Libel, Heresy, and Hope (This one's long)

I’m noticing a trend.

I work in “big business” and am used to seeing lawsuits come up occasionally for libel. Are you familiar with libel? Digging through my business law books, I find a plethora of definitions for libel, but by far the best is from Arthur Plotnick’s “The Elements of Editing”…a non law book.

“Defamation: An act of communication that causes someone to be shamed, ridiculed, held in contempt, or lowered in the estimation of the community, or to lose employment status or earnings or otherwise suffer a damaged reputation. Such defamation is couched in “defamatory language”…

Libel: Published material…meeting three conditions: (1) the material is “defamatory” either on its face or indirectly; (2) the defamatory statement is about someone who is *identifiable* to one or more persons; and (3) the material must be distributed to someone other than the offended party; i.e., published.”

So, in order for libel to stick in court, there must be evidence of malice. I’m trying to be brief, bear with me. There are several different kinds of malice, Actual, Legal, and Common Law. For the purposes of this conversation, I’m talking strictly “actual” malice. Actual malice with regards to libel means that something was published with distinct knowledge that is was false or “reckless disregard” of whether it was false or not. Legal and Common Law malice are more closely related to ill-will or spite. Wow, makes you think a little differently about what you say and write doesn’t it? You can be legally bound if you say something about someone out of spite.

Excuse me, Professor, but will this be on the final exam? Okay, okay, now I can get to my point.

In the business world, libel is huge. If Steve Ballmer steps forward and says something like, “Steve Jobs sells poison milk to school children” in an open letter to the San Francisco newspaper, that’s libel…and Microsoft would likely have to pay a pretty penny. (Steve Jobs probably wouldn’t let that one go.) And the public wouldn’t think anything different. “Wow, that’s not a very nice thing to say, someone is going to get some money on that one.” We watch politicians every day say things about the initiatives and plans of a competitor. Obama and Edwards, pound on Clinton’s proposed plans, but watch closely, they never say anything directly about Senator Clinton. It’s all carefully measured. Yes, it reflects on the person, but not directly. It’s all about inference.

Yet, in today’s Christianity, apparently it’s perfectly fine to write whatever we want about anyone with whom we disagree. Not only that, it’s perfectly fine to do it with whatever vitriol we can muster.

It is a well known fact that I am NOT a fan of mega-churches, mostly because I find many of the attendees to be shallow spiritually, and they often get lost in the crowd. HOWEVER, the larger a church gets, the harder it is to have an individual relationship with each person. This leads to “programs”, usually small groups or “cell” groups where the fellowship and relationships really happen. Discipleship takes place outside of the main congregational gathering. Normally, I point to Willow Creek and Saddleback when talking about mega-churches. Understand this: Bill Hybels and Rick Warren have their hearts in the right place, a desire to see people experiencing Christ. I disagree with some of their implementations, but I do not disagree with their mission or their calling. On the topic of mega-churches, let me say that nothing draws a crowd like a crowd. Something is happening there that brings people in. How can that be bad for Christianity? Let’s say that people are drawn in, “converted”, and then leave the mega-church to live missionally in the world, and possibly attend another community of faith. That is success, given everything in the Bible that I read.

Yet, there are some who SLAM Hybels and Warren as heretics. Heretic is a big, nasty word. So, let’s see, who else often shows up on the heretic list. (Note, I’m not making any judgement against any of these individuals, I’m trying to make a point. ) Brian McLaren has actually had books written against him….by name. Tony Jones of Emergent Village recently posted on his blog that he had to explain to his 6 yr old daughter what a heretic is, because he was called that during a presentation at a conference where she was with him. Warren and Hybels have been written about. Doug Pagitt, Diana-Butler-Bass, Marcus Borg, the entire Roman Catholic Church, Rob Bell, Joel Olsteen, Robert Schuller, Max Lucado, Chuck Swindoll, Dan Kimball, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Bishop N.T. Wright, John Hagee, Mother Theresa, the list goes on and on and on. Oh, wait, I have a few more.....Luther (remember, he was excommunicated), Calvin, Wesley...anyone else I'm missing?

