I talked with one of my seminary buddies the other day to tell him that Amy is pregnant. That’s about how my ‘keeping up’ has been lately. My college buddies and I only talk to each other when one (or rather one of our wives-although we each only have one- is pregnant).

He mentioned to me some of the frustrations of being in a denomination with which he wasn’t ‘on board.’ He’s hoping to make the jump to a non-denominational church somewhere, some time. However, he did really long for the connectionalism that presbyterianism offers, and lamented there was not nearly such a defined ‘network’ in the non-denom community.

Independent churches (baptist) and non-denominational churches don’t have the connectionalism offered in the presbyterian form of church government. And it is clear that they long for that. That is why they form networks and ‘conventions’ (Baptists) or associations. There’s no doubt in my mind (and probably in others’ minds) the presbyterian/connectional form is the most biblical. I think the argument lies in whether or not that model was meant to be normal for all times. I think that’s the question.

But existentially (experientially), it also makes the most sense. People long to connect. The problem with many is that they long to connect, but don’t want to commit or be held accountable. That’s where I feel the presbyterian form makes the most sense. If we look at our own hearts, we cannot help but be honest and admit we need accountability.

And certainly others do as well. If a pastor is being a bum, we as the presbytery have the responsibility keep that bum accountable. I’m not a presbyterian Nazi, attempting to ‘convert’ everyone. I’m really not. It just seems that if you think about our needs for connection and accountability, it just makes sense.

I love GOING to presbytery meetings to connect, network, meet, establish, and nurture friendships. I often hate SITTING through them because they are extremely inefficient. But I’ll still defend our need to meet together quarterly, even though we can do in 3 hours what it takes us 8 to do!

Perhaps if everyone was a pragmatic as myself, we’d lose something. I have to tell myself that at least, or I’ll go crazy.

I hate ‘bandwagon things.’ I hate bandwagon baseball teams (Braves in the 90’s), bandwagon basketball teams and players-though its nothing personal-(Chicago Bulls in the 90’s and Michael Jordan). But sometimes I succumb. For instance, like a bagillion other folks, I got a ‘facebook.’ If you don’t know what that is, ask someone that is in between the ages of 15-29.

But in case you’re too stubborn to do so, Facebook is an online way to post things, activities, pictures about yourself in a way that is easy to network, find, and keep up with others doing the same thing.

As I clicked on one of my former youth (during the dog days of Clinton, SC 99-02), I noticed several of his ‘friends’ pictures and profiles (or contacts to the laymen). One girl was dressed provocatively like “Catwoman.” Just a picture, but a picture is often worth more than a 1000 words. Pictures of people partying or scantily dressed usually reveals something much deeper: a lifestyle in search of something outside Christ.

In addition, I thought about some other things that were posted on a few other of my former youth’s profiles and I began to wonder. Did I totally waste my time there? After all, I had a molester, a killer (though in self defense, after I left), and several who professed faith and then turned away. And I didn’t have a large group.

Certainly I wasn’t perfect there. I should have probably been fired for attempting the live mouse toss, and for several (that’s being conservative) other things.

But I guess with all ministry (not just youth) one has to go back to Jesus’ parable of the Seed and the Sower (Matt 13). Not all seed grows up to produce fruit. Some receive the message with joy but fall away due to tribulation or love of the world. But some seed does fall on good soil and produces fruit.

My responsibility lies in sowing. I can’t produce fruit for myself, much less someone else!
I did sow there. Not perfectly, but I did sow.

As I look back, some seed did produce fruit; others didn’t. At least for the time being. But all may not be lost. They may return one day. Hopefully.

There’s probably nothing more gratifying to a preacher to hear that someone actually remembers what you say, teach, or preach. While talking with by best bud late last week, he informed me that one of our (at the time we were both involved in the same ministry) college students spoke to him about distinctly remembering two ‘talks’ I gave.

One was a ‘talk’ centered around a U2 song called “Still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” In the song, Bono claims to know Christ, and to know Christ “carried the cross of my shame….you know I believe it….” However, it feels like there is something more. Perhaps he’s missed something?

My point was that those who know “Christ has carried the cross of our shame” still feel like we are missing something. But is not that Christ is insufficient, but that until we get to heaven we experience “groans like in the pains of childbirth (Rom 8:22)”

Everybody groans. All creation, or as R.E.M. put it, “Everybody hurts.” Not just Christians.
Life is not all that we would like it to be. We don’t experience the full glory and full joy of Christ while here on Earth. Our best life is NOT NOW (contra Joel O.)

However, we have been given the first fruits (first installment of what is to come in the Holy Spirit) even now-says Romans 8:23.

