This is the introduction to a new article series called "Perspectives on Church Planting" that I am writing for the Calvary Church Planting Network.
I just posted the first article called 'Understanding Your Context'
Here's the introduction to the article.
At the time of this writing (March 2009), it has been about a year and a half since I began the Calvary Church Planting Network. I began the ministry as a resource to church planters. I saw the need for the ministry based on my personal experiences as a young church planter. Having planted two churches in the past six years, one on each coast, both in decidedly anti Christian areas, I began to see that there was a need to fill in an educational and relational gap for church planters. Having grown up in a ministry context that was simply ‘see a need, meet a need’, I took it upon myself to begin to compile resources, write articles, and put up a website and blog to have information on the web for church planters. Now a year and a half later, I am even more convinced of the necessity of this ministry. Since we began, I have corresponded with literally hundreds of church planters (via email, telephone, and sometimes in person) and potential church planters who have contacted me through the website. I find it a great privilege to be able to encourage, pray, and be involved in these men’s lives. These men have picked up their lives and families and heeded the call to see new transformational Christian communities established. Oftentimes they are working full time to keep their families going while trying to see a church get going (which easily translates into 70+ hour work weeks) all the while being many miles away from their personal support base. Over these last 18 months or so, in talking to men from all over the place, I’ve found that certain themes have emerged as major areas of discussion. My hope is that over the next month or so, to write a series of articles called Perspectives on Church Planting. Some of the major themes of discussions that I’ve had with church planters, and have pondered/experienced myself, are understanding your context, the necessity of being ‘called’, how to deal with church attendance, understanding your context, actually doing outreach with a small church, the need for pastoral fellowship, and the need for delegation, casting vision, and leader development. I’m hoping to write articles on these topics individually, as well as anything else that seems pertinent.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
I Think A Clarification is Needed - Re: Mark Driscoll 'We are a Movement' Bootcamp Message
What follows is thoughts based on Mark Driscoll's talk that you can find here.
First let me say that I have nothing against Mark Driscoll. I have advocated, both on this blog and on other's, that before his own master a servant stands or falls. That master is not the blogosphere, nor the court of public opinion, but the true and living God. He is Mark Driscoll's Master and it's to Him that we all will give account for our ministries. God is using Mark and I continue to pray for him.
Second let me say that I am a Calvary Chapel pastor and church planter and I've been one for 8 years now. What will follow is not some sort of sour grapes, as I'm not sour as all. I am writing a clarification because I think one is necessary. Mark didn't ask me to write one. I am taking it upon myself to write it because I think it is important for perspectives to be clarified.
In the body of Mark's discussion on how Acts 29 is a movement, he addresses other church planting movements and he inevitably comes to Calvary Chapel (and the Pentacostal CC offshoot, Vineyard). First I applaud him for that. The reason that I do is because as I hang in denominational circles as I do, and read many books by denominational/seminary professors on church planting, I'm shocked that people aren't talking about Calvary more. 1300 churches in 40 years is a movement indeed. It is great disservice to the greater body of Christ to not at least acknowledge the organic church planting movement of Calvary Chapel in this generation. So I applaud him for making mention of his semi-pelagian brothers.
But as he discusses both Calvary and Vineyard (and I'm going to leave off his slanted takes on Calvary and Lonnie Frisbee that he got from David DiSabbatino and his leanings) he keeps emphasizing that what Calvary did in 30 years, we'll have done in 5 years. What Vineyard did in 20 years we'll have done in 3. Now I realize that at an Acts 29 Bootcamp they want to show their guys (or potential guys) that they are a part of something big. And they are. All conferences are like that. The body of Christ is like that. There is little doubt that Acts 29 is going to be a force in evangelicalism in the 21st century. But Mark's characterization is not a good analogy. Here's why-
1) Acts 29 wants to be a movement, Calvary Chapel did not
The goal of Acts 29 was to facilitate church planting. Calvary Chapel was simply a church pastored by a guy who God chose to use. Chuck Smith never sought to 'facilitate' church planters (and much to my dismay the movement shys away from any centralized facilitating or helping of church planters)
2) Acts 29 is a parachurch organization, Calvary Chapel is a church.
Acts 29 exists outside of any specific church. It helps churches facilitate church planters (in a sense). The Calvary Chapel movement was and is an organic movement that is church based.
3) Acts 29 pools potential candidates from any where they want to, Calvary Chapel church planters are raised up from within local Calvaries and sent out from local churches not a sending organization..