This name calling, people bashing MUST STOP!!! AND IT MUST STOP NOW!!! It is not Biblical, it is not Christian, and it’s legally a problem . (See the beginning of my rant)

Wait, Brad, how can you say it’s not Biblical? We are called to sound out on false teachers.

Paul wrote in his first letter to Timothy, “I urge you, as I did when I was on my way to Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach any different doctrine, and not to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies that promote speculations rather than divine training that is known by faith. But the aim of such instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. Some people have deviated from these and turned to meaningless talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make assertions.” (I Tim 1:3-7 RSV, emphasis mine)

The libel I read on various blogs and in the “Christian” press is vitriolic. There is no love. AND, AND, AND, it’s not focused at the individual who is being blasted. It is written for all of the readers, the public, and it is malicious. There are other verses about "gentleness" that I didn't include, but I could. This is alread getting long.

Paul continues in his second letter to Timothy, starting in verse 14, “Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.”

BOOM, there’s the rub. “Not to teach any different doctrine”…..hmmm….and who decides that? “Rightly explaining the word of truth”….hmmm…and who decides that? Let’s see, if only we had a large central organization and a single person who could decide that for us. Oh, wait…tried that for 1500 years. I know, let’s break away from that central organizational structure and then interpretation of the scripture can be done by all of the people….oh, wait…that’s a great idea….but then how do we define salvation? Some are chosen, some are not? (Anyone who doesn’t believe that is going to “hell”. Clearly not chosen.) All are chosen, but have to accept the grace? (Anyone who doesn’t accept it is going to “hell”.) It’s what we do? It’s how we live? There is one God in three parts? (Trinity) There is only one God in two parts, with a Spirit that is not God, but a messenger from God? "There is only one God, and anything else is a separate entitiy? (Unitarian) Everyone is saved, and no one has to do anything? (No one is going to “hell”)

All of these things are based on interpretation. ALL OF THEM. And if you prooftext enough, they are all provable ideas. (Yes, incorrectly so, but provable nevertheless.)

I’ll end with this.

Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, part of what I recognize as the Triune God (based on interpretation!!!), said this about his “work” to his disciples. I love this scripture. I embrace this scripture because it gives me great hope. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth,” (John 16:12-13a RSV, emphasis mine)

I, through prayer, study (scripture and other), tradition, experience and reason (conversation with those I trust and value), am being lead into all truth, but I cannot bear ALL of that truth right now. Why? Jesus said I couldn’t. I am excited by the journey. I am excited to know that my brothers and sisters in Christ are in the same boat!!! As I realize truths and embrace them, my faith gets deeper, more robust. If you seek truth, you will find it. If you seek answers, you will be led further, deeper, into the mystery, and the answer may be bigger than you ever expected. God is huge, and my theology gives such a small glimpse into His vastness.

Before you start painting people with the heretic brush, examine yourself and determine whether you are growing, or whether you’ve stagnated because you think you’ve “arrived”. Guess what….you haven’t arrived.

Sorry this was so long. It’s what has been on my heart. I could have dumped in a lot more scripture, but I just wanted to get this out. If you've read this far, THANK YOU!!! I look forward to your comments.

Brad

Iron Chef Snohomish

The well dressed Chairman(person) paces back and forth in front of the hidden ingredient, looking over the single chef who has shown up in Snohomish Kitchen Stadium. "Tonight," she says, "You have been chosen to come up with a delicious stir-fry with tonight's secret ingredient."

With a flourish, she removes the kitchen towel, and shouts, "Shredded Beets and Carrots!!!! And Chicken/Apple Sausage!!!!"

My heart sank.

A stir fry? Really? Uh...what?

My mind started working overtime. She had also provided onions and garlic. I grabbed the wok, the soy sauce and fish sauce from the fridge, some Apple Cider vinegar, some thai seasoning, some Brown Sugar, and went to work.

Anne had already started some brown rice on the stove.

Okay, so, it actually came out really good...a little red....but really good.

Iron Chef Brad won the day.

Was this Iron Chef...or Dinner Impossible. Hmnmmmm? Whatever it was...it was Good Eats.

