We continue to look at "Signs of Emergence"...
...the first stage of the waiting process is grief.
There is a spectacular lack of grief in our churches today. The texts of so many Christian magazines, sermons and songs are all woven into an enormous blanket of denial that we wrap warmly around us, smothering the honest doubts with an ever-optimistic hue of "everything is good and God is with us." Hands are raised , but never to ask questions, only in surrender to programs of services, outreaches, prayer meetings, and worship. Eyes are shut, less blinded by glory as blind to the facts that numbers are falling, churches are closing, the "revival" didn't come, society is losing interest, and our circle of influence is decreasing.
This is a moment of repentance. We have allowed our culture and the Church to drift apart. We ought to find truth each Sunday: instead we go for doses of fiction, enough to cloud our perception for the week ahead that everything is OK.
We must do it, we must stop all the programs, stop the meetings, stop the denials, dismantle the structures, face our fears and disappointments, and weep for the absence, weep for the emptiness, weep for the pretense, weep for the fiction. Weep until we can see our barrenness clearly, for only then will we have made room for newness.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Quotable.
Last night I hung out the backroom at Bridgeway (www.BridgewayChurch.com) and listened to Floyd McClung who is currently living, serving and loving in Capetown, South Africa. You can read more on Floyd's adventures at www.FloydandSally.org. For now, here are the big ideas and thoughts that I scribbled down during the evening.
Floyd and his community are working with a group called African Hope Crafts (www.AfricanHopeCrafts.org) - a jewelry company that employs only people living with HIV/AIDS. Crafting jewelry for two days provides enough money for a month of low-level living. You gathered the feeling that people living with HIV/AIDS have become unemployable in many regards, thus the power of this effort. It causes me to want to spend money with compassion in mind rather than consumption.
He talked a bit about his recent book release, "Starting A House Church" (http://www.amazon.com/Starting-House-Church-Larry-Kreider/dp/0830743650), stating its purpose and premise being to provide principles that encourage the church of tomorrow to do and be church simply enough that it will work everywhere.
I have not fact checked the next series of statements that he made. I only have room to believe they were communicated with integrity and right intention.
"If we don't trust, we will give up."
"We need a values conversion."
"Africa is the only country not experiencing economic growth."
"There are 860 million people in Africa and 460 million claim to be Christian."
"Africa has been evangelized but not discipled."
"We need to serve those that were once enslaved."
"There are 540 unreached people groups in Sudan."
"It is the aim of Islam to have a mosque every mile in Africa."
"What would happen if we sent soldier of love not war to the middle east?"
"Lead by not leading."
"We don't institutionalize community, we inspire it by living it."
"I believe in functional leadership, leaders are those that lead."
"There are 3.5 million whites (total population 45 million) in South Africa that have never been in the home of a black person."
"The strength of the American culture is our initiative, can do attitude, optimism. This is bad if it is not married incarnation, can't do and shouldn't do. Just because you can doesn't mean you should."
"Leadership is more horizontal than vertical. There are times where we are in front of, next to and behind."
"Spirituality in the US is about hype and promotion."
"Church should be done in all spheres of life...church is life."
"Sunday is not the game. Sunday is halftime. And the game is played outside the church walls."
"How does God see his church?"
"Let God breathe on our hearts so that we will hope again."
Floyd and his community are working with a group called African Hope Crafts (www.AfricanHopeCrafts.org) - a jewelry company that employs only people living with HIV/AIDS. Crafting jewelry for two days provides enough money for a month of low-level living. You gathered the feeling that people living with HIV/AIDS have become unemployable in many regards, thus the power of this effort. It causes me to want to spend money with compassion in mind rather than consumption.
He talked a bit about his recent book release, "Starting A House Church" (http://www.amazon.com/Starting-House-Church-Larry-Kreider/dp/0830743650), stating its purpose and premise being to provide principles that encourage the church of tomorrow to do and be church simply enough that it will work everywhere.
I have not fact checked the next series of statements that he made. I only have room to believe they were communicated with integrity and right intention.
"If we don't trust, we will give up."
"We need a values conversion."
"Africa is the only country not experiencing economic growth."
"There are 860 million people in Africa and 460 million claim to be Christian."
"Africa has been evangelized but not discipled."
"We need to serve those that were once enslaved."
"There are 540 unreached people groups in Sudan."
"It is the aim of Islam to have a mosque every mile in Africa."
"What would happen if we sent soldier of love not war to the middle east?"
"Lead by not leading."
"We don't institutionalize community, we inspire it by living it."
"I believe in functional leadership, leaders are those that lead."
"There are 3.5 million whites (total population 45 million) in South Africa that have never been in the home of a black person."
"The strength of the American culture is our initiative, can do attitude, optimism. This is bad if it is not married incarnation, can't do and shouldn't do. Just because you can doesn't mean you should."
"Leadership is more horizontal than vertical. There are times where we are in front of, next to and behind."
"Spirituality in the US is about hype and promotion."
"Church should be done in all spheres of life...church is life."
"Sunday is not the game. Sunday is halftime. And the game is played outside the church walls."
"How does God see his church?"
"Let God breathe on our hearts so that we will hope again."
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
A Dangerous Invitation for Newness.
Thoughts on Advent from Signs of Emergence continue:
...The perception of the new step will come only to those brave enough to stop dancing the old. We fear that if we stopped for a week, a month, a service, a moment, we might be forgotten, or lose our momentum, weaken our profile, appear ill-thought-out and failing.
