The "Emerging" Church

The "Emerging" Church. Why do I put "emerging" in quotes? Because I have a reflex response to buzzwords. I avoid them if at all possible without even trying. The term "emerging" refers to the current outreach movement, mostly by the evangelical part of the church, to those that the standard church service doesn't reach.

Aside of my distaste for the term "emerging", every time I read about a new way that some church or even group of believers reaches out to the unchurched and non-believers in some non-traditional way, I get very excited. Groups are having non-traditional church services and Bible studies in coffee houses, local pubs, even the occasional Hooters. I seem to have some deep passion for this, and I don't really know why. I've never felt called into any type of professional ministry role, yet every day I find myself trying to figure out a way to start some kind of church service or Bible study at the new local coffee house that opened up. I haven't figured it out yet, but I think about it daily.

Maybe this is due to the lack of success I've had getting my friends to go to my church with me on Sunday morning. I go to a "contemporary" service, using modern instruments, praise songs, and a much less formal atmosphere. But it is surrounded by the bastions of tradition (read: stuffy) and that just may be what scares people off.

A good friend of mine has a theory that Sunday has become the only real "day off" left in the world today. Working a traditional work week, then having a Saturday packed full of soccer games, baseball games, shopping, hobbies, etc. leaves just Sunday for resting. If Sunday was your only true day off, and you weren't yet part of the body of Christ, would you really want to get up at (or before) 8:00 am just to rush off and go to a church service? I really don't think I would.

There is also the bubble factor. We all go to our Sunday morning/evening/Wed evening church services and activities, and maybe even invite our friends, but what are we really doing to reach out to those that are literally dying to hear the Gospel? Did Jesus just hang out at the Temple, or did he go out where the sinners were? What should we do?

I need to find some way to get more invovled in reaching out to those that the traditional Sunday morning church doesn't reach. Suggestions welcome.

What inspired me to write about this? This post that Mark Lee's weblog pointed me to.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

First, my apologies to Charles Dickens.

I volunteer with the youth group at my church, and have for a little over 2 years. I work with the high school age group along with a paid staff member. Over the last 2 years, I've developed a great relationship with one of the guys in the group. He graduated last May, and is leaving on Friday to go to college in New York. He came by at the very end of the youth group meeting tonight to say goodbye. It was great to see him again, as he has been busy over the summer and I hadn't gotten many chances to talk to him. He, his girlfriend (who is staying behind), the staff member and myself went to a local restaurant to just hang out for a little while and enjoy each other's company one more time before he leaves. It was great to see him one last time.

I don't have any children of my own, and probably won't, but I can only imagine how much harder it must be for a parent to see their child go off to college. On one hand it's great that he's starting this new phase of his life. He got into a really great school for what he wants to study and I think he'll do very well. I'm so proud of him. On the other hand, it's sad that he won't be coming by every Wednesday night. He will definitely be missed.

After coming home and working on my side project for a bit I decided to log into the email account tied to this blog. I don't check it much since I've never really had any readers. Well, a very pleasant surprise was waiting for me in my mailbox. I received an email message from the author of another blog I had left a comment on and that author had come by and read some of my entries. My first reader! I shall celebrate by publishing this post and going to bed.

Learning To Write Hack #5 - Every Day

After a long absence, I return to my reguritation of Mark Lee's excellent series of Songwriting Hacks modified to fit standard writing. As I've noted before, I'm not trying to just copy his work or anything - in fact, I refer frequently to the source of the material. By regurgitating and modifying his stuff, I learn the lessons better. I have to concentrate on what he's saying in order to be able to rewrite it to fit regular writing. And so far, the lessons have crossed over fairly easily, though I have a sneaking suspicion that may change in the future.

Today's hack is Ev'ry Day. I think I know why it took me so long to get back in this series - this is going to be the painful one to write about, because deep inside I know it's true and I have such a hard time making myself do it.

As I'm sure you can guess from the title, he stresses doing something every day. Even if it's something minor. It can be intimidating thinking you need to crank out several paragraphs as you make your way through your first million words. But his point is that you don't have to sit down to write every time. For songwriting, sit down and study some music. Pick out one little section and figure out what makes it good. The same applies to writing. Find someone else's writing you really enjoy reading, and study a small selection. Study how the sentences are structured, what the voice is, the phrasing, etc. What about it makes you really enjoy it? What can you learn from it?

I'd like to say I've been doing that. Well, in some way I'm sure I have as I have been doing a lot of reading, but I haven't really stopped and reread things several times to understand what I really like about it and why.

I will make an effort over the next 30 days to really study some writing I enjoy and figure out what makes me enjoy it so much.




