To inject a little bit of life into this blog on a busy day, I’m provide for myself, and then respond to, one of the most cliche prompts known to humankind:

What are my five deserted island albums?

Sigur Ros, ( )

Pedro the Lion, The Only Reason I Feel Secure

Damien Jurado, I Break Chairs

John Vanderslice, Cellar Door

Death Cab For Cutie, The Photo Album

Bon Iver is incredibly close to making this list — I’ve become quite the addict — but the songs that I’m absolutely in love with are too spread between For Emma, Forever Ago and Blood Bank. Other honorable mentions include Sufjan Stevens’ Greetings From Michigan and David Bazan’s solo projects.

Maybe I’ll follow this up with a books section this evening…

At some point, for Jesus-followers, the conversation of environmental stewardship ought to move beyond “Do you believe in climate change?” to “What is an appropriate relationship for us to have with all of creation?” I hear a lot of chatter from people who seem excited any time there is a finding that would seem to disprove the observation and/or prognostication of climate change. Maybe some of it is rooted in frustration toward the rise of scientism as the controlling narrative in the West. Still, why would the conversation of Christian environmental ethics be predicated by the climate change discussion? Isn’t the exploitation of creation reflective of systemic brokenness and death, and not systemic life?

Are those who celebrate any possible discrediting of climate change looking to be exonerated from a facet of faithfulness to God that doesn’t really depend on the climate change talk whatsoever?

Take a look at the image below. Why is this data a religious issue regardless of the threat posed to us by climate change?

Last week: 9-7

Season total: 127-61

Pittsburgh 27, Cleveland 17

New Orleans 42, Atlanta 10

Houston 35, Seattle 13

Green Bay 27, Chicago 20

Minnesota 31, Cincinnati 14

New York Jets 16, Tampa Bay 13

Jacksonville 20, Miami 17

Baltimore 20, Detroit 17

Kansas City 17, Buffalo 13

New England 23, Carolina 20

Indianapolis 31, Denver 17

Washington 24, Oakland 20

Tennessee 35, St. Louis 6

San Diego 28, Dallas 24

New York Giants 20, Philadelphia 16

Arizona 30, San Francisco 13

Shawn and I are in the process of sketching out a ministry plan for our faith community (which is less about us providing answers and more about offering questions that lead toward community-generated solutions). I finally lassoed our thoughts and discernment into a single question, one that I think is very much worth asking:

What does it look like to give affirmation to already-present passions in our neighborhood, while subsequently empowering and humanizing our neighbors by modeling the potential of those passions as they intersect with, and are enhanced by, the Kingdom of the Living God?

If our community can begin to answer that question, as begin we succeed and fail actively in response to that question, I think we’re going to make a difference in Seattle.

I’m using The Justice Creed, written by Brian McLaren, in Paradigm’s liturgy this week because it touches on so many truths that are dear to the heartbeat of our young community — that the world in which we live is not the world as God would have it, but that we are invited to join the Trinity in a movement of reconciling creation (ourselves included). 

I like this creed so much that I wanted to share it in this space as well.

Check it out:

We believe that the living God is just
And that the true and living God loves justice.
God delights in just laws and rejoices in just people.
God sides with those who are oppressed by injustice,
And stands against oppressors.
God is grieved by unjust people and the unjust systems they create and sustain.
God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, and
God’s kingdom belongs to those willing to be persecuted for the sake of justice.
To God, justice is a weighty thing which can never be ignored.

We believe that Jesus, the Liberating King, came to free humanity from injustice
And to display the justice of God,
In word and deed, in life, death, and resurrection.
The justice which God desires, Jesus taught, must surpass that of the hypocrites,
For the justice of God is a compassionate justice,
Rich in mercy and abounding in love
For the last, the least, the lost, and the outcast.
On his cross, Jesus drew the injustice of humanity into the light,
And there the heartless injustice of human empire met
The reconciling justice of the kingdom of God.
The resurrection of Jesus proclaims that the true justice of God,
Naked, vulnerable, and scarred by abuse, is stronger
Than the violent injustice of humanity, armed with weapons, conceit,
deceit, and lies.

