Parenting isn't for Cowards

I never intended to take the summer off from blogging. It just happened! But now I'm back. I hope you had a great summer.

I'm preparing for two weeks of teaching on parenting. I'm calling it Parenting with Love and Limits. After giving it that title I realized that it tends to imply that Limits is in contrast to Love, which isn't the case. Both children and parents tend to see it that way though. Children feel "abused" by limits and parents feel guilty for "abusing" their child...afraid of the psychological harm that will be inflicted and quickly back away.

That's unfortunate because limits bring definition to a child's life. They help a child to focus on what's important and let go of the rest. Plus limits help a child learn how to deal with disappointment. Life tends to deal out a lot of disappointment and if a child grows up shielded from that they are headed for a rude awakening when their marriage or job or children don't make them "happy" all the time.

As a follow up to these sermons my wife (Lisa) and I will be starting a Parenting Club to help coach parents through their years of parenting. I'm not sure what day or night we'll do it but if that interests you let me know.

Welcome Andy Britz!

After a year of searching for a new youth pastor we have finally found one that we think is a great match for Cedarbrook! We extended an offer to Andy Britz last week and he has accepted the position.

I'm very excited about Andy joining us. It was worth the wait. Thanks so much for all of the input many of you gave us in the process. After our failed attempt last Fall to hire someone we made Andy jump through a number of hoops, being interviewed a total of four times by different groups of people. Here was the process...

• Lisa and I met Andy and his wife Jill for lunch
• LEAD met with Andy and Jill
• Staff met with Andy and Jill
• Andy presented to staff, LEAD and youth leaders. At this meeting we also had a second candidate present and we then took a straw poll. Andy was the clear favorite, especially with the younger attendees.
• We had hoped to bring Andy before the students before actually offering him the job but we ran out of time. He was being pursued by another church and scheduling wouldn't allow more interviews. But with the positive feedback from the youth that saw him we are confident that Andy will be well liked.

Here's a brief overview of Andy:
> He's 32, grew up in the UP of Michigan but currently lives in Osceola, WI.
> He attended Northwestern College in St. Paul where he got his degree in Youth Ministry.
> He's worked at two churches over seven years. In both settings he proved to be an instant draw to the students. In Osceola many of the students in his group were from outside of the church.
> He plays guitar and leads worship.
> He's married to his wife Jill and has two young children.
> He's also a carpenter and has been in that trade for the past two years.

I'm excited for you to meet Andy. One of my goals was to find someone that is easily approachable and quickly likeable. I think that describes Andy well. He's the kind of person that has a quick smile and is very easy going. But he also has a passion for investing into the lives of students.

Brad Kehn will be introducing Andy to the students at the Bonfire on June 13th. Brad and Andy will be working closely over the next few weeks to make a smooth transition. Andy will start leading the Wednesday meetings in July. He will be actively looking for a house to move into by August if possible. I hope to introduce Andy to the congregation on June 24th.

Let's be sure to not only work at welcoming the Britz family but also bringing closure to Brad's time with us as well. Brad played a crucial role in the history of Cedarbrook Youth. He didn't just keep the ministry alive but invested in it and prepared us for the future. The Cedarbrook Youth Ministry is stronger today because of Brad's involvement.

I think Andy will bring a lot of great things to the lives of students as well as to Cedarbrook as a whole. Now we can move on and take things to the next level.

Whose script are you reading?

My post below talks about your story. I talked about that a little this past Sunday. God's story for us always ends in resurrection...if we let it. No matter how bad things get God wants to turn your story around for good. Your chapters may not read the way you want them to, but in the end, God's story proves God to be faithful.

I was speaking with someone today about this idea. I told them that we are all like famous actors who read scripts to determine which movie they will star in. God gives us the right to choose the script. We can pick bad scripts or good ones. It's our choice. Many actors have ruined their career by becoming anxious and choosing a bad script. The wise person will reject the bad scripts and wait for the good one to come along...the one that ends in triumph and not defeat.

If you are in a decision making process right now, wait for a good script. Don't get desperate and jump at a script that will cast you in a losing role. God is writing great scripts for your life. Wait for those and then follow them with all your heart.

Finding Your Story

Sometimes when I'm too busy to offer my thoughts I like to give you someone elses thoughts. I came across a blogger who laments his lack of living a compelling story. But what's most interesting is the comment from Jody Ferlack. Jody talks about the story that God gave her. It's not one she would have chosen yet it is compelling and has given her a platform to speak of God's love. Jodie's family was traumatized by a suicidal driver who drove through a restaurant wall where they were sitting. Her oldest child died and her youngest suffered a brain injury. Jody also has her own blog that you might find to be an encouragement.

God's Redemptive Plan for New Orleans

I spent a fast 48 hours in New Orleans last week with two ministry partners, Dave Johnson and Amy Burns. We went to scout out future ministry opportunities for Cedarbrook. In February we sent a team to work in Center City to start work on a dormitory for Living Witness' Drug Treatment Center. We returned to see if that is a location that we want to continue to build a partnership. (The picture is of me and Pastor Pierre, the director of the treatment program).

I'm not going to try and recount the whole trip. You can read Dave's blog for that...along with some pictures. I'd just like to say that you can a learn a lot in 48 hours! We met with three pastors, a restaurant owner (Craig Cuccia at the Cafe Reconcile) and heard from Dr. John Perkins. They all seemed to have one message: don't just transform lives, transform communities.

We witnessed God's redemptive plan for not only New Orleans but potentially our whole country. God is using the Katrina disaster to rally the church to become what it was always meant to be, a tranformational community. People are going down to New Orleans to help with Katrina Aid and returning to their own towns with a vision for how they can bring renewal there too. So Katrina Aid is really a two edged sword (in a good way)...people help New Orleans recover and then go home to duplicate what they did there. Only God could bring life out of the death of Katrina.

I'm personally challenged to learn all I can about how to transform a community. John Perkins spoke last Wednesday at Castle Rock Church about the vision in Zechariah 8. It speaks of a community where God is so evident that people want to know who this God is. They will come to believers and say, 'Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.' Zechariah 8:23

That's happening in Center City. I went to New Orleans looking for how we could help them. But now I want to return because I think they will help us...help us to move beyond church as usual to become a place where people are not only transformed but bound together with others to become a corporate transforming agent here in Wisconsin. Maybe you'd like to join us.

Youth Pastor Search: Cedarbrook Distinctives

This post is intended for youth candidates but anyone new to Cedarbrook will appreciate the info.

