Surprised by Hope

I'm back again to drop another quote from N.T. Wright's book, "Surprised by Hope". I have to tell you--this book has become one of my top favorite books. For the first time in my life, I think I truly understand how Jesus' resurrection, and our eventual resurrection provide us with the Christian hope. In light of this fresh understanding, I feel like I'm seeing the purpose of my life in technicolor--no longer in black and white.

Go get this book. Set aside 3 months and work your way through it. Read it with a friend and discuss it as you go. You'll emerge from your study with an understanding of what to expect when life "as you know it" is over--the understanding the very first Christians had! But, more importantly, I think, you'll have a renewed sense of purpose in your faith, and in how you spend your days on this earth.

Here's the quote I promised. I may be back in days to come with another sample. Hopefully, these teasers will work their magic and you'll read this treasure for yourself. Do it. I'll look for your thank you note in a few months.

"But the most important thing to say at the end of this discussion, and of this section of the book, is that heaven and hell are not, so to speak, what the whole game is about. This is one of the central surprises in the Christian hope. The whole point of my argument so far is that the question of what happens to me after death is not the major, central, framing question that centuries of theological tradition have supposed. The New Testament, true to its Old Testament roots, regularly insists that the major, central, framing question is that of God's purposes of rescue and re-creation for the whole world, the entire cosmos. The destiny of individual human beings must be understood within that context--not simply in the sense that we are only part of a much larger picture but also in the sense that part of the whole point of being saved in the present is so that we can play a vital role (Paul speaks of this role in the shocking terms of being 'fellow workers with God') within that larger picture and purpose. And that in turn makes us realize that the question of our own destiny, in terms of the alternatives of joy or woe, is probably the wrong way of looking at the whole question. The question ought to be, How will God's new creation come? and then, How will we humans contribute to that renewal of creation and to the fresh projects that the creator God will launch in his new world? The choice before humans would then be framed differently: are you going to worship the creator God and discover thereby what it means to become fully and gloriously human, reflecting his powerful, healing, transformative love into the world? Or are you going to worship the world as it is, boosting your corruptible humanness by gaining power or pleasure from forces within the world but merely contributing thereby to your own dehumanization and the further corruption of the world itself?" (Wright, N.T. "Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church". New York, NY: Harper Collings Publishers, 2008.)

The Resurrection

Hey everyone. Sorry for not posting in such a long time. I've got a lot on my mind these days, but haven't had anything particularly earth-shattering to share with the world.

However, I am finishing up a book by N.T. Wright called, "Surprised by Hope". I intend to return in another blog and share some additional thoughts about this book. There's A LOT packed into this book. The subtitle reads: "Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church." Yeah. Only N.T. Wright could rethink this stuff in 300 pages. Anyway, for all you Christians out there who (like me just a few years ago) think that heaven is the last stop--you're wrong! Go get this book and work (it will be work) your way through it.

Here's a sample, and, like I said, I'll come back later and give you a little more:

"...the use of the word heaven to denote the ultimate goal of the redeemed, though of course hugely popularized by medieval and subsequent piety, is severely misleading and does not begin to do justice to the Christian hope. I am repeatedly frustrated by how hard it is to get this point through the thick wall of traditional thought and language that most Christians put up. The ultimate destination is (once more) not "going to heaven when you die" but being bodily raised into the transformed, glorious likeness of Jesus Christ. (The point of all this is not, of course, merely our own happy future, important though that is, but the glory of God as we come fully to reflect his image.) Thus, if we want to speak of "going to heaven when we die," we should be clear that this represents the first, and far less important, stage of a two-stage process. Resurrection isn't life after death; it is life after life after death." (Wright, N.T. "Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church". New York, NY: Harper Collings Publishers, 2008.)

The Way of the Heart

I just finished reading "The Way of the Heart" by Henri Nouwen. In my ongoing effort to learn to abide (John 15), I found this book to be really helpful. Nouwen builds his book around 3 primary practices that are far too often missing from our modern lives: solitude, silence and prayer. This is a short book, but contains remarkable insight into the reality of our (Christians) distraction, and the way that we can step outside of the frantic pace and enter into a lifestyle of abiding as Jesus did.

The section on solitude was a great reminder for me of the importance of being alone with God regularly. Who among us would argue that we are better people for stopping to be with God on a daily basis? In solitude we become aware of our sinfulness and develop a compassion for others who sin and are in need of grace.

The section on silence was also a great reminder. The book of Proverbs is full of wise sayings that are intended to help us learn to keep our mouths shut. As my friends know, I'm still learning this. When words are many, sin is not absent. Silence keeps us from sin, it teaches us to listen, and when we submit our will to God's, it teaches us to speak only what Jesus would speak.

Finally, the section on prayer taught me that prayer is not merely an intellectual effort where I try to find the right words to say to God. Prayer is much more than words. Of particular benefit to me was Nouwen's insight into the Apostle Paul's meaning in his charge to "Pray without ceasing." I think I understand this now, although it will take awhile for me to develop this habit. I'm intentionally not revealing Nouwen's thoughts on this here, in the hope that you'll take the bait and get the book.

While I don't intend for this to be an exhaustive book review, I will offer one criticism...a word of caution to anybody else who picks this book up per my recommendation (and I really hope you will!). While Nouwen is clearly in touch with reality, he does tend to drift into concepts of connecting with God in your heart / mind / soul that are abstract and ethereal. At least, that's how it feels to me. Perhaps a more experienced and gifted person of prayer would be able to follow, but I confess that Nouwen lost me a few times. But, I'm the kind of reader who can digest the good and discard the (for me) undigestables. All in all, this was an excellent book...and a nice bite-sized read (only 95 pages) for anyone and everyone trying to learn to stay connected to the Source.

Is Missional the New Emergent?

I just read an excellent article by Alan Hirsch (author of The Shaping of Things to Come; The Forgotten Ways). I thought he did an excellent job of articulating the difference between a missional church and an emerging / emergent church. I, for one, am glad he's helping to delineate between the two. It would be easy for people to make inferences about The Well (or any other missional church) because they assume we're an emerging church. And while I don't have anything against the emergent movement, there are definitely things about it that are controversial--and in ways that I (and The Well) don't wish to be controversial.

Anyway, click here to go to his site and read Hirsch's brief article. Enjoy!

Re/defining Christian

The Well's summer book club is under way and tonight we have another discussion. In case you missed my last post, we're reading through a book by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay called, "The Tangible Kingdom." I wanted to share a thought from the book with you:

"...as I'm sitting at a Starbucks in the final week of editing this book, I just took a break to talk to a guy named Don. Don grew up in a non-practicing Catholic home, watched his father convert to a Seventh-Day Adventist tradition, but only remembers the types of meat he couldn't eat. His wife hates the idea of God, and Don's already expressed his love of God but his disdain for organized church. Since he seemed open to talk, I lobbed up this question, 'If Christianity was only about finding a group of people to live life with, who shared openly their search for God and allowed anyone, regardless of behavior, to seek too, and who collectively lived by faith to make the world a little more like Heaven, would you be interested?'

'Hell yes!' was the reply. He continued. 'Are there churches like that?'"

What do you think about the author's description for church and Christianity? Could it be that we've taken something that is supposed to be so simple and exponentially complicated it? If Christianity really were this real, this simple, this communal, do you think people would respond as Don did?

The Tangible Kingdom

Hey bloggerites…Sorry I haven’t blogged in awhile. There’s been a lot going on. Let me bring you up to speed. Actually, I’ll give you the short version:

Through a series of events (which I believe is nothing short of an answer to my prayers), I was put in contact with a couple of guys named Hugh Halter and Matt Smay. These guys are missional church planters in Denver. They also operate an organization called Missio and just finished writing a book called, “The Tangible Kingdom.” (Click here to visit the website for the book). Their book chronicles their adventures in church planting: missional style! Well, the book is excellent and I think every Christ follower should read it. More on the book in a minute.

In the meantime, I signed up for a course that Hugh and Matt offer called the MCAP (Missional Church Apprenticeship Practicum). This is a 9 month course that involves weekly video lectures and interaction with a cohort of 15 other missional church planters from around the country. So far it’s been really great. It’s very encouraging to see that there are other guys out there wrestling through the same challenges that I am.

But, anyway, the book is so good that we’re buying copies for everybody at The Well and we’re going to read through it together this summer. We’ll have dinner and discussion about the book every Tuesday night. If anybody out there is interested in joining us, let me know! Otherwise, go get the book, read it, and let me know what you think! What Hugh and Matt have developed with their church is inspirational. It’s the church our culture needs and the church I pray The Well becomes.

The Rise of the Missional Church

I just reread a book called, The Shaping of Things to Come. This book is probably the most influential book I've read on the missional church. If you want to understand what the missional church is aiming for...go get this book. Whenever I get discouraged about attempting something new, different and experimental, I can pick up this book and it reminds me that what we're doing at The Well is important work. Let me share a quote from the book with you that is one of many convincing arguments for shifting away from the traditional / Christendom model of church and embracing mission:

"We are living in an ephoch-shifting period in the West (and globally) as we shift from the modern to the postmodern. There is every indication that this cultural shift will be even more profound and radical than was the shift precipitated by the Renaissance, which took place within the auspices of Christendom. What is happening now is entirely outside of any discernible Christian influence."

"We propose that what will emerge from the chaos of the current social-historical shift to the postmodern is likely to be a second reformation as the church rediscovers itself as an apostolic movement. In fact, we suggest that if the church in the West does not embrace such a radical recalibration, it will find itself increasingly imperiled. The standard Christendom model will simply not engage [a new] generation. To reach them and all other postmodern subcultures, the church should abandon its role as a static institution and embrace its initial calling to be a missionary movement. What is the nature of this apostolic movement? Whereas Christendom has unraveled because of its seduction by Western culture, the emerging missional church must see itself as being able to interact meaningfully with culture without ever being beguiled by it. This is the classic task of the cross-cultural missionary: to engage culture without compromising the gospel. We cannot emphasize this enough. In fact, the whole tenor of this book will be to call post-Christendom to see itself again as a missionary movement rather than as an institution."(Frost, Michael and Hirsch, Alan. The Shaping of Things to Come . Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2006.)

What I realize when I read this book is that we still have a long way to go before we're truly missional. Then again, we're moving in the right direction, and that's unbelievably important. More thoughts on this soon.

Bless somebody today out of the abundance of blessings with which God has blessed you.