Our friends at NorthView Community Church recently cancelled their weekend worship services at the church campus and encouraged those in their community to get together in homes so that they might know and be known, life on life. Our friends at Bridgeway cancel their celebration gatherings a couple of times a year. One reoccurring Sunday that gets the boot is on Memorial Day weekend. Services get canned so that people can go play and enjoy friends and family without feeling any kind of obligation to show up. And even in the Mars Hill community, we've shifted gears or cancelled our weekly KAMP's Gathering in order to foster life, not church life, but life to the full. We have to stop dancing from time to time so that we can get caught up in the song of God and his people the church all over again.
We must be brave enough to stop if we are to see change. Our structures must serve us, not us serve them. The only way to consider whether our structures are serving us is to stop and reflect on them. To dismantle them; take them apart piece by piece. Expose them to the air. Lay them on the ground and let everyone walk around them and get a good look at them. This is the beginning of empowerment; we must allow people space and time to return to the deep simplicity of things, and spend time mulling over the fundamentals.
What in your life are you "mulling over"?
To stop people in their tracks, to stop yourself, and suggest that the way to higher peaks is actually to return to the valleys, is a brave act of true leadership.
I hope I am found brave.
This is a dangerous invitation for newness, carrying the risk that those we give such freedom to might freely walk away, or freely imagine something better than we had. But freedom must be what we are about. So the truly free, the brave who truly seek God, will always have periods, commas, full stops, punctuation marks, pregnant pauses, silence. Where those around them are given the freedom to reimagine and rethink.
My hope is that together as the church and together in local communities we can have genuine dialogue, and that we will reimagine and rethink TOGETHER. Pockets of the frustrated and embittered do us no good. The best form of criticism is creativity and the best form of creativity comes out of community.
It seems that at the start of this new century we are living in a particular advent, that we are being called to wait for new birth again. No matter how impatient we get as a society, with processing speeds rising and our whole culture velocity increasing ever faster, we cannot speed up pregnancy. In this advent that we find ourselves in, between the "modern" church that was and is dying, and the emerging church that is not yet, we must exercise patience. We must stop and wait.
The church is experiencing separation, marginalization, trivialization, and exile from the world it seeks to serve. And it is therefore experiencing these things from God too, for if the church is not connected to its host culture and society, it is not where God wants it to be, and therefore not where God is. If the church is not missionary, it has denied its calling, for it has departed from the very nature of God.
So, we seek for where God is already at work among us and we join him there.
If God is doing a new thing, we must apply ourselves to perceiving it or risk becoming custodians of empty stone buildings and historical curiosities ourselves.
...The perception of the new step will come only to those brave enough to stop dancing the old. We fear that if we stopped for a week, a month, a service, a moment, we might be forgotten, or lose our momentum, weaken our profile, appear ill-thought-out and failing.
Our friends at NorthView Community Church recently cancelled their weekend worship services at the church campus and encouraged those in their community to get together in homes so that they might know and be known, life on life. Our friends at Bridgeway cancel their celebration gatherings a couple of times a year. One reoccurring Sunday that gets the boot is on Memorial Day weekend. Services get canned so that people can go play and enjoy friends and family without feeling any kind of obligation to show up. And even in the Mars Hill community, we've shifted gears or cancelled our weekly KAMP's Gathering in order to foster life, not church life, but life to the full. We have to stop dancing from time to time so that we can get caught up in the song of God and his people the church all over again.
We must be brave enough to stop if we are to see change. Our structures must serve us, not us serve them. The only way to consider whether our structures are serving us is to stop and reflect on them. To dismantle them; take them apart piece by piece. Expose them to the air. Lay them on the ground and let everyone walk around them and get a good look at them. This is the beginning of empowerment; we must allow people space and time to return to the deep simplicity of things, and spend time mulling over the fundamentals.
What in your life are you "mulling over"?
To stop people in their tracks, to stop yourself, and suggest that the way to higher peaks is actually to return to the valleys, is a brave act of true leadership.
I hope I am found brave.
This is a dangerous invitation for newness, carrying the risk that those we give such freedom to might freely walk away, or freely imagine something better than we had. But freedom must be what we are about. So the truly free, the brave who truly seek God, will always have periods, commas, full stops, punctuation marks, pregnant pauses, silence. Where those around them are given the freedom to reimagine and rethink.
My hope is that together as the church and together in local communities we can have genuine dialogue, and that we will reimagine and rethink TOGETHER. Pockets of the frustrated and embittered do us no good. The best form of criticism is creativity and the best form of creativity comes out of community.
It seems that at the start of this new century we are living in a particular advent, that we are being called to wait for new birth again. No matter how impatient we get as a society, with processing speeds rising and our whole culture velocity increasing ever faster, we cannot speed up pregnancy. In this advent that we find ourselves in, between the "modern" church that was and is dying, and the emerging church that is not yet, we must exercise patience. We must stop and wait.
The church is experiencing separation, marginalization, trivialization, and exile from the world it seeks to serve. And it is therefore experiencing these things from God too, for if the church is not connected to its host culture and society, it is not where God wants it to be, and therefore not where God is. If the church is not missionary, it has denied its calling, for it has departed from the very nature of God.
So, we seek for where God is already at work among us and we join him there.
If God is doing a new thing, we must apply ourselves to perceiving it or risk becoming custodians of empty stone buildings and historical curiosities ourselves.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Rwanda Clean Water Project.
Just wanted to update our reading community...
We raised the $3,000 necessary to provide clean water to 750 people in Rwanda.
I encourage everyone to read and learn more at http://www.rwandacleanwater.com/.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Advent.
Signs of Emergence...