As I said in my previous post, we are looking for a youth pastor who shares our approach to ministry. I never think of our approach as different, but people tell me that Cedarbrook is very different. I guess you either love it or not. So, let me list a few things that we value in the way we do ministry:

• Being normal. We try to eliminate religious jargon from our talk. Cedarbrook is full of a wide variety of people from various church and non-church backgrounds. Religous words that mean something to one mean nothing to another and are offensive to yet others. You can love Jesus without peppering your sentences with "God told me this" and "hallelujah". We don't want people to recognize us for our religiosity but our Christ-like character and deeds.
• Encouraging dialogue. I think the church has missed a huge opportunity to engage culture by being so strong about what we believe. Do you ever notice how Christians sponsor "debates" instead of "dialogues". The words alone are telling! "Debate" says we are right and the opposition is wrong. In sermons and conversations, we try to stimulate dialogue then let the Holy Spirit do the rest. We might openly engage people that embrace views that are rejected by the church at large. In doing so, we are not embracing their ideas. We are embracing the person, telling them, "We value you. You are important to me and God. We may not agree with your thinking, but we know that you are passionate and we appreciate that passion."
• Women are equal in both theory and practice. It's embarrassing to me in the 21st century to even mention this. Every church talks about women being equal to men but many don't practice it. At Cedarbrook women function in every role that men do in the church. We have women elders and pastors. I've worked in churches with and without women in leadership. I would never go back to the old way.
• Breaking down barriers to meeting God. Once you develop an eye for it, there are many things that church people do to make newcomers FEEL like outsiders. There is a strong "us/them" culture that insiders don't see but newcomers sense a mile away. And if people feel put off by church they are hearing that God doesn't want them either. The list is too long to mention here but it's a common discussion among staff to be on the guard for this behavior.
• Look for the win-win. It's easy to point out the bad. That makes you look so good! But we believe that there are better ways to approach most issues. How can we affirm the good in others, ignore the bad (if possible) and eventually win them over to seek a better way? That's the challenge.
• Look for what we share in common with others. Along the lines of a "win/win", we believe we share more in common with the unchurched than we often care to admit. Rather than pointing out the differences, why not talk about all that we share in common, the weakness, the failure, the joy and sorrows of life, the hopes and dreams, etc? We want to be building bridges and not walls.
• Being real. I think churches are much more inviting when we drop the charade and just tell people how it is...we've got our issues but we are in process, moving toward God by following Jesus. True community is developed in brokenness, not in people only showing their best side.
• Being consistent. The only way to make our faith credible to others (not to mention God) is if we let our faith impact EVERY aspect of our lives. When people see that our faith affects the way we spend our time, the way we treat people, the way we invest our money and the way we invest our talents, they see what it means to be a fully devoted follower of Jesus. That says something. But when they simply hear a bunch of talk and religious activity, it turns them off and sends them away.

You can probably sense that these values are a reaction to something. That's true. Many of us, myself included, have come out of churches that left us feeling empty and disappointed. They were like the sizzle without the steak...saying the right words with little depth of conviction. To make things worse, religious words were a thin veil for the very same small minded, critical thinking that we saw in the world.

At Cedarbrook, we are trying our best to walk away from that kind of church and offer something real and inviting. That's why we follow our name with "come and be refreshed". We are far from perfect. We fall into many of the same traps I've spoken against. But we are actively working at trying to do church in a new way to please God and be inviting to those who might want to join us.

To learn more about the Cedarbrook vision I encourage you to read through some of my blogs, especially the series called "Why I Don't Like Church". Also, go to our website and read my sermons under Sermons & More>>Past Sermons>>Cedarbrook Vision. Just reading the summary of these sermons will tell you a lot about who we are.

Youth Pastor Search

Once you stop blogging, it's hard to start again! I guess I've been busy screening youth pastor candidates so let me talk about that journey.

The history is that after a three year run, our previous youth pastor (Andre) resigned. He's currently working as an engineer...what he went to school for. Since last September, Brad Kehn has graciously stepped up to be our interim pastor. Brad works full time as the Director of Youth Alive, a ministry to youth ministries (offering camps and training). Brad has added his Cedarbrook duties to his already full plate. We tried to hire someone last summer but we didn't find the right match (lots of candidates). Now we've resumed our search. We aren't just looking for anyone to fill the slot. We want someone who can build on the foundation that we have for youth as well as fit in with our somewhat different approach to church.

It's interesting to review the resumes because so many of the candidate's work history (75%) stops 1-3 years ago. For one reason or another, they were fired or quit and they have been unable to find another position. That makes me uncomfortable...hiring someone with a failed experience...but that's the nature of the beast. Youth pastors often go into a church setting, expected to create a thriving ministry but they get caught in an unfriendly church political environment with unrealistic expectations on them...or...they have little experience and can't juggle all the balls expected of a minister. Either way, they end up on the street, wounded, disillusioned and looking for a new home. The average stay for a youth pastor is 1.5 years!

It's also hard for me as I review resumes because I'm looking for someone who matches our ministry philosophy but realistically, these are young people who are still in process. They don't know what they believe for sure. And that's probably another reason that they fail. They take a position thinking that they agree with the church on everything but then their thinking evolves and they move away from what the church wants.

Speed-interviewing? Frustrated with a pile of resumes that seem more or less the same, I came up with an idea. You've probably heard of speed-dating. I decided to do speed-interviewing. Rather than spend time emailing and calling candidates, trying to narrow down the pile, I decided to invite them to visit a Sunday service and meet with me and a few leaders briefly. It's not an interview really. It's just a "meet and greet" time to help both parties decide if there is any chemistry. We haven't done this yet but I'm in the process of inviting people in April. I'm hopeful that it will bring clarity to a very muddy process.

I hope to report that we've found the perfect candidate yet this spring!

Teaching versus Preaching the Bible

This coming Monday (March 19th) I'm going to start teaching the book of Romans from the New Testament. I can't believe it's taken me four years to get to a place where I have the time to do this. I love teaching, especially the Bible.

Did you know that teaching and preaching the Bible are two different things? At least it is for me. On Sundays I preach. I study what the Bible has to say on a topic and my goal is to make one point that you can take home and apply. I bring "pre-digested" information that is easily understandable (well, that's the goal!) and immediately applicable. It really answers the practical question: How does God want me to live my life?

But when I teach the Bible, I have different goals. I want to teach YOU how to do what I do every week with my sermon. I work to give you the tools to digest what you read and apply the information to your life. When you walk out of a "class" you are loaded with information, not to apply that week, but to return to over and over again as a resource throughout your life.

When I first decided to follow Jesus I read and studied the Bible all the time. I was like a sponge. But now, 30 years later, all that knowledge is something that I'm still processing and dissecting and learning how to apply to my life (and helping others do the same).

I think we all need both teaching and preaching. We need to be motivated regarding what to do right now, but we all need to know how to study the Bible for ourselves so God can speak to us through his word whenever he wants to.

My class on Romans will run for eight weeks (Mondays, 7 - 8:30pm at the Cedarbrook Center in the Shops Off Broadway Mall). I hope to run it for 8 weeks, take a few weeks off and run another 8 weeks. So if you are reading this months from now, there's a good chance that I'm still teaching on Monday night. I'll hope you'll join me. Once you get ahold of what the Bible is saying, it tends to get ahold of you!

Waking the Dead

After having "Waking the Dead" recommended to me numerous times I finally broke down and bought the book. Eldredge does a good job, as always (Wild at Heart, Journey to Desire, Sacred Romance) of stirring your passion and giving you a glimpse of what life could and should be like.

He starts by quoting Ireneus (early church leader) who said, "God's glory is man fully alive." In other words, the greatness of God is best manifested when you and I live our lives to the fullest.

Hmmmm. What does THAT look like? And how would we even know what to shoot for?

It reminds me of taking an air capacity test once for my asthma. The doctor said that on my best day I only used 70% of my lung capacity. I was shocked. Did he mean to tell me that most people have another 30% of lung capacity to feed their system with oxygen! ? I FELT normal but I was obviously functioning far below what others do.

Kinda makes you wonder about life in general. Maybe we are functioning far below what we were created for but don't know it. Maybe we are missing something. And that's what Eldredge is out to help us get back.

Stay tuned. I hope to pass along some of his insights as I go along.

Fifth Team Heads to New Orleans

This past year we've been working at developing a culture of service. I think faith makes a lot more sense to people when it is more than a set of beliefs but a lifestyle that benefits others. After all, Jesus didn't come and start a school! He came and impacted lives in practical ways.

