The Thirst For Encounter - Kayla McClurg in Inward/Outward

To meet one another beyond surface identities, to share our thirst, is to discover who we are, more than creed or race or condition.

Even all the new and improved, enlightened “shoulds and should nots” we have created as antidote to the old oppressions, even these do not fulfill us. Try as we might to be satisfied, we never will find fulfillment by keeping rules or even by doing good work for good causes. The fight against racism and economic disparity and poverty and all manner of injustice is simply the response we make to the God we love.

But what we long for most deeply? It is to wake up to wonder. In Mary Oliver’s words, it is “to be a bride married to amazement.” Married not to many rules, or many causes, but to the depths of encounter.

Here, alongside the Samaritan woman, we see that to meet one another beyond surface identities, to share our thirst, is to discover who we are, more than creed or race or condition. We are vessels for amazement, created for communion, for wellsprings of wonder to flow fresh and free.

The full article is available here

Benediction: Life Itself Is Grace (based on Romans 8:28)

Life has both ups and downs. There are twists and turns in the road that each of us travels. But no matter where life takes us or what comes across our paths, we can count on the unfathomable love of God.

So may we be on the look out for that divine love wherever we are on our journey. May we remember  that life itself - and those who travel it with us - are God's grace to us.

As we receive that grace, may we also pour out in love to the world around us.

Church Music Needs New Vocabulary – Richard Kentopp in Hopeful Realism

“You’re a giving member; you’re a leader at this church. I don’t really care what you think of our music. But I want you to tell me if you think it's not going to connect with your friends or your coworkers, then you can give me critique and I’ll listen to it.”

What I think has been lost, and one reason why the church in general is hemorrhaging young people, is our ability to make music that makes sense both musically and lyrically to young people.

"Praise & Worship" music makes sense to people who grew up listening to “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High” & “Heart of Worship.” But from a very young age, a lot of Christians, myself included, didn't connect with “youth group music.”

There are plenty of people that need to be given the vocabulary with which to worship God, and have a hard time singing those songs (for perfectly legitimate spiritual reasons).

The church has done a pretty poor job giving outsiders a chance to connect. I always try to plan for our worship gatherings from the perspective of someone having their very first worship gathering experience.

What I’ve found is that success lies in getting the people who have been coming forever to come around to that understanding.

I often say to them, “You’re a giving member; you’re a leader at this church. I don’t really care what you think of our music. But I want you to tell me if you think it's not going to connect with your friends or your coworkers, then you can give me critique and I’ll listen to it.”

We’re on a mission. I’m not here to provide an emotional experience on Sundays, I’m there to help connect people to God and connect them to each other. Emotions will inevitably happen.

The full article is available here

Responsive Call to Worship: Finding God In Times of Trouble (based on Lamentations 3:22-24)

     Longing To Be Loved - Unknown

Reader: God, we need to remember that your love is bottomless.
All: Your mercy doesn't fade-out.

Reader:There's no bottom of the barrel when it comes to your grace.
All: Help us to remember this and to remind each other of it, especially when it feels least true.

Reader: When doubt, fear, and every kind of trouble surrounds us, we often wish to escape.
All: But God, these times do not mean that we are alone. You remain within and around us.

Reader: When we begin to look for you with this in mind, we then begin to see you everywhere.
All: It's because of this tenacious, messy, real-life love for us that we feel the need to give praise.

Reader: God, thank you for those who are your hands and feet to us.
All: Thank you for the privilege of being your hands and feet to others.

Reader: The joy and gratitude we feel for the way that you provide for us is overflowing.
All: This is the reason that we sing and give praise.

Reflection and Renewal: Finding God In Times of Trouble (based on Lamentations 3:22-24)

     Longing To Be Loved - Unknown

God, your love is endless. Your mercy doesn't fade-out and there's no bottom of the barrel when it comes to your grace.

Help us to remember this and to remind each other of it, especially when it feels least true.  When doubt, fear, and every kind of trouble surrounds us, we often wish to escape.  

But God, these times do not mean that we are alone. You remain within and around us. If we keep that in mind as we seek glimpses of grace, we can begin to see you everywhere. 

God, thank you for those who are your hands and feet to us. Thank you for the privilege of being your hands and feet to others.

Amen.

One Year In: The Joyful Surprise of Pope Francis - Jim Wallis in Sojourner's

Are we ready to love, embrace, forgive, and show mercy as Jesus would have us do and Francis has tried to exemplify? Are we ready to stand with and give our lives for the poor and call the global economy not just to charity, but to justice?

