"O great and most high God, worshiped in Holy Trinity;
pre-eternal Nature and super-essential Grandeur;
inscrutable Power and ineffable Authority;
Source of wisdom and truly unsearchable Sea of goodness;
thou, O Master who lovest mankind, art God who wrougth wonders before the ages.
"No mind can comprehend thee, and no word is able to explain.
"We pray thee now, look down upon us they humble and unworthy servants.
And grant to our mind the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
and to our tongue utterance worthy of reaching the hearing of thy goodness and of obtaining the mercy of thy grace;
for man's power both to will and to act cometh from thee and from they vivyfying gift."
-from theEastern Orthodox Order of Lesser Blessing of the Water
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Evangelism intersections
Quick thoughts on evangelism, unprocessed but stimulated through several great encounters in the last 36 hours.
Jim Henderson of Off the Map is working on a spirituality of the service of listening. Had a great conversation with Jim about how as Christians we think that our primary communication strategy with "outsiders" or "non-believers" is telling. What if, instead, we were to understand our primary mission as listening? Jim also is working on an initiative for churches who would benefit from an "insultant" rather than a consultant. Check out church rater. Jim will be one of our main speakers at Plant Generously, Reap Bountifully May 20 - 22 (info and registration up SOON!).
Then today Pastor Jeremy Ashworth of the Covington Community Church of the Brethren gave me a networking, emerging pastor's tour of Seattle. We did a lot of "real-estate" sightseeing and Jeremy filled me in on some intense relational research he's been doing about Seattle area emerging ministries. We checked out Mars Hill Graduate School, Mars Hill church campus in Ballard, Quest, CODA, a refugee resettlement program, China town for fantastic lunch, and of course Covington Community CoB. My favorite was a very gracious tour by Pastor Paul Olver of the Rainier Avenue Church. When you check out their website, note how multicultural the church is, how their leadership is structured, and their commitment to their community.
Tonight the Christian Churches Together in the USA meetings started. Here are tidbits. Dr. Mel Robek (Fuller Seminary) chastised us for lacking "ecumenical imagination" and then challenged us to 1) trust one another 2) set aside our desire to receive credit 3) agree on what constitutes evangelism 4) no proselytising [taking people away from their current faith family].
Guest Michael Kinnamon, executive director of the National Council of Churches USA brought greetings and urged us to remember that unity in Christ supercedes our differences. Kinnamon made strong overtures for collaboration and cooperation between NCC and CCT, asserting that we cannot afford (at multiple levels) to have "competing" ecumenical organizations.
Preacher Aimee Moiso reminded us that many of the stumbling blocks Christians have to sharing the gospel are of our own making. Our own shortcomings along with our historical sins serve as barriers to the sharing and receiving of the gospel.
Much to think about at the end of an exhausting day, and two full days of engagment with CCT still to follow.
Jim Henderson of Off the Map is working on a spirituality of the service of listening. Had a great conversation with Jim about how as Christians we think that our primary communication strategy with "outsiders" or "non-believers" is telling. What if, instead, we were to understand our primary mission as listening? Jim also is working on an initiative for churches who would benefit from an "insultant" rather than a consultant. Check out church rater. Jim will be one of our main speakers at Plant Generously, Reap Bountifully May 20 - 22 (info and registration up SOON!).
Then today Pastor Jeremy Ashworth of the Covington Community Church of the Brethren gave me a networking, emerging pastor's tour of Seattle. We did a lot of "real-estate" sightseeing and Jeremy filled me in on some intense relational research he's been doing about Seattle area emerging ministries. We checked out Mars Hill Graduate School, Mars Hill church campus in Ballard, Quest, CODA, a refugee resettlement program, China town for fantastic lunch, and of course Covington Community CoB. My favorite was a very gracious tour by Pastor Paul Olver of the Rainier Avenue Church. When you check out their website, note how multicultural the church is, how their leadership is structured, and their commitment to their community.
Tonight the Christian Churches Together in the USA meetings started. Here are tidbits. Dr. Mel Robek (Fuller Seminary) chastised us for lacking "ecumenical imagination" and then challenged us to 1) trust one another 2) set aside our desire to receive credit 3) agree on what constitutes evangelism 4) no proselytising [taking people away from their current faith family].
Guest Michael Kinnamon, executive director of the National Council of Churches USA brought greetings and urged us to remember that unity in Christ supercedes our differences. Kinnamon made strong overtures for collaboration and cooperation between NCC and CCT, asserting that we cannot afford (at multiple levels) to have "competing" ecumenical organizations.