Today we sent off our fifth team to help with the Katrina Relief. Dave Johnson is heading this up along with another 15 people from Cedarbrook. If you want to keep track of their progress please click the link. Or see pictures of where they'll be working. They'd appreciate your prayers!

Thanks to those who gave $8,000 for their trip!

The Power of Words

I'm enjoying a daily reflection that I receive from www.nouwen.org via email. It's nice to pass on someone else's inspiration when I'm not feeling particularly inspired myself!

Words, words, words. Our society is full of words: on billboards, on television screens, in newspapers and books. Words whispered, shouted, and sung. Words that move, dance, and change in size and color. Words that say, "Taste me, smell me, eat me, drink me, sleep with me," but most of all, "buy me." With so many words around us, we quickly say: "Well, they're just words." Thus, words have lost much of their power.Still, the word has the power to create.

When God speaks, God creates. When God says, "Let there be light" (Genesis 1:3), light is. God speaks light. For God, speaking and creating are the same. It is this creative power of the word we need to reclaim. What we say is very important. When we say, "I love you," and say it from the heart, we can give another person new life, new hope, new courage. When we say, "I hate you," we can destroy another person. Let's watch our words.

Henri Nouwen from Bread for the Journey

Reflections on Turning 50

Lisa and I had our pictures taken this week for the church directory. Maybe it was the lighting but I could see more of my scalp through my hair than ever before. When it came time to decide if we just wanted the free picture or buy additional copies, the free one was more than enough! As another 50+ friend of mine said, "Why do I want to show people how old I am?"

Other than the mirror not being nearly so flattering any more, I enjoy my "coming of age". I came across a new view of what it means to be "over the hill" that I could relate to and want to pass on to you as well.

On the Journey To Aging Gracefully
written by ANDREA SHAPPELL

I turned fifty last month, "over the hill" as many cards declared. In the months leading up to my birthday, I was puzzled by the thought of turning fifty: How could this have happened? I do not feel like I am fifty. Gradually, with reflection on the experiences of my life and all the learning that has come from those experiences, my focus turned to the wisdom that has come from fifty years of living. Yes, I am "over the hill" of trying to earn love instead of accepting the grace of unconditional love; "over the hill" of worrying so much about what everyone else thinks of me instead of delighting in being me; "over the hill" of trying to save the world, learning that "being with" is more important than doing.

My aching knees, greying hair and need for reading glasses cannot be denied as parts of the aging process. They are proof that I have grown up, but now I desire to grow down, to grow deeper, into greater communion with God and with the people in my life. Most of life's lessons, like those mentioned above, come to me over and over again, each time in a deeper, more meaningful way. The one that is most prominent for me at fifty is that relationships are the key to a fruitful life. I look forward to learning more about life and love, fruitfulness and joy, as I continue on the journey "over the hill" towards sixty.

Nouwen on Community

I've always appreciated the simplicity yet profound thinking of Henri Nouwen. Here he gets to the heart of a value at Cedarbrook: community.

The word community has many connotations, some positive, some negative. Community can make us think of a safe togetherness, shared meals, common goals, and joyful celebrations. It also can call forth images of sectarian exclusivity, in-group language, self-satisfied isolation, and romantic naiveté. However, community is first of all a quality of the heart. It grows from the spiritual knowledge that we are alive not for ourselves but for one another. Community is the fruit of our capacity to make the interests of others more important than our own (see Philippians 2:4). The question, therefore, is not "How can we make community?" but "How can we develop and nurture giving hearts?"

Community so often takes a backset to our self interests. Sometimes even to our "passion for community", if you can understand that. Our agenda, even for good things like community, can keep us from truly loving one another.

Thinking About...anger and forgiveness

I have two other blogs; one on myspace.com and one on blogspot.com that deals with finding healing for your emotional hurts. Before Christmas I blogged about shame and self-worth. I've just started a new series on anger and forgiveness. You can pick up this discussion here.

Movie Review: We are Marshall!

Now that the holidays and vacations are over I can resume my blog.

I want to recommend a movie to you. About the only time I go to the theatre is when I hang out with my kids. The other night we went to "We are Marshall!". It wasn't by choice as much as it was the lesser of evils from a small selection of movies. I was with my wife and two daughters and seeing a football movie wasn't high on their list. Plus I hadn't read any great reviews on the show.

But we were all pleasantly surprised. I'm always attracted to movies that make you think and understand humanity better. I can handle slow action if I'm learning something. So, if you are like me, you'll like "We are Marshall!". The movie chronicles what happened to a town, a team and individuals after the Marshall University football team died in a plane crash. It's really a study in grief recovery. About six different people embody the different responses that we typically have to loss.

Maybe it was because it was a true story (not BASED on a true story) that I found myself choking back tears on and off through the entire time (every time they chanted, WE ARE - MARSHALL! - it got to me - a shout of determination in the face of tragic loss). It wasn't hard to put myself in the shoes of various people, maybe because I live in a small town and have college age children. Plus the new team coach has somewhat of a pastoral role as he shepherds the town through their pain in a simple, ala "Columbo", manner.

There's enough football in the movie to keep guys involved and enough emotion to keep women involved. I found it a good mix but some guys might want more football. If you want a good look at how we deal with loss and move on, plus a good ol' fashion come from behind underdog movie, "We are Marshall!" might be what you are looking for.

Surviving Christmas

I am in Florida right now. I was at a shopping center last night for supper and the one word that came to my mind was "frenetic". Why do we always turn God's will upside down? When he wants us to learn to wait for his presence as Christmas approaches, we increase our activity and shove him to the background.

I was just reviewing some of my blogs from last year...good stuff if I may say so myself! I took the book "Watch for the Light" - readings for Advent and Christmas and shared a brief devotional every day. If you go to the "archives" in the right sidebar and go to December (12) of 2005 you'll find them.

Also, for some spiritual direction during this season you might want to read my sermon series called "How to Survive & Celebrate Christmas".

I'm not posting much to this blog right now because I'm busy posting to another blog...Healing the Hurts of Your Past. This overviews my book by that name, little by little each day. If you know someone who needs some emotional healing you might want to let them know about it.

The Most Important Work of the Church

Occassionally I'll talk about something that I think is an essential part of what it means to be a God follower. Yesterday was one of them when I continued my series on the Sermon on the Mount and talked about "Blessed Are the Peacemakers". Here's just a snip from that talk. You can download the entire sermon at our website.

I want you to see something here in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus gave us seven characteristics of his church community. Jews were very conscious about the significance of numbers. The number seven is God’s number and the number for perfection. So, when Jesus gave us seven characteristics he was saying that these qualities should be central to the life of the church. And the seventh of the seven characteristics is the most important one.

Jesus is telling us THE MOST IMPORTANT THING about being a church isn’t the number of people converted, isn’t whether people speak in tongues or not, isn’t how we vote in the elections. It’s none of that. The most important thing is that we pursue peace in all our relationships. So whether it’s in our church or in our families or at work or wherever we go - God is calling us to make peace.

So Much to Be Thankful for...

A few weeks ago we held our "Fresh Encounter" meeting. This is a low key time of singing, prayer and reflection at Cedarbrook - very counter to our high energy, music and message time on Sunday morning.

Anyway...the theme of the evening was thanksgiving. The leader (Jayne) was praying and thanking God for all that he had done at Cedarbrook this past year. It was a long list! I'll mention just a few things here...

