this is how...

this is how the year ends,
this is how the year ends,
this is how the year ends,
not with a bang,
but with a...

believe it or not

Believe it or not, Kim actually posted today! It's true, check it out:
HERE. (I'm a little bitter that I was #5 on her list...)

resolution

I don't have any new years resolutions thus far... I guess I have a little over 24 hours to think up some... (hmm... I wanna fit in my size 31 jeans again... I also wanna read a couple-o specific books... I wanna move my blog to typad...)

all coming back to me

Picked up my truck yesterday. The collision dudes did a great job on it. I'll post some "before," "accident" and "current" photos eventually...

new coffeeshop experience

So, I've got a few days off. I'm really enjoying spending the time with my wife (it's winter break for the school system). Yesterday we headed over to a new coffeeshop in the area called Nirvana. Worst--and I mean worst--coffeeshop experience of my life.

For one thing, it's not really a coffeeshop. They advertise themselves with a huge coffee cup as their logo. We walked in expecting coffee--instead finding bagels, sandwiches, and ice cream... with a side order of coffee (literally tucked away to the side). We were pleasantly surprised to find the ice cream, and decided to get the smallest serving of ice cream for each of us. $6 later (I kid you not... $3/1 scoop of ice cream!! What a rip off!) and 2 coffee cups later we sat down to do some reading and enjoy our over-priced ice cream and rather bland coffee.

Much to our chagrin, we apparently stumbled into our Nirvana nightmare on "training-the-new-adolescents-working-in-our-store" day. Behind us sat a manager (the girl looked like she was in high school) training a high school kid. Well, you can call it "training." She was essentially telling him everything he had to know in one sitting. It was rather ridiculous. She was talking so loud and obnoxiously that Kim and I literally had to pack our bags and head out.

We went to the Bou for chai and an iced mocha.

Needless to say, the Nirvana experience was quite the opposite of what their name would suggest. If you live in the area... stay away. Seriously. Enjoy a cup-o-Joe @ Port City or the Bou...

about the church

Here are the links to my "about the church" posting series...
part i [.] why do people choose not to be part of the Church?
part ii [.] boring Church and style issues
part iii [.] the mission of God
part iv [.] the Church is community.1 - present/universal
part v [.] the Church is community.2 - ordinances
part vi [.] the Church is community.3 - Word[s] of God
part vii [.] message - reclaiming the church as community
part viii [.] the Church is community.4 - mission of God
part ix [.] the Church is intentional
part x [.] energing church

merry christmas

I'm back! Thanks for your prayers for my family as we traveled and celebrated my grandfather's life. I probably will not post anything tomorrow... planning to enjoy the day with family. I plan to resume my regular posting frenzy early next week.

In the meantime, here's my "merry Christmas" wish! I sincerely hope you enjoy it. For many of us, this is a "first" kind-of year. For Kim and I, it's our first Christmas as husband-&-wife. I know that a couple of you are looking forward to Christmas for the same reason. And, it's a "first" for a bunch of you because of new additions to your families. Yeah for babies!

On the other hand, for several of us it's the first Christmas/Hanukkah we will be spending without a loved one. For you and your families, I pray for the same comfort that I pray for myself and my family as we search for the "Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9) this season.

Well, warmest wishes to you all... God bless.

my top 5 in '04

Okay, here they are in reverse order--my top 5 posts of '04 (thanks for the suggestions):

#5 too busy (Sept 01) - I chose this post because it is a tangible reminder of my frailty and weakness. How I strive for an ideal, but live in the tension caused by my own selfishness.

#4 morning lattes and modern art (Sept. 21) - I chose this post because it deals with 3 things really important to me: coffee, friends and spirituality in/through art.

#3 in the name of education (January 28) - This is one of my favorite posts from '04, I think, because so many of you responded to it. It was a very thoughtful post with a great response from my faithful readers. (Thanks, gang!)

#2 learning to listen (March 8) - This was just a really, really cool worship service @ our church. The pics are neat-o, too.

#1 honeymooners! (July 12) - Um, I think the title of this post pretty much explains why I chose it. My life changed dramatically this year...

(to see other "Top 5" posts of the year, click here)

family

My grandfather's funeral was today. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was clear, cool and sunny. It was also a tremendous blessing to see friends and family from as far away as New York City and Atlanta coming to celebrate my grandfather's life. Some family I had never met before, and some I reconnected with after many, many years. It reminded me how truly blessed my family is. Thank you, my faithful blog readers/commenters, for your prayers and thoughts as well. I do not have time to respond to your comments in the previous post, but I do appreciate them all...