If you're as much of a Food Network geek as you now realize you are, congratulations. Otherwise this went completely over your head.

Dwight Friesen - Friday Afternoon @ Off The Map

I'm getting there.....I'm getting there. Not very many of these left!!! I hope you are all enjoying them.

One of the most interesting aspects of Christianity is the plethora of voices in the mix of God's family. This mixture consists of "liberal", "conservative" and "non-categorized" voices. As a result, there are some voices at the extremes of the continuum. The emergent conversation is no different. I am proud to be a part of this conversation. It is stretching me, solidifying my faith, and making me think. I pity the Christians who "have it all figured out". It appears to me that they have given up on the glorious education that the Holy Spirit leads us to. Embrace the mystery! There is truth to be found across the continuum of voices.

I was introduced to Dwight Friesen through "An Emergent Manifesto of Hope", the book edited by Tony Jones and Doug Pagitt. This book is the most thorough collection of emergent thought that I have yet found. It covers the complete gamut of the continuum. That means that there are voices from the extremes. Dwight wrote an essay on Orthoparadoxy that really struck a nerve (in a positive way) with me. His session at Off the Map expanded on this concept of Orthoparadoxy.

Okay, Brad, why the preamble about emergent voices? Wouldn't that indicate that you consider Friesen to be at one of the extremes? Certainly not. However, I cannot say that I agree with, nor condone, everything in "An Emergent Manifesto of Hope". That's another blog entry, though.

So, Orthoparadoxy is an understanding that we are blessed by a glorious mystery in the scripture. By embracing the paradoxes and differences of Christ's words, I experience more of the depth of Christ's teachings. I can't do the topic justice...read the book, please!!!

Example: In Luke's coverage of the infamous sermon on the mount, Jesus tells us to love our enemies and not condemn them. Yet he turns around and then tells us to discern "good fruit". Wait. How do we unconditionally love our enemies without judgment, yet then judge their fruit?

Dwight opened his session with the question, "How do you embody grace to those who are 'other'?" We then split into small groups to discuss. First, "other" defines anyone who does not agree with or is different from you in thought or manner. How would you answer this question? Why? Did you really think about it?

Actually, I want to back up a second. Look at the picture of Dwight. See the candle? The first thing he did was to light a candle. Whenever he does a session like this, he lights a candle to symbolize Christ enlightening the conversation and permeating all that happens. I thought it was so simple, but awesome.

He’s a professor here in the Seattle area at Mars Hill Grad School. You can really tell, when you listen to him talk. His session was very participatory, with him sitting on a bench at the front of the class. Dwight was extremely engaging, asking people questions, asking them to “unpack things further”, and then letting their comments be commented on or rebutted by the rest of the audience. Yet, he was clearly in control of the conversation the whole time. I’d love to get to know him better. I love his title: Professor of Practical Theology. I wonder who the poor bloke is who gets to be the Professor of Impractical Theology. HA HA HA

He tied everything with embodying grace back to one thought. The only way we overcome our differences is through the unity of the gospel.

Someone brought up the topic of authenticity, and the question was responded to by another in the audience, “What does it mean to be truly authentic?” Dwight kind of hummed and hawed over this one. I don’t think it was clearly answered by him or anyone in the audience. Someone mentioned sincerity. Well, one can be sincere….and sincerely wrong. Authenticity is a two way street. You can be authentically good or authentically bad. The original question, though, was around how we should be completely authentic in our churches, but that people outside the church don’t recognize Christianity as being authentic. I guess I would have dodged that question a bit, too.

Dwight made me want to study more. I guess a good professor does that. He mentioned Fr. Richard Rohr, whom I’ve read before, but not recently. He said that Rohr said Jesus was asked 183 questions in the gospels, but only answered 3 of them directly. I laughed really hard. I now want to know if that was 183 unique questions, or if it was a set of duplicates in the synoptic gospels, or what. HA HA. So, I guess it’s time to make up a table in Excel and dig into the gospels again. What fun.

Diana Butler Bass and the Thriving Mainline Church

Okay, two weeks after the fact, I’m getting to blogging about Diana.