• The four teams that we sent to New Orleans to help Katrina victims
• The start of a number of new small groups and the relationships they have spawned
• The addition of Brenda Brewer as our Team Leader for the Children's Ministry
• The resurrection of a number of marriages that were on the verge of divorce
• The successful transition to our new space at the mall
• The incredible amount of volunteers that have stepped up to serve as we've grown
• Brad Kehn stepping up to serve as interim youth pastor when our search failed to find someone
• The faithful giving of so many people that enables us to hire staff and equip the church to minister to so many people
• The numerous changes lives that have resulted from people connecting with God

Well, you get the idea. If you'd like to add to the list please comment by clicking the link below. And join us tomorrow night as we have a Soup & Sharing time on Thanksgiving Eve.

How to Restore the Fallen

I'm passing on my points from my message yesterday. It seemed to hit a chord in people so I thought I'd share them. For the whole message you can click here to download "Blessings in Disguise: Mercy". (Available to download after noon CST on 11/13/06.)

How to Restore the Fallen:

1. Be gentle (meek). Meekness doesn't criticize, judge or force its way.
2. Think the best of the person. No one likes to be reduced to their worst mistake. Let them know that their sin is only part of the mix of who they are and that you believe the better parts will come through.
3. Don't excuse sin. Jesus released the woman caught in adultery from judgment but he told her to "go and sin no more". You can show mercy and still hold people accountable.
4. Bind and loose scripture. This means that we apply scripture on a case by case basis and not across the board in a harsh way. Jesus did this with the woman mentioned above.
5. Offer what's needed to heal. Be constructive. Think restoration not punishment.
6. Explain what's necessary to rebuild trust. Trust is built by proving yourself to be faithul...over time.
   
7. Reinstate if possible. Once trust has been reestablished, it's time to restore. Don't keep people in limbo out of your own fear. That's your issue, not theirs.

This message was specifically on mercy and a part of a series on the Beatitudes. I believe that Jesus meant the church to be a healing community, not the moral police. The Haggard fiasco is a great opportunity to find those among us hiding in the shadows with sin and offer them a safe place to be restored.

Can Haggard Be Restored?

Twenty years ago I was a part of a church where our pastor was exposed in adulterous affairs (yes, plural). The church went through an incredible fallout. The rancor was something else. The degree of anger and hatred toward the pastor was intense. You see, he was so revered in the church - really put on a pedastal - that it shook people's faith.

Just this year this man came back into ministry to start a new church. Get this, twenty years later people still are mad...still don't want him in ministry. Who are the sinners now?

I'm confident that Ted Haggard will be restored. Hey folks, that's what church is all about! I think his deception was terrible. He let a lot of people down. His hypocrisy was off the charts. But that's what happens when we don't deal with our sin. We hide it and hide it until it takes us down. If we have any concept of God, we deal with it, find God's forgiveness, set things straight, win back peoples trust, ask forgiveness, prove ourselves and get back in the saddle. That's called restoration. That's called mercy and grace. I think the Bible talks about that some place.

Sure, there are insincere, evil people. There are people who have no intention of changing. My sense is that Ted Haggard isn't one of these guys. I think he has a heart for God.

Haggard needs to be held accountable for what he's done...not excused. But he shouldn't be pushed aside. From what I've heard, his family and church are handling this with a lot of maturity. We can all be better people as a result of this if we follow the Spirit's leading.

God's no dummy. This won't mar his image. People will see things about God they would have never seen if this hadn't happened. These are the moments the church can shine and reveal God's power and grace. God specializes in turn around projects. (i.e. resurrection!)

I'm not worried about Haggard. I'm more worried about how people respond to Haggard.

Thoughts on Ted Haggard

Ugggh! Another one bites the dust!

I just saw Ted Haggard at a meeting in Mpls. a few weeks ago. Pretty impressive guy. In fact, so impressive that he made me glad I'm in little 'ol Menomonie. He seemed to have so much going for him...and so busy...that I thought to myself, "I could never do what he does. I'm not built like that." Turns out that he wasn't built that way either. He probably increasingly put on a good front while he was wasting away on the inside.

Even in my little world of leadership, I can see how it can happen. Life gets overwhelming, so you look for ways of escape. I'm able to delegate, exercise and take vacations! So far, that's worked! But I can see how you get busy, you feel responsible, you don't want to let people down, more and more is asked of you, you don't want to complain or so "no" but, at the same time, you need a break. A lot of people find that "break" in illicit sexual relationships and pornography. Interesting that that's where so many turn. Maybe it's the immediacy, intensity and even the intimacy of sex that draws us there first. Life as a leader can be lonely.

Fallen leaders entail so many issues. There's the hypocrisy, the addiction, the marital infidelity, the pastoral infidelity plus, how do you restore someone like that? Or, should you?

There are so many emotions involved; anger, sadness, resentment, etc. The closer you are to the fallout the more you have to carefully sort through it all. Act too rashly and you will add only more gas to the raging fire.

I've been around other leaders who have fallen. It's made me extra cautious in my own ministry to never go down that road. I was glad to see Haggard come clean and stop the denying foolishness. That's insulting. If he continues to deal with his stuff, I hope he returns to ministry a better man. In the mean time, I pray for his wife and kids, his church and those who will try to use this against the message of Jesus.

We need to guard our hearts. This could happen to any of us. If you don't think so, your fall is closer than you think. There is no shame in this for the church if Haggard and we all handle it well. We've all got hidden parts. The question is, what are we doing about it and how are we handling it when others come clean?

Shame: Healing the Hurts of Your Past

In my last church I had a lot of time to counsel. I would sometimes see as many as four people a day and God used me in significant ways to help others find the freedom they were looking for. But as a lead pastor I don't have the same kind of time to spend with people one on one. That's disappointing to me because I like counseling.

But I now have a resource that can help a lot of people even though I may not be able to spend the same amount of time counseling. I just finished writing and recording "Healing the Hurts of Your Past" - a guide to overcoming the pain of shame. I've taught this for over eight years at Arbor Place Treatment Center as well as other churches. It's a thorough teaching bringing together the two worlds of psychology and theology to help people get to the root of their emotional pain. It shows you where the pain comes from, how it creates dysfunctional habits and then gives you a process for emotional healing to follow.

I've gotten excellent response to it, both from people in emotional pain as well as trained counselors. (You can read some recommendations on my website). I mention it to you here as something you might benefit from or might want to refer your friends to. To learn more about it and my other seminar on anger, you can go to my personal website at LifeChange Seminars. If you have a place to post a link to this site, I'd appreciate it.

Confessions of a Pastor

I spoke yesterday in church about Jesus' words, "Blessed are those who Mourn". We learned that to mourn is to express on the outside what's going on inside of you. It speaks of being honest and authentic. It speaks of confessing your sins and your struggles. Jesus was laying out a foundational aspect to his kingdom community. They aren't Posers...people who are faking strength and confidence when inside they are dying. Kingdom people aren't afraid to expose their emptiness and in doing so qualify themselves to be filled by God. Having said that all yesterday, I read the following excerpt from a book this morning from a new book called "Confessions of a Pastor", by Craig Groeschel. It's a great example of mourning...

"One Sunday, after another week of performing my best for God, I stood to preach His life-changing Word. As I approached the pulpit, the truth hit me squarely between the eyes. I hadn’t prayed at all. Not that day. Not the day before. Not the day before that. To the best of my knowledge, I hadn’t prayed all week.

And I called myself a pastor. That’s when it dawned on me: I had become a full-time minister and a part-time follower of Christ. From the outside, I looked the part. “God bless you,” I’d say, followed by the promise, “I’ll be praying for you.”