...But before the church can change, before I can change, before anything changes, comes waiting. A pause. A rest.
I have felt for sometime that I am having to learn, what I refer to as "Slowness". It's not laziness. Not unproductive. Not aimless. But slow. Gradual. Incremental. Subtle. And in this slowness I am finding patience, energy, focus, discipline, growth, change. The more I "slow" down, the more I accomplish. Weeks feel like months.
This is nature's way, decreeing as she does that movement from one direction to another cannot happen instantaneously.
The ship is turning just as surely as the earth is rotating. You don't necessarily feel it but you sense it, know it, experience it.
So against our hasty judgement, before we can experience the transformation that is vital to our survival, we will be required to wait. To be acted on gently, gracefully, and peacefully. Shaped, not crushed; guided, not dragged.
Matthew 16:18 tells us that Christ is building his church. Not you. Not me. Christ. We are caught up in his movement, his story, his work. We are joining him rather than asking him to join us. I really resonate with the author's words, "Acted on gently, gracefully, and peacefully. Shaped, not crushed; guided, not dragged."
It is vital to note that the task is urgent, but if our response is to be anything more than another flash in the pan or botched attempt to become culturally aware, then we must avoid haste.
Good things come to those that wait...strength will rise...we run and don't get weary...walk and not faint...do you not know...have you not heard...our father does not get weary...he brings passion to a willing heart...even when youth get tired and faint...strength will come to those who wait.
We must realize that if we are to see real, long lasting change, then it is going to take time; it is going to be a lifelong quest.
Are you committed to a lifelong mission with Christ in community with people?
Violent change tend to shear, to break the whole as one surface part moves and leaves the rest of the body behind unaltered.
In his seminal work "Future Shock", Alvin Toffler describes the psychological damage that occurs to people when they are overwhelmed by intense change. He talks about future shock being a disease of change, a sickness that people suffer that is not so much about the direction of change as the rate of it.
For our own health, we need change to occur not at revolutionary speeds demanded by power-wielding dictators or company boardrooms but at the evolutionary speeds of the empowered human body.
So, here we are again at the importance of the empowered individual, you. Consider yourself empowered to lead the way, to initiate the changes needed.
Before the church can change, before I can change, before things change - before change, we must wait. Caught "between the now and the not yet".
We wait for the one who whispers, "Behold, I am doing a new thing...Do you not perceive it?" (Isa. 43:19)
...But before the church can change, before I can change, before anything changes, comes waiting. A pause. A rest.
I have felt for sometime that I am having to learn, what I refer to as "Slowness". It's not laziness. Not unproductive. Not aimless. But slow. Gradual. Incremental. Subtle. And in this slowness I am finding patience, energy, focus, discipline, growth, change. The more I "slow" down, the more I accomplish. Weeks feel like months.
This is nature's way, decreeing as she does that movement from one direction to another cannot happen instantaneously.
The ship is turning just as surely as the earth is rotating. You don't necessarily feel it but you sense it, know it, experience it.
So against our hasty judgement, before we can experience the transformation that is vital to our survival, we will be required to wait. To be acted on gently, gracefully, and peacefully. Shaped, not crushed; guided, not dragged.
Matthew 16:18 tells us that Christ is building his church. Not you. Not me. Christ. We are caught up in his movement, his story, his work. We are joining him rather than asking him to join us. I really resonate with the author's words, "Acted on gently, gracefully, and peacefully. Shaped, not crushed; guided, not dragged."
It is vital to note that the task is urgent, but if our response is to be anything more than another flash in the pan or botched attempt to become culturally aware, then we must avoid haste.
Good things come to those that wait...strength will rise...we run and don't get weary...walk and not faint...do you not know...have you not heard...our father does not get weary...he brings passion to a willing heart...even when youth get tired and faint...strength will come to those who wait.
We must realize that if we are to see real, long lasting change, then it is going to take time; it is going to be a lifelong quest.
Are you committed to a lifelong mission with Christ in community with people?
Violent change tend to shear, to break the whole as one surface part moves and leaves the rest of the body behind unaltered.
In his seminal work "Future Shock", Alvin Toffler describes the psychological damage that occurs to people when they are overwhelmed by intense change. He talks about future shock being a disease of change, a sickness that people suffer that is not so much about the direction of change as the rate of it.
For our own health, we need change to occur not at revolutionary speeds demanded by power-wielding dictators or company boardrooms but at the evolutionary speeds of the empowered human body.
So, here we are again at the importance of the empowered individual, you. Consider yourself empowered to lead the way, to initiate the changes needed.
Before the church can change, before I can change, before things change - before change, we must wait. Caught "between the now and the not yet".
We wait for the one who whispers, "Behold, I am doing a new thing...Do you not perceive it?" (Isa. 43:19)
Thursday, October 18, 2007
We've Been Workin' On The Railroad.
Signs of Emergence...
If Christianity is to remain "vital", then it is, in the truest sense, "vital" that we understand change: for an organism to show signs of life, it must show it can respond to its environment, and for the church to retain a vibrancy about its faith it must "adapt and survive".
Even if there is little evidence of change visible to the external observer, the process of the church thinking is a healthy sign that we know that things cannot stay as they are.
I am in agreement and feel the above statement is indicative of where the church is today. A conversation is underway and the church is thinking again. But we must not confuse our talk and thought and theory will real change, with action.
From biology to economics science concurs: to stop changing is to die.
It has perhaps been our reluctance to think, and thus our slowness to change and respond to a civilization that since the Industrial Revolution has phenomenally accelerated (increased its rate of change), that has put us in this near death situation.