This for me, is where the analogy really breaks down. And where it is much easier for Acts 29 to proliferate churches. Any one can come to an Acts 29 Bootcamp. There are guys from Baptist, Presbyterian, Calvary Chapel, AOG, anything backgrounds can go. I know guys who get out of seminary, want to plant a church, know that Acts 29 funds planters, and affiliates. In a sense, Acts 29 is a clearing house for men who are predominately already trained by other churches, educational organizations, and missions groups. Calvary Chapel is nothing like this. All ordained Calvary Chapel pastors were raised up within a local church's ministry (notwithstanding that many come from other backgrounds). It's not a clearing house, but a disciple making movement. This takes time. Others have taken the time to raise up the Acts 29 guys (and they through Bootcamps and mentoring get to put the finishing touches on a guy). The best analogy for sizing up Calvary would be more of the Sovereign Grace Movement as it is church based like Calvary. CJ Mahaney is a great teacher and has a similar vision to what Calvary has done (except from a Reformed perspective). But the Acts 29 compared to Calvary example doesn't have any legs.
4) Acts 29 fully funds church planters (and expects church plants to tithe into Acts 29 to keep it going) and as we well know Calvary Chapels do not.
There is really nothing to say more about this point.
For Mark to make the comparison with Calvary (and it be an honest one) it would have to be something like this. Mark how many church planters did you send out from Mars Hill Church in Seattle? How many did they send out? How many did they send out? Do your numbers rival that? It is an interesting question. How many guys has Driscoll sent out from Mars Hill proper? He's been there for over 10 years now. Because in comparing to Calvary, Chuck Smith has sent out literally 100s of guys from Calvary Costa Mesa proper to start churches. Jon Courson was sent out from Costa Mesa and sent out some 50 guys from Applegate. It's easier to have a mega church when you don't send your leaders out to start other churches but simple multiply campuses.
So I think that for Mark and Acts 29, it is better to assess yourselves against say that North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. They are doing the same thing. Pooling together potential talent from all over the place, assessing them, coaching/mentoring them, and sending them out. I'm sure either way Acts 29 is going to look good by numerical comparison. But the real test will be the fruit in 15 years, not in 3. My prayer would be that the fruit would be golden. But only time will tell. Flash in the pans happen all the time, let's pray that Acts 29 isn't one of them (and Mark Driscoll for that matter).
On a final thought, I have always advocated that within Calvary there would be a Church Planting Conference. Not in the Acts 29 sense where a guy comes and later he applies, is assessed, coached and sent. But in the Calvary sense. There is really no reason that Calvary's won't continue to proliferate around the globe. If Driscoll was right and it took 30 years to get to 500, then it took another 10 years to bring 700 more! So if Calvary's are going to continue to plant churches, why not give these potential church planters (and sending churches) a conference where they can come and get built up, encouraged, and some proper tools. Most often theses guys are sent out and they don't have a clue about anything other than the Bible. Granted, the Bible is what we need to know, but there is not chapter on how to be 501c3 determined or 4 John on Articles of Incorporation. Why can't we have a church planting conference so that folks within Calvary's who are considering stepping on out can get equipped for that specific task. Have Pastor Chuck share as he is the founder of the movement and he'll no doubt teach us to teach the Word (amen!). Have Roger Wing share on church planting administration. Have someone like Britt Merick share about starting churches in cities. And get some guys who have planted churches recently (and not we broke off 1000 people from a mega church and now in 5 years we have 5000 or someone who is young but took over a megachurch, or someone who God bless them planted a church in the middle of a revival and has no idea what it is like to work for the first 10 people, 50 people, 100 people) to share about 'doing bivocational ministry', or 'the church planter and keeping the first church of your home', or '10 things I wished someone told me about church planting before I did it', or 'ideas for your launch' or whatever. Either way we are going to keep planting churches as individual churches will continue to raise up leaders and send them out. But it is wise, Biblical (and not denominational) to equip the saints for the work of the ministry!
Just my thoughts
First let me say that I have nothing against Mark Driscoll. I have advocated, both on this blog and on other's, that before his own master a servant stands or falls. That master is not the blogosphere, nor the court of public opinion, but the true and living God. He is Mark Driscoll's Master and it's to Him that we all will give account for our ministries. God is using Mark and I continue to pray for him.
Second let me say that I am a Calvary Chapel pastor and church planter and I've been one for 8 years now. What will follow is not some sort of sour grapes, as I'm not sour as all. I am writing a clarification because I think one is necessary. Mark didn't ask me to write one. I am taking it upon myself to write it because I think it is important for perspectives to be clarified.
In the body of Mark's discussion on how Acts 29 is a movement, he addresses other church planting movements and he inevitably comes to Calvary Chapel (and the Pentacostal CC offshoot, Vineyard). First I applaud him for that. The reason that I do is because as I hang in denominational circles as I do, and read many books by denominational/seminary professors on church planting, I'm shocked that people aren't talking about Calvary more. 1300 churches in 40 years is a movement indeed. It is great disservice to the greater body of Christ to not at least acknowledge the organic church planting movement of Calvary Chapel in this generation. So I applaud him for making mention of his semi-pelagian brothers.