But that was usually a lie.

Stepping onto the platform to preach that morning, I admitted to myself that I was not a pastor first, but a regular, scared, insecure, everyday guy whose life had been changed by Jesus. And if Jesus really loved me as I was (I knew He did), then why should I go on trying to be someone I wasn’t? I stumbled through that sermon, forcing the words to come out. The message was superficial, plastic, shallow…but somehow I got through it. I drove home that day ashamed of the role I’d played so skillfully, but feeling cautiously hopeful I might learn to be myself.

All week long I agonized. I prayed as I hadn’t prayed in months: God, what if I tell them who I really am? What if they know I’m terrified? What if they reject me? Talk bad about me? Fire me? I swallowed hard. Then I ventured a step further: Is this what You want me to do? I thought I sensed God’s assurance, but I wasn’t sure. Desperately I hoped it was Him leading me,
and not just my own whacked-out thoughts.

The next Sunday arrived, and I walked to the platform uncharacteristically unprepared—not one written note. The only preparation was in my heart. My throat dry, nervous beyond description, I stared at two hundred very committed churchgoers. They stared politely back.

Silence.

Finally I spoke. “My relationship with God is not what it should be.” My voice quavered with each syllable. No one moved. I plunged ahead. “I’ve confessed to God, but now I’m going to confess to you: I’ve become a full-time minister but a part-time follower of Christ.”

You could have heard a communion wafer snap.

I continued speaking, opening my heart and inviting everyone inside. The message that Sunday was unembellished: no humor, no quotes, no poems. It was void of clever sayings or points starting with the same letter. But the message was true. I held nothing back. It was the biggest public risk I’d ever taken. It was also my first authentic sermon. I had preached many times before, but this was the first time the real me made a showing. In the middle of my talk, something started to happen,
something new…

God made Himself known.

The reality of His presence is hard to describe, but it’s even harder to miss. Some people cried quietly in their seats. Others sobbed openly—not so much for my sins, but for their own. Before I had finished my confession, many gathered at the altar to repent along with me.

As the tears and words flowed, God’s peace replaced my fear. His assurance pushed away my doubts. Christ’s power invaded my weakness. In that moment, Jesus became as real to me as He had ever been. The Savior was with me…and I believed He was pleased. “Well done,” I felt, more than heard.

That’s when it all changed. I became a full-time follower of Christ who happened to be a pastor. No more make-believe. No posing. And no playing games. From that moment on, I would be who I am.

Or nothing at all.

- - - - -

I appreciate Craig's honesty. I think every person, and pastor, can relate to his emptiness at times and phoniness. We try to "fake it until we make it" but we often never "make it"! To learn more about mourning as well as becoming a safe person for mourners, you can read my message here.

Small Groups at Cedarbrook

I'm really pleased with the response that we've gotten to our small group launch this fall. Some of you know that we took a year to prepare for this. Rather than push for quanity right away, we chose quality. We chose to spend a year training leaders so that our small groups would have the right DNA. Now we have launched about 15 or so groups of all flavors; women's groups, divorce groups, neighborhood groups...meeting every night of the week.

Lisa and I started one ourselves. I have a dream of every city dweller at Cedarbrook to be involved in a small group within walking distance of their house. We started the first one here in North Menomonie. It's great. Half married couples, half singles. All ages. All kinds of church or unchurched backgrounds. People who know the Bible well and people who just bought one for our group. It's very layed back...but intentional...we have a purpose and a study that we are doing.

There's so much potential in people coming together...sharing their strengths and weaknesses. I'm excited to see where not only our group goes but how the community at Cedarbrook grows through small groups developing. If you aren't involved I hope you'll check one out soon. rd

Time to Move In!

Well, you can tell by my absence that I've been a little busy the last two weeks. After four weeks of sheetrock dust, painting, contractors and hanging doors, Cedarbrook Church is now moving into our home (even as I write). Right now the children's ministry is setting up shop while carpet is still being laid and the floors are being stripped and waxed. The plasma TV is being installed in our lobby and the move crew and band are trying to figure out how to make church work in a banquet center..

Though exhausting, this renovation has gone surprisingly well...all in four weeks. We've now doubled our seating capacity and provided our children with a beautiful new home. I guess I better get to work on that sermon for tomorrow!

Celebrating the Past

I've asked people to share their experiences at Cedarbrook. I hope you'll add yours. Here's one for you...

I just want you to know that Cedarbrook Church, as a whole, has ministered
to my heart in so many ways.  Though DivorceCare I have made wonderful
friends ...  along with the gift of being able to give back some of what God
and Godly people have done for me.  Through your seminar and meeting
withJayne in TPM, I have had tremendous healing from wounds of the past. 
Through worship and sermons on Sunday morning, I have grown in my
relationship with God.  Through helping out in children's ministries I am able
to see the excitement and  innocence of the children and their ability to
trust and believe so easily that it inspires me to be more like them.  Through
 the leadership conference, I gained insight and a much better understanding
 of our Cedarbrook roots. And now I have begun the Breaking  Free women's
 group with Jayne and I already am feeling a bond with the women there.
Cedarbrook is such a welcoming church with such a focus on getting people
emotionally healthy.  Though I loved my church in Nevada where I had been
 a member for about 9 years,I feel much more a part of Cedarbrook. 
Cedarbrook is my church and I love it here.

Preparing to Change

I shared twelve tips to prepare for change on Sunday. You can download the whole message but here are the "tips" to keep in mind...

1. Spy out the land. Get used to the change by exploring it in advance.
2. Celebrate the past. Make sure you bring good closure to what was.
3. Move on from the past. Celebrate the past but don't get stuck there.
4. Start strong. Weak starts lead to weak (or no) finish.
5. Celebrate small victories. If you wait, you may never celebrate at all!
   
6. Communicate, communicate, communicate. The good, the bad and the ugly.
7. Remember the vision because vision leaks. Keep the big picture in mind.
   
8. Change together. Change goes better with friends.
9. Don't quit, innovate. Use your frustration to resolve problems, not run from them.
   
10. Include others along the way. Change is a great time for others to join.
11. Enjoy the change. Different is only bad if you make it bad. Choose to enjoy it.
12. Stay flexible because cheese moves!

In order to "Celebrate the Past" I asked people to send me their comments about how God has touched them at Cedarbrook. Here's the first email back...

I started going to Cedarbrook in the theatre on mother's day a year ago, and this church and it's atmosphere overall helped me come to Christ. The people were so nice and caring that I couldn't leave there. But then I would love to see more people experience the love and compassion of God and Cedarbrook. So since God has moved our cheese we still follow wherever he moves it from here to eternity.

The mall will bring so many oppotunities to expand the church. We'll have the experience of shoppers watching the t.v.s and maybe joing us in the actual service. It's exciting to me because it's a chance to change lives forever!!!

Prime Coat is on

We spent the week mudding and sanding the walls. Whew! That's a lot of work. Now the easy part...painting.

The prime coat is on and I saw the first color hit the walls as I left today. Starting Monday we will be in painting and clean up mode to get ready for the carpet.

If you know anyone who would be willing to donate their installation labor let us know! We've gotten hundreds of hours of labor donated so far. It would be great to save the installation cost as well.

People have donated doors and lumber, trim. Fantastic!

New moved date: October 15th. We still need to get up to code with fire alarms and sprinklers, plus new duct work has to go in since we will have high volumes of people in there.

Have you stopped by yet? Have a look and see how you might chip in!

Painters, Laborers Still Wanted!

The walls are up but now the finer details kick in.