And so about 10 years or so later, Bono wrote a song called “Yahweh.” In it he laments, “Why the pain before the child is born?” But now he’s come back to Jesus, and has reflected. And so he offers his hands, and his heart BACK to Christ as he did earlier in his career as recorded in “Gloria.”

This was supposed to be a blog about somebody remembering what I taught, but it turned into an explication of the joy and difficulty of living between Christ’s First and Second Comings. Sorry about that. I guess you get double the info for today.

When I went to Furman University, I lived in Freshmen dorms for the first three years. I did so primarily for ministry purposes. Being a sophomore and junior on a freshmen hall put me in a position to be able to build relationships and eventually share the gospel with young lads and lead bible studies.

But as I look back, I never really felt like a made a sacrifice. After all, at least for my sophomore year, the only alternative was the infamous ‘sophomore’ dorms. In the freshmen dorms, the doors are ALWAYS open. People are constantly coming in and out. They’re new. They don’t already have relationships and are always open and looking.

On the contrary, if you were to walk through the halls of ‘sophomore dorms,’ you’d find doors which were ALWAYS closed. Their relationships have already been formed. They don’t feel any need to keep their doors open to their neighbors.

Some neighborhoods are like freshmen dorms. While their doors are not literally open, their garages are, or they are out in the yards, etc…They are looking for relationships actively or are willing for new folks to come to them.

However most neighborhoods are like sophomore dorms. Garages go up, cars go in, garage doors go down, and people go inside.

So then should we not seek relationships within our sophomoric neighborhoods? No. Building community where there is little or none is a tiresome, prayerful effort. While difficult, it is not impossible. It takes small strides, big prayer, and a little faith. But a little goes a long way. Even when dealing with sophomores (which literally means ‘wise fool!’)

Our neighborhood cookout was really quite a success. In a small 21 house subdivision, we had participation from 9 different households! I couldn’t have been happier.

It all worked out well, and we had tons of food (and good food at that) and were able to actually meet some new people. One of them actually liked to fish, so I look forward to getting out on the kayaks with him some time soon.

There are actually a number of couples in their early 30’s with kids on our block now. We’ll be among that elite crowd eventually. I can’t wait.

All in all, I recommend any such endeavor. Even when our cookouts were not well attended (3-5 households) it was a great way to get to know our immediate neighbors. This was our 4th, and definitely won’t be our last. And by the way, we had fun. So that helps as well. If you prayed for us, thanks.

Last night I knocked on a few more doors, and eventually got one more couple to come on Saturday to our cookout. I really think that these neighborhood cookouts (or any neighborhood activity) really honors God.

If we are created for community, than doing anything which builds community, even if there is never the slightest mention of Jesus or church, is a good thing. It honors God as we try to put aside our solitary existences to a more communal and relational way of living. The picture we get of heaven is of great multitudes worshiping; there will be no solitary living. So doing anything which promotes community is really furthering God’s Kingdom on Earth (which is essentially bringing what’s already present in heaven now, down to earth).

With some there is great excitement. With others there is great inertia. Right now we’re at 7-8 households participating. But even if it were just the houses on my cul de sac coming, I still think it would be a good thing. Heaven is not a place on Earth as Belinda Carlysle sang in the 80’s. However, she wasn’t totally sans truth.

Heaven will one day be a place on Earth (Rev 20), and our participation in Christ’s mission brings a little bit of heaven down to Earth. As we live out our faith in the community we’ve been placed, God’s Kingdom/reign/will moves forward. And heaven becomes a little more visible on Earth.

Today I’m doing something that I’m really not comfortable with. I’m speaking briefly to a group of about 25 or so folks about taking steps to battle racial prejudice. Doing any sort of speaking outside the pulpit can be quite scary for a pastor.

After all, they’ve not come into my world (church); I’ve come into their world. Its kind of like when people get into the water with sharks. They always say, “We’re in their world now.” Of course those nestling within the confines of a cozy cage, have nothing to worry about (that’s why I refuse to watch the “Shark Week” episodes when they’re in cages-their not risking anything), but when they step out of the cage-that’s when they really risk their lives.

My partner (a fellow black pastor) was kind of my cage. He’s not going to make it now, so I’m cageless; I’ve got nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide-or something like that.

Back to the sharks. Despite the initial fear, and perhaps fear throughout their dives, they always seem to come up excited. Even overwhelmed at the opportunity they just had.

Yet I don’t think that only happens while free diving with Great White Sharks. I think it happens any time we truly step out in faith. Along with fear comes great excitement. But that fear often proves too great a hurdle, and we settle for a safe and boring spirituality. However, interestingly enough, neither words are used to describe the Christian life in the bible. I’ve looked.