Everything Francis is saying and doing is aimed at pressing this question: Are Christians going to follow Jesus or not? That should be the question on the first anniversary of this new pope. Are we Christians ready and willing to follow Jesus? How can we then serve the world?

Are we ready to love, embrace, forgive, and show mercy as Jesus would have us do and Francis has tried to exemplify? Are we ready to stand with and give our lives for the poor and call the global economy not just to charity, but to justice? Are we willing to take “a preferential option for the poor,” as Catholic social teaching describes it, the way Francis has and apply it to both our personal and public lives?

Pope Francis has lifted up the priority of the poor in ways that are challenging the world from the top to the bottom. I had a meeting with Jim Yong Kim this week, the president of the World Bank. Kim, who has already met with Pope Francis, said that preferential option for the poor is his driving motivation as a “banker,” which is changing the mission of the World Bank. I heard a top political operative on the “religious right” say on a national news show that Pope Francis has placed the poor at the center of the gospel where they belong. My question to the powerful broker would have been, “How is that going the change your life and your public policy commitments?”

The full article is available here

Predestination is Bad Theorizing - Frederick Buechner

Blessing: Love Is God's Essence, So Let Us Be Loving (based on Ephesians 5:1-2)

If we pay attention to what God does, then we'll know what to do and how to do it, just as an apprentice learns a trade from a craftsman.

Love is God's very essence and nature, so we should learn a life of love. Jesus is the best example we have of this. We need to remember the way that Jesus loved; not cautiously but extravagantly, not in order to get something in return but to bring out the best in everyone and everything. 

That is the example we should follow, with our lives full of that kind of love.

Prayer of Reflection based on Matthew 5:13

Salt and Light by Bernie Rosage Jr.

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste,
how can its saltiness be restored?” -- Matthew 5:13

Please join me in prayer ...

"God, you placed us in the world to be its salt.
We've been reluctant to commit ourselves,
afraid of what it could cost us.
We have turned away from cries for mercy
and our salt dissolved as if in water.
Forgive us.

You placed us in the world to be its light.
We've been afraid of the shadows,
afraid of the poverty.
We have passed by people created in your image
who made us uncomfortable
and our light has faded away.
Forgive us.

God, you placed us in the world to live in community.
You hardwired us to love,
to share in life,
to struggle for mercy and justice,
May your grace take root and come to life in us.

Amen."

Responsive Call To Worship: Where Love Rules Over All (based on Proverbs 16:7)

The Forge (Swords Into Plowshares) by Bo Bartlett

Reader: God of grace, we have come to catch a glimpse of your kingdom of kindness …
All: … a world where loves rules over all, where enemies embrace.

Reader: We want to see a world where division and fear disappear in light of your love.
All: We come to be reminded again of who you are, what you've done, and will continue to do.

Reader: You are loving and trustworthy and you don't give up on us.
All: God, we know you can transform us.

Reader: Turn our hearts to be more like yours.Your love is limitless and your grace is overflowing.
All: For this, we give you thanks and praise.

The Church: Astroturf or Grassroots? - Jeff Wiersma

Here is the bottom line: chasing passing trends in pop culture or commodified churchianity doesn't make us excellent. It makes us redundant!

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was a trend in professional sports stadium construction that saw the rise of multi-purpose stadiums.  Among them were Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Busch Stadium in St Louis and Veteran's Stadium in Philadelphia.  They were cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all stadiums meant to host both professional baseball and football games.  Their playing surface was that epitome of modernism; AstroTurf.

But by 1990's, these seemingly cutting-edge complexes were quickly becoming dinosaurs.  The turf destroyed many knees and ligaments, even ending careers in an instant.  Their cookie-cutter field layouts in no way reflected the unique character and culture of their home city.  With the construction of Camden Yards in Baltimore and the subsuquent old-charm parks that followed, the cookie cutter stadium's simultaneous lack of historical feel and contemporary relevance left them weeded out and left behind. 

In his article 'The Church: Imitate or Innovate?' Jordan Davis raises a point about something quite similar that has always seemed to rub me the wrong way in the American Church. I like to call it the franchising of the church, or "McChurchianity." As a recovering evangelical, I have seen more than my fair share of churches attempting to franchise programs or trends in a top-down manner.

Davis writes:

"When the church attempts to imitate culture, it usually falls short. The result is that they wind up excelling in mediocrity. Granted, I'm sure that's not the goal, but sadly mediocrity is what seems to be offered.

We all realize that a copy is never as good as the original. Unfortunately, we have a difficult time grasping this truth in the church. We have ceased innovating and settled for imitating.

Here is the bottom line: chasing passing trends in pop culture or commodified churchianity doesn't make us excellent. It makes us redundant!