The question, then, is not shall we change, but how to do so.
If the people who built the railroads in the US were actually interested in transporting people, they would now own the airlines. But they don't. The industrial historians tell us that the reason for this is that once the railroad companies had completed the huge task of driving the lines across the US, they lost their focus. Instead of continuing to pioneer ways of allowing free movement of people, they lost sight of the key end and focused internally on the one means to that end that they had made.
How have we Christians lost our focus and begun to focus internally?
For a century or so, this was no problem because the railroad was still the best way to get around, but with the advent of the airlines the railroad companies were overtaken by a mode of transport that was massively better.
Perhaps our "century" has come to an end?
What the railroad owners failed to appreciate is that if you are to "keep the main thing the main thing," as the management speak goes, it is highly likely that at some point you are going to have to fundamentally change the way you operate, and this will probably involve having to deconstruct the very modus operandi that you are currently using.
What is the main thing for Christians and the church?
The route to change must not be through the exercise of power but through an exercise in empowerment.
To me this means that change will come by and through the people, not the paid ministry professionals.
Can we as the church buck our own trends by working to change alongside other institutions, rather than twenty years behind them? I believe we can. I believe we have a unique opportunity to show how an institution that is widely acknowledged to be out of touch, is largely ignored by those it seeks to serve, and is completely detached from the blossoming interest in things spiritual, can face its fears, stop tinkering with the railroad, step down into the dark alleys, and explore completely new ways of being.
If Christianity is to remain "vital", then it is, in the truest sense, "vital" that we understand change: for an organism to show signs of life, it must show it can respond to its environment, and for the church to retain a vibrancy about its faith it must "adapt and survive".
Even if there is little evidence of change visible to the external observer, the process of the church thinking is a healthy sign that we know that things cannot stay as they are.
I am in agreement and feel the above statement is indicative of where the church is today. A conversation is underway and the church is thinking again. But we must not confuse our talk and thought and theory will real change, with action.
From biology to economics science concurs: to stop changing is to die.
It has perhaps been our reluctance to think, and thus our slowness to change and respond to a civilization that since the Industrial Revolution has phenomenally accelerated (increased its rate of change), that has put us in this near death situation.
The question, then, is not shall we change, but how to do so.
If the people who built the railroads in the US were actually interested in transporting people, they would now own the airlines. But they don't. The industrial historians tell us that the reason for this is that once the railroad companies had completed the huge task of driving the lines across the US, they lost their focus. Instead of continuing to pioneer ways of allowing free movement of people, they lost sight of the key end and focused internally on the one means to that end that they had made.
How have we Christians lost our focus and begun to focus internally?
For a century or so, this was no problem because the railroad was still the best way to get around, but with the advent of the airlines the railroad companies were overtaken by a mode of transport that was massively better.
Perhaps our "century" has come to an end?
What the railroad owners failed to appreciate is that if you are to "keep the main thing the main thing," as the management speak goes, it is highly likely that at some point you are going to have to fundamentally change the way you operate, and this will probably involve having to deconstruct the very modus operandi that you are currently using.
What is the main thing for Christians and the church?
The route to change must not be through the exercise of power but through an exercise in empowerment.
To me this means that change will come by and through the people, not the paid ministry professionals.
Can we as the church buck our own trends by working to change alongside other institutions, rather than twenty years behind them? I believe we can. I believe we have a unique opportunity to show how an institution that is widely acknowledged to be out of touch, is largely ignored by those it seeks to serve, and is completely detached from the blossoming interest in things spiritual, can face its fears, stop tinkering with the railroad, step down into the dark alleys, and explore completely new ways of being.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Signs of Emergence.
Today we will begin working through a recent read, "Signs of Emergence - A Vision for Church That Is Organic / Networked / Decentralized / Bottom-up / Communal / Flexible / Always Evolving" by Kester Brewin.
As I've done before, thoughts, ideas and quotes will be shared from the book and then I will make my comments or pose questions in bold and hopefully you'll make a comment and contribute to this conversation.
So for now, a couple of thoughts from the preface.
It is the idea of a constantly re-forming, learning community that is one of the driving passions behind this book (and series of blogs). We have for too long been trapped in cycles of boom or bust: hailing each new movement as the be-all and end-all of faith, only to slam it into the ground in a flurry of burnt-out ministers and angry members a few years later. It need not be this way.
We are not looking to become the next "thing" or be a part of any new "model". The dream is the church - simple, powerful, subtle, radical, evolutionary, revolutionary. Let us not put our hope in some expression of the church but rather put our hope in the person of Jesus.
We must restrain ourselves from being too quickly critical of the successes or failures of emerging congregations. Instead, we must attempt to form them as learning communities, with the mechanisms for their regular renewal built into them, and seek to commit ourselves to the relationships within them, rather than the structures around them.
The key to Christ's Church being built and his kingdom being advanced is RELATIONSHIP. I invite you to commit yourself to a people and community, not an organization or institution.
This is one of the beauties of a faith built on death and resurrection. The body of Christ will continue, eternally. But these little bodies that we build, trying to bring some structure and rhythm to the relationships we share, need not carry on forever. While the relationships continue underneath, the vehicles we commandeer to take us on various stages of our journey will zoom and splutter and will - sometimes - need abandoning. This has certainly been my experience in the communities I have journeyed with, and I suspect that we will see many more emerging churches, or umbrella groups, fail in the coming years. In a healthy learning environment, such things ought not to be perceived as failure (though many may want to spin it that way); rather the shedding of an old skin, to allow the inhabitation of a new one, better fit for purpose.
