David’s Bucket

I really like reading Bob Hyatt’s blog. Bob is a new church start pastor in Portland, Oregon. So, I enjoy reading his thoughts first and foremost because I think a church plant might be something I would consider in the future. More importantly, though, I keep up with Bob because he is so transparent about the struggles we all deal with in ministry. Like most people, I really appreciate knowing that someone else is working through many of the same emotions that I deal with on a regular basis. One of his latest post, Pressure, is a great example of Bob sharing something that really hit home with me as well… I recommend checking out the entire post, but I want to highlight one section where he says:

“We had a real (over) emphasis on the actual gathering. I honestly thought at the time that if we had a cool gathering, a great community would be formed around it. I now know that the opposite is true- gather a good community and the time you gather as a whole community will largely take care of itself, flowing out of the goodness of the community itself.”

As I’ve processed through the development of our Mosaic community, I’ve really experienced some of these same feelings, i.e… the pressure to craft a great community experience at (sometimes) the expense of developing community. The problem is developing community takes time, energy, resources, and most importantly, it takes the investment of all of those who seek to participate in the community. Finding time in my own schedule, much less inspiring everyone else to do so, is enough of an issue to make this community development project extremely difficult. Of course, the irony is that for most of us, we’d exchange a great gathering for the experience of being a part of a real community.

So, maybe I’ve got it backwards… Maybe I’m investing myself in the wrong way. I appreciate Bob’s honesty because it invites me to ask myself questions that I probably wouldn’t have the courage to do otherwise…

While we are on the subject of Mars Hill, I thought I would also share something the Mars Hill community is calling the XYZ. Again, you may have heard Rob talk about this if you regularly listen to their podcast, but the leadership of Mars Hill decided to put their heads together and dream about ways in which their community, in partnership with local agencies and officials, could bless their community. When I was at Church of the Resurrection last fall they also talked about trying to do something similar in the Kansas City. Basically, two large churches seeing that they have the resources to implement major social change in their communities and deciding to do something about it.

Mars Hill has set these audacious goals.

• Every Kid in West Michigan Should Have Food and Shelter.
• The poorest of Grand Rapids who are willing and able should be given a chance to earn a living.
• The poorest people in the world should be given a chance to help themselves.

Here’s what they say about why they are doing this…

“When we start to make a big, noticeable difference among kids in West Michigan who need food and shelter and when we can actually start pulling loads of poor people out of poverty in Grand Rapids and beyond through micro finance… a whole new conversation will start about what the church is and who Jesus is.”

wow.

Read more.

The title of this post is the name of Dan Kimball’s latest book that just released. This is a book that I’ve been looking forward to reading for quite a while now. I attended a seminar of Dan’s a few years ago and much of what he shared was the beginning of this book project. If you’ve had the chance to hear Dan speak or attend one of his seminars, you have probably been a bit taken aback by Dan’s quiet spirit. (Especially if you saw a picture of him first!) What I have been impressed with is the way he communicates his genuine concern and desire to listen to those outside the church.

Questions addressed in the book include:

• Isn’t the church just organized religion that is politically motivated?
• Is the church homophobic?
• Does it take the entire Bible literally?
• Does the church repress women?
• Is it judgmental and negative?
• Does it arrogantly think all other religions are wrong?

If you are interested in reading a sample from this book, click here.

Technorati Tags: Dan Kimball

A few months ago I was listening to an interview with Rob Bell. I think it was from the Catalyst podcast, but I can’t be sure. Anyways, he was asked a pretty interesting question near the end of the interview. It went something like, “Rob, your church is obviously one of the largest churches in America and yet we don’t ever hear you talk about Evangelism. Can you explain that?” Rob’s response went something like this….