I think it's time we free ourselves from the bondage of imitation by pursuing innovation. What I am suggesting is that we innovate our current models while incorporating Biblical methods. We need the revolutionary truth we posses to reshape everything we do — from our marketing, our music, our message to our evangelism."

From my experience, this difference between a top-down, franchise approach to church and locally-flavored, grassroots innovation is hard to overstate. It's as a stark a contrast as the one between injury-causing, artificial AstroTurf that is trucked in and rolled out and actual living grass, which must take root in the very soil of each city.

AstroTurf and its installation were antiseptic, sterile and top-down.  It was an infinitely faster process with seemingly flawless results and a uniform surface.

Grass and its growth are organic. It requires soil preparation before you can even put a single seed down. Then there is planting the seeds, rolling them into the soil to ensure that they can take root, shading the seeds from scorching sunlight, and watering the seeds adequately. Once the lawn begins ro grow, the work has only just begun. It needs to be fed so that the soil's pH balance is correct. Weeds need to be removed to prevent their broad leafs from stealing nutrients and water from the grass and preventing sunlight from getting in. Each of these stages necessitates the rolling up of sleeves and the dirtying of hands.

4 Reasons We Don't Sing "Praise Songs" At Our Gatherings - Richard Kentopp

People outside the church don’t listen to Christian Contemporary Music, and its not because of their poor spiritual state. It’s because it's second-rate.

If you stumble into a Servant Church or Mosaic worship gathering for the first time you will immediately notice one thing: you don’t recognize most of the songs we sing together.

For better or worse, you will get a unique musical worship experience at each of the community gatherings I lead.  Attribute it to my deep desire to help restore creativity to God’s church, my indie-rock pedigree, or sheer contrarianism: we don’t ever employ any Contemporary Christian Music.

This is not to say that we don’t praise and worship God. It is, however, to say that we don’t employ music from the highly commercialized genre called ‘Praise & Worship’. 

Why Not? I’m among a growing population that is not helped by this music.  And to be honest, I think that most of this music sucks.

1. Much of it is Lyrically Anemic
Lyrically it seems that much of it is made for children and the parents who purchase the music for them.  The bottom line for me is that most popular praise and worship songs simply don’t say many of the things I want to say to or about God. I have found that I am not alone.

2. Musically it is Lacking
Most contemporary music in white western churches is based on the premise that mimicking a popular artist/style/trend will somehow convince people that listen to regular music to abandon it for the Christianized copy.

3. Christians Aren’t Being Creative In Their Sunday Worship
Due to the lowest common denominator nature of CCM and P&W,  we aren't exposed to a new expression of faith in God.  We should reflect the sophisticated, complex, and beautiful God that we worship.

4. It Doesn’t Help Us Reach Those Outside the Church Doors
People outside the church don’t listen to CCM, and its not because of their poor spiritual state. It’s because it's second-rate.  Genre is language. We can’t have people walk through our doors the first time and immediately realize that they don’t know the language. And worse, that they’ll have to learn it to participate.

The full article is available here

Why Doesn't He - Daniel Brown at Do justice

Too often we are content with a fundamentalist reading of society that limits our view to simplistic boot straps "common sense" and a theology of blame.  Neither of these ubiquitous heresies leads to grace and yet we accept them.

John* was walking along the sidewalk. He wore faded, black denim jeans and an Iron Maiden t-shirt underneath his studded leather jacket. Far removed from the latest fashion trends, he was decidedly a child of the 80s as he lit the cigarette he just bummed from someone passing by.

"He should work like the rest of us."

Perhaps. I won't argue the point. What I would argue, however, is that in this "common sense" statement of moral outrage and judgement we have committed a fundamental injustice: we have absolved ourselves of collective sin without any notion of reconciliation.

Even though we made John.

We made him when we bullied him on the playground and in our silence told our kids it was okay. We made him when we thought taxes were too high to justify allocating resources on kids without potential. We made him when our tough on crime agendas made us feel safer and righteous.

The pursuit of justice and reconciliation, the core of our gospel message, requires that we have a more robust theology of sin. Too often we are content with a fundamentalist reading of society that limits our view to simplistic boot straps "common sense" and a theology of blame.

Neither of these ubiquitous heresies leads to grace and yet we accept them. We accept them because they are easy.  We have accumulated poor theology that blinds us not only to the process of reconciliation but to the fullness of grace itself.

The full article is available here

Ken Ham and Bill Nye Debate Doesn't Reflect Reality - Christian Piatt in Sojourners

Science and spirituality only work if, beneath it all, we keep the notion that it's very likely, if not inevitable, that much of what we think and believe is true today will change tomorrow. And that's okay. It's part of being human.