But as he discusses both Calvary and Vineyard (and I'm going to leave off his slanted takes on Calvary and Lonnie Frisbee that he got from David DiSabbatino and his leanings) he keeps emphasizing that what Calvary did in 30 years, we'll have done in 5 years. What Vineyard did in 20 years we'll have done in 3. Now I realize that at an Acts 29 Bootcamp they want to show their guys (or potential guys) that they are a part of something big. And they are. All conferences are like that. The body of Christ is like that. There is little doubt that Acts 29 is going to be a force in evangelicalism in the 21st century. But Mark's characterization is not a good analogy. Here's why-
1) Acts 29 wants to be a movement, Calvary Chapel did not
The goal of Acts 29 was to facilitate church planting. Calvary Chapel was simply a church pastored by a guy who God chose to use. Chuck Smith never sought to 'facilitate' church planters (and much to my dismay the movement shys away from any centralized facilitating or helping of church planters)
2) Acts 29 is a parachurch organization, Calvary Chapel is a church.
Acts 29 exists outside of any specific church. It helps churches facilitate church planters (in a sense). The Calvary Chapel movement was and is an organic movement that is church based.
3) Acts 29 pools potential candidates from any where they want to, Calvary Chapel church planters are raised up from within local Calvaries and sent out from local churches not a sending organization..
This for me, is where the analogy really breaks down. And where it is much easier for Acts 29 to proliferate churches. Any one can come to an Acts 29 Bootcamp. There are guys from Baptist, Presbyterian, Calvary Chapel, AOG, anything backgrounds can go. I know guys who get out of seminary, want to plant a church, know that Acts 29 funds planters, and affiliates. In a sense, Acts 29 is a clearing house for men who are predominately already trained by other churches, educational organizations, and missions groups. Calvary Chapel is nothing like this. All ordained Calvary Chapel pastors were raised up within a local church's ministry (notwithstanding that many come from other backgrounds). It's not a clearing house, but a disciple making movement. This takes time. Others have taken the time to raise up the Acts 29 guys (and they through Bootcamps and mentoring get to put the finishing touches on a guy). The best analogy for sizing up Calvary would be more of the Sovereign Grace Movement as it is church based like Calvary. CJ Mahaney is a great teacher and has a similar vision to what Calvary has done (except from a Reformed perspective). But the Acts 29 compared to Calvary example doesn't have any legs.
4) Acts 29 fully funds church planters (and expects church plants to tithe into Acts 29 to keep it going) and as we well know Calvary Chapels do not.
There is really nothing to say more about this point.
For Mark to make the comparison with Calvary (and it be an honest one) it would have to be something like this. Mark how many church planters did you send out from Mars Hill Church in Seattle? How many did they send out? How many did they send out? Do your numbers rival that? It is an interesting question. How many guys has Driscoll sent out from Mars Hill proper? He's been there for over 10 years now. Because in comparing to Calvary, Chuck Smith has sent out literally 100s of guys from Calvary Costa Mesa proper to start churches. Jon Courson was sent out from Costa Mesa and sent out some 50 guys from Applegate. It's easier to have a mega church when you don't send your leaders out to start other churches but simple multiply campuses.
So I think that for Mark and Acts 29, it is better to assess yourselves against say that North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. They are doing the same thing. Pooling together potential talent from all over the place, assessing them, coaching/mentoring them, and sending them out. I'm sure either way Acts 29 is going to look good by numerical comparison. But the real test will be the fruit in 15 years, not in 3. My prayer would be that the fruit would be golden. But only time will tell. Flash in the pans happen all the time, let's pray that Acts 29 isn't one of them (and Mark Driscoll for that matter).
On a final thought, I have always advocated that within Calvary there would be a Church Planting Conference. Not in the Acts 29 sense where a guy comes and later he applies, is assessed, coached and sent. But in the Calvary sense. There is really no reason that Calvary's won't continue to proliferate around the globe. If Driscoll was right and it took 30 years to get to 500, then it took another 10 years to bring 700 more! So if Calvary's are going to continue to plant churches, why not give these potential church planters (and sending churches) a conference where they can come and get built up, encouraged, and some proper tools. Most often theses guys are sent out and they don't have a clue about anything other than the Bible. Granted, the Bible is what we need to know, but there is not chapter on how to be 501c3 determined or 4 John on Articles of Incorporation. Why can't we have a church planting conference so that folks within Calvary's who are considering stepping on out can get equipped for that specific task. Have Pastor Chuck share as he is the founder of the movement and he'll no doubt teach us to teach the Word (amen!). Have Roger Wing share on church planting administration. Have someone like Britt Merick share about starting churches in cities. And get some guys who have planted churches recently (and not we broke off 1000 people from a mega church and now in 5 years we have 5000 or someone who is young but took over a megachurch, or someone who God bless them planted a church in the middle of a revival and has no idea what it is like to work for the first 10 people, 50 people, 100 people) to share about 'doing bivocational ministry', or 'the church planter and keeping the first church of your home', or '10 things I wished someone told me about church planting before I did it', or 'ideas for your launch' or whatever. Either way we are going to keep planting churches as individual churches will continue to raise up leaders and send them out. But it is wise, Biblical (and not denominational) to equip the saints for the work of the ministry!