I actually got to spend a little time talking to Diana at the conference, and my friend Pam was called up on stage Saturday morning by Diana because Diana wants to grow up and be just like Pam. Diana was saying that Jim Dobson recently declared her to the be "Whore of Babylon". I want to find a reference for that. If you have one, please shoot it to me. Diana is NOT the Whore of Babylon....I don't know who is...but it's not her.

Diana Butler Bass is a church historian, a recovering evangelical, and just an absolute kick to listen to and talk to. If you haven’t yet listened to her podcast on Emergent Village, take 45 minutes and listen to it!!! Her story of “The Frozen Eight” in their little church that doesn’t want to change what they do, or change the people, and want to grow is priceless.

Her session at Off The Map on Friday afternoon was a continuation of her session in the morning, which I unfortunately missed. However, the afternoon session could live “standalone”.

Her focus for the last several years has been research into Mainline liberal churches that are succeeding, and not just succeeding, but thriving. She talked of her time at Trinity in Santa Barbara in the mid ‘90s, and how they nearly died, but then managed to turn things around, and are thriving. The Christian media at the time was regularly saying that liberal Protestantism was dying. Yet, she was seeing something completely different.

Her latest book, Christianity for the Rest of Us, covers some of her research. I wish I could say that’s all it is, but I’m only halfway through with it. (I’m working on it! My stack of books doesn’t feel like it’s getting shorter.)

The churches that are thriving have found themselves re-centering on three basic themes: Christian Practices, Tradition, and the Quest for Wisdom. They also, commonly, asked the same two questions: Who are we in God? What is God calling us to do?

So, what are these “practices” she was talking about? Well, how about meeting the needs of the individuals in the church and in the community for the sake of God in the world. I’m talking about fundamental needs: justice, hospitality, healing, forgiveness, spiritual formation. Notice something? There’s no mention of “financial” needs in this list. Doesn’t mean it’s not important, just that the church as a whole has a greater mission for building community.

The church, according to Diana’s research, goes through reformation and internal reconciliation about every 500 years. Key word…about….these renaissance periods are not sudden flip of a switch deals. They often last for a hundred years or more. So, 500AD….1000AD…..1500AD (Luther)….and now entering the 21st century, we’re hard in it. What’s the new reformation? Well, it’s the rediscovering of what Jesus’s message actually was. Some say it’s postmodern, but it’s more than that. It’s a revamping of how we “do” church; how we “are” the church.

Given the timeline of every 500 years, one can easily see that the church has been around since Christ, and constantly refocus to remain Christ focused. Societal changes, church directions, etc., all need to refocus on Christ. So, the church dawdles along just fine…then changes direction slowly…then returns to “the path”. Since everything is built on everything else, you can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, you have to leverage the traditions in place. That’s the “tradition” of Diana’s triad for thriving churches.

The quest for wisdom is urgently important. The Bible is a scary book. While Diana is solidly Episcopalian/Presbyterian (Presbymergent), she has a background in Methodism. One of the values in Methodism is the Wesleyan Quadrilateral (Scripture, Tradition, Experience and Reason.) As the Holy Spirit leads into all truth, we are led only so far as our divine spirits are ready to go. In other words, mysteries are revealed to us when we can handle them….and it’s a formation process. So, there are a number of churches that are “answering questions that people aren’t really asking”, and eschewing the nature of spiritual formation. I think it was Helen Mildenhall at OTM that said that it seems some churches are “more interested in being right than being kind.” Kindness should allow seekers (old Christians included…we’re all seekers) to wrestle with their spiritual formation. Diana said, “You don’t have to have answers to be wise, just and kind.”

Practice, Tradition and the Quest for Wisdom.

How is your church doing? How are you doing?

Oh, by the way, Diana did say that she left evangelicalism behind and never looked back, and now she is spending a lot of time with evangelicals, rediscovering that they are “okay people”. Then she’d laugh her delightful laugh. I think I fall in there somewhere. ..an okay person.
What Diana has to say, and her research, shouldn’t just be valid for Mainline churches. This is stuff that all churches that call themselves Christian need to assess their actions.

Good stuff.