We plan to travel home later this week--thank you in advance for your prayers for us as we travel. God's blessings to you all.

wolf

My grandfather, Wolf Feldman, passed away this morning. Thank you in advance for your prayers and thoughts for our family as we travel and mourn the loss of this wonderful man.

housekeeping

Kim and I have a couple-o trips scheduled over the next 2 weeks. Expect light blogging during that time. I'll do my best to update the site as I find internet access along the way. Thank you in advance for your prayers for our traveling. I'm looking forward to seeing some of you in person!

In the meantime, plug around my blog. I made a bunch of heavy posts this week intentionally--so that you have some stuff to mull over and dialogue about whilst I am temporarily away.

Thank you to those who have/are commenting on my Top 5 in '04 post. Your input is greatly appreciated. Early next week I hope to post the Top 5 posts from [ex]changed.life based on what you say and my own opinon.

Peace and coffee...

about the church [.] part x

EMERGE.

Today's question: What is the emergent church?

Good luck answering that! I am very wary of anyone who dogmatically says: "THIS is the emerging Church." Why? Because we're right smack in the middle of figuring it out! Most of what is going on right now are "conversations" on what/how the Church is/will emerge.

SITES
There are many, many more knowledgeable and credible voices in the emerging Church than my own, so I'll let them speak for themselves. I've listed a couple to the left. If you're genuinely interested in the emerging Church, I recommend you spend time daily on the following blogs:

andrew jones - i appreciate andrew's voice and his perspectives
darren rowse - australian blogger and church planter--btw, if you ever want to start a blog, his site has a lot of helps
doug pagitt - here in usamerica
jonny baker - uk guy with a ton-o resources for alt.worship
maggi dawn - if you're looking for a philosophical approach, you'll find it here
steve collins - another uk guy with a ton-o resources for alt.worship, and honest conversation

Some other sites to check out:
a new kind of christian (brian mclaren)
emergent village
leon@rd sweet
rejesus
ship of fools

OKAY, SO??
I still haven't told you what the emerging church is. Well, here's what it isn't.
- The emerging church is not merely a reaction to the evangelical form of Christianity.
- Not just "cool" ways of doing Church.
- Not just alt.worship.
- Not just in the UK.
- Not simply "pomo" (postmodern) Church.
- Not "Gen-X" church.
- Definitely not "seeker sensitive."
- And most definitely not what you and I are used to.

Okay, so here's my attempt at a brief, incomplete and working definition: At it's best, I think you can describe the emerging Church as a contextualization of the true, raw Gospel of Christ and his Church for the folks of "today"... wherever/whoever they may be. And, yes, it's mostly a Western phenomena... That's because Constantine screwed us all up way back in the 4th Century. But, that's another rant.

CRITICISM
There has been lots of criticism leveled @ the emerging Church over the past few years by many prominent Christian thinkers and many, many yahoos who do not know what they are talking about. Perhaps the best dialogue on the criticism toward/against the emerging church is found on Andrew Jones' blog. Here's a LINK to an exceptional post (long, but worth the read).

WHO CARES??
Okay, so why should we care?

Maybe you don't "go" to Church, or don't even consider yourself to be a "Christian." Well, the emerging Church should be a breath of fresh air for you... It recovers the true nature of the Church to be the "going" party. So, you don't "come" to Church, it "comes" to you. Likewise, you may not consider yourself a Christian because, quite frankly, a lot of us Christians have let you down. We've lived hypocritical lives in front of you and we've not directed you the true spiritual life found only in Jesus Christ. Instead, we've shoved programs down your throat and badgered you with "the right way to live" (something the majority of us are really, really bad at). Well, I'm sorry. I'll apologize on behalf of every Christian/Church that has burned you in the past. If you're genuinely willing to move on, so am I... Let's begin discovering Christ together... I guarantee you that Christ is much, much more exciting than you can ever imagine...