Preacher Aimee Moiso reminded us that many of the stumbling blocks Christians have to sharing the gospel are of our own making. Our own shortcomings along with our historical sins serve as barriers to the sharing and receiving of the gospel.
Much to think about at the end of an exhausting day, and two full days of engagment with CCT still to follow.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Roses, excellence
Once again the New Year begins with the Rose Parade. One of the regrets of our seven years in Southern California is that we never got to Pasadena on New Year's day, although we did go one year to view the floats post-parade. The detail and labor intensity of these creations is absolutely incredible!
There must be some insights in such a production. I can think of a few: Hard work and attention to detail go hand in hand and lead to quality. Vision, skill, and effort come together to create beauty. Such beauty provides inspiration and invites motivation. What insights do you draw from the Tournament of Roses Parade?
"A Cut Above the Rest," the theme for this year's parade, may serve us well in the new year, a commitment to do and be our best, and to bring out the beauty that is inherent in the tools and materials that God provides for our artistry.
Happy New Year!
There must be some insights in such a production. I can think of a few: Hard work and attention to detail go hand in hand and lead to quality. Vision, skill, and effort come together to create beauty. Such beauty provides inspiration and invites motivation. What insights do you draw from the Tournament of Roses Parade?
"A Cut Above the Rest," the theme for this year's parade, may serve us well in the new year, a commitment to do and be our best, and to bring out the beauty that is inherent in the tools and materials that God provides for our artistry.
Happy New Year!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Better door than window
This phenomena repeats itself frequently in our household. I'm trying to watch a game on TV or we're watching a movie, and son number one Ben rambles into the room, and into the viewing path. No matter which seat we've chosen with what angle to the screen, Ben finds a way to stand in the direct line of sight.
As I was growing up, the Shively household would exclaim under these circumstances, "You make a better door than window!" Ben's a fantastic door at times!
Entering this new year, I'm wondering what other line-of-sight obstructions keep coming up, those things which cause clear vision to be blocked, goals to be interrupted, purpose to be distracted. It's fairly easy to get Ben to move out of the way; not so easy to peer around some of these other distractions.
And there's always the turnabout scenario, when my kids catch me ambling into a room and stopping directly in front of their vision field. "Dad, you make a better door than a window." I'm sure it happens in other areas of life too, where I get in the way of others, maybe even in God's way.
So for this new year, I'm going to try to be a better window than a door, or at least if I end up being a door, I'll try to be an open one.
As I was growing up, the Shively household would exclaim under these circumstances, "You make a better door than window!" Ben's a fantastic door at times!
Entering this new year, I'm wondering what other line-of-sight obstructions keep coming up, those things which cause clear vision to be blocked, goals to be interrupted, purpose to be distracted. It's fairly easy to get Ben to move out of the way; not so easy to peer around some of these other distractions.
And there's always the turnabout scenario, when my kids catch me ambling into a room and stopping directly in front of their vision field. "Dad, you make a better door than a window." I'm sure it happens in other areas of life too, where I get in the way of others, maybe even in God's way.
So for this new year, I'm going to try to be a better window than a door, or at least if I end up being a door, I'll try to be an open one.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Webcasts coming up
In just a couple weeks, October 23-25, I'll be preaching, giving a keynote presentation, and offering a workshop at the Western Plains District Church of the Brethren Gathering. This fifth annual event focusing on worship, learning, and fellowship is held near Salina, Kansas, but this year will be accessible to people all around the world through the wonders of webcasting.
This venture is very exciting because it networks both a physical gathering and a virtual web of participants, fostering common conversation and shared formation. It's also somewhat intimidating for me as a presenter because it will require paying attention to these extended audiences. In the end, though, I expect this endeavor to teach all of us a lot about the webinar format and the power and limitations of this form of communication.
Obviously lots of organizations and schools have been using the webinar format for some time now, but for us Brethren the October event is a pretty major step. You're invited to join in and then let us know what the experience is like for you.
Click here or on the title of this blog post to see detailed information about all the presenters and the schedule for the event. Many of the broadcast sessions will also be archived for access after the event.
This venture is very exciting because it networks both a physical gathering and a virtual web of participants, fostering common conversation and shared formation. It's also somewhat intimidating for me as a presenter because it will require paying attention to these extended audiences. In the end, though, I expect this endeavor to teach all of us a lot about the webinar format and the power and limitations of this form of communication.
Obviously lots of organizations and schools have been using the webinar format for some time now, but for us Brethren the October event is a pretty major step. You're invited to join in and then let us know what the experience is like for you.
Click here or on the title of this blog post to see detailed information about all the presenters and the schedule for the event. Many of the broadcast sessions will also be archived for access after the event.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)