? Are you praying for your family? Are you praying with your family? Don’t talk to someone who can only give you advise…talk to someone who can do something about the problem…the heart problem.
When Jesus enters your home…EVERYTHING CHANGES.
Sean Rheaume 