We believe that the Holy Spirit is here, now,
Convicting the world of sin and justice,
Warning that God’s judgment will come on all that is unjust.
We believe that the Kingdom of God is justice, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Empowered by the Spirit, then, we seek first God’s kingdom and God’s justice,
For the world as it is has not yet become the world as God desires it to be.
And so we live, and work, and pray,
Until justice rolls down like water,
And flows strong and free like a never-failing stream.
For we believe that the living God is just
And that the true and living God loves justice.
Amen.

Last week: 14-2

Season total: 120-54

New York Jets 20, Buffalo 17

Chicago 28, St. Louis 16

Detroit 24, Cincinnati 21

Carolina 17, Tampa Bay 16

Pittsburgh 27, Oakland 0

New Orleans 38, Washington 10

New England 20, Miami 13

Philadelphia 27, Atlanta 18

Indianapolis 27, Tennessee 17

Kansas City 20, Denver 17

Houston 31, Jacksonville 13

San Diego 42, Cleveland 9

New York Giants 23, Dallas 17

San Francisco 20, Seattle 17

Minnesota 35, Arizona 31

Green Bay 26, Ravens 24

Introducing the Missional Church: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Become One by Alan J. Roxburgh and M. Scott Boren is the most comprehensive book on missionality to-date. 

While there is no shortage of new works with “missional” in the title these days, many approach missionality as a growth model or trend (similar to the seeker-sensitive or house church movements, for instance). Being missional is talked about as a means of capitalizing on culture; many who are making missional products do not understand missionality as an ecclesial expression that is inherently, theologically superior to the expressions of American Christianity’s recent generations or that of Christendom as a whole.

Roxburgh and Boren are able to move beyond typical missional-for-growth fluff as they use two central chapters — “Why Do We Need Theology? Missional Is about God, Not the Church” and “God’s Dream for the World: What Is a Contrast Society?” — to explain that the shift toward missionality is not for the sake of the Church; rather, it is for the sake of God and a more faithful response to God’s objective, consistent desires for His people.

In the final third of the book, Roxburgh and Boren present the Missional Change Model, a strategy and timetable for encouraging existing churches to become missional ministries. This model applies to existing churches that could potentially turn toward missionality, but there are principles in this section that can be used by church planters and pastors of young churches as well.

“I don’t think anyone is called to build something big. We are called to build something authentic. And to be authentic — you know, Jesus, at the end of his ministry, had very little to show for three years of church-planting efforts. Part of it had to do with the fact that he kept telling people, ‘Count the cost. Don’t just jump on board. Think about this.’ Probably the worst church-planter in all of history. I think we’re called to be authentic and not adjust what we say for the sake of keeping a crowd.”

Greg Boyd, on the Neue Podcast

I made this chart to represent two different mentalities in the approach to atmospheric/multi-sensory/nu-liturgical worship. 

Loved this quote from Gibbs’ new book ChurchMorph, who has shown to be very even-handed in his assessment of emergents. Regarding teaching in these faith communities, he says:

All the members [of emergent/missional communities] are earnestly seeking to become authentic followers of Christ. This entails, in the first place, exploring the significance of the gospel of the kingdom as it is elaborated in the account of the ministry and teaching of Jesus. Next comes the challenge of transposing that teaching to the issues encountered today by believers in their diverse life situations. By focusing attention on the gospel in the Gospels, emergent preachers and teachers capture the centrality of the gospel message, which is not primarily about the individual and his or her salvation, but about the coming of Jesus to establish the reign of God on earth, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to provide the channel for that message to be appropriated and lived out, at least in provisional form.

The gospel story also makes clear that the message of the cross of Jesus and the significance of his resurrection and ascension make sense only if we are first made aware of the person, message, and ministry of Jesus, as recorded in the Gospels. These accounts do not begin with the cross but all lead to the cross. The climactic significance of the events of the final weeks of Jesus’ life spent journeying to Jerusalem, and his last week teaching in the Temple, are emphasized by the disproportionate amount of space they occupy in the narrative. In sharing the gospel with today’s generations that are increasingly ignorant of the story of Jesus, we must likewise present a message that leads to the cross, but that does not begin there.