Archive for May, 2010
Upstream JetSet: sights and words of Paris
Posted by: | CommentsReflecting back a bit on the recent JetSet tour, I am posting some of the influences and expressions of the influenced from Paris and France. This post is part of a much larger subset of posts which I will list here soon as well as a smaller follow-on to the London edition of the same.
Paris Picture Collage
Literary Collage
- Human beings must be known to be loved; but Divine beings must be loved to be known.
- Imagination decides everything.
Blaise Pascal
- A witty saying proves nothing.
- Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.
Voltaire
- Being is. Being is in-itself. Being is what it is.
- Everything has been figured out except how to live.
- God is absence. God is the solitude of man.
Jean-Paul Sartre
Current Lessons from a Historic Church
Posted by: | CommentsThis week I had the privilege of participating in some interviews (behind the camera of course) offering me the opportunity to hear some good perspectives. One of these key interviews was with Ed Stetzer and Greg and Ruth Haslam of Westminster Chapel. Ed posted a piece with the video and helpful insight on “Involving all of God’s people on all of God’s mission.”
Here is some additional background information that may provide more scope and meaning for the video.
Westminster Chapel was planted in the early 1840’s. Some 25 years later, the church moved to its current location which had a large amount of poor people in the area. Some years after the church’s relocation, the word “slum” was introduced to the English language. This word was used for this area of London at that time. It had been for this very reason that the church had moved into this area according to the pastor’s wife, Ruth Haslam. Since that time the community has gone through a gentrification process.
There is a history of great preachers that led the church throughout its many years. These men include: Rev. Samuel Martin; Dr. G. Campbell Morgan; Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones; and Dr. RT Kendall. In our modern day it is more difficult to encourage and observe obedience with only a preaching point as the means for discipleship. Though not captured on the above video, Pastor Greg shared that the transition he is leading to establish community groups is necessary as church participants need to be participatory in becoming more obedient to the Savior and His mission.
London / Paris JetSet Tour Continues
Posted by: | CommentsHere is the latest from the JetSet in Europe. Follow The Upstream Collective and Ed Stetzer for more updates.
Jetset London // Debrief #1 from The Upstream Collective on Vimeo.
Upstream JetSet: sights & words of London
Posted by: | CommentsContinuing to enjoy being a part of the Upstream Collective JetSet Tour here in London, I hope to offer some aspects to help you be a part. As we are experiencing some of the cultural aspects, I thought it may be of value to share a bit of culture here through first a visual collage and second a literary collage.
London Picture Collage
Literary Collage
Batter my heart, three-person’d God ; for you
As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend…
John Donne, “Holy Sonnet 14″
You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world.
Beatles, “Revolution”
Come out upon my seas,
Cursed missed opportunities.
Am I a part of the cure,
Or am I part of the disease?
Coldplay, “Clocks”
Why then ’tis none to you; for there is nothing either good or
bad, but thinking makes it so. To me it is a prison.
Shakespeare, “Hamlet,” Act 2, Scene 2
Contextualization in an Urban, Global Center
Posted by: | CommentsIn London, England with The Upstream Collective, we had a stimulating discussion today about issues of contextualization in churches that are unique to London and many other urban, global centers. Questions were raised about whether or not metaphors, music, language, accents, etc. should be adjusted for the target audience. One of the realities dealt with was the presence of trans-nationals in urban, global centers. Additionally, there are nationals and a plethora of other distinct ethnic groups, etc.
To provide one thought on this discussion, I offer Malcolm Gladwell’s 2004 Ted talk where he shares about the market research of Dr. Howard Moskowitz. His findings on product research include the revolutionary findding that there is not a perfect product, but rather there are a number of perfect products. It seems that we have Dr. Moskowitz to thank for the retail dilemma of which of 13 different Crest toothpaste flavors to choose from. And about as many Colgate offerings, etc.
These findings also, I believe, speak to the numbers of and types of churches and church plants that are necessary to reach the transnationals and different people groups of an urban, global city such as London.
Your thoughts?
Jet Set in Western Europe
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By the time this posts, I should be in London. Over the next several days, I will be traveling with The Upstream Collective on their JetSet Tour here in the UK and in Paris. You will be able to find a number of interesting posts, video interviews, photos, etc. from the group that will be going. I will be tweeting and posting some links to other blogs where updates may be found in addition to posting some material here.
Following my time with the UC crew, I will be heading on to Spain to spend time with some old and new friends there. I look forward to bringing you some stories, images, and thoughts from western Europe.
Join us virtually on this trip to get a better understanding of what God is doing in this part of the world.