When someone becomes a mom or a dad or a grandparent for the first time, you don’t have to train them how to talk about their kids or grandkids. You don’t have to remind them that it’s important to show everyone pictures of the new additions to their families. People naturally talk about what they love. If people have to be trained to talk about Jesus… Well, then something has gone horribly wrong…

I’ve really taken that response to heart, and it’s made me think about something I love to talk about. In case you haven’t picked up on this, I love to talk about Apple computers, and (this is where it gets even more weird) I even keep a count of the number of people that I “convert.” Today when I walked into class, sitting on my neighbor’s desk was a brand new Macbook. I guess our previous conversations about something that I love had made a difference in his life…

So, the question is this…

Does the church really need more Evangelism training?

Or is there something deeper going on here?

Technorati Tags: Evangelism

One of the most well known “emerging” churches is Solomon’s Porch in Minnesota. This video, from Tony Jones’ blog shares an inside look. Enjoy.

Technorati Tags: Solomon’s Porch

So far Lauren has shared some thoughts about the use of the “Rooney Rule” in church and Steve emailed me to let me know that he was formulating a post on his blog about the idea, but I’m interested in what some other’s might think! Click on the community conversation link in the sidebar to share your thoughts.

Tony Dungy’s team, The Indianapolis Colts, won the Super Bowl last night. (For those who might have missed that!) His team defeated the Chicago Bears coached by Lovie Smith. Two weeks ago, Lovie Smith became the first African American head coach ever to earn a trip to the Super Bowl after his team defeated the New Orleans Saints. Later that day, his friend and former mentor joined him in that historic distinction.

The presence of the first African American coaches ever to coach in the Super Bowl has introduced the question of whether the Rooney Rule should still be enforced in the NFL. For those who don’t know, the Rooney Rule mandates that every owner, when searching for a head coach, must interview at least one candidate who is a minority. Both Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy were asked whether this rule was still necessary given the success of their teams. Both of them supported the rule and it’s continued enforcement in the league to ensure that minority candidates get the opportunity to interview for positions around the league. I tend to agree.

But I think the discussion raises another interesting question. In their hiring processes, should churches seek to enforce something similar to the Rooney rule?

You have probably heard the statement that Sunday mornings continue to be the most segregated moments in the life of our country. Almost every part of American culture has had to deal with forced immigration, but sadly (I think), our churches have not. I bring up the question because my Senior Pastor and I have had several conversations about how beneficial it would be to bring some racial diversity to our staff. It’s only one step forward, but as we have seen in the NFL, it might take a step like this to begin the process.

I know that I have been pretty intensive recently in the “mac vs pc” category. I certainly know that it’s one of the things about the way I blog that probably kills people’s enthusiasm for being a reader of my blog. I tend to jump around a lot rather than sharpening the focus here. But with the recent news about the iPhone, Microsoft’s recent release of Vista, and Apple’s impending launch of Leopard, there have been some interesting caveats to explore…

Which brings me to the recent rumors that we’re reported yesterday here and here that Microsoft has (perhaps desperately) decided that they need to develop a Zune phone. If you’re wondering why I believe this might be a desperate move from Microsoft, watch this video of Steve Ballmer’s response to the iPhone.

For Microsoft’s sake, I hope this is just a rumor. This scenario just doesn’t sound like one that is going to work out well for Microsoft. Apple, who I think most would have a hard time arguing doesn’t have a tremendous advantage in terms of hardware development, spends 2 1/2 years dreaming and developing a product. We’re also led to believe that over the past few years, Apple has come close to releasing this product, but has postponed it on several occasions because it didn’t meet Steve Job’s high standards. If we are to believe these stories, Microsoft execs got together on a Wednesday to put together their thoughts about a Zune phone that will be released at the end of this year… Hmmm…

Here’s the jump to my context.

There are times when I feel like a serve a “Microsoft-minded” church. What do I mean by that? Its the mindset that always leaves you lagging behind, having meetings on a Wednesday to design something that has to be extraordinary, but in the end become something quite different. It’s the mindset that says we have to produce something even if we know the product isn’t really worth investing in… And it’s the mindset that finds you having to work harder and harder because the product that you have been producing continues to hurt your constituent’s perception of your ability to produce something remarkable.

Which church do you want to be a part of?

Update: Read this and tell me if Bill Gates is bitter.