We need people to finish sanding and mudding yet today and then tonight we hope to start priming the walls. Can you help? We need equipment too if you've got it.

We'll be rolling the walls so we need people to tape, roll and trim with a brush.

It looks like we can get a good price on carpet...around $5/yard. If you have connections to beat that or for installation, please let us know.

We also got a lot of free trim. And now we are hoping for cabinets to be donated for each children's room.

The back room needs lots of mudding work...we left that for now but if you are available to work at those walls, that would be great.

Please stop in and see what's going on. You might be able to help or note what you have that's needed. It's fun seeing so many people contributing in so many ways! Thanks.

As for a move in date...it WON'T be October 1. We've put it off until at least October 8.

Still Lots to Do!

The work continues! I just got back from mudding the walls. It's amazing how the work slows as you get to the details. So, if you know how to finish sheetrock, head on down to the mall. The joints need sanding and second/third coats. Thanks.

With all the man/woman hours being donated, we are saving thousands of dollars. And with financial gifts, we will be able to add those special touches. Someone handed me their "birthday money" today to help finish off our space. It's the cumulation of those kinds of sacrifices that make a work like this so special.

I'm having trouble uploading pictures. I'll keep trying!

The Walls Are Up!

This is Dave last Thursday giving everyone the details on the work. Today, all the walls are up and the electrical is in. Amazing!

Corey is on the right. He worked all last night...says he only needs two hours of sleep and he's good to go. He hit a vein with some steel and sprayed blood all over the floor...took a trip to the ER but he's okay.

Tomorrow the sheetrock goes up. We are going to let people print the name of a friend they'd like to come to Christ on the sheetrock this Sunday. We'll bring on twelve foot sheet to church. Come with names!

Plans Approved...we have lift off!

11:14 a.m. Dave Johnson just called and the state approved our plans and we are good to go. Dave and Corey Amundson laid out the walls last night and tonight (7:00ish) the framing team and hospitality teams will be showing up for phase one.

Please pray for two things:

• that we can get into the space by October 1 or at least close. A delayed possession could cause us to lose momentum and I like momentum!!
• that funds will come in to make this renovation a "knock your socks off experience" when you visit Cedarbrook. We have budgeted for the basics, but I'd love to carpet this space and have a big children's jungle gym or something awesome when kids first walk in the space. If you have a heart to contribute to this I appreciate it greatly. You can send checks to Cedarbrook Church at N6714 470th Ave., Menomonie, WI 54751.

I'll be updating you with pictures over the next week. Thanks for checking in. Please stop by. And if you want to work, just show up. We'll find something for you to do!

Makeover Starts This Week!

Dave Johnson, project manager for our new Mall Makeover, has been busy, busy, busy pulling together bids, volunteers and city/state approval for this operation. It's a LOT of work!!

Wednesday: The state is scheduled to review and hopefully approve our building plans.

Thursday: We hope to receive the approval FEDEX'd to us so the city can grant us a building permit.

Thursday or Friday: We hope to start construction!

Dave met with over 40 people last Thursday who are eager to get to work. We have teams and team leaders for...

• framing (with steel) (Corey Amundson)
  
• hanging sheetrock (Brian Hartz)
  
• taping/sanding sheetrock (maybe you?...contact Dave)
  
• painting and decorating (Michell Scott)
• promotions (Remy)
• hospitality (Judy Abel)

If you want to get involved, contact Dave at johnsdb@gmail.com.

I hope you'll at least drop by to see what's happening! Stay tuned, I hope to add some "action" pictures as the walls go up.

Extreme Cedarbrook Makeover - Mall Addition

You may have noticed that my blog had a conversion experience recently. It went from "Thinking Outloud...about Faith" to "Thinking Outloud...about Cedarbrook". Up until now, it's been a discussion of faith and church issues. But, at least for the next six months, it will be specifically Cedarbrook related.

Moving to the mall will be a big change for us and I want to have a "communication center" where people can go to get updates and send me feedback. Change is hard but setting up a good flow of communication will smooth the bumps. The quicker we can deal with problems the better. I've found that most problems can be eliminated or at least reduced if we address them as quickly as possible before they become a big irritation. So, help us all out and give me your feedback along the way!

I'm pleased to announce that we've hired Dave Johnson to be our project manager for the mall remodeling project. Dave immediately got a brainstorm that will make it extra fun. He's calling it the Extreme Cedarbrook Makeover - Mall Addition! Dave is not only a former building contractor but he has spent years equipping short term mission teams to serve over seas. This project should be piece of cake!

You can learn more at Dave's blog. I'm sure he'll be updating everyone soon on details for the makeover. If you would like to offer your volunteer services, his email is on the blog.

Keep coming back for up to the date information on the move!

Answers About Moving to the Mall

I'm back! This has been the fastest summer of my life! I spent a great deal of time getting work done to prepare our church for the fall, squeezed in some writing, some vacation and a lot of time watering my garden!

This post is going to be Cedarbrook specific. So those of you that like to check in from out of town might find this entry totally irrelevant. Cedarbrook is moving from renting a movie theatre to leasing space in the local mall. I want to address a number of questions about that move. So here we go...

1. Why are we moving?

• The biggest reason is to make more seats available. During the school year, we are often at capacity (200) and it's not very welcoming to come into a church that is full. The message is "We are happy the way we are. We don't need any more people." Since that is not true, we needed to find some place bigger. The malls banquet center can seat 400 comfortably, even more if necessary. That means we could grow as big as 1000 with two services on Sunday, more than double what we can do at the theatre.
• The second reason is better children's facilities. We've been using the theatre hallway for our nursery from day one. It's adequate, but in the winter it's cold. Many people have chosen to not attend CB for this reason alone. At the mall, we will have a very large space that will be built with kids in mind. Parents will love it.
• The mall also gives us more options. Right now our youth groups are renting two different facilities in town. We'll have enough room to house them in the mall if that's what the new youth pastor wants. Plus, we have the banquet center reserved for not only Sundays but holidays (Thanksgiving Eve, Good Friday, etc.). Up until now, we've always been limited to Sunday's only. Other groups (like Mom's) will be able to use it during the week. We've also worked it into the lease to rent the banquet center for as little as $25/hour if it's not previously booked. This will be great for other meetings we want to have.
  
• Set up and take down will be easier. With our own retail space, we can store all of our equipment and just have to put it on carts to transport it across the hall into the banquet center vs. putting things in and out of a trailer. This will save both wear and tear on the equipment as well as the movers. We also have until 1pm to finish, so we can have longer services and not feel so rushed. Plus, the mall will let us set up on Saturday night if the banquet center is not booked. All in all, it's a good deal for us.

2. Where is the space and what does it cost?

• We will be leasing the old Ben Franklin space, right next to the Bowling alley. This is very convenient to both the banquet center and the back entrance and the mall restrooms. We had originally wanted a smaller space but we feared running out of space and then having our rent double plus another renovation cost. It was cheaper to secure a bigger space from the beginning and do one renovation. (We looked at this space in the begining but thought it too expensive. Since then, they reduced it's size by adding a wall and so the rent was cheaper.)
  
• We worked a backloaded lease that starts at $2500/month and works it's way up to $5200/month the last year. This allows our finances to grow as we grow. The monthly average over the three year lease is $4250. That's an all-inclusive price, including heat and electricity, common area expenses, parking lot upkeep and use of the banquet center. It may sound expensive, but this is an outstanding price.

3. Wouldn't it be better to take that money and invest it into a building now or at least save the money?

That's a good question. We have all thought this one through and in this case, it's better to lease for a few reasons...