Check her out at: http://www.dianabutlerbass.com/

Ken Loyd - Starting a church for people with no resources

Friday Nov 2nd - later that morning....

Ken Loyd led the next session I attended. Ken is not someone that first impressions would lead one to believe that he would be pleasant to meet in a dark alley. He's short, stocky, tattooed, and his hair is currently a gray, spiky, inconsistently sparse mohawk. (His picture on his website shows him billiard ball bald. Not sure which hairstyle is better. **GRIN**)

The session was about how to start a church for people with "nothing". I have to be completely honest. I misread the meaning. Anne and I are interested in starting a community of faith in our home, and WE have no money. Well for those of you reading this who know Ken already know where this is going...

Ken and his beautiful, dreadlocked wife, Deborah, started "The Bridge" in Portland, OR. This is a faith community for the homeless, dinsenfranchised, and marginalized poor in Portland. It sounds very rough around the edges, and absolutely wonderful.

The Bridge wasn't the focus, though. Ken had invited a handful of leaders from other communities to share.

First was Kathy Escobar and Karl Wheeler from "The Refuge" in Denver. They had left a leadership team at "a megachurch" to start this ministry to the marginalized. Why? Carl said, "We were tired of the power." They also inferred that they wanted more "community". Community brings people out of marginalization. I have added a link to "The Refuge" on this page. Please go and see some of the things these people are doing.

Then, Ken's wife Deborah, and Angie from "Agents of Future" (energetic music) talked about The Bridge. Check them out at: http://thebridge-pdx.org/. The most important things I got from their talk were these two things: Everyone has a voice; Everyone is involved in something outisde the church (i.e. a band, a mission, etc.).

The people in the community bring the energy from the community into the church.

WOW. Isn't that the exact reversal of the modern church today. The church today wants to take the energy of the church out into the community. Yes, there is question of what "energy" is right to be brought into the church....but I think God can control that. Don't put God in a box!!!!

Ken then stood again and shared about "Home", his latest outreach to the community of homeless in Portland, a true street ministry. The entire weekend seemed to be about acceptance. Ken pointed out that the homeless feel two things. They feel that they are "invisible" and moreover, they feel they are "defective". This just breaks my heart. All people are of value.

I was intrigued to hear about some of the innovations on the street. For instance, dental floss is the thread of choice for patching things. Also, the usage of Nalgene bottles for “controlled” drinking of really bad wine was interesting. There are some homeless with such an addiction to alcohol that they will die without it. By pouring the really cheap wine into a Nalgene and then sitting around and passing it from person to person talking, no one person takes any more than the others. Yes, they still get a buzz. But, they are controlling their intake. That’s awesome. Also, it keeps their addicted brothers alive one day more.

Next, Jeff Shaeffer from “Uffizi” in Santa Barbara got up to talk. Check them out at: http://www.freewebs.com/syncman/aboutus.htm. I loved his comments on keeping the homeless warm at night in Santa Barbara. Then he chuckled, “Well, it never actually gets cold in Santa Barbara”. There was a book recommended during his session called “Under the Overpass”. I’ve added it to my book list, but haven’t looked it up yet.

Ken made some final comments that meant a lot to me with regards to building community. It’s not a pastor/parishioner relationship. “These are my friends.”

Hmmm. A wise man once said something about nothing greater than laying down your life for your friends.

First Cup

I'm thinking about my wife right now. (taking a break from thinking about Off the Map....I'll get back to it, I promise.)

Many of you know that I work from home several days a week. For a High-Tech job, that's actually more unusual than it sounds, especially for someone in middle management like myself. This means that I get to be here for my kids when they take a break from school, or when they are having lunch.

The day starts, however, with the coffee pot.

It has taken me a long time and a lot of practice to get the "perfect" cup of coffee brewed. I'm still not quite there, but it's getting close.

Anne likes her coffee "cooler" than most, as I've blogged before. Often, she will let the cup of coffee sit, sometimes several hours, until it's room temperature. Then, she'll down it all in one big gulp. I prefer mine steaming hot. So, I jokingly shake my head when she pours the last dregs of the pot that's been off for over an hour into her coffee mug before I make another pot.

