Eugene Peterson on Joy

This entry was originally published at a drop of water

“Joy is not a requirement of Christian discipleship, it is a consequence.”
Eugene Peterson - p.96, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction

Those who I look up to are always joyful.  Even with the greeting in passing, their joy is contagious.  That is something I wish I could give to people, a contagious joy.  It is not just a contagious joy rooted in their innate ability to hope for the best, but in their belief in God and humility to see the good that is happening.  Peterson notes that “joy is not a moral requirement for Christian living” since we will “experience events that are full of sadness and pain” and that we should never conclude that “I’m not joyful, therefore I must not be christian.”

That truth in evidenced by those who I look up to who are seemingly always joyful.  Their life circumstances are not any different that mine, often much harder and more trying when you get to know what they face daily.  Peterson emphasizes that joy (and other christian ways of living) is not something “we have to acquire in order to experience life in Christ; it is what comes to us when we are walking in the way of faith and obedience.”

So often I find myself chasing after fruits of faith and obedience, only to realize that I’ve tried to play without reading the directions.  It is when I focus on the simplest things in life, God’s presence, his leading, and trying to be his hands and feet in the here and now that joy comes, because it puts the complexity and the overwhelming issue and problems in their place, in Gods hand.  That is where I want my joy to come from; any other source else is shortlived.

Multi-generational Church

This entry was originally published at a drop of water

Series: Building a Community that Loves the World
Multi-generational Church - A Message from 2 Kings 2
Sermon by Joe Lee @ Coast Vineyard on November 2nd, 2008

The multi-generational church MUST be a place of mutual blessing (deep love and respect)
1. It blesses the next generation to lead. (2 Kings 2:7-14)
Q: Do you feel released to follow Jesus without reservation?
2. It restores the lost dreams of the past.
Q: What are the dreams that you need to be restored? (1 Kings 19:1-5)
3. It brings healing into the world.
Q: What are the places of healing that God wants to lead us into? (2 Kings 2:19-22)

Joe Lee, an IV staffer at UCSD, delivered a beautiful and life giving sermon this past week on the aspects of a multi-generational church.  He gave three points and paired them each with a response question.  His first point was an encouragement for the older generation use their authority and bless the next generation to lead.  His question asked if we feel released to follow Jesus without reservation [by an older generation or authority in our lives -- parents, mentors, leaders].  This touched my heart in two ways: 1. I lack a direct spiritual authority / mentor in my life.  I have my father, my pastors, maybe a staff worker or two, and a number of friends who I look up to, all of whom which I am thankful for and contribute much to how I think and what I do, yet there is little expectation from them.  But! — the world is not centered around me and so the second way this touched my heart is: 2. There are people all around me who I feel I can be available to pour into.  This is super life giving because as I make myself available for people, and ask guys if they have time to meet up and talk, I end up being encouraged by them as well.  The more I try to give, the more I end up receiving!

Joe’s second point was that the multi-generational church restores the lost dreams of the past.  For me this point really encourages the joining of the dreams of the past and the present.  As I walk through life it is easy for me to over complicate dreams and become pessimistic towards the dreams I once had, labeling them as impractical to the point where they get scratched off the list.  Maybe its the multi-generational church that restores the prayers of the past and the heart of the past and in doing so chisels out new dreams for the multi-generations to work towards.  Joe’s paired question was, what are the dreams that you need to be restored.  I’m realizing that I don’t really remember my dreams, or maybe that I just need “all” of my dreams restored.  It is easier for me to focus and visualize what is a few tangible steps in front of me instead of spending time visioning the impossible.  I suppose that the multi-generational church is better equipped to take the far off, creative, seemingly impractical and impossible vision and determine the steps that need to happen in between.

Joe’s final point was that the multi-generational church brings healing into the world through the working out of differences, view points, and understandings.  The biggest issue that I’ve personally lived through is the split in the generations in styles of worship.  I know there has been a lot of hurt on both sides, and I wish there was not, but working throug these differences allows God the ground for healing on both sides.  I wish that people could take a step back from their trenches and open their hearts and minds to the diversity of worship and what the different styles have to offer.  I suppose that is the common theme of the multi-generational church — that each generation has much to offer and contribute to the church.  The paired question with this point was, what are the places of healing that God wants to lead us into?  As I am sort of inbetween the young generation and the older generation, I feel like I need to be a bridge or a translator.   But we are always in between generations, so maybe we need to purposefully live as translators of culture.  We are to be in the world, speak the world’s language, but not be of the world.  We are to be able to translate generations languages, culture languages, and spiritual languages so that the church can efficiently do its work.