Just my thoughts
Thursday, February 19, 2009
We're already Post Post Modern - Are you ready?
So I got to speak in a class at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary on Tuesday. I spoke for my friend and missionary Mark Wagner in his class 'Spiritual Issues in Evangelism'. Mark asked me to share cultural exegesis for Mill Valley as a way to guide his students in praying and waging battle for our community. I was very very excited to be able to share as I felt that it was an opportunity to put all of my thoughts together that had been kicking around my mind from many conversations, musings, and meditations about the community and context that God has me in.
Unfortunately (or fortunately) my mp3 recorder was out of batteries and the message was not taped. After talking demographics (conclusion- Mill Valley is predominately white and extremely well educated and extremely wealthy) and then identifying 5 major road blocks to the Gospel, I moved into what I felt was the most controversial section of my presentation, the discussion of the predominant world-view. After the presentation, Mark told me how profound he felt my world-view discussion was and that I should begin to flesh it out and write about as he felt that I was onto something. So here I am
My goal here is a humble first step in beginning the discussion of what is coming for many people and what is already here for those of us who minister in coastal major metropolitan areas. My hope is that this can be a seed for thinkers far greater than I to grab hold of and flesh out. I confess that my thoughts here are in the most elementary stages. I'm not claiming to have it all (or even in part) correct. But it is a starting point.
Throughout Christendom, everyone is talking postmodern. Like the name for the first automobiles (horseless carriages), the name post modern tell us that we really don't know what it is, we only know that it's different from what we had gotten used to. (We don't quite get post modernity, but we realize that it is past modernity). As the church shows up late to the party of cultural exegesis, finally starting to deal with a vast cultural shift in world-view, we have to realize that if we are just getting it now, it probably has already passed, or will be history very soon. For me, in seeking to crystalize my thoughts about my community (5 miles outside of San Francisco), I realized that this place isn't Post Modern. It isn't purely pluralistic and aperspectival. It has grown past that. So I went looking for some answers and found somethings that we shocking and a bit challenging to understand. So I'm going to lay them out for you all and I'm hoping that you will all join me in seeking to put some legs on it.
This next section I lifted straight from my notes for the lecture. I'll right about it after you see the section-
Mill Valley is not ‘Post-modern’
IT IS POST POST MODERN
Although post-modernity has been around for the greater part of the 20th century, the church is just coming to terms with it either already has reached it’s pinnacle or that pinnacle is already passed.
I would say, Mill Valley is already passed the post-modern worldview
My terminology for what I will say next is based on the philosophy of a man named Jean Gebser (1905-1973, poet, linguist, cultural historian, mystic, philosopher), and it currently being promoted by psycho/spiritual/evolutionary teachers such as Ken Wilbur and Andrew Cohen (give disclaimer)
Speaking of the evolution of human consciousness he lists 6 stages of development (actually Gebser had 5 but Clare Graves split the 5th into 2 parts)
1) Archaic – Instinctual, consciousness as barely distinct from the environment. Seen in infants
2) Magic (or Egocentric/Tribal) – seen in tribal groups, nature based religions and ritual, self as linked with tribe/clan
3) Mythic (or traditional) – great monotheistic religion, first time there is an awareness of soul, represents the expansion of the individuals identity to include an entire nation or belief system
4) Mental-Rational (or modern) – scientific rationality and reason/ the Western Enlightenment, focus on the material world and objects outside oneself
5) Pluralistic (postmodern) – emphasis on multiculturalism and egalitarianism. Gebser calls it ‘aperspectival’ the pluralistic self’s ability to see and appreciate multiple perspectives
6) Integral (post postmodern) – just beginning to emerge, human consciousness is understood to evolve through a hierarchical series or distinct structures, evolution supersedes egalitarianism as the primary value
-Andrew Cohen calls this Evolutionary Enlightenment
the journey from egocentric, to ethnocentric, worldcentric and then cosmocentric
The focus in MV isn’t primarily upon acceptance of ideas but conscious evolution of humanity
- there are truth claims in MV (they are right)
- land of liberal bigots, etc. (the last election proved that)
- the marriage of wealth, science and spirituality
I think Gebser nailed it and it gives a great picture of the overarching worldview of where I live. My assumption is that this view will spread simply because as the cities go, so goes the country. Post modernity was entrenched in New York and San Francisco 40 years ago and now has permeated the country. So if history continues, the overarching world-view of the major metropolitan areas will continue to diffuse itself through the country of the coming decades.