• It buys us time. It's like a young couple renting an apartment when they are first married to find out where their jobs will be and what size family they want before they buy a house. Buying too early can waste money because you might buy something that doesn't fit your needs. Cedarbrook is still learning who God wants us to be. Will we be a church of 1000? 1500? Will we be a church of 400 that starts other churches? We aren't sure yet and so we don't want to build too soon. We also aren't sure what ministries to build for because they seem to be added monthly!
  
• It builds a support base. I'm friends with a number of pastors who are building right now. They are about double our size, around 800 on a Sunday. When they did their fundraising they were both able to raise just under one million dollars. Church buildings today run around three million and up. There's no way we could support that kind of price tag today. The mall will be an excellent interim venue for us to meet to grow to that 800 size before we talk about building.
• It saves us money. The debt service on one million dollars alone would be $5,000/month. That's not principal or utilities for a building or salary for the necessary custodian, or upkeep on the building. Buildings are very very expensive and it would be very risky of us to venture into a building effort now before we have the revenue flow we need. Over three years we will only spend $150K on rent. In light of what a building will cost, that's a good deal, giving us the time we need to plan well for the future. Staying at the threatre isn't the answer because we would not grow in people and therefore financially. We'd just plateau.
  
• It helps us focus on people not bricks. Because we aren't servicing a huge debt, we can hire staff and send people to New Orleans and rent buses for our youth group and offer Comedy Clubs at the Mabel Tainter, and on and on.... If we don't have the cash flow, all that will stop and our church life will suddenly become all about the building. No one wants that. A building is good, butat the right time.

4. When will we build then?

• The best case scenario is that we grow quickly after the move to the mall and can then start planning to build the last year of our three year lease. This is a little optimistic but not impossible.
• We want to pay off our land debt first. You'll be hearing more about how we plan to do that in the Fall after we get moved in to the mall.

5. What about the sound and sight concerns in the banquet center?

• Sound and sight lines are the biggest challenge of the move. We've been in a premium space the past four years ( A little spoiled by church standards!). In some ways, it will feel like a step down, but we believe that we are geting back much more than we are giving up. We already have some ideas to improve the sound. And for sight lines, we hope to recruit a camera crew so images of people on stage can be projected on the screens (multiple) throughout the banquet center. We've prided ourselves on being innovative so I see these difficulties as challenges that we can overcome if we put our minds to it! We welcome your ideas to overcome these problems.

6. What kind of help do we need to pull this off?
Thanks for asking!!!!

• We need carpenters to put up walls and sheetrockers to finish the walls and painter to paint the walls.
• We need designers to help Children's Ministries create an attractive, dynamic space that people in the mall will be drawn too.
• We need a new set up crew to help put up and take down chairs.
• We need more children workers and teachers because they want to expand the classes.
• We need sound, tech and camera people. We will train! This is a big part of offering an excellent Sunday experience.
  

These are the pressing needs right now.

I'll stop here although I'm sure you have more questions. You can either e-mail them to me directly or post your comment/question below. Keep coming back as I'll be adding more Q & A over the coming month.

It's Summer & Welcome Applicants!

There's nothing worse than a blog that isn't current. I mean, that's what they are about...current thoughts on current issues.

Well, my current issues over the next few weeks are vacation, painting my house, writing, planning the coming year and trying to keep my flowers from drying up! So, pardon my spotty entries this summer. I apologize in advance.

I'm also in the process of hiring a youth pastor. Welcome to applicants checking out my thoughts. Please flip through the archives to find my reflections on church. You can start with "The Contrarian's Approach to the Da Vinci Code" at 2006-05-07. It captures my philosophy in a nutshell.

It's important that you get a feel for my approach to church because there is a distinct culture at Cedarbrook that you will either love or hate depending upon your church background. So, I'm just trying to save us all some time! (Another good thread to follow is "Why I Don't Like Church" at 2006-01-08 below.)

Gnostic Gospels and Women

Much has been made of the gnostic gospels, and specifically the Gospel of Thomas. Dan Brown implied that the gnostic gospels were written before the biblical gospels and that they promoted the idea of the sacred feminine. Plus, many people have advocated the inclusion of the Gospel of Thomas into the Bible.

Here are a couple of gnostic writings that are worth reflecting on before we put too much stock in their value...

Simon Peter said to them, ‘Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of the life.’ Jesus said, ‘Behold, I shall lead her in order that I may make her male, that she too may become a living spirit which resembles you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Gospel of Thomas. 51.18-26

Flee from the madness and bondage of femininity, and choose for yourselves the salvation of masculinity. Zostrianos 130.5-8

These writings might be interesting to study various religious thought. But they fall short of being inspired...by quite a bit.

The Dead Sea Scrolls and Dan Brown

If you don't know church history, Dan Brown's historical talk is breath taking...shocking. He makes you feel like a fool for having believed the church's lies all these years. But, let me ease your mind. Dan Brown either is a terrible historian or a great marketer (maybe a little of each!).

After Leigh Teabing tells Sophie the "truth" about how Constantine made up the idea that Jesus was divine (see post below) he "verifies" it with this statement...

Fortunately for historians, some of the gospels that Constantine attempted to eradicate managed to survive. The Dead Sea scrolls were found in the 1950’s hidden in a cave…in the Judean desert…, these documents speak of Christ’s ministry in very human terms. … The scrolls highlight glaring historical discrepancies and fabrications, clearly confirming that the modern Bible was compiled and edited by men who possessed a political agenda- to promote the divinity of the man Jesus Christ and use his influence to solidify their own power base. P. 234

Well, the only “glaring historical discrepancies and fabrications” are from Brown. Nothing in the paragraph above is true. What’s wrong with what he said about the Dead Sea Scrolls? It says that the Dead Sea scrolls speak of Christ’s ministry in very human terms...but that’s impossible. The Dead Sea Scrolls were written before Jesus was even born! They say nothing about Jesus or the early church, let alone the humanity of Jesus. Oops. I guess we weren't supposed to know that!

Have you picked up on Brown's literary manipulations that reinforce his "historical" aura? He starts out by saying..."Fortunately, for historians..." Whew. Yeah. Good thing for those scrolls, otherwise we might have someone trying to lie to us about the truth! Then he talks about "glaring" discrepancies that "clearly" show the truth. I guess the old saying works for Dan...if you tell a lie long enough eventually people will believe it's the truth. I hope you don't!

Da Vinci "Facts": Is Jesus Merely Human?

Here's an excerpt from my sermon yesterday discussing some of the misinformation found in The Da Vinci Code. Read or download the full text here...

In The Da Vinci Code book, the character, Leigh Teabing tells Sophie that it was at the Council of Nicea (AD 325) that the delegates voted on the divinity of Jesus.

…Constantine needed to strengthen the new Christian tradition, and held a famous ecumenical gathering known as the Council of Nicea… At this gathering, Teabing said, many aspects of Christianity were debated and voted upon – the date of Easter, the role of the bishops, the administration of sacraments, and of course, the divinity of Jesus….Until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by his followers as a mortal prophet…a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless. A mortal…Jesus’ establishment as the Son of God was officially proposed and voted on by the Council of Nicea.” And Sophie says, “Hold on. You’re saying Jesus’ divinity was the result of a vote? Teabing replies, “A relatively close vote at that.”