Remember, Church is not the point. Jesus came so the might have life and life to the full NOT church life and church life to the full. LIFE. And life is made up of a series of personal encounters and meaningful relationships. If we miss people, we miss life.
It is desperate if we can imagine nothing will ever change; we are, on the other hand, filled with hope if we believe that Christ is still desperate to incarnate himself in every myriad community in every changing season.
Christ is still desperate to incarnate (make himself know) himself in YOU. God took on flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood. And God taking on flesh and blood looks a lot like you.
Chesterton's famous quote comes to mind: "It is not that Christianity has been tried and found wanting, rather it is that it has been found too difficult left untried."
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
New AIDS Walk Photo.
Somehow we failed to get a photo of the entire group.
But this photo contains a couple of the members missing from the last photo.
Wheelchairs.
I mentioned in the last email update that the North Winds Living Center (AIDS Hospice) is in need of 3 new or slightly used wheelchairs for their residents living with and dying of HIV/AIDS. Here is a response from an old friend (she lives in Texas with her husband and baby daughter) and reader of the Mars Hill Update.
"I've really been enjoying reading the updates on what's going on with your church. Makes me wish we lived in OKC so we could be a part of it. I was just wondering if you still need wheelchairs for the AIDS hospital.....if you do, email me the church's address and I'll ship one to you. Take care and God bless you."
So jump on board if you can help.
And let me know if you'd like to be added to the Mars Hill Update list.
"I've really been enjoying reading the updates on what's going on with your church. Makes me wish we lived in OKC so we could be a part of it. I was just wondering if you still need wheelchairs for the AIDS hospital.....if you do, email me the church's address and I'll ship one to you. Take care and God bless you."
So jump on board if you can help.
And let me know if you'd like to be added to the Mars Hill Update list.
Monday, October 15, 2007
The Story Continues...
Just wanted to pass along a message from Danny Morton, my new friend and the President of the AIDS Walk of Oklahoma City, Inc.
"Thank you so much for your support of AIDS Walk 2007, your contribution of advertising in the Gazette and your presence at the Walk were both a great gift to the HIV/AIDS Community.
I will keep you informed as we start planning for AIDS Walk 2008 (we have set the date for Sunday October 5th 2008) and will certainly seek your help and input as those plans progress. Thank you again to you and Mars Hill."
So, mark your calendars for October 5th, 2008, can't wait! I assured Danny that we will engage and rally the faith community to participate in this wonderful event and important cause.
"Thank you so much for your support of AIDS Walk 2007, your contribution of advertising in the Gazette and your presence at the Walk were both a great gift to the HIV/AIDS Community.
I will keep you informed as we start planning for AIDS Walk 2008 (we have set the date for Sunday October 5th 2008) and will certainly seek your help and input as those plans progress. Thank you again to you and Mars Hill."
So, mark your calendars for October 5th, 2008, can't wait! I assured Danny that we will engage and rally the faith community to participate in this wonderful event and important cause.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Big Blue.
If you ever want to stir some serious curiosity...just blow up a 25-foot blue elephant that has Porn Sunday on it. We had several great conversations with people from the community as to the purpose of Big Blue.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Porn Sunday.
This past Sunday we participated in Porn Sunday. A couple hundred other churches joined in to "Confront The Elephant In The Pew". You can learn more at www.PornSunday.com. I encourage you and your church to make plans to participate in '08.
We have a wonderful couple in our community that can offer wisdom and experience in handling with sexual brokenness and/or addiction. Please contact me privately at Ben@MarsHill.tv if you need help!
Here are some of the stats on porn...
Number of pornographic web sites: 4.2 Million (12% of total websites)
68 million daily pornographic searches (25% of total search engine requests)
2.5 billion pornographic emails (8% of total emails)
People who regularly visit Internet porn web sites daily: 40 million.
Christians who said pornography is a major problem in the home: 47%.
Breakdown of male/female visitors to pornography sites: 65% male - 35% female.
30% of unsolicited e-mails contain pornographic materials.
Women, far more than men, are likely to act out their behaviors in real life, such as having multiple partners, casual sex, or affairs.
Porn revenue is larger than the combined revenues of all professional football, baseball and basketball franchises.
US porn revenue exceeds the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC at $6.2 billion.
The porn industry is a $57 billion dollar industry
Average age of first Internet exposure to porno is 11 years old
Largest consumer of Internet porn 12-17 age group
90% of 8-16 year olds have viewed porn online (most while doing homework)
"Americans aged 13 to 18 spend more than 72 hours a week using electronic media--defined as the Internet, cell phones, television, music, and video games." Source: CNet
"87% of all teens are online." Source: USA Today
70% of teens have viewed pornography.
20% of men admit to accessing porn at work
10% of adults admit to Internet sexual addiction
Child pornography generates $3 billion annually.
13% of women admit to accessing porn at work
17% of all woman struggle with pornographic addiction
Women favor chat rooms 2x’s more than men
1 out of 3 visitors to adult websites are women
9.4 million women access adult websites each month
We have a wonderful couple in our community that can offer wisdom and experience in handling with sexual brokenness and/or addiction. Please contact me privately at Ben@MarsHill.tv if you need help!
Here are some of the stats on porn...
Number of pornographic web sites: 4.2 Million (12% of total websites)
68 million daily pornographic searches (25% of total search engine requests)
2.5 billion pornographic emails (8% of total emails)
People who regularly visit Internet porn web sites daily: 40 million.
Christians who said pornography is a major problem in the home: 47%.