Post modernity is the marriage of the rationalism/materialism of modernity and the pluralism that comes from existing in a global community that is tied together through technology. But where I live, it's not simply rationalistic pluralism. There is an overarching 'spirituality' to the rationalistic pluralism. With the resounding popularity and rise to the yoga, Eckhart Tolle, and all types of spirituality we are seeing this. This is in lots of ways, a relatively newer development.
So this new, emerging worldview, what Gebser calls 'Integral' seems to take the the rationality of the Enlightenment (Modernity), the culturedness of Post modernity and now adds an overarching spirituality. Andrew Cohen, founder of the magazine EnligtheNext, speaks of this as the move from worldcentric (global pluralism) to cosmocentric (a worldcentric view that is married to cosmic/spirituality). The Integral mindset is the integration of physical wellness, emotional/intellectual astuteness, and experiential spirituality. This is what I'm seeing here in the San Francisco Bay Area. My guess is that you are seeing the same thing in your context.
So I'll close here with some initial thoughts on how this will affect the body of Christ, or maybe better stated, how the church needs to evolve meet this shift. In a lot of ways, this is what we are finding to be necessary for the Gospel to run forth in our community.
A 'holistic' Christian life
- I realize that holistic is a weighted word, but it's the only one that I can think of. Really to reach the post post modern world with the Gospel a believer must be fully integrated.
Their physical life must be Christ saturated. That means, by way of example, that how can we say we love Christ and our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit but we are horribly overweight and our temple is in disrepair. The post post modern mind sees the duplicity of this and realizes that something is amiss.
Their intellect must be astute and gripping. We must use the brains that the Lord has given us. Our arguments for Biblical teaching must rest upon solid logic. In a lot of ways, presuppositional apologetics will become the norm I think. Our Creationism must be more Barry Setterfield and Lambert Dolphin than Kent Hovind. Intelligent and educated people expect (and deserve) more than pithy shining on statements. The same with our emotions.
Christians walks with Jesus need to be REALLY SPIRITUAL. As I talk to the people around me, you find very quickly that they see Christianity as purely cerebral with no corresponding experience to back up the claims. If we are really honest, that is true for a lot of us and a lot of people in church. We have the Christian mental grid without any corresponding experience. Most of us are challenged when we read the book of Acts wondering, 'Why Not Now?' I have a friend who is a Yoga Instructor and I've been trying to get her to explain to me the philosophy and spirituality of yoga and she keeps saying to me, "Daniel, you have to try it. I can explain it to you but really once you experience it, you'll understand." When was the last time any of us did evangelism in this way. I think that the reason this is is not because we don't believe it, but because personally, we are not experiencing it. You can be a very successful church leader without having any corresponding spiritual experience. In order for the church to be successful in the this age (as in any age) we need to be really spiritual.
Okay, so what does everyone think? I'm totally open to thoughts/comments/ideas/clarifications.
Unfortunately (or fortunately) my mp3 recorder was out of batteries and the message was not taped. After talking demographics (conclusion- Mill Valley is predominately white and extremely well educated and extremely wealthy) and then identifying 5 major road blocks to the Gospel, I moved into what I felt was the most controversial section of my presentation, the discussion of the predominant world-view. After the presentation, Mark told me how profound he felt my world-view discussion was and that I should begin to flesh it out and write about as he felt that I was onto something. So here I am
My goal here is a humble first step in beginning the discussion of what is coming for many people and what is already here for those of us who minister in coastal major metropolitan areas. My hope is that this can be a seed for thinkers far greater than I to grab hold of and flesh out. I confess that my thoughts here are in the most elementary stages. I'm not claiming to have it all (or even in part) correct. But it is a starting point.
Throughout Christendom, everyone is talking postmodern. Like the name for the first automobiles (horseless carriages), the name post modern tell us that we really don't know what it is, we only know that it's different from what we had gotten used to. (We don't quite get post modernity, but we realize that it is past modernity). As the church shows up late to the party of cultural exegesis, finally starting to deal with a vast cultural shift in world-view, we have to realize that if we are just getting it now, it probably has already passed, or will be history very soon. For me, in seeking to crystalize my thoughts about my community (5 miles outside of San Francisco), I realized that this place isn't Post Modern. It isn't purely pluralistic and aperspectival. It has grown past that. So I went looking for some answers and found somethings that we shocking and a bit challenging to understand. So I'm going to lay them out for you all and I'm hoping that you will all join me in seeking to put some legs on it.
This next section I lifted straight from my notes for the lecture. I'll right about it after you see the section-
Mill Valley is not ‘Post-modern’
IT IS POST POST MODERN
Although post-modernity has been around for the greater part of the 20th century, the church is just coming to terms with it either already has reached it’s pinnacle or that pinnacle is already passed.