Church Metrics and Mustard
Posted by: | CommentsThis latest installment in the Michael Frost video series follows along sequentially in the original interview. Here, he draws heavily from his Purpose of the Church segment as he addresses the issue of what metrics would be appropriate for the church.
If you would like to view the previous Frost videos as well as other videos that present ideas important to the church, you may visit or subscribe to the almost an M You Tube channel or feel free to sign up at the top right-hand side of this blog page for email notifications or the RSS feed to add to your reader.
Thank you for being a part of this conversation in some way.
G2g: Professionalization
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Key principle #9 to move discipleship from great to good: Implement and promote the professionalization of discipleship.
good
It is both good and comforting to know that someone is responsible to ensure that the church is open at set times, that everything will be prepared for every meeting, that the worship service or outreach program will run smoothly. It is seemingly ideal if the person that will tend to these tasks is also seminary trained so that they will be qualified and able to pass out food to the hungry on behalf of the congregation and answer the complex questions of a child that is seeking to walk with Christ so a parent will not get tripped up.
Seeing how effective and eloquent professional ministers can be may lead lesser disciples bring the lost to the expert so that he can explain the love of God without error. Surely this is good. Surely he knows how to communicate with your co-workers, friends, and neighbors better than you do. Perhaps the shared community and history are irrelevant when sharing a contextualized gospel message.
Great
As the son of a carpenter, Jesus would have been taught in this trade throughout his formative years. From the tribe of Judah, Jesus should have left the priestly activities to the Levites. But He didn’t. Neither personally or in tasking others. Jesus took a ragamuffin group of men that were completely untrained and unqualified except for having spent time with Him out to declare that “the Kingdom of God is near you.” Multiple times. And the results? They were great. Really great. Upon hearing of what God the Father did through the lives of these very normal disciples, Jesus said: “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure” (Luke 10:21).
In the early church, the use of regular, everyday people had great impact. Early in the book of Acts the religious leaders “saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men. The author of Acts continued to say that the religious leaders “took note that [Peter and John] had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13) “Being with Jesus” was the requisite, transforming qualification for one to be able to impact the lives of others for His glory. That was the requirement to lead. That was what it took to function in the realm of the great. In this regard, not much has changed.
(In the excerpts from my non-book, Great to Good (G2g), truth or satire may be employed. At times, the two may even meet.)
God’s Stories
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Filmed in an undisclosed location for security reasons, the God’s Stories videos are simply brilliant in a number of ways. This video series makes a visual chronological storying of the stories that teach us about who God is and man’s relation to Him for Arabic speaking people. Additionally, the materials are to be translated into other dialects and languages as well.
Conceived as the G2 (GII) Project as it could have an enormous, transformational impact in the world similar to what Gutenberg’s press had some 6 centuries ago. In Arabic “with native born directors, production people, and designs,” the videos make His story available for those that previously have been unable to read these Spirit-breathed stories. The executive producer, John Dorr, describes the videos as “a set of dramatized Bible character stories developed on a foundation of storytelling – and telling them in the order they happen. These stories begin at the beginning with Adam & Eve, and move on through the Old & New Testament on to the Beloved Apostle, John on Patmos.”
At this time, the film-makers are trying to increase distribution. Toward that end, help spread the word. These life-changing videos are now being viewed in homes and some places of prayer for Arabic-speaking peoples.
I would recommend that you consider using these as a very fresh look at the God stories as they are told for a non-western audience. Spending some quiet time watching these stories may provide some new understanding of how these stories speak to us. (I would encourage you to watch at least the first 20 minutes to get a taste of how the story is told and the different perspective employed as it is told by Arab speakers for an Arabic people.)
Finally, enjoy and pray that these video stories would not return void. Also, I would encourage you to visit the God’s stories site or the corresponding YouTube channel where videos are being uploaded now.
Why?, How?, or What?
Posted by: | CommentsThis brief talk has significant implications in both the disciple-making and the church-planting process. Thanks to Larry McCrary, a founder of The Upstream Collective, for alerting me to the video.
To move forward, it is first essential that we identify our Why?, How? and What? Though not the only options, some major options are as follows:
Why? – For glory. But a follow-on that each must wrestle with is whether it is about His glory and/or ours?
How? - Make disciples and/or plant churches. Also may include acts of justice, blogging, writing articles and books, speaking, etc. There is an interesting discussion on this going on at David Fitch’s blog today.
What? – So many options here. Perhaps a point for consideration begins with the video in yesterday’s post.
Are we starting with and maintaining focus on the Why?, the How?, or the What? What are the implications?