Breakdown of male/female visitors to pornography sites: 65% male - 35% female.
30% of unsolicited e-mails contain pornographic materials.
Women, far more than men, are likely to act out their behaviors in real life, such as having multiple partners, casual sex, or affairs.
Porn revenue is larger than the combined revenues of all professional football, baseball and basketball franchises.
US porn revenue exceeds the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC at $6.2 billion.
The porn industry is a $57 billion dollar industry
Average age of first Internet exposure to porno is 11 years old
Largest consumer of Internet porn 12-17 age group
90% of 8-16 year olds have viewed porn online (most while doing homework)
"Americans aged 13 to 18 spend more than 72 hours a week using electronic media--defined as the Internet, cell phones, television, music, and video games." Source: CNet
"87% of all teens are online." Source: USA Today
70% of teens have viewed pornography.
20% of men admit to accessing porn at work
10% of adults admit to Internet sexual addiction
Child pornography generates $3 billion annually.
13% of women admit to accessing porn at work
17% of all woman struggle with pornographic addiction
Women favor chat rooms 2x’s more than men
1 out of 3 visitors to adult websites are women
9.4 million women access adult websites each month
Monday, October 8, 2007
Love Walks.
A remnant of the Mars Hill community at the 2007 AIDS Walk of Oklahoma City. (Courtney & Daniel are not pictured but a new pic will follow including)
We are becoming a community that loves mercy, does justice and walks humbly.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Facing Christianity's Crisis.
Here it part two from the Time.com article posted yesterday. I appreciate the comments from David McLaughlin. This is in interview, Q&A style, so it should lend itself well to a response...from you.
I'll highlight the statement made and questions posed by the interviewer.
Tuesday, Oct. 02, 2007
Q&A: Facing Christianity's Crisis
TIME: You seem like a low-key type. Would you be opposed to describing the change in non-Christian perception of Christians as a "crisis?"
Kinnaman: Actually, an early version of the book title was "The Crisis of Christianity." Mental and emotional barriers regarding Christianity are higher than ever. As the young generation becomes the dominant part of the population, skepticism of Christianity will become a permanent and unavoidable feature of life in America. Christians do not have to like what outsiders are saying, but we have to deal with the negative image we have.
Yet Christians constitute a large majority.
Sure. For instance, Christianity is still the main spiritual route through adolescence. But because this generation of adolescents is exposed to a whole range of spiritual perspectives through entertainment and friendships, and puts a high value on individualism and experimentation, it is more and more affected by non-Christian attitudes. Even among the 'outsiders,' a majority tell us that they've attended a Christian church, usually for several months. They give it a test drive. But despite these experience — often because of them — they come to many negative views about Christianity.
Can you give an example of one of the complaints by non-Christians and a possible response?
Christians are known as judgmental, arrogant and quick to find fault with other people. Well, biblically Christians understand that we all sin, so we shouldn't be finding fault with individuals. But you often get situations where, say, a single mother comes to a congregation looking for assistance and spiritual help, and all she hears is, 'You shouldn't be a single mother.' That gives the impression that while Jesus loved flawed people Christians do not. Young outsiders knew the phrase 'Love the sinner, hate the sin,' but said what Christians really mean is 'Hate the sinner along with the sin.'
But there are some areas where Christians and many non-Christians do have differences of principle and not just practice, right? What about homosexuality?
A majority of Americans continue to believe that homosexuality is inappropriate. And the Christian biblical perspective is that it is not consistent with Christian discipleship. But non-Christians regarded it as our biggest negative, and most of the Christians we sampled agreed. Many Christians say, "That's not something we're willing to negotiate on." And, certainly, this is based in historical Christian convictions and scripture. But they need to guard against not wanting to grapple with the complexity of homosexuality, against trying to give very simple answers to very complex stories, and against feeling they can solve some of these deep issues without personal friendships with gay men and women. Christians are reluctant to admit sexual issues such as divorce and pornography that are more widely accepted within the Christian community than homosexuality. That opens us to charges of hypocrisy, both by people who genuinely want to talk and those who just want to score points. The two sides ought to have some respect for each other — and the responsibility should be on Christians to lead by example instead of just shouting at others through the ballot box or talk shows.
Is there some danger that Christians who read your book would feel you are telling them to compromise their beliefs for the sake of popularity?
We are quite clear in the book the popularity is not the goal, and people should not determine faith convictions based on whether they make sense to everybody else. But for Christians to understand, accept and learn from critics is something else.
I was struck by the criticism that Christianity had become too political. Do you think that that concern is the driving force behind the major shift toward criticism on the part of non-Christians?
I truly think the different perceptions stem primarily from changes with the generation doing the perceiving, not the Christians. The age group we interviewed is very skeptical and savvy and exposed to a wider array of information and worldviews than at any time before in human history. The research was spread out over three years, so this is not a brand-new, anti-Iraq, anti-Bush impulse. But the political arena has certainly contributed to people's perceptions of Christianity and Christians are perceived to have used their influence to gain or control sources of power. Critics point out that this is a very different engagement than Jesus modeled. Right or wrong, it's a fascinating point of criticism.
"Too involved with politics" also garnered a 50% negative rating among churchgoers. Do you think this bodes a future political withdrawal?
A Christian withdrawal from politics is unlikely, especially since born-again voters typically have higher turnout levels than other groups. However, born-again Christians have become more sensitive to being used for political purposes.
If Christians take your book seriously, what might the Christian future look like?