The desire of a vocal minority to cling to a notion that the entire universe is a few thousand years old, despite the clear physical evidence to the contrary, points less to a reasonable alternate view of the observable world.  Rather, it points to a desperate attempt to maintain a dying voice in the cultural conversation. It’s the sound of a once culturally dominant voice trying to resist its own marginalization to the fringes of a society who values the pursuit and evolution of human thought.

The reality is that a healthy number of us who consider ourselves to be Christian embrace science. We think critically. We accept the likelihood that much we think we understand about the world, the universe, and about our faith can (and should) change as we learn new things.

We understand that faith is more about questions than answers, and that the prime mover in our faith practice is to be more like Jesus (especially with how we treat others) rather than focusing so much on trying to make others more like us.

Science figured out something long ago that religion still struggles with. Built into the scientific method is the assumption that all hypotheses and theories should be held loosely, and ultimately, released in exchange for new ones when the evidence before us calls for it.  Religion, on the other hand, tends to carve out a position and defend it tirelessly, from generation to generation, sometimes to the death. Never mind if it’s clearly absurd, counter-intuitive, and based in bronze-age thinking.

Science and spirituality only work if, beneath it all, we keep the notion that it's very likely, if not inevitable, that much of what we think and believe is true today will change tomorrow. And that's okay. It's part of being human.

The full article is available here

A Justice Confession - Jodi Koeman at Do justice

photo by Jodi Koeman

Behind the call for justice there is a little secret, something I don’t think we like to admit. We like the idea of justice more than we like “doing justice”.

You see, I think I’m someone who works for justice, and who tries, as the Old Testament writers describe, “to put things right”, but when I’m honest, I wonder if justice is more of a hobby than a lifestyle for me.

Justice sure is easier when you are not the one stuck in the mess. As we gain more power, we often gain more distance and disengagement. Our vision for justice seems so simple and clear. We discuss the topics, we write the letters, and we voice our opinions with such confidence. We know the ins and outs of the issues, and we can’t believe that “other people” act unjustly. We say, “Why can’t they...?” “I can’t believe they…” “How could they!” Justice no longer becomes something to live out; it merely becomes something to fight for.

What’s the difference? Living out justice means you are part of the action, you are engaged in the struggle, your life looks differently because of justice. Fighting for justice means you can step in and out of the “ring” when it is convenient for you. Fighting can be done at a distance; living out justice is an up close activity. To be honest, at my best moments, I think I’m just fighting for justice, and it’s leaving me feeling a little shallow.

The full article is available here

A Way of Blessing - Kayla McClurg at Inward/Outward

There is no “maybe” in any of his statements, and there is no future tense. He says, “Blessed are you—right now—when…,” not “Blessed are you—maybe in the future—if….”

When Jesus says blessed are the poor in spirit and those who mourn and are meek and merciful, he is not giving preemptive encouragement for the challenging times that surely will come in our lives. He is not saying, if you someday have sadness and grief, you will be blessed, or if you are wronged or persecuted, you can count on God using it in some way.

What he describes are not possibilities, nor probabilities, but the actual current realities.

There is no “maybe” in any of his statements, and there is no future tense. He says, “Blessed are you—right now—when…,” not “Blessed are you—maybe in the future—if….”

The magnet of God’s blessing tugs strongest at those who already know poverty of spirit and grief, who know humility and loss and what it means to hunger for the food of God. They lean toward mercy, probably because they have suffered the withholding of mercy in their own lives. They see life simply, with pure hearts, because events have stripped away the clouds of ego and pretense. They tend to be peacemakers because they already have experienced persecution and blame.

When Jesus says, “Blessed are you when…,” he is talking to folks who already have known the heavy boot of oppression and are uniquely prepared to rise up and follow. People who are low in spirit, hungering for justice and hoping for some hope, right now.

The full article is available here

A Light In This World - Mother Theresa

The Power Of The Gospel - Charles Moore

Beginning Again - Kayla McClurg at Inward/Outward

Haven’t we all at some point headed for water when we didn’t know where else to go? Whether ocean or lake or creek, the simple sounds of water meeting earth and rocks can remind us of our small place in God’s big plan. We can release our disappointment and hone in on the heart of the vision; we can call forth new partners; we can begin again.

According to Luke, Jesus begins his public ministry by preaching and teaching regularly in and around his hometown synagogue, until the day he reads Isaiah’s provocative words about good news to the poor and captives being released. This is too much to take from a local boy, a carpenter’s son, and a mob runs him out of town.

