I’m Not Dead Yet!

I know it seems like the crickets have taken over here. I guess they kind of have lately. I’m finding that mentoring keeps me busier than school. I’m not sure what this space will be for in the future or if I will continue to use it. I’ve found some other excellent ways to share about my life (if you care) and family. I’m on Facebook and Twitter where I update almost daily about what I’m doing. I found an awesome site to share about the kids. If you’re interested email me lucasland [at] gmail [dot] com.

I’ve found an excellent niche over at What Would Jesus Eat? where I’ve been blogging about mentoring this summer in the series Riding with Ray. I hope this blog served a purpose for a while. Although it may be dormant for a season this summer, there may be a time when it is resurrected. So stay tuned.

War on Danish Dress Shop Owners

You thought that terrorists were middle eastern fundamentalist muslims. Turns out they are actually Danish dress shop owners. The craziest thing about this story is that I went to school in this town for a year as a Rotary Exchange Student.

“Christa Møllgaard-Hansen, owner of Christabella’s in the town of Maribo on Lolland, routinely buys women’s clothing and shoes from around the world to resell in Denmark. But a recent purchase of six dresses from Pakistan for $205 was considered by the American authorities to be money going to support terrorists.

The US froze the funds four months ago and contacted Møllgaard-Hansen’s bank, saying they wanted more information on the payment’s recipient. Møllgaard-Hansen had put all the necessary information into the original netbank payment, but complied with her bank’s request for the additional information.”

(HT Boing Boing)

Occasional Randomness

HOWTO start a flashmob

7 insane conspiracies that actually happened

Drawings of cartoon characters in middle- and old-age

To-Do List temporary tatts

10 worst movies about Jesus.

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter

Top ten reasons why the emerger didn’t cross the road?

Iraqis Angered After a Marine is Seen Handing Out Pro-Christian Coins in Fallujah

Los Simpson: live action Marge and Homer

via The Corner

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Mentoring Pre-Game Report

So, I recently gave you a quick overview of what I’ll be doing this summer for mentoring with the Killeen House Church Association. This is a little more in depth about the ground I’ll be covering and what I’ll be doing. I still don’t know a lot of details, because I don’t really know the day-to-day activities and functions of the association and house churches. Here’s what I do know…

I have to read 2000 pages. Here’s my reading list:

• Wolfgang Simson Houses That Change the World
• David Bosch Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission
• Scott A. Bessenecker The New Friars
• Ori Brafman The Starfish and the Spider
• James Halteman The Clashing Worlds of Economics and Faith
• Sharon Delgado Shaking the Gates of Hell: Faith-led Resistance to Corporate Globalization
• Darrell Guder Missional Church

I have already finished the Simson book and will post my thoughts soon. I am currently reading Bosch which I have not yet read because I skipped the intro missions course at Truett. It is by far the longest and most dense book. So, I’m trying to get it out of the way before the summer gets busy.

Here’s the rest of what I’ll be doing…

Contextualization- I’ll be observing, reflecting on and evaluating the contextualization of particular practices and rituals such as baptism and the Eucharist. For example, house churches baptize in everything from a swimming pool to the bathtub and communion could have tortillas and horchata instead of wafers and grape juice. Question: How do we determine what are (in)appropriate forms of contextualization?

Business/Economics- I’ll be studying what models and paradigms churches and/or ministries use to integrate business into their ministry as both a means of ministry and financial support. Question: What is the role of business and economics in the life and ministry of the church?

Church Models- Explore a variety of non-traditional models of church. Reflect and evaluate on the appropriateness, effectiveness and biblical theology of models. Question: What are the biblical boundaries and descriptions for what the church should look like?

Mission Lifestyle- I will interview a missionary about what it’s like being a missionary. Reflect on and evaluate the interview.

Culture- Interview an international student or family about their culture and reflect on the interview.

Local Church Missions-Interview a minister of missions about his role in the church and the church’s involvement in missions.

Community Ministry-Participate in a community ministry project and/or interview someone about the process of planning, research, development and implementation. Evaluate the value of the activity and the process of developing it.