Whether they read the book or not, they'll have to respond to the issue. Christians will be forced to deal with hostility and frustration on the part of outsiders. They will be pulled in many different directions. People will do their best to address the crisis, but disagree on its severity and solutions. For instance, there is a strong push by many Christian leaders take seriously the commands to love and serve others and contribute to the common good of society. Many different voices will compete to define that movement.
Do you hope non-Christians will read your book? What could they get out of it? In what ways might it help solve the problems it describes?
It is written primarily for a Christian audience, but we hope non-Christians see our efforts to face reality. We are saying that the Christian community in America, in all its varieties, has to own up to its problems. That starts by simply admitting we've been un-Christian.
Given the proportion of Christian young adults who have attitudes and criticisms similar to the non-Christians, what is it that keeps them in the church?
Kinnaman: I don't know. We haven't explored it in depth�yet. That's our next project, actually.
I'll highlight the statement made and questions posed by the interviewer.
Tuesday, Oct. 02, 2007
Q&A: Facing Christianity's Crisis
TIME: You seem like a low-key type. Would you be opposed to describing the change in non-Christian perception of Christians as a "crisis?"
Kinnaman: Actually, an early version of the book title was "The Crisis of Christianity." Mental and emotional barriers regarding Christianity are higher than ever. As the young generation becomes the dominant part of the population, skepticism of Christianity will become a permanent and unavoidable feature of life in America. Christians do not have to like what outsiders are saying, but we have to deal with the negative image we have.
Yet Christians constitute a large majority.
Sure. For instance, Christianity is still the main spiritual route through adolescence. But because this generation of adolescents is exposed to a whole range of spiritual perspectives through entertainment and friendships, and puts a high value on individualism and experimentation, it is more and more affected by non-Christian attitudes. Even among the 'outsiders,' a majority tell us that they've attended a Christian church, usually for several months. They give it a test drive. But despite these experience — often because of them — they come to many negative views about Christianity.
Can you give an example of one of the complaints by non-Christians and a possible response?
Christians are known as judgmental, arrogant and quick to find fault with other people. Well, biblically Christians understand that we all sin, so we shouldn't be finding fault with individuals. But you often get situations where, say, a single mother comes to a congregation looking for assistance and spiritual help, and all she hears is, 'You shouldn't be a single mother.' That gives the impression that while Jesus loved flawed people Christians do not. Young outsiders knew the phrase 'Love the sinner, hate the sin,' but said what Christians really mean is 'Hate the sinner along with the sin.'
But there are some areas where Christians and many non-Christians do have differences of principle and not just practice, right? What about homosexuality?
A majority of Americans continue to believe that homosexuality is inappropriate. And the Christian biblical perspective is that it is not consistent with Christian discipleship. But non-Christians regarded it as our biggest negative, and most of the Christians we sampled agreed. Many Christians say, "That's not something we're willing to negotiate on." And, certainly, this is based in historical Christian convictions and scripture. But they need to guard against not wanting to grapple with the complexity of homosexuality, against trying to give very simple answers to very complex stories, and against feeling they can solve some of these deep issues without personal friendships with gay men and women. Christians are reluctant to admit sexual issues such as divorce and pornography that are more widely accepted within the Christian community than homosexuality. That opens us to charges of hypocrisy, both by people who genuinely want to talk and those who just want to score points. The two sides ought to have some respect for each other — and the responsibility should be on Christians to lead by example instead of just shouting at others through the ballot box or talk shows.
Is there some danger that Christians who read your book would feel you are telling them to compromise their beliefs for the sake of popularity?
We are quite clear in the book the popularity is not the goal, and people should not determine faith convictions based on whether they make sense to everybody else. But for Christians to understand, accept and learn from critics is something else.
I was struck by the criticism that Christianity had become too political. Do you think that that concern is the driving force behind the major shift toward criticism on the part of non-Christians?
I truly think the different perceptions stem primarily from changes with the generation doing the perceiving, not the Christians. The age group we interviewed is very skeptical and savvy and exposed to a wider array of information and worldviews than at any time before in human history. The research was spread out over three years, so this is not a brand-new, anti-Iraq, anti-Bush impulse. But the political arena has certainly contributed to people's perceptions of Christianity and Christians are perceived to have used their influence to gain or control sources of power. Critics point out that this is a very different engagement than Jesus modeled. Right or wrong, it's a fascinating point of criticism.
"Too involved with politics" also garnered a 50% negative rating among churchgoers. Do you think this bodes a future political withdrawal?
A Christian withdrawal from politics is unlikely, especially since born-again voters typically have higher turnout levels than other groups. However, born-again Christians have become more sensitive to being used for political purposes.
If Christians take your book seriously, what might the Christian future look like?
Whether they read the book or not, they'll have to respond to the issue. Christians will be forced to deal with hostility and frustration on the part of outsiders. They will be pulled in many different directions. People will do their best to address the crisis, but disagree on its severity and solutions. For instance, there is a strong push by many Christian leaders take seriously the commands to love and serve others and contribute to the common good of society. Many different voices will compete to define that movement.
Do you hope non-Christians will read your book? What could they get out of it? In what ways might it help solve the problems it describes?
It is written primarily for a Christian audience, but we hope non-Christians see our efforts to face reality. We are saying that the Christian community in America, in all its varieties, has to own up to its problems. That starts by simply admitting we've been un-Christian.
Given the proportion of Christian young adults who have attitudes and criticisms similar to the non-Christians, what is it that keeps them in the church?
Kinnaman: I don't know. We haven't explored it in depth�yet. That's our next project, actually.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Christianity's Image Problem.