Culture Making in Small Groups

This entry was originally published at a drop of water

Andy Crouch in his book, Culture Making, discusses a relational model where creativity creates.  Many successful companies and other sources of things created are led by a group of three, that is to say a small small, tight knit group of like minded creators, working together for a common goal.  Often I try to create things on my own, but that only goes so far.  When I involve too many people, the vision gets construed and pulled in so many directions, theres nothing left after everyones had their say.  Crouch goes on to say beyond that intimate group where creativity creates, are two, farther removed layers of input.  A group of 12 and a group of 120, similar to a board of directors and a group of team managers if this model is to be liked to a business model.  The group of 12 has more input and authority than the group of 120, but less than the group of 3, yet each tier plays an important role and contributes towards the end result.

“The essential insight of 3 : 12 : 120 is that every cultural innovation, no matter how far-reaching its consequences, is based on personal relationships and personal commitment.  Culture making is hard.  It simply doesn’t happen without the investment of absolutely and relatively small groups of people.  In culture making, size matters–in reverse.  Only a small group can sustain the attention, energy and perseverance to create something that genuinely moves the horizons of possibility–because to create that good requires an ability to suspend, at least for a time, the very horizons within which everyone else is operating.  Such “suspension of impossibility” is tiring and taxing.  The only thing strong enough to sustain it is a community of people.  To create a new cultural good, a small group is essential.”  p. 243

Prayerfully I will find that small group of people that I can make culture with and together we can cross the obstacles that stand in the way of personal relationships and personal commitment that sustains the energy and perseverance required to create something that “genuinely moves the horizons of possibility.”  I want to find significance in what I do with my friends.  When I was in grade school, I always had a dream of starting a company with my friends.  Each of us had different skills and talents and it made sense to bring our relationships into the sphere of work for efficiency and productivity.  There is something refreshingly redeeming about Crouch’s advocacy of “measuring our significane not by our access to power, people and institutions, but by how faithful we remain [in our small groups], to the cultural goods we seek to cultivate and create!”

Budgeting in order to Give

This entry was originally published at a drop of water

Most would agree that budgeting is a good habit.  It keeps us from spending beyond our means and helps us save for rainy days.  But in practice many people find themselves on the extremes of the financial spectrum.  They are either spending above and beyond their means or they are stingily hoarding money for a possible future unknown event.

Those who spend, spend, spend see little value to budgeting and saving and elevate the importance of a moments whim above everything else.  Those who “hoard, hoard, hoard” place their security. identity, and their own worth into the bottom line of their account statements.

Having the right perspective on money and budgeting is transforming.  It reorders the priorities in our lives, sheds light on the resources we have available and frees us to efficiently help our neighbors in community. Budgeting frees you to give more and to turn your spending into investing.

In the following three posts I want to share some perspectives on three aspects of budgeting and managing your money:

1. Tracking the Numbers - Knowledge is Power
2. Planning Ahead - There is Always a Sale
3. Involving Community - You need not be Alone

Involving Community - You need not be Alone

This entry was originally published at a drop of water

Part 4 of 5 in Tips for Budgeting

Involving Community - You are not alone

1. Accountability - Budgeting sucks when you have no more money in your restaurant envelope and everyone else is going out to eat.  Budgeting can feel lonely and overwhelming, so involve your community.  When we share about our financial decisions and are open about where we are investing (spending) our money and include others in the decisioning process, it becomes a lifestyle for a group of people instead of just a loan dingy on a stormy sea.  This helps expand our perspectives and exposes us to others research, questions and buying tips.

2. Sharing - We seem to have a collection of household items that get used once and then sit on the shelf for the rest of their lives till they are donated or given away.  Consider buying these type of items with the purpose of sharing their cost and their use among your friends and family.  When did restaurants become all about quantity instead of quality?  Jenn and I like to eat out on our date nights, but it can easily get expensive.  We’ve been trying to share dishes instead because often times one dish is enough for both of us.  When we do order two, we tend to regret the stuffed feeling in our stomachs as we exit.

3. Be relational - Ultimately, the things we buy really don’t provide us with lasting satisfaction.  It is more about how those things we buy bring us into relationship with others.  Relationships, memories, friendships, and the like are what is lasting, beyond the latest and greatest, shiniest and fastest electronic device, shoe, bag, car, and tv.  Books have a great power here.  I find myself often buying books to own them, read them once and then display them on a bookshelf as proof of my worth, but this renders books to mere dust collectors. If we buy a book, read it, then give it away it opens up opportunity for dialog and discussion between people.