It has been so cold outside that we just want to stay inside all the time. Here are some graphs of the temperatures. I tried to find some similar graphs for Minnesota but could not find anything. Yesterday it was a little warmer, but this morning it is -5 out there again. We have not started the plant yet because of the temps. Maybe next month. Hope this doesn't come down to all of you in Minn. The sun is staying out longer now with daylight savings - it was light across the inlet by the mountains at 9:30PM!
It has been so cold outside that we just want to stay inside all the time. Here are some graphs of the temperatures. I tried to find some similar graphs for Minnesota but could not find anything. Yesterday it was a little warmer, but this morning it is -5 out there again. We have not started the plant yet because of the temps. Maybe next month. Hope this doesn't come down to all of you in Minn. The sun is staying out longer now with daylight savings - it was light across the inlet by the mountains at 9:30PM!
10 comments:
You say you hope it doesn't come down here, but my reputation is on the line with my boys. I've told them for years: if you want to know what our weather will be like in 10 days just look at what's happening on the Kenai Peninsula now.
One more thing. Mark, as I've said before I really found your post on post-charismatics thought provoking. But I couldn't figure out why. While I have nothing against charismatics I just never felt like that was my niche, so why did it intrigue me so much? Well I think I have an answer.
There appears to be a movement that is spreading these days (something like the Jesus People movement of the 70's) and it's called the "emerging church". I finally took some time to read about it (it's all over the internet - pro and con) and found that my church fits lot of the distinctives of the "emerging churches". And it looks like the "thinkers" in the "emerging church" are frequently talking about things like "post evangelical" and "post protestant" and such. People who feel like the old categories just don't pack the punch they used to given the current situation and our past experiences.
Here is a church that i like to listen to http://www.marshill.org/ It is in Grand Rapids Michigan and i guess Rob Bells sermons are one of the most downloaded on the internet. It is more of a social gospel and they have the last 12 weeks for free. The one about peacemakers was pretty radical. If you want a copy i could send it to you if it is not on the website. It is amazing how Americans are so consumed with things compared to the rest of the world.
Yeah, I checked it out. Oddly enough Mars Hill has at times been lumped in with the "emerging churches" but is probably not. I'm just beginning to educate myself on new directions churches are going in the 21st century.
But it looks like a common theme is more emphasis on "who's living the life" and less on "who's got the correct doctrine". More emphasis on "everybody participating" and less on "large audiences attending a professional performance".
Theologically a lot of the new places identify more with groups like the Mennonites who use a Kingdom Theology that doesn't draw a sharp distinction between "soul winning" and "doing good" - to put it crudely - they emphasize just being and acting like Jesus. Which sounds like Mars Hill.
Hi, this is Tyler. I found it interesting that you guys are talking about the "emerging church" I am taking a class right now called Ministering with the Emerging Generation, and alot of our time has been dedicated to reading about and coming to a better understanding of what the emerging church is. It all is some pretty fascinating stuff. I haven't decided what I think about the movement yet. It seems to me that alot of this movement has sprung up from leaders within large traditional churches who felt that church had become to much of a corporate enterprise and decided to hop to the other extreme (i.e. attempting "leaderless" groups, irregular-once-a-month-or-so house meetings, different froms of worship, arts, kingdom rather then church theology...). Some aspects of the emerging church I find very enticing, but some of it worries me a bit. I see a lot of jadedness towards traditional churches, and rather then striving for change within, there is a breaking off. I don't think this is a very good foundation for a church group. I also think alot of the movement is focused on ideals, and it scares me a bit that there is little to define the movement. this may just be because it is all so young still. That all being said, there are some really amazing emerging churches out there, and some not so great traditional churches. The importance put on community and social concerns is somthing I think that all Christians should become more aware of. It will be interesting to see how this movement effects what church looks like in the years ahead.
Hey Ty,
Like I said I've just been reading about it myself. A book I read listed 10 distinctives and my church, A Church of the Savior, identifies with every one of them - Kingdom Theology, bottom up leadership, house church etc. The wierd thing is we've been around for 25 years. It sounds like we're part of a movement and didn't even know it. Personally I don't see anything all that great about this style. Freedom in Christ implies there's a lot of ways of doing church. But I see nothing in scripture that opposes it and a lot that commends it - e.g. paul's understanding (Romans, Corinthians) that everybody is to bring something to the church service. Hard to do when you have a "congregation" numbering in the thousands.
Reminds me of our Bible Study group. Kurt and me and Tim have been going to one since about 1988. We don't really have a leader. We meet twice a month. We make the schedule every four months to figure out where we're going to meet (we take turns hosting) and who's going to volunteer to lead each month (we take turns). We pick a book of the Bible to go through--sometimes another book like Phillip Yancey, C S Lewis, Peter Gomes, Henri Nouwen, Rick Warren, etc. (It can take a year or more to go through a book like Acts or Isaiah!) We usually have good discussions. And we have a mix of backgrounds, so we get a mix of perspectives.
Response to Mark:
Peace-making is a timely topic. And consumption is an interesting topic to discuss in America.
--big topics that would take a lot of typing to discuss on the blog...
And a response to Tyler:
I don't remember seeing much "art" in the church I grew up in--at least for the adults--except for choir, "special music", some other things. It's interesting, they always have a lot for the children, but not much for the adults. We have done some at our church (Dan's church) and I always like it.
Speaking of art...
A friend of ours was celebrating Bach's birthday the other day and sent out an email discussing how she was celebrating. Her sister responded with the following:
Interesting...Love your Bach email!
British writer, C. S. Lewis, wrote: "We read to know that we are not alone." This, I think, is a very good starting place for why we do any art. We agonize through "Schindler's List" and laugh through Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing," we contemplate Rodin's "Thinker," admire the youthful strength and idealism of Michelangelo's David, marvel before Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise, and reverence Leonardo's Last Supper, to know that we are not alone. We revel in the ecstatic sensuality of Renoir's Diana, and dawdle with Debussy's faun through the first warm afternoon in spring, to know that we are not alone. We shrink in horror as we approach the lower regions of Dante's "Inferno" and hear the shriek of Penderecki's "Threnody" to know that we are not alone. This is what art is and this is why we do it, and this is certainly reason enough to perform the B Minor Mass.
Yes, I am very drawn to art in church above and beyond the expression of traditional piano/guitar lead worship. A very cool opportunity for others in the community to offer up their gifts to God and to allow others to experience God through a painting, or a story, or drama. I tend to believe that all people are creative, reflecting the creativity of the One who created us. I hope more and more churches will recognize the importance of brining the arts into the church.
In response to Uncle Dan, I agree with you, I don't see anything wrong with this approach to church, and there is definitely much in Scripture that commends it. I found myself asking allot of questions like, "Why is it that we so often have one person leading a church? Where does the bible talk about pastors?" At the same time I see a danger. When a church doesn't have a leader who has studied scriptures very intently (and studied how to study scripture, and interpret it correctly) there is the potential for unsound teaching to occur. That being said, many of the emerging churches I have read about seem to have very solid doctrine tied to very caring, committed and loving communities.
One of the “emerging” leaders that I found very interesting is a man named Joe Boyd. If you are interested you can listen to some of his sermons at
http://www.crossingonline.com/PodCast/RSS.xml
Post a Comment