Below is an article featured on www.time.com. This comes from a highly anticipated book on my part, "UnChristian". You can learn more www.unchristian.com. I invite you to read and reply here. I'll post part two tomorrow...
Tuesday, Oct. 02, 2007
Christianity's Image Problem
By David Van Biema
It used to be, says David Kinnaman, that Christianity was both big and beloved in the U.S. — even among its non-adherents. Back in 1996, a poll taken by Kinnaman's organization, the Barna Group, found that 83% of Americans identified themselves as Christians, and that fewer than 20% of non-Christians held an unfavorable view of Christianity. But, as Kinnaman puts it in his new book (co-authored with Gabe Lyons) UnChristian, "That was then."
What do you think are some of the unfavorable views that non-Christians in Oklahoma City have? What can or should we do to remedy?
Barna polls conducted between 2004 and this year, sampling 440 non-Christians (and a similar number of Christians) aged 16 to 29, found that 38% had a "bad impression" of present-day Christianity. "It's not a pretty picture" the authors write. Barna's clientele is made up primarily of evangelical groups.
Kinnaman says non-Christians' biggest complaints about the faith are not immediately theological: Jesus and the Bible get relatively good marks. Rather, he sees resentment as focused on perceived Christian attitudes. Nine out of ten outsiders found Christians too "anti-homosexual," and nearly as many perceived it as "hypocritical" and "judgmental." Seventy-five percent found it "too involved in politics."
It would seem that the love the sinner, hate the sin bit has not been convincing. When it comes down to it, there are some who just plain hate the sinner. Tragic!
Not only has the decline in non-Christians' regard for Christianity been severe, but Barna results also show a rapid increase in the number of people describing themselves as non-Christian. One reason may be that the study used a stricter definition of "Christian" that applied to only 73% of Americans. Still, Kinnaman claims that however defined, the number of non-Christians is growing with each succeeding generation: His study found that 23% of Americans over 61 were non-Christians; 27% among people ages 42-60; and 40% among 16-29 year olds. Younger Christians, he concludes, are therefore likely to live in an environment where two out of every five of their peers is not a Christian.
I like the shift away from unchurched to non-Christian.
Churchgoers of the same age share several of the non-Christians' complaints about Christianity. For instance, 80% of the Christians polled picked "anti-homosexual" as a negative adjective describing Christianity today. And the view of 85% of non-Christians aged 16-29 that present day Christianity is "hypocritical — saying one thing doing another," was, in fact, shared by 52% of Christians of the same age. Fifty percent found their own faith "too involved in politics." Forty-four percent found it "confusing."
Maybe when we begin to have problems with our own religion will we begin to change and begin following Jesus.
Christians have always been aware of image problems with non-believers. Says Kinnaman: "The question is whether to care." But given the increasing non-Christian population and the fact that many of the concerns raised by non-believers are shared by young Christians, he says, there really is no option but to address the crisis.
Tuesday, Oct. 02, 2007
Christianity's Image Problem
By David Van Biema
It used to be, says David Kinnaman, that Christianity was both big and beloved in the U.S. — even among its non-adherents. Back in 1996, a poll taken by Kinnaman's organization, the Barna Group, found that 83% of Americans identified themselves as Christians, and that fewer than 20% of non-Christians held an unfavorable view of Christianity. But, as Kinnaman puts it in his new book (co-authored with Gabe Lyons) UnChristian, "That was then."
What do you think are some of the unfavorable views that non-Christians in Oklahoma City have? What can or should we do to remedy?
Barna polls conducted between 2004 and this year, sampling 440 non-Christians (and a similar number of Christians) aged 16 to 29, found that 38% had a "bad impression" of present-day Christianity. "It's not a pretty picture" the authors write. Barna's clientele is made up primarily of evangelical groups.
Kinnaman says non-Christians' biggest complaints about the faith are not immediately theological: Jesus and the Bible get relatively good marks. Rather, he sees resentment as focused on perceived Christian attitudes. Nine out of ten outsiders found Christians too "anti-homosexual," and nearly as many perceived it as "hypocritical" and "judgmental." Seventy-five percent found it "too involved in politics."
It would seem that the love the sinner, hate the sin bit has not been convincing. When it comes down to it, there are some who just plain hate the sinner. Tragic!
Not only has the decline in non-Christians' regard for Christianity been severe, but Barna results also show a rapid increase in the number of people describing themselves as non-Christian. One reason may be that the study used a stricter definition of "Christian" that applied to only 73% of Americans. Still, Kinnaman claims that however defined, the number of non-Christians is growing with each succeeding generation: His study found that 23% of Americans over 61 were non-Christians; 27% among people ages 42-60; and 40% among 16-29 year olds. Younger Christians, he concludes, are therefore likely to live in an environment where two out of every five of their peers is not a Christian.
I like the shift away from unchurched to non-Christian.
Churchgoers of the same age share several of the non-Christians' complaints about Christianity. For instance, 80% of the Christians polled picked "anti-homosexual" as a negative adjective describing Christianity today. And the view of 85% of non-Christians aged 16-29 that present day Christianity is "hypocritical — saying one thing doing another," was, in fact, shared by 52% of Christians of the same age. Fifty percent found their own faith "too involved in politics." Forty-four percent found it "confusing."
Maybe when we begin to have problems with our own religion will we begin to change and begin following Jesus.
Christians have always been aware of image problems with non-believers. Says Kinnaman: "The question is whether to care." But given the increasing non-Christian population and the fact that many of the concerns raised by non-believers are shared by young Christians, he says, there really is no option but to address the crisis.
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