I would say, Mill Valley is already passed the post-modern worldview
My terminology for what I will say next is based on the philosophy of a man named Jean Gebser (1905-1973, poet, linguist, cultural historian, mystic, philosopher), and it currently being promoted by psycho/spiritual/evolutionary teachers such as Ken Wilbur and Andrew Cohen (give disclaimer)
Speaking of the evolution of human consciousness he lists 6 stages of development (actually Gebser had 5 but Clare Graves split the 5th into 2 parts)
1) Archaic – Instinctual, consciousness as barely distinct from the environment. Seen in infants
2) Magic (or Egocentric/Tribal) – seen in tribal groups, nature based religions and ritual, self as linked with tribe/clan
3) Mythic (or traditional) – great monotheistic religion, first time there is an awareness of soul, represents the expansion of the individuals identity to include an entire nation or belief system
4) Mental-Rational (or modern) – scientific rationality and reason/ the Western Enlightenment, focus on the material world and objects outside oneself
5) Pluralistic (postmodern) – emphasis on multiculturalism and egalitarianism. Gebser calls it ‘aperspectival’ the pluralistic self’s ability to see and appreciate multiple perspectives
6) Integral (post postmodern) – just beginning to emerge, human consciousness is understood to evolve through a hierarchical series or distinct structures, evolution supersedes egalitarianism as the primary value
-Andrew Cohen calls this Evolutionary Enlightenment
the journey from egocentric, to ethnocentric, worldcentric and then cosmocentric
The focus in MV isn’t primarily upon acceptance of ideas but conscious evolution of humanity
- there are truth claims in MV (they are right)
- land of liberal bigots, etc. (the last election proved that)
- the marriage of wealth, science and spirituality
I think Gebser nailed it and it gives a great picture of the overarching worldview of where I live. My assumption is that this view will spread simply because as the cities go, so goes the country. Post modernity was entrenched in New York and San Francisco 40 years ago and now has permeated the country. So if history continues, the overarching world-view of the major metropolitan areas will continue to diffuse itself through the country of the coming decades.
Post modernity is the marriage of the rationalism/materialism of modernity and the pluralism that comes from existing in a global community that is tied together through technology. But where I live, it's not simply rationalistic pluralism. There is an overarching 'spirituality' to the rationalistic pluralism. With the resounding popularity and rise to the yoga, Eckhart Tolle, and all types of spirituality we are seeing this. This is in lots of ways, a relatively newer development.
So this new, emerging worldview, what Gebser calls 'Integral' seems to take the the rationality of the Enlightenment (Modernity), the culturedness of Post modernity and now adds an overarching spirituality. Andrew Cohen, founder of the magazine EnligtheNext, speaks of this as the move from worldcentric (global pluralism) to cosmocentric (a worldcentric view that is married to cosmic/spirituality). The Integral mindset is the integration of physical wellness, emotional/intellectual astuteness, and experiential spirituality. This is what I'm seeing here in the San Francisco Bay Area. My guess is that you are seeing the same thing in your context.
So I'll close here with some initial thoughts on how this will affect the body of Christ, or maybe better stated, how the church needs to evolve meet this shift. In a lot of ways, this is what we are finding to be necessary for the Gospel to run forth in our community.
A 'holistic' Christian life
- I realize that holistic is a weighted word, but it's the only one that I can think of. Really to reach the post post modern world with the Gospel a believer must be fully integrated.
Their physical life must be Christ saturated. That means, by way of example, that how can we say we love Christ and our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit but we are horribly overweight and our temple is in disrepair. The post post modern mind sees the duplicity of this and realizes that something is amiss.
Their intellect must be astute and gripping. We must use the brains that the Lord has given us. Our arguments for Biblical teaching must rest upon solid logic. In a lot of ways, presuppositional apologetics will become the norm I think. Our Creationism must be more Barry Setterfield and Lambert Dolphin than Kent Hovind. Intelligent and educated people expect (and deserve) more than pithy shining on statements. The same with our emotions.
Christians walks with Jesus need to be REALLY SPIRITUAL. As I talk to the people around me, you find very quickly that they see Christianity as purely cerebral with no corresponding experience to back up the claims. If we are really honest, that is true for a lot of us and a lot of people in church. We have the Christian mental grid without any corresponding experience. Most of us are challenged when we read the book of Acts wondering, 'Why Not Now?' I have a friend who is a Yoga Instructor and I've been trying to get her to explain to me the philosophy and spirituality of yoga and she keeps saying to me, "Daniel, you have to try it. I can explain it to you but really once you experience it, you'll understand." When was the last time any of us did evangelism in this way. I think that the reason this is is not because we don't believe it, but because personally, we are not experiencing it. You can be a very successful church leader without having any corresponding spiritual experience. In order for the church to be successful in the this age (as in any age) we need to be really spiritual.