I want everyone who reads this to understand something, though. She gets the first cup. She may not drink it first, but when I make coffee in the morning before she gets up -- She gets the first cup.

Isn't it amazing how somethng as simple as pouring a cup of coffee and letting it sit on the counter can be a daily ritual and act of love.

She gets the first cup.

Me, Music and McClaren - Friday at Off-The-Map

While I’ve read just about every book that Brian McLaren has ever written, this was my first real opportunity (other than podcasts) to hear him speak. He was originally planning on speaking about his new book Everything Must Change, but ended up switching topics. He said this was a rare opportunity for him to speak second. He had had been preceded by Rose Madrid Swetman of the Vineyard Community Church in Shoreline, WA. (About a half hour away from my house.)

Rose co-pastors with her husband, and seems like an absolute joy to work with. Since they are so close, I fully intend to show up at the Vineyard for a service some morning. **SIGH** Ah, but the best laid plans of mice and men….

Rose discussed some of the struggles she has with “Missional” Christians who do a lot of talking, but not a lot of actual activity to bring the mission of Christ to the people. I was intrigued with a term that she used -- “the new humanity of Christ”. She said it several times, just nonchalantly as though we would all know what it was. Now, let me back up a little. This was simply a term I wasn’t used to, I was not offended at all with how she presented it. I love the term. I asked her what it meant and if she could elaborate on it. From my notes, I have that she said that Jesus was what Israel was supposed to be. (Also an interesting turn of phrase. ) We are born into this new humanity when we are born again in Christ. It’s a new creation thing. I love it. Anyway, it wasn’t her term. She said that it was either Leslie Newbigin or N.T. Wright that had coined the phrase. I’ve read a lot of Newbigin, and very little Wright, so I’m going to make a wild guess that it was Wright. If anyone reading this can dispute that, let me know!!!

Anyway, after Rose spoke, McLaren took the microphone.

It is important at this point to discuss the music. Each breakout session has a different band at OTM. For the Rose Madrid Swetman and Brian McLaren session, the main music was Urban Improv, a local improvisational jazz quartet. Then between Rose and Brian, a lady name Kristy Smith (http://www.kristykarensmith.com/) provided the interim music. Both Urban Improv and Kristy Smith were excellent. Kristy sang a song that she had written for her daughter when they were going through a “tough” time. It was poignant, and wonderful.

Brian changed his mind about talking about Everything Must Change and talked about the music. He said, “I see a lot of similarities between the struggles that are happening in the church and music.” I was on the edge of my seat with that statement. Where was he going to go with this one? I’ll do the best I can to paraphrase.

Classical music is all about the score. The notes are solid. The emotion is written into the notation. The time signature never changes. When someone goes to the symphony to hear Beethoven’s 9th, they expect to hear the 9th symphony with very few changes. The New York Philharmonic would play it nearly identical to how the Seattle Symphony would. (Of course, there was a thing recently on NPR about Bach’s music actually being quite different from what he played. I guess he was quite the improviser….but I digress)

Improvisational Jazz, though, is not about the score. The players are given a chord chart and a time signature, and generally are allowed to play within the notes that chord progression. As a result, they are always thinking several seconds ahead in preparation of the next chord change. Do they shun classical music? Absolutely not. Everything that they do is built on the keys, notes, and structures of classical. Improvisational jazz could not exist without classical music; could not exist without that foundation. (Don’t slap me around for mentioning what sounds like foundationalism….not yet, at least.)

Then, there is the singer/songwriter – the Kristy Smith’s of the world. While the structure is pretty staid at verse : bridge : chorus, she is able to “play” within that structure and come up with something beautiful that no one has ever created before. Elvis Costello once said that he was amazed that with only 13 notes, so much music could be created! (I’m a huge Elvis Costello fan….but have never owned an Elvis Costello album…can you believe it?)

There are some in Christian circles who believe that theology is like classical music. It’s been done. Once it’s there, it never changes. Then you have some that are trying to get their head wrapped around the direction theology is heading, soon the “future” will be the now. Those are the improvisational jazz artists. Then, you have those who are drawing from tradition and still creating new and beautiful things. Classical music is important, but music is always changing. Yet truth (the structure) never changes.