Maybe you're a Christian and are wondering why in the world I am talking about all this. Well, I think our declining numbers here in USAmerica should be evidence that doing things the same old way just ain't cuttin' it. (BTW, I heard recently--can't remember where... don't you love that? Anyway, I heard recently that more Church communities die each year than are planted/started. Um. Wow. Ready to plant a Church?) Most of us know fundamentally that there is a disconnect between our life as a disciple of Christ and our spirituality. The two must merge, but we don't know how to do it. Let me rephrase that... we know how, and that's the problem. We aren't experiencing it. We're knowlegified (fun word) to the point that we're religiously obese and spiritually malnourished. Isn't it time to end the orgy and famine? Not that the emerging Church will end it, but it sure can help move us in the right direction over the next few chaotic decades of human history. That direction being whatever way points us to the one who quenches our thirst and fills our hungry souls: Jesus the Christ.

With that, I'm done with the series! *whew*

Previous posts in this series:
part i [.] why do people choose not to be part of the Church?
part ii [.] boring Church and style issues
part iii [.] the mission of God
part iv [.] the Church is community.1 - present/universal
part v [.] the Church is community.2 - ordinances
part vi [.] the Church is community.3 - Word[s] of God
part vii [.] message - reclaiming the church as community
part viii [.] the Church is community.4 - mission of God
part ix [.] the Church is intentional

four rooms

Okay, now this is cool. It's an interactive flash project on rejesus depicting four rooms Christ would have been in: four rooms. From the site:

Different traditions stress different aspects of Jesus. In this module immerse yourself in four distinct experiences to investigate these aspects for yourself.

Enjoy...

about the church [.] part ix

Okay, this series of posts has gone on long enough. I'm going to try to wrap this thing up in 2 more posts. Thanks for listening to me think aloud on this subject.

Despite what I said in this post over a year ago, Church is not just getting together with a Christian or two and hanging out. It must be intentional. Yes, the Church is purposed. (Don't worry, I'm not about to go into the whole Saddleback/Purpose Driven Life marketing sca--er, um, stuff. I, like you, am tired of hearing about it, but remember: it is Biblically sound! We can all learn something from it...) I actually typed this a year ago:

Life is good... and Church is where you find it with 2 or 3 gathered together... my thoughts are still mulling around in this miasmic learning curve...

At least I was wise enough to admit that I still had a lot to learn. Well, here's where I am along this "miasmic learning curve" now: Church is intentional (purposed) about 3 things: commission, community, communion.

Commission
The Church exists to infiltrate culture(s). It exists to go. This has huge implications for evangelism/mission--not to mention our buildings (hehehe). The Church does not exist to "bring people in," but to send people out--despite over a millennium of Church practice contrary to that fact. I'll get into this in my next post, but suffice it to say for right now: the Church is in grave theological and missional danger to assume that we exist for people to come to us.

Community
Covered this stuff previously, too. The Church is intentionally relational. More than just a club, we exist to sharpen each other, to carry each other's burdens, to love one another unconditionally, to mentor each other, to confess our sins one to another. (Here's a fun project: Grab a Bible and read all the "one another" statements in the New Testament.)

Communion
Let's not forget that the Church exists for/by Jesus Christ! Unashamedly, the Church worships Jesus Christ and seeks to aid in discipling Jesus' followers into Christ-likeness.

A final thought...
Commitment is a key element in Church life. A Church is not only intentional about community, communion and commission, but there is also a commitment involved. A commitment to be intentional about community, communion and commission, as well as a commitment to one another.

(Note: I am indebted to my current read, The Shaping of Things to Come, for most of what I have written above.)

Therefore, me hanging out w/ another Christian is not Church. Perhaps it is Community (fellowship? perhaps discipleship?), and is part of the Christian walk. But, it is not Church because the gathering is not intentional about commission or communion--not to mention there is not commitment!

Previous posts in this series:
part i [.] why do people choose not to be part of the Church?
part ii [.] boring Church and style issues
part iii [.] the mission of God
part iv [.] the Church is community.1 - present/universal
part v [.] the Church is community.2 - ordinances
part vi [.] the Church is community.3 - Word[s] of God
part vii [.] message - reclaiming the church as community
part viii [.] the Church is community.4 - mission of God

top 5 in 2004

Okay, here's an interesting post on another site: Top 5 in 2004. Essentially, Bob requests that bloggers post their top five posts from 2004 onto his site. Helps get you some exposure and celebrates '04, I guess. I'm going to hunt down my top 5 from 2004 and then post them on the site. I'll also post them here, obviously.