*Note: Link goes to the general Creative Process category, as some permalinks seem to be broken on his blog now.

The Christian Rock Debate and Losing Focus

Reading this post on one of my favorite blogs brought this topic to mind. Corey states:
"Apparently you couldn't talk about the saving grace of Jesus Christ while playing an electric guitar. It's a shame so much effort was wasted on frivolity while real people with real problems all around them needed real help."

Amen, brother. That is such an issue - but just one of many. Apparently you can't talk about the saving grace of Jesus Christ on a Saturday afternoon in an empty dowtown club. Or in a Saturday night church service with that same electric guitar and loud drums. Or a myriad of other things some people have problems with.

Now, I'm not advocating that the Gospel be compromised by any means. But it seems to me that whatever method you can use to get the message out, as long as that message isn't compromised, should be fine. Today's culture is burned out on Sunday-morning-sing-some-hymns-church. They need something that will reach them where they are. If that means backing it with the sound of an electric guitar, then so be it!

Another great evening

I had another great evening tonight. I got lots of work done, and had a good time doing it.

I'm a software developer. I have a full time job, working for a software company. Recently a friend of mine, trying to get his own start up web application going, contacted me about helping out on a part time basis. I said I'd be happy to - a chance to learn a new technology (.Net - hadn't done any yet) while someone else paid me to do it. Plus the extra money would come in handy. The best part is I'm working on this project completely on my laptop, so I can work on it anywhere. So tonight I went down to the new neighborhood coffee house and worked on the project. Free wifi, free refills, and life is good for this software developer.

A great evening

I just got home from one of the best evenings I've had in quite a long time. I had some plans with friends, but at the last minute I decided to take my wife out instead. We went to a neighborhood restaurant for dinner - a local place, started by families in the neighborhood. Had a good dinner. Then we went to the new local coffee house in the neighborhood. It has been open for a couple of months, but we hadn't made it in yet. It turns out that Tuesday evening is open mike night so we got to listen to some great acoustic guitar and vocals while enjoying our coffee. All in all, a great evening. I can't remember when I've had this much fun.

And about that new coffee house - I think I've found a new place to hang out.

Outstanding day today

This has been an outstanding day today. A near perfect Sunday. Got up at a reasonable hour (8:00 am). Went to church. Went out for lunch after church for pizza. Came home after church, had a few Spaten Premium beers in the fridge. Nothing like an outstanding German lager on a hot day. A rainstorm came in the late afternoon. I went out on the back porch with my beer, watched it rain, and enjoyed the major temperature drop. All in all, an outstanding day.

I feel revived, refreshed, and ready to go back to work tomorrow.

Thank you God for this outstanding day.

Am I back?

Well, it has been a while since I posted here. Major changes to my personal schedule, a couple of out of town trips, and losing my focus are the reasons, as poor as they are. The primary reason is losing my focus. I've never been a creative sort - at least creative in any of the arts. But lately I have felt a burning desire to learn to write. In some ways it's like exercising. I want to do it. I know how good I feel after I do it. But when that alarm goes off at 5:30 am, nagging me to get up and exercise, it is the last thing I want to do, even though I need it. I need to use muscles or lose them. Same with my writing muscle. I need to use it and develop it.

I've never really had a traditional artistic expression in my life. I am a software developer. I've been either playing or working with computers as far back as the 8th grade (and that was a LONG time ago). I had an immediate attraction to it. I guess in many ways that was my creative outlet. Creating a computer program that would make the machine do what I wanted to do. Some say, and I would agree, that there is a bit of art in writing a computer program. The way it is written, how the code is designed and laid out, and how elegantly it handles unexpected situations. But lately, that world has been less appealing to me. For the first time in my life I have been thinking of what I want to do next. I have over 15 years experience in my current line of work, but lately I've actually been looking forward to walking away from it all. Take a huge pay cut, maybe even 50% or more, to completely start over in some other area. What area? I don't know yet. I'm feeling pulled in 3 major areas: writing, photography, and music. Not in music as a performer, but in some other capacity. Somehow involved in the
burgeoning Christian alternative rock genre. I also work with the youth group at my church, and I love doing that, too. Maybe that is a fourth area?

Is God calling me away from my current line of work and into another? I hope it's him, since the desire is so strong. I feel like He is, though I can't really prove it. It's just a feeling I get. And as my wife will atest, I don't get feelings very often. When I get one, it's typically right on.

So here is where I learn to write. Time to set aside the distractions and get busy. And if anyone should happen by and become a regular reader, please hold me accountable. If a new entry doesn't show up for a couple of days, email me and nag me to write. I need it.