Thursday, February 19, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
All roads lead home (eventually)
Well I hope you've met my co-blogger Frank Waller and read his first post. I look forward to much conversation with him and others as we continue what hopefully will be a fruitful and helpful discussion.
I want to comment on FW's statement regarding his desire to continue to be involved locally with fellow believers in his current setting(read church) while remaining free-range in his thinking. This has proven to be a challenge for me as I travel around the midwest . I have ties with fellow believers in several states and enjoy meeting up with them and sharing God-life experiences over coffee on a regular basis. I follow several blogs and podcasts and enjoy keeping up with what Father is doing in the lives of believers around the world. Oddly enough as I shared with others the organic experience of becoming church rather than going to "church" I found I was losing touch with the very ones in my own community who helped me discover the joy of life "outside the walls". I have always been critical of those who spend great amounts of money and time flitting back and forth the country to attend conferences to rub elbows with the latest and greatest theological superstars, then return home to have no impact there. And yet.. I am just as guilty of this as the people I point fingers at.
This morning I read a post by Bill Kinnon on his blog kinnon. tv where he comments on a recent conference at George Fox Seminary in Newberg, Oregon. He states that had he been there "One of the questions I would have asked of the assembled big guns is 'How is this worked out in your own lives? Tell us about your involvement in local Christian community?'". A great question that needs to be asked of all of us who open our mouths, books and blogs and tell others how it should be done. Would that all of us who dare to speak into other lives had the credentials in real community that Eugene Peterson, Shane Claiborne, Rickard Bjerkander, Kinnon's tribe and countless others who we don't know about have. Instead we seem to be flooded with pulpfiction prophets who gain notoriety with others and yet are far removed from any involvement with the community in which they live(or so it would seem). I remember our little community had a radio evangelist who sent tapes across the world and yet was disliked by the community and his own family. How many writers and bloggers have renown around the world yet don't even have contact with their neighbors?
I am happy to report that our little band of wanderers who dwell in the same area are finding out what it means to live out our beliefs amongst our neighbors and the results are amazing even to us. We have found that a local coffee shop has become a nexxus of spiritual power on many occasions as we have met in two's and three's and shared Spirit life. A short half hour get together turns into a three hour gathering as those around us are drawn into the discussion and mutual growth and encouragement take place. It happened again last Saturday as John my bro-in-law and I met for brunch before going to the target range(we're not deranged gun nuts so don't panic). While there we engaged a couple in conversation about matters of the Spirit and ended three hours later joining hands and hearts to commit to each other. Not only are those we meet with regularly becoming Cymbrogi(Google it), so are others in our community regardless of "church" affiliation. As we seek to live out this freerange life of Jesus we are finding that Father has assembled a talented group of individuals who are becoming a band of followers able to support one another in a way we could not have done in our other institutional settings. Are we still viewed as a threat by the institutional churches in our area? Absolutely! By the very nature of things I'm afraid this will be the case. But maybe as Hebrews 10:24 says we really will "incite,irritate,provoke each other to love and good works".
I can't spend all my time looking back at my churchy ways and days though, because then I am no better than the horse that jumped the fence and now stands outside the corral all the time criticising the horses still inside. The time,we are finding, is here to flesh out the new life we've found and follow where"Shadowfax" leads. This is beginning to happen and we are seeing others joining us in this community where we live. We will never sponsor conferences(hopefully) or write a bunch of books on the subject because the Spirit's "methods" are not able to be contained in any one manner or method. You can't bottle a hurricane. But my prayer is that the few who read this blog and the upcoming ones will be prompted to share what this life of discipleship entails with the rest of us. So that we may be encouraged together and truly follow Abba in the way of Jesus wherever that path may lead. Thank you Bilbo Baggins for reminding us that "not all who wander are lost".
So what's been going on with you? Grace and Peace, TruckerFrank.
I want to comment on FW's statement regarding his desire to continue to be involved locally with fellow believers in his current setting(read church) while remaining free-range in his thinking. This has proven to be a challenge for me as I travel around the midwest . I have ties with fellow believers in several states and enjoy meeting up with them and sharing God-life experiences over coffee on a regular basis. I follow several blogs and podcasts and enjoy keeping up with what Father is doing in the lives of believers around the world. Oddly enough as I shared with others the organic experience of becoming church rather than going to "church" I found I was losing touch with the very ones in my own community who helped me discover the joy of life "outside the walls". I have always been critical of those who spend great amounts of money and time flitting back and forth the country to attend conferences to rub elbows with the latest and greatest theological superstars, then return home to have no impact there. And yet.. I am just as guilty of this as the people I point fingers at.
