Catalyst rolls on faster than I can process it! After our first break we heard Mark Batterson talk about Convoy of Hope. Then we heard the author of The Shack. Now Jim Collins (Good to Great) is speaking about discipline.
I can’t wait to share the principles and links to more information for you all!
So we finished the first worship set with Steve Fee! Amazing technology. There were lights, video screens everywhere,
a circular LCD screen. Amazing stuff.
Andy Stanley is speaking now on Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the wall: the original economic buyout plan. I will write about that soon, since I am on my phone and can’t type so well!
By the way, those of you who know me will understand this: I am so excited because Steven Furtick and his wife are sitting across the aisle from me! If you don’t know who he is, click his link on my sidebar!
I can't wait for the worship tomorrow!
Well, we’re in Atlanta prepped and ready to go to Catalyst bright and early in the morning! David and I drove over to the Gwinnett Arena tonight to check out the action. In the lobby people were scurrying around setting up ministry booths and (thank you, Jesus!) table after table of books and other goodies. We ran into our friends Ryan and Sarah Grace Wall and remembered why we like to come to things like Catalyst: it’s all about the people! Another good friend of mine, David Imber, is running the production and lights tomorrow. I haven’t seen him in years, and can’t wait to reconnect. I wonder if there will be any other surprise friends waiting for me tomorrow?
As readers of this blog know very well, finding unique third spaces in the community and connecting the people there to life in the kingdom defines the passion of my days. All is right with my world when I stumble into a conversation that has an impact, reveals a bit of God’s plan for our community. Coffeehouse Theology, a new book by Ed Cyzewski, captures this perspective on life perfecty. Coffeehouse Theology, Reflecting on God in Everyday Life, challenged me to bring a new level of thought to those seemingly random conversations.
Coffeehouse Theology refers to the concept of examining our belief systems about God through the lens of our everyday life. Take your belief systems out of the church, and into the coffeehouse, so to speak. Ed writes,
“Some people believe that God acts frequently in this world, bringing peace and justice. Others see God as very angry, onthe verge of raining down judgement. Still others think he set the world in motion and then walked away.
I want to know one thing: Where do these beliefs about God come from?”
The strength of Coffeehouse Theology lies in the author’s ability to simply (though not simplistically) outline the current theological systems in the church today, and then to trace through church history how we arrived at this point. This is called, academically speaking, contextual theology. Contextual theology, like any other tool, can be used well or can be used poorly. This book attempts to teach us how to use the tool well, not shying away in fear of wandering off-course but constantly re-examining what it means to be an incarnational representative of Christ here on earth.
Coffeehouse Theology gave a very balanced picture of the contemporary church, including the theological basis for many of the postmodern, emergent points of view. This current “bridge” generation between modernism and post-modernism needs to understand this cultural shift. My favorite passage of Coffehouse Theology was a fictional intersection of the Andy Griffith show (a very modern-era show) with participants from The Real World (a very post-modern show). If you ever doubt whether society has moved from one world view to another, just ponder those two shows for a moment.
The world of Mayberry — with an objective authority figure using reason to sort out matters, a closely followed and orderly script, andlargely black and white values — embodies modernism. The Real World with its uneasy equality given to different perspectives, unscripted and chaotic interaction among the characters, and a mishmash of moral observations throughout the show.”
The key concept to learn from Coffeehouse Theology is that while we are all bound by our own culture in time and place, being aware of the interaction between that culture and our theology is a good thing. We can learn to introduce new perspectives to broaden our awareness. We can read history. And we can properly relate theology to our own culture.
After reading this book I have walked away with a clearer understanding of my own time and place. I enjoyed the writing style, and am amazed that the author could communicate complex concepts as clearly as possible. Did I agree with everything in it? Probably not. This is a post modern age, after all, and my lens is different than Ed’s lens. But I felt like Coffeehouse Theology was an excellent tour through history theology and culture.
By the way, this review of Coffeehouse Theology is part of a blog tour review. Consider it an online book club touring the internet through the month of October. If you want to join me in reading the blogs each day, go to the author’s blog for the master list.
This week I’ve been reading Death by Suburb by David L. Goetz. It’s an interesting book about using spiritual disciplines to enrich a life challenged by a suburban environment. I found an interesting intersection of thoughts with Death by Suburb and my Starbucks coffee cup today. It isn’t often that I find wisdom on my cup, but today I did! It reads:
The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating — in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life.
– Anne Morriss
This was startlingly similar to a thought expressed by David Goetz in his book. He was discussing the tendency to “church hop” in the suburbs, finding a new church for each phase of your life and needs. A spiritual discipline, he says, is to stay and work through the relationships that exist in your church family. Be committed to your community.
Freedom does not always mean going. In the thicker life [ed. note: a deeper spiritual life], in fact, freedom often means staying. That’s certainly true of the Christian understanding of marriage. Staying with one partner over a lifetime opens me up to the goodness of God in a way that serial monogamy doesn’t. Church is another place where freedom means staying. That seems counterintuitive, given scripture’s emphasis on the kingdom of God and its global enterprise. With both church and marriage, in a culture of options, I choose not to move. I stay rooted in community, because only in a place where I’m free not to leave can I find the “personal” in so-called personal relationship with God. This practice is all about staying in relationships when everything inside me screams to pack up my hurt feelings and find a more ideal community.
The relationships we form within our church communities are part of the plans God has for us. He intends for us to grow and prosper through them. When we know that we are committed to each other, there is freedom in not having to evaluate our decision to stay in that church over and over. We are here for each other; we will be here for you no matter what may come. We are not alone, and that is good.
Visiting Christ Fellowship’s various campuses always causes me to come away shaking my head, amazed at the radically different personalities that have developed from one heart and one ministry. The City Place campus, also called the Ascent, seems like the bohemian, artsy little sister of the Christ Fellowshp group.
City Place itself is a mid-sized commercial redevelopment program, an outdoor lifestyle center that is about as hip as you can get in West Palm Beach without descending into gritty. The movie theater in City Place draws a huge crowd, diverse on a Friday night. Because of City Place’s location, it also can draw homeless or the folk from across the bridge in Palm Beach itself. Smack in the middle of this culture clash sits the Harriet Himmel Theater. Christ Fellowship houses its church in the theater every Sunday, from an early morning 9:00 service to the evening Ascent service for college and young adults. It is a hopping spot.
Today, at all of our campuses, we began sign-ups for our LifeGroups. At City Place John Poitevent (Campus Pastor) spoke on a fairly obscure passage in Colossians 4 where Paul lists the names of those people who have been ministering with him during his time in prison. As John preached, it became obvious that Paul’s cast of supporting characters are still around today: those who start but drop out soon, those who are Mama’s boys, those who travel to bring information to others, those who open their homes. As a kind of grand finale to the message, John had LifeGroup hosts come up front and tell about the purpose of their groups.
That’s when the goosebumps started.
They were a motley bunch, alright. Very diverse in their appearance and stage of life. All of them were excited about doing life in community, and their varying purposes of their LifeGroups stunned me.
“We are going to feed the homeless in Lake Worth every Sunday afternoon. We leave when the food is done.”
“We want to give college-aged girls a place to find support while they chase after God’s purpose.”
“We’re going to use dance and worship to bring glory to God.”
“We’re going to explore the biblical ways to reduce tension and stress as we live our lives. And oh yeah, there’s a martial arts component to this LifeGroup so be prepared to move.”
“I love to cook: come for a complete home cooked meal and then we’ll discuss God’s life.”
“I hate to cook: can someone bring food?”
“I don’t cook either, but we’re going to learn about the Living Water and then find a way to share it.”
None of them were alike; each group had their own purpose. They were wide in their diversity and awe-inspiring in their unity. I was entranced. I looked around the theater — criss-crossing beams overhead, wooden floors and dimly-lit chandeliers — and was humbled by the authentic community represented by this church-in-the-middle of the city. Then I remembered it was my church, and I wanted to cry.
Leaving, David and I literally had to push our way through the lines of City Placers signing up for a new adventure in LifeGroups. We walked down the stairs and looked at City Place itself — Starbucks tucked under the theater along with a few other shops, restaurants lining the roads and people everywhere. A church, a coffeehouse and a mission. It doesn’t get any better than that.
I’m getting excited about going to Catalyst ‘o8 this year! The speaker line-up is incredible. I don’t want to miss the opportunity to hear Billy Graham speak! Yes - Billy Graham. The speakers really are too numerous, and too amazing, to list. But I am excited about Stephen Furtick being there. He is one of the best new preachers I have come across in many years. God’s hand and anointing are on him. I love to get to Atlanta any chance I can get…so many of my very best friends live there. And Atlanta food…oh yeah.
Anyone else out there headed to Catalyst with me? The early registration deadline is today, June 26. They put this Geico add spoof out to encourage us to register. Very funny. And yes…those are their real voices!
Catalyst / Geico Spoof from Catalyst on Vimeo.
This is a good one, too. It is on the new media and how it can be used in the church.
Because this is part of our group history…
This is an interview with Mark Batterson, the author of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, pastor of National Community Church, and let us not forget Ebenezer’s Coffee shop! These behind the scenes interviews were going on all day. That is Carlos Whittaker — Ragamuffin Soul himself! — on the left, and Tony Morgan on the right. Also there is Dave Gibbons, who I got to hear at Q. Fun little interview here.