I’m hosting a neighborhood cookout this Saturday. My neighborhood is a small one, with only about 21 houses in it. Getting people to commit to come has been fairly hard. Some sound interested, others actually disinterested.

As I drove out of my neighborhood yesterday afternoon I passed by several houses which I assumed would simply not come. And it made me very angry. I took that anger with me to work out, and it continued until one of my friends at the gym said he was coming to play Paintball this Saturday.

Then I began to realize that God was doing His work whether I realized it or not. By the time I got home, I had forgotten this, and was angry about all of the households which I assumed would not be coming. Amy reminded me that I had done all that I could in personally passing out flyers door to door, and praying. If its just several houses that come, then that’s who God wants to be here. Just one family at a time. Sometimes I want more though.
But I’m thankful for those near neighbors who are coming. And we’ll pour ourselves into the relationships God grants us and get to know them better.

One of the communities I’ve enjoyed being a part of is the paddle-fishing web forum. Sure there are inside jokes that I don’t get, and people can be picky about using certain types of lures (smelly one’s that don’t take much skill to use), and disdain the use of boats, but I was impressed by the bunch two Saturday’s ago for their semi-regular tournament series.

I generally stayed away from any type of web forums, because they are often used as a cyber-community in place of actual human community. But this community was not the case. Most were very friendly, and saw the fishing tournament like I did: a chance to meet some new people, and fellowship with old friends.

It was scary going into a new place and really not knowing many folks at all (I had previously fished with two different lads before), but meeting people was fairly easy. The first question after you meet someone is “What’s your screen name?” And then go from there.

Instead of people fishing alone (which was nearly impossible due to the fact there were like 60 kayaks in a small fishable area, and on an extremely low tide-even less water), many folks went off in pairs, some in groups of four-five. Some folks even asked to fish with me because I knew the area better. Of course one of them got the largest snook of the day, and 100 bucks for my guiding skills (I just said let’s head south and didn’t seem him for a while).

At the end of the tournament everyone went back to the “weigh-in” (just pictures of the fish) at a restaraunt to eat, drink, and of course BS. It just goes to show that people really do crave community. Perhaps even as much as fishing. One of the guys told me, “I’m never fishing alone again.” Even if some do fish alone, they immediately post the report with pictures on the forum. It just goes to show that we are created for community. And when people aren’t part of a church, they’ll just find a replacement.

The final part of the Rwandan trilogy. In case you’re not familiar with the movie, the main character Paul takes in many refugees to stay at the hotel he manages, thus Hotel Rwanda.
So the Hotel becomes like an Oasis in the desert of death and destruction. The question I have is what similarities/differences exist betwixt the Hotel and the Church? The question is not rhetorical, and please feel free to comment. But do please allow me to go first, seeing as it is my question.

Similarities:

• The Church is to be a place where needy people come to find refuge, shelter, protection. It is not for the well, but for the sick. People can only become a member of the Church by recognizing their need for a Savior.
• In the movie, some of the refugees actually served and helped out at the place. It was probably like the 10%/90% rule, where 10 % of the people do 90% percent of the work. Another point for similarity! Regardless, those who come out of great need to the Church, are then called to serve within it.
• Hotel Rwanda was a place concerned with issues of social justice. The Church today should be concerned and do all it can to seek justice for the oppressed.
• The Hotel Rwanda was constantly under attack from its enemies. Physically or spiritually, Satan is not a fan of the Church and will do what he can to stop, disrupt, cause dissension. Sometimes its small like someone stealing our roadside banners on Halloween. Sometimes its with more forceful entry.

Differences

• Hotel Rwanda was primarily a place to which people simply arrived. They were not invited; they simply came. In the OT we see a vision of people flocking to Zion (an idealized/’souped up’ Jerusalem), but that vision never really materialized for reasons I don’t have time to write about. But in the NT, we see very clearly that Jesus calls the church to GO forth. The Church has to be both defensive and offensive. We are sent forth.
• Some people did drop refugees off at Hotel Rwanda-but these ‘rescuers’ were not part of the Hotel itself. The Church consists of people who have been rescued. So it’s different in that we the rescued, now become involved in the rescue operation. Different mentality. A beggar showing another beggar where to find bread.
• The Hotel Rwanda was only a temporary refuge. All who lived there knew it could not last but so long. With the Church, Jesus promises that He will build it and the gates of Hell will not overtake it. Pretty cool, I think.

Just some final thoughts on the movie. Definitely see it if you haven’t.