Okay, so what does everyone think? I'm totally open to thoughts/comments/ideas/clarifications.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
I finally finished Luke's Gospel
Today, after 100 messages, I finished teaching through Luke's Gospel. It's a bit bitter sweet for me. We began Luke's Gospel on the inaugural service for Calvary North Bay a bit over 2 years ago. Today, I closed the book out. Some of you may be saying, 100 messages... that's a lot. For those of you who know me well, you're probably thinking... 100 messages, that's it!
Either way, we closed the book on the Luke's Gospel today. We'll be beginning Philippians in a few weeks and I'm excited.
God bless you
Either way, we closed the book on the Luke's Gospel today. We'll be beginning Philippians in a few weeks and I'm excited.
God bless you
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Desiring God Conference - Day 1
I was blessed by people in the fellowship at Calvary North Bay. A bunch of folks decided that they wanted to send me to the Desiring God Conference for Pastors in Minneapolis so that I could get a time of refreshment and nourishment. What none of them new was that I had been listening to this conference yearly and had always thought, "One of these years, I'll make it out to that conference". So I was blessed when I was told about their righteous scheming.
I awoke at 3:30 am PST and hopped a plane out to Minneapolis. I just wanted to share some thoughts with you.
I'm Grateful for Living Faith Heroes
As a pastor who is affiliated with Calvary Chapel, I'm often struck when I go to the Senior Pastor's Conference by the magnitude of the way in which God has used Chuck Smith. The Lord wanted to start a movement and He chose a man. Being here shows me that John Piper, like Chuck Smith, has been chosen by God to start a movement. I am so grateful first to the Lord for these men. It was His choice and as always, 'He has done all things well'. I am also grateful to these men for following hard after Jesus. Both men, although flawed like the rest of us, have ministries that are soo broad and deep, more than any of us realize. John Piper has inspired the men at this conference and has been used mightily in their lives. I'm grateful for what I have learned from both men.
The United States is Radically Diverse
When you go to a Calvary conference, a large majority of the pastor's are from California (and SoCal at that) which lends itself to a certain style or way. Here, I would say, the majority of men are from the South. This also lends itself to a certain quality. It's amazing though, no matter where you go, you are part of a glorious family, the body of Christ. I find that I desire, more and more, to link myself with the greater kingdom of God in all of it's wondrous diversity. I've heard it said, 'The more spiritual a person is, the less denominational (or nondenominational) a person becomes'. This indeed is a true statement. In all denominations and non-denominations, it's the pet doctrinal emphases that give a group it's identity. But Jesus calls us to be His bride, and He's no polygamous. He has one bride, and the question is, are we her?
One Word - Bookstore
The bookstore at the conference is SICK! Did I say SICK? Well if I didn't, I mean to say SICK. So many great books. Great prices. There is nothing like walking up to the Banner of Truth section of the bookstore. I love books and this bookstore is a glorious temptation for me.
Emphasis on Prayer
I'm loving the conferences emphasis on prayer. There is a huge auditorium that is devoted to intercession and prayer. There are prayer request boxes everywhere (and in that auditorium I saw about 20 folks praying over the little cards). I was encouraged no less than 6 times to make sure I got prayed for and over and was told that they are committed to praying for every prayer request through the summer. Yes! Being in the San Francisco Bay Area, I'll take all the prayer we can get.
Minneapolis is Cold!
When we touched down they said, "Welcome to Minneapolis where the local time is 2:05 pm. The weather outside is 7 degrees and sunny". Enough said.
My One Downer
And this really has nothing to do with the conference, just with the body in general. Piper is the front line in what is called the 'New Calvinists". I've had many conversations with people and when they said, "Well you're Reformed" and I said, "Well no, not really", they give you that kind of 'I pity you' look. This is the same as you would get in Calvary Chapel is you 'I believe in Reformed Theology or I don't believe in the Rapture'. As I've gotten older, I just find that this is soo not the heart of God. JESUS IS WHO UNITES US. Whether or not we are regenerated monergistically or synergistically or how it works out in the end of days is nothing compared to faith in the finished work of Jesus. Again, we need to identify ourselves with Jesus and not our pet secondary doctrines. Just my opinion.
Session #1 - Mark Dever
Really quickly, as I need to go eat and I want to get over to the conference.
Mark Dever did the first session on 'What is the Gospel?' because you really can't talk about evangelism until you define the message that you are calling 'good news'.
Here are a few quote highlights (at least for me)
'Are we unwilling to offend with the Gospel? We aren't translating the Gospel properly unless people are somewhat offended'
'Talking to non-Christians about evangelism is super helpful. Is there anything that I can do to make this more helpful to you?'