This morning I read a post by Bill Kinnon on his blog kinnon. tv where he comments on a recent conference at George Fox Seminary in Newberg, Oregon. He states that had he been there "One of the questions I would have asked of the assembled big guns is 'How is this worked out in your own lives? Tell us about your involvement in local Christian community?'". A great question that needs to be asked of all of us who open our mouths, books and blogs and tell others how it should be done. Would that all of us who dare to speak into other lives had the credentials in real community that Eugene Peterson, Shane Claiborne, Rickard Bjerkander, Kinnon's tribe and countless others who we don't know about have. Instead we seem to be flooded with pulpfiction prophets who gain notoriety with others and yet are far removed from any involvement with the community in which they live(or so it would seem). I remember our little community had a radio evangelist who sent tapes across the world and yet was disliked by the community and his own family. How many writers and bloggers have renown around the world yet don't even have contact with their neighbors?
I am happy to report that our little band of wanderers who dwell in the same area are finding out what it means to live out our beliefs amongst our neighbors and the results are amazing even to us. We have found that a local coffee shop has become a nexxus of spiritual power on many occasions as we have met in two's and three's and shared Spirit life. A short half hour get together turns into a three hour gathering as those around us are drawn into the discussion and mutual growth and encouragement take place. It happened again last Saturday as John my bro-in-law and I met for brunch before going to the target range(we're not deranged gun nuts so don't panic). While there we engaged a couple in conversation about matters of the Spirit and ended three hours later joining hands and hearts to commit to each other. Not only are those we meet with regularly becoming Cymbrogi(Google it), so are others in our community regardless of "church" affiliation. As we seek to live out this freerange life of Jesus we are finding that Father has assembled a talented group of individuals who are becoming a band of followers able to support one another in a way we could not have done in our other institutional settings. Are we still viewed as a threat by the institutional churches in our area? Absolutely! By the very nature of things I'm afraid this will be the case. But maybe as Hebrews 10:24 says we really will "incite,irritate,provoke each other to love and good works".
I can't spend all my time looking back at my churchy ways and days though, because then I am no better than the horse that jumped the fence and now stands outside the corral all the time criticising the horses still inside. The time,we are finding, is here to flesh out the new life we've found and follow where"Shadowfax" leads. This is beginning to happen and we are seeing others joining us in this community where we live. We will never sponsor conferences(hopefully) or write a bunch of books on the subject because the Spirit's "methods" are not able to be contained in any one manner or method. You can't bottle a hurricane. But my prayer is that the few who read this blog and the upcoming ones will be prompted to share what this life of discipleship entails with the rest of us. So that we may be encouraged together and truly follow Abba in the way of Jesus wherever that path may lead. Thank you Bilbo Baggins for reminding us that "not all who wander are lost".
So what's been going on with you? Grace and Peace, TruckerFrank.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
THE TABLE
“Pair of 10’s”
“Pair of kings”
“Full-house”
“Wait! We’ve got a pair of Franks”
“A pair of Franks wins? Oh, this might be good”
And so it goes. My buddy Trucker Frank asked me to join his blog, or is it get involved as he started this months ago with the idea that we; a pair of Franks (kingdomoffranks), might put down on “paper” the phone conversations we have as he criss-crosses Kansas, Iowa and Minnesota while I wage the war of “Christian retailing” (more on that later I’m sure as some of these books drive me crazy!) in Minnesota. Some of you might know me and some do not. So here’s Frank!
“Pair of kings”
“Full-house”
“Wait! We’ve got a pair of Franks”
“A pair of Franks wins? Oh, this might be good”
And so it goes. My buddy Trucker Frank asked me to join his blog, or is it get involved as he started this months ago with the idea that we; a pair of Franks (kingdomoffranks), might put down on “paper” the phone conversations we have as he criss-crosses Kansas, Iowa and Minnesota while I wage the war of “Christian retailing” (more on that later I’m sure as some of these books drive me crazy!) in Minnesota. Some of you might know me and some do not. So here’s Frank!
My name is Frank Waller and I live in Minnesota and manage a Christian bookstore, in fact that’s how Trucker Frank and I met. If you read “The New Christians” I am the guy referred to as “Manager Frank” (I’m one of the good guys in the story). I have lived in Minnesota most of my life with stints in Illinois , Washington D.C. and North Carolina – where I met my lovely bride of 23 years. We have two sons – high school and college age.Like Trucker Frank, I am a Free Range Follower of Christ – hence the Holy Roaming Empire. I am Gratefully Disillusioned (Thanks Brad and Wayne, I love that descriptor) with “mainