Emergentia - Missional

Dave Curtiss presented this message from Mark's Gospel.

He opened with Genesis 12 and the vague vision of God's plan. 2 of the most powerful words in Scripture..."Abram went".

This was paralleled with Jesus' call to his disciples...

"Let's go to the other side."

The other side of the lake was home to pig worshipping herders, demon possessed people and backslidden Jews.

Hear the voice of the Holy Spirit sending us on the Misseo Dei.

Emergentia - Holiness

Stan Reeder presented this topic. Very helpful in seeing the distinctive between yesterday's understanding of holiness and today's. His outline was Thesis, Antithesis and Synthesis. This was debated on who is exactly under what. While being helpful, I didn't find it hopeful. Synthesis was a future reality not to be experienced today.

Thesis (1838 - 1960)

A. Personal Piety

B. Heavenly Focused

C. Crisis Emphasis

D. Prophetic Destiny

Antithesis (Today)

A. Authentic Community
B. Missional Focus
C. Discipleship Emphasis
D. Historically Rooted

Synthesis (Future - the pendulum will settle in the middle)

A. authentic community enjoyed by individuals of personal piety
B. mission focus compelled by eternal motivation
C. discipleship journey punctuated by crisis of experiential grace
D. historically rooted with a sense of prophetic destiny

What if the pendulum is the wrong image to think about in regards to God's revelation of holiness?

Emergentia - Christian

Dan Copp presented this session, I love this guy!
He started by telling his story of love expelling sin and pharisaical pride. Dan encouraged us to tell our stories but not be prescriptive on how God should work but rather descriptive.

"The body of Christ is to be the DNA of Jesus". - Howard Snyder

1. One - Diverse: put a name/face on those that are different
2. Holy - Charismatic: invite the Spirit into messiness
3. Catholic - Local: we are part of a Kingdom and a tribe
4. Apostolic - Prophetic: we follow the apostle's teaching and are visionary dreamers

The Nazarene's core values are stakes in a big tent.

Emergentia - Portland

I went to Portland, Oregon last week to attend the Emergentia Conference at the Community of Adsideo. It was a time to think about and discuss the Church of the Nazarene's core values and how they relate to the emerging church. In short, good times, good people, bad weather.

Some Highlights...

• Being with old friends and making new friends


• Enjoying local establishments in the Sellwood neighborhood


• Hanging in Adsideo's Living Room


• Voodoo Doughnuts - eating cock and balls


• Powell's City of Books - 1 city block and 4 stories of heaven


• General sessions with thought provoking presenters


• Seeing the difference between being a critic and an editor


• Feeling hostility on boths sides of the discussion


• Being away from home and more so coming home

Thanks to Jim Wicks and his people for their hospitality (especially Chad and Chris for letting us crash at your place).

Why Pastors Stay

The following is corny and will get annoying by the end of the post but is a great topic and conversation starter. Here are 12 things that will help with a pastor's duration and continuation with a congregation...

1. Desperation - for Jesus and reaching others
2. Transformation - willingness to allow God to change your life and desire same for others
3. Celebration - positive and expressive response to God's movement
4. Appreciation - expressions of being wanted, needed and loved
5. Compensation - salary and benefits to remove stress from family
6. Cultivation - opportunities to learn and grow into God given potential
7. Imagination - using creativity to envision God's dream for the future
8. Innovation - looking forward and risking something new
9. Reconciliation - conflict handled in a healthy, biblical way
10. Relation - meaningful and deep friendships
11. Collaboration - working together in harmony with respect and humility
12. Destination - traveling the same road together towards the same goals

Why Pastors Leave

Pastors leave churches for all kinds of reasons. Leaving makes some people happy and some people saddened. Here are some various reasons...

Stress, finances, conflict, immorality, resistance to change, power brokers, immaturity, ambition, loneliness, not prepared for the job, negative effects on the family, gap between effort and reward, bad fit, unrealistic expectations, unwillingness to confront issues, poor self image, refusal to own or learn from mistakes, lack of vision, lack of ministry volunteers or resources, no sense of support from leaders, leadership style (too strong/ too weak), health, prior unresolved conflict, poor people skills, decline/rise in attendance, burnout, out of tricks, no longer fun or joyful...

We need to add that none of the above reasons could be involved. No one knows where the wind will blow and so sometimes leaving is just obedience to what seems to be the Holy Spirit's leading.

In the Church of the Nazarene, pastors are staying longer.

Average Tenure:

• 2006 - 4 years and 5 months
• 1996 - 3 years and 3 months
• 1988 - 3 years and 3 months

Some pastors and people think that after 5 years it is time to move on and some pastors and people are looking for a lifetime covenant. What do you think?

The Bell Boy vs. The Maid

I recently had the opportunity to stay in a nice hotel.
I observed 2 types of servants:

The Bell Boy...

• Up front
• Works hard
• Motivated by tips

The Maid...

• Behind the scenes
• Works hard
• Motivated by the work

It seemed to me the bell boy was wanting to please me for more money while the maid simply wanted to do her job well. We are all called to serve but what is our style and motivation?