Now the first beginning has completely unraveled—John has been arrested. The whole mission is in meltdown. What is happening? Can it all be ending so soon? Wasn’t John going to be a key player? Is Jesus totally on his own now? Surely God intended more, but what is it? With whom? How? Where?

There is little to do but move on. Sometimes moving on is not so much chosen as accepted. We thought we knew how things would go, but then we are cast out into new lands. For Jesus it’s Capernaum, right by the sea, where he can listen to the ancient rhythms of water, where he can pray and ponder what to do now.

Haven’t we all at some point headed for water when we didn’t know where else to go? Whether ocean or lake or creek, the simple sounds of water meeting earth and rocks can remind us of our small place in God’s big plan. We can release our disappointment and hone in on the heart of the vision; we can call forth new partners; we can begin again.

Walking by the water, Jesus notices some fishermen, prepping for a big catch. He sees how motivated they are, how diligent to the tasks at hand. On the far side of failure, Jesus has nothing to lose. He can risk playing the fool as he calls out to them, “Follow me!”

And they do! Leaving their boats and nets and even a wide-eyed father behind, just like that, they embark on an adventure of a lifetime, the ripples of which are still rocking history. All because one person didn’t need everything to go his way. All because one person took the risk of trying again. We can, too. We can be on this kind of journey, moving on when it’s time to move on, calling forth and being called forth. We can make a way where there seems to be no way.

The full article is available here

Reflection and Renewal: Jeremiah 29:13

The Seeker by Dalgis Edelson

Introduction:
The Old Testament book of Jeremiah contains this promise in Chapter 29, Verse 13: "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

With that promise in mind, let's turn to God with all our hearts, minds, and souls in prayer.

Prayer:
"God, we have so much to be thankful for. When we consider all of the blessings and grace that surround us in life, when we remember how Jesus' death and resurrection frees us from the weight of judgment and guilt, and we see how we can be your hands and feet to each other, we are overwhelmed with gratitude.

However, we all-too-easily revert back to only thinking about our own little world. We want our pain to end, we want our friend to be healed or for our loved one to stop hurting themselves and others.

When we don’t get the answer we want, when the results aren’t exactly what we were looking for, we think that you either aren’t listening or don’t care.

We need to confess that we are often selfish and demanding, and for this we ask forgiveness. Help us always to remember that you promise to be found when we seek you with all our heart.

Amen.

Benediction: Love All and Serve All (based on Philippians 4:4-9)

May we show a gentle attitude toward everyone and everything. May we be on the lookout for places where things need to be made right; where justice, love, and harmony need to break through.

If we put into practice the example Jesus gave, we can help those life-giving and life-sustaining things to happen in our time and place.

May we love and serve all of creation and may the kind of peace that Jesus emanated be with us and radiate from us.

Responsive Call To Worship: Quiet, Confident Expectation (based on Isaiah 40:31)

Reader: All of creation stands together in awe of the one who hears our prayers.
All: God, we wait in expectation for you.

Reader: In the same way that you bring order from chaos and bring renewal and life to the universe ...
All ... we know that you move, in grace, towards us.

Reader: Even though we are imperfect and broken, you invite us near.
All: We come together to respond, in praise, for your how your spirit moves in our souls.

Reader: We thank you for how you long to have connection and relationship with us.
All: Make our lives themselves a song of joy to you, God.

Benediction: Walking On God's Path (based on Colossians 2:6-7)

If we count ourselves among those who have chosen to follow Jesus' example, we should continue to follow a path of love and grace in our lives so that God's goodness overflows from us.

In that pursuit, may the mercy of God, the love of Jesus Christ, and the abiding presence of God’s Spirit surround us and uphold us wherever we go.

Benediction - Love Is Our Priority (based on 1 John 4:19-21)

When love is our priority, we open space in our lives to experience wonder; strangers become friends and superficial boundaries disappear. The tame, sometimes dried-up streams of love that originate in our souls become overflowing, rushing torrents.

In this week, may we honor God - who we readily say that we love - by loving ourselves and our neighbors; especially when it feels most difficult to do so.

Responsive Advent Call To Worship: God Shows Up (based on Psalm 25)

Reader: Let us reach out with our hearts and souls to God, who's coming we celebrate this season.
All: God continues to meet us where we are; stooping down to show us love and compassion.

Reader: God, you show up in all kinds of places, like mangers, homeless shelters ...
All: ... emergency rooms, prisons, soup kitchens, even church.

Reader: Help us to look for your arrival and guidance ...
All: ... even where we'd least expect it.

Reader: God, help us to see you in the midst of real life ...
All: ... in all of its interruptions, frustrations, busyness and disappointments.

Reader: Thank you, God, for your constant presence in our lives.
All: We give you grateful praise.