I did something like this last year (see the post HERE), and ended up selecting a ridiculous amount of posts (like 18?). I like the idea of limiting it to 5 posts... I'll have to think deeply about what they will be. Any suggestions for my top 5 from '04? (If you do offer any suggestions via my comments, please include the name of the post and the date. Um, the date is very, very important... otherwise I'll spend hours searching for that blasted post, probably give up hunting for it, and never, ever post a link to it again.)

stones of god

A few weeks ago I preached a message entitled "Reclaiming the Church as Community." (It also dovetailed with my blog series "About the Church"... a series which I'll pick up this week before vacations.) The message centered on 1 Peter 2:4-10 (you can see an outline of the message HERE). As people walked in to the worship center that day they received a small white stone. At the conclusion of the message, I read verses 4-5:

As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him--you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

I also placed a large stone at the foot of the cross in our worship center. The stone represented Christ (verses 6-8 talk about Jesus Christ as the "capstone" and the "cornerstone"). I talked about how we as believers are being built "on/in" Christ's great kingdom. How as we follow Christ more each day, we become more and more like him. The individual stones were a reminder that we all carry the image of God.

I then challenged folks to pray about what the stone meant to them that day--are they recommitting to this Church community? are they praying about becoming a part of Christian community? do they want to recommit their lives to become more and more like Jesus? does the stone represent one step closer to Jesus and one step further away from selfishness? When they were ready, they could bring their stone to the foot of the cross and place it with the "Jesus stone."

The response time was open-ended, and left mostly in their hands as to how they chose to respond and when they wanted to leave. I have included a picture in the post of the stones as they were at the conclusion of the service.

forge

I ran across the Forge Mission Training Network (Australia) while reading The Shaping of Things to Come. FORGE is a missiological training center in Australia. They focus not only on the academic/theological issues of the emerging Church in the West, but also on practical/hands-on experience. Check out the site for yourself--especially if you're interested in this sort of thing.

9 weddings, 8 babies and Christmas

Every year someone asks me: "What do you want for Christmas?" Ugh. I have a strong disliking to that question. Whether justified or not, I feel selfish. So, I guess this year I'll re-update my Amazon wish list. That's usually what I tell folks: "Check out my Amazon wish list."

As it turns out, this year and next year are "crazy-give-gifts-to-everyone" years. Kim and I have been invited to or invovled in a ridiculous amount of weddings since our own on July 3 (somewhere around 9 I think... no joke). And, 8 of our friends are pregnant or having ("had" - congrats, Jay/Sally; Jruss/Aruss; Don/Kriss!) babies in the next 9 months. 'Tis the season to give and receive, I guess...

fun w/ rss

Well, I finally joined the new millennium and downloaded an RSS reader. (RSS = "Really Simple Syndication"... Basically it is a format for syndicating news, blogs and other stuph.) Anyway, got a tip from my bro to download THIS free RSS reader. I got it hoping it would save time--no longer jumping around from blog to blog, etc.. (BTW, my site feed is located in my menu to the left... look for "XML.") So, this reader is pretty spiffy stuff. I've put most of the blogs that I know of into the reader, so I get their posts in something similar to an e-mail format within the hour that they post. I have also signed up for BBC News, but can't seem to find the site feed for CNN or FOX... any help there?

today

Well, THE weekend is over! The Christmas Banquet went wonderfully. I wish I could say that I kept my head together for the weekend, but I was pretty darn stressed out. All I could do Sunday night was crawl into bed an exhausted person. I slept in late this morning, enjoyed a good workout at the gym, headed to the Bou for some coffee and got side-swiped. Yup. A car accident. The other person failed to yield, and she crushed the back end of my truck. It could have been worse. Well, she's at fault (police came and reported it) and her insurance will cover it, but it's still a bummer on this rainy day. It all happens for a reason...

port city

Currently hanging out at our Port City Java in Roswell. Why? WIFI is free here, and it's a pretty good connection! It's also the first coffee shop I've been in that reminds me of the internet cafes in Europe. If you live in the area, go check it out. They need the business (they're a start-up shop)...

new year resolution

Been thinking about what you will resolve to in 2005? I have an idea for you. Why not start your own blog?? (You know you've been secretly wanting to...) You've got 30 days 'till January. You can do it!

Theooze has a great article that can get you started. I've read over it and it has some pretty good advice whatever your experience with blogs. Check out the article: Theooze Annual Blog Tools Roundup.

You will be seeing some major [good] changes around my blog next year... just a heads up!