Integration of Social Action and Evangelism-This is probably the center of what I hope to explore through a lot of the activities I will be doing. Find an example of a ministry that is primarily oriented towards social action and a ministry primarily concerned with evangelism and interview them concerning the integration of social action and evangelism in their ministry.

Witness- Visit a worship center or gathering of another religion. Interview a congregant/participant and record your observations, reactions and emotions from the event.

Worship-Plan and assist in leading a worship service. Evaluate the experience.

Church Planting- Visit a new church start. Understand the initiation of the church planting process, barriers to a successful plant, and principles for church planting.

This is what I will be reflecting on throughout the summer on this blog including experiences, books I’m reading and thoughts on what I’m learning.

Massive Book and CD sale

I’m still trying to figure out how to make a sweet amazon store a lá Adam Walker-Cleaveland. Either way I am putting a ton of books and CDs up for sale on amazon. 40+ CDs and 20+ books. The CDs are all Christian and some are actually good. Books are some emerging church, some theology textbooks, some fiction and other randomness. Take a look and support the Lucas Land Seminary Fund. Better hurry though I’ve already sold 11 items!

Speaking of Statements of Faith

I just saw these two cartoons from ASBO Jesus that were relevant to my Statement of Faith.

Compassion Fatigue

When the tsunami devastated the coast of Asia, Americans responded with unprecedented amounts of charitable donations. In one week a cyclone devastated Burma and an earthquake rocked Sichuan province in China. Yet, the response this time around has been slower with much fewer donations. I wonder what it is about some disasters that capture the imagination and heart of people and leads to an outpouring of support and why other, seemingly similar tragic events, do not get the same response.

The answer is sin, but honestly that’s not saying much is it? The world is a broken place and when we open ourselves to that brokenness it can quickly become overwhelming. We tend to quickly retreat to the safety of our own lives, personal problems and aspirations and try to block out the flood of tragedies, violence and injustice in the world. This is the effect of sin on the world as a whole and it is hard to swallow for individual human beings. The flip side is that it is our own personal brokenness that leads us to ignore the suffering of others and our own power to make a difference.

There are certainly other factors. The distance both in miles and culture definitely makes a difference. It’s a lot easier to give to people you identify with because they look like you. The economy is in a much different state this time around. And the list goes on…

The problem is we’re not supposed to get compassion fatigue. We should never tire of doing good. Jesus said that those who hungered and thirsted for righteousness were blessed. Another word for righteousness could be justice. The Hebrew concept is not only religious acts of piety, but doing what is right and as NT Wright says “putting the world to rights.”

Statement of Faith

I’m not a big fan of statement’s of faith from churches, organizations or people. These are different than the creeds which have a long history and traditional support and are also not unnecessarily narrow. These statements are usually just a doctrinal laundry list of pet issues and positions that put someone in an orthodoxy box and all others outside.

As a requirement for graduation, I had to write my own statement of faith that covered all the major areas of doctrine and included verses for support and theologians that have influenced me. Because Truett does not teach theology systematically this is a way for them to gauge the results of students’ experience in seminary. I have trouble, however, putting my own faith into the systematic box of a doctrinal statement. I would rather use a narrative approach to tell the story of Scripture in a way that connects with our own story.

Like I said it is required for graduation so i did it. It’s kind of an interesting task to sum up what the results of my seminary experience are. So, I thought I would share it here so you can see for yourself the results of three years of seminary training and let me know your verdict whether I am a saint or heretic. This is what lots of student loans and high gas bill can get you…

The Summer of Mentoring

This summer I will be mentoring with Jim Mellon and the Killeen House Church Association. This is one of my final requirements for seminary. It will be a busy summer. I’m reading 2000 pages. The centerpiece of my mentoring experience is going to be planting a church and within two months training a leader and turning over leadership to them. Sounds crazy to me, but an exciting experiment in alternative models of church and stepping out in faith to see what God does this summer. The other main component is a series of interviews and studies concerning the relationship between social action and evangelism and how various ministries and people integrate them.

I’m going to try and blog through the experience this summer as I process everything that’s happening. I know blogging has slowed down around here as I focus more on the WWJE blog, and it may continue to be slow through a busy summer. I would like to use this space as an opportunity to process what I’m learning this summer. So, stay tuned for Lessons from the Trenches.