Guess which movements the Emerging Christians fit into? Classical? Jazz? Folk? This is the part I love. ALL OF THE ABOVE!!! Classical has its place in the conversation. I want to embrace that tradition, but I also want to be open to things that God is revealing as I go forward.

I’m still processing this model. It’s so easy to use and explain to people who are musically savvy.

Ha, I keep saying that. I’m processing….I’m getting my head wrapped around….my brain is full.

McLaren was asked about seminaries. It is a well known fact that he did not go to seminary. It is also a well known fact that his writing infers that he’s not a big fan of seminaries. Clarification…he would like to see, say, a Baptist go to a Presbyterian seminary and get a different view than just pure Baptist, Baptist, Baptist throughout their education. His simple answer, was “Seminaries are teaching classical music, and when the new pastors get out into the real world, they discover that everyone is listening to Rap.”

A seminary, in his words, needs to be:
· 1 part monastery
· 1 part mission
· 1 part seminar

I expect that I will break that down further when I have a chance.

Brain Still full. Keep watching.

Coming up next: Ken Loyd, The Refuge, The Bridge and Ufizzi. I’m glad I’ve made some new friends, and only hope that I can do these topics justice.

Thanks for your support!!!

Brad

New Friends

Hey Everyone,

I've added a bunch of links. Check 'em out. Some of these guys are "real bloggers". I only hope that I can get as deep and relevant as some of these. Check out John Smulo's blog. He "live blogged" the entire OTM event.

Thanx,

Brad

Eeeeurgh....Brain Full.....Off-The-Map

WHAT A WEEKEND!!!

Anne and I attended Off-The-Map this weekend. (With Natalie Johnson....my co-blog conspirator...who was visiting from Colorado Springs.)

The main speakers were Brian McLaren, Diana Butler Bass, Todd Hunter, Richard Twiss and Jim Henderson. I will be talking about all of these sessions over the next couple of days. As well as some of the breakout workshops. I just need to get my head wrapped around it all.

First thoughts:

• Dobson called Diana Butler Bass the "whore of Babylon". Any respect I had for James Dobson has been significantly lessened. I had an opportunity to spend some time with her, and hear her speak. I haven't actually MET the whore of Babylon, but it's NOT Diana Butler Bass.
• Brian McLaren made a comparison between the current struggles in the church and music theory. It was brilliant.
• Ken and Deborah Loyd of "The Bridge" in Portland really understand what it means to get your hands dirty and live in community.
• Jim Henderson managed to draw insight from the audience when Colorado Springs was mentioned as the headquarters of....and someone shouted "Jesus". We laughed hard about that with Natalie all weekend.
• Byword....great band.....way too loud for the auditorium they were in....but these guys have a future. Suggestion...GET OUT OF NORTHERN IDAHO....not too many music moguls are looking in Sandpoint or similar areas for new talent.
• Richard Twiss, one of our First Nations brothers, was witty and eloquent. I loved what he had to say about how "Stricter immigration laws" would have saved his peoples much pain and agony over the last 3 centuries.

I met so many fantastic people. Karlene and Josh from Oregon...even if they did follow us around. Ken and Deborah Loyd from "The Bridge". Phil Wyman (the witch guy) from Salem Massachussets. Jay Ackermann from Northwest Nazarene Online. Diana Butler Bass. Brian McLaren. Libby, the pastor who needed a ride to Seattle, and we never found out if she got one. Helen Mildenhall, who had to leave early on Saturday to see her daughter play violin in a concert in Chicago.

Everyone of us have lives. Everyone of us is struggling, but excited. What did I get most out of the weekend. After so much time of struggling with not being surrounded by a crowd of people with similar beliefs or even similar questions, it was refreshing to be in a crowd of "instant friends".

If you were there at OTM, please contact me. I'm all about networking, and there was such a feeling of love, community, fun, and intelligence, I want to get to know ALL OF YOU!!!

Keep watching, I'll write more. Unfortunately, I have a real job that gets in the way of my blogging. HA HA HA.