'We are heralds of the Gospel. We don't have to wait for people to sense their own need.'
'It is not about their discontentment with themselves but about God's discontentment with them.'
'The cross is both a gross injustice (perpetrated by humans), as well as the self giving love of God'
'Definition of the local church - an assurance of salvation cooperative.'
3 REASONS TO DO EVANGELISM
1) a desire to be obedient to God's command - Matthew 28
2) a love for the lost
- 1/2 of 1% when polled said there is no chance of them going to hell
- "better to be never born then not born again"
3) our love fro God
'The call to evangelism is a call to turn our lives outward.
Okay, well I'll try to check in later.
God bless
I awoke at 3:30 am PST and hopped a plane out to Minneapolis. I just wanted to share some thoughts with you.
I'm Grateful for Living Faith Heroes
As a pastor who is affiliated with Calvary Chapel, I'm often struck when I go to the Senior Pastor's Conference by the magnitude of the way in which God has used Chuck Smith. The Lord wanted to start a movement and He chose a man. Being here shows me that John Piper, like Chuck Smith, has been chosen by God to start a movement. I am so grateful first to the Lord for these men. It was His choice and as always, 'He has done all things well'. I am also grateful to these men for following hard after Jesus. Both men, although flawed like the rest of us, have ministries that are soo broad and deep, more than any of us realize. John Piper has inspired the men at this conference and has been used mightily in their lives. I'm grateful for what I have learned from both men.
The United States is Radically Diverse
When you go to a Calvary conference, a large majority of the pastor's are from California (and SoCal at that) which lends itself to a certain style or way. Here, I would say, the majority of men are from the South. This also lends itself to a certain quality. It's amazing though, no matter where you go, you are part of a glorious family, the body of Christ. I find that I desire, more and more, to link myself with the greater kingdom of God in all of it's wondrous diversity. I've heard it said, 'The more spiritual a person is, the less denominational (or nondenominational) a person becomes'. This indeed is a true statement. In all denominations and non-denominations, it's the pet doctrinal emphases that give a group it's identity. But Jesus calls us to be His bride, and He's no polygamous. He has one bride, and the question is, are we her?
One Word - Bookstore
The bookstore at the conference is SICK! Did I say SICK? Well if I didn't, I mean to say SICK. So many great books. Great prices. There is nothing like walking up to the Banner of Truth section of the bookstore. I love books and this bookstore is a glorious temptation for me.
Emphasis on Prayer
I'm loving the conferences emphasis on prayer. There is a huge auditorium that is devoted to intercession and prayer. There are prayer request boxes everywhere (and in that auditorium I saw about 20 folks praying over the little cards). I was encouraged no less than 6 times to make sure I got prayed for and over and was told that they are committed to praying for every prayer request through the summer. Yes! Being in the San Francisco Bay Area, I'll take all the prayer we can get.
Minneapolis is Cold!
When we touched down they said, "Welcome to Minneapolis where the local time is 2:05 pm. The weather outside is 7 degrees and sunny". Enough said.
My One Downer
And this really has nothing to do with the conference, just with the body in general. Piper is the front line in what is called the 'New Calvinists". I've had many conversations with people and when they said, "Well you're Reformed" and I said, "Well no, not really", they give you that kind of 'I pity you' look. This is the same as you would get in Calvary Chapel is you 'I believe in Reformed Theology or I don't believe in the Rapture'. As I've gotten older, I just find that this is soo not the heart of God. JESUS IS WHO UNITES US. Whether or not we are regenerated monergistically or synergistically or how it works out in the end of days is nothing compared to faith in the finished work of Jesus. Again, we need to identify ourselves with Jesus and not our pet secondary doctrines. Just my opinion.
Session #1 - Mark Dever
Really quickly, as I need to go eat and I want to get over to the conference.
Mark Dever did the first session on 'What is the Gospel?' because you really can't talk about evangelism until you define the message that you are calling 'good news'.
Here are a few quote highlights (at least for me)
'Are we unwilling to offend with the Gospel? We aren't translating the Gospel properly unless people are somewhat offended'
'Talking to non-Christians about evangelism is super helpful. Is there anything that I can do to make this more helpful to you?'
'We are heralds of the Gospel. We don't have to wait for people to sense their own need.'
'It is not about their discontentment with themselves but about God's discontentment with them.'
'The cross is both a gross injustice (perpetrated by humans), as well as the self giving love of God'
'Definition of the local church - an assurance of salvation cooperative.'
3 REASONS TO DO EVANGELISM
1) a desire to be obedient to God's command - Matthew 28
2) a love for the lost
- 1/2 of 1% when polled said there is no chance of them going to hell
- "better to be never born then not born again"
3) our love fro God
'The call to evangelism is a call to turn our lives outward.
Okay, well I'll try to check in later.
God bless
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