This couldn’t be farther from the truth. There was no discussion at the Council of Nicea over whether or not Jesus was God. This is one of the most misleading "facts" in the book. Every early follower of Jesus believed that Jesus was God. That was without question. The discussion at the Council of Nicea was over the nature of Jesus’divinity and humanity. There was a group of people known as Gnostics who didn’t believe that Jesus was fully human. They believed that he only appeared to be human. To them, it was impossible for God to appear in the flesh because flesh was sinful. And so – that was the argument of the day. Not if Jesus was God but if Jesus could be both fully God and fully human.

Da Vinci Code Movie Review

I looked forward to the Da Vinci Code movie. Even though I disagreed with the theology and reworking of church history, I enjoyed the book. But I left the theatre on opening night feeling flat. I'm not sure what the problem was. I think the acting was fine. It held fairly true to the book. (I was actually a bit shocked because the movie was almost exactly how I had imagined it would be when I read the book). My guess is that there were some problems inherent to the fact that it was based on a book.

I'm not a fiction reader so I have rarely seen a movie based on a book I've read. I love a good movie, especially suspense movies. But having read the book, there was no suspense. I was never on the edge of my seat. And I kept noticing all the things omitted in the movie that were in the book. You can't help that. The book is over 450 pages. To do justice to the book you'd have to have a "24" version of the movie. So, all the interesting details from the book, especially about art and history, were gone.

Now, because of that, the movie wasn't nearly as controversial as the book was. The book went on for pages "documenting" the Holy Grail theory with interesting "facts". But, in the movie, the Grail theory was reduced to the idea of Leigh Teabing and came across far fetched and inconceivable where as in the book the theory is promoted by not only Teabing but Langdon and came across with much more authority. In fact, in the movie, Langdon actually challenges the theory, an obvious concession to the fury over the book. If you hadn't read the book, you'd probably wonder what all the fuss has been about because it appears obvious that the theory isn't true. Both Opus Dei and Teabing were skating on the edge of insanity.

I don't know how to rate The Da Vinci Code. If you've read the book, my guess is that you'll be entertained but not impressed. If you haven't read the book, you'll probably find it interesting but leave confused because there wasn't much explanation about the Opus Dei clandestine meetings. You'll want to go back and read the book to answer all your questions.

If your friends are looking for someone to join them, I'd go. Otherwise, wait for the video.

Dialoguing about the Da Vinci Code

Here's the last installment of the interview with Brian McLaren in Sojourners magazine;

SJ: In light of The Da Vinci Code movie that is soon to be released, how do you hope churches will engage this story?

McLaren: I would like to see churches teach their people how to have intelligent dialogue that doesn't degenerate into argument. We have to teach people that the Holy Spirit works in the middle of conversation. We see it time and time again - Jesus enters into dialogue with people; Paul and Peter and the apostles enter into dialogue with people. We tend to think that the Holy Spirit can only work in the middle of a monologue where we are doing the speaking.

So if our churches can encourage people to, if you see someone reading the book or you know someone who's gone to the movie, say, "What do you think about Jesus and what do you think about this or that," and to ask questions instead of getting into arguments, that would be wonderful. The more we can keep conversations open and going the more chances we give the Holy Spirit to work. But too often people want to get into an argument right away. And, you know, Jesus has handled 2,000 years of questions, skepticism, and attacks, and he's gonna come through just fine. So we don't have to be worried.

Ultimately, The Da Vinci Code is telling us important things about the image of Jesus that is being portrayed by the dominant Christian voices. [Readers] don't find that satisfactory, genuine, or authentic, so they're looking for something that seems more real and authentic.

Left Behind vs. the Da Vinci Code...

I'm continuing the Sojourners interview with Brian McLaren. Enjoy...

SJ: Do you think the book contains any significantly detrimental distortions of the Christian faith?

McLaren: The book is fiction and it's filled with a lot of fiction about a lot of things that a lot of people have already debunked. But frankly, I don't think it has more harmful ideas in it than the Left Behind novels. And in a certain way, what the Left Behind novels do, the way they twist scripture toward a certain theological and political end, I think Brown is twisting scripture, just to other political ends. But at the end of the day, the difference is I don't think Brown really cares that much about theology. He just wanted to write a page-turner and he was very successful at that.

SJ: Many Christians are also reading this book and it's rocking their preconceived notions - or lack of preconceived notions - about Christ's life and the early years of the church. So many people don't know how we got the canon, for example. Should this book be a clarion call to the church to say, "Hey, we need to have a body of believers who are much more literate in church history." Is that something the church needs to be thinking about more strategically?

McLaren: Yes! You're exactly right. One of the problems is that the average Christian in the average church who listens to the average Christian broadcasting has such an oversimplified understanding of both the Bible and of church history - it would be deeply disturbing for them to really learn about church history. I think the disturbing would do them good. But a lot of times education is disturbing for people. And so if The Da Vinci Code causes people to ask questions and Christians have to dig deeper, that's a great thing, a great opportunity for growth. And it does show a weakness in the church giving either no understanding of church history or a very stilted, one-sided, sugarcoated version.

On the other hand, it's important for me to say I don't think anyone can learn good church history from Brown. There's been a lot of debunking of what he calls facts. But again, the guy's writing fiction so nobody should be surprised about that. The sad thing is there's an awful lot of us who claim to be telling objective truth and we actually have our own propaganda and our own versions of history as well. Let me mention one other thing about Brown's book that I think is appealing to people. The church goes through a pendulum swing at times from overemphasizing the deity of Christ to overemphasizing the humanity of Christ. So a book like Brown's that overemphasizes the humanity of Christ can be a mirror to us saying that we might be underemphasizing the humanity of Christ.

see full article here

McLaren on the Da Vinci Code

One of my favorite contrarian's is Brian McLaren. Someone passed along an interview that he did in Sojourner's Magazine. I'd like to share a bit of it over the next few days...

SJ: What do you think the popularity of The Da Vinci Code reveals about pop culture attitudes toward Christianity and the church?

Brian McLaren: I think a lot of people have read the book, notjust as a popular page-turner but also as an experience in shared frustration with status-quo, male-dominated,power-oriented, cover-up-prone organized Christian religion. We need to ask ourselves why the vision of Jesus hinted at in Dan Brown's book is more interesting, attractive, and intriguing to these people than the standard vision of Jesus they hear about in church. Why would so many people be disappointed to find that Brown's version of Jesus has been largely discredited as>fanciful and inaccurate, leaving only the church's conventional version? Is it possible that, even though Brown's fictional version misleads in many ways, it at least serves to open up the>possibility that the church's conventional version of Jesus may not do him justice?

SJ: So you think The Da Vinci Code taps into dissatisfaction with Jesus as we know him?

McLaren: For all the flaws of Brown's book, I think what he's doing is suggesting that the dominant religious institutions have created their own caricature of Jesus. And I think people have a sense that that's true. It's my honest feeling that anyone trying to share their faith in America today has to realize that the Religious Right has polluted the air. The name "Jesus" and the word "Christianity" are associated with something judgmental, hostile, hypocritical, angry, negative, defensive, anti-homosexual, etc. Many of our churches, even though they feel they represent the truth, actually are upholding something that's distorted and false. I also think that the whole issue of male domination is huge and that Brown's suggestion that the real Jesus was not as misogynist or anti-woman as the Christian religion often has>been is very attractive. Brown's book is about exposing hypocrisy and cover-up in organized religion, and it is exposing organized religion's grasping for power. Again, there's something in that that people resonate with in the age of pedophilia scandals, televangelists, and religious political alliances. As a follower of Jesus I resonate with their concerns as well.

see full article here (you have to sign up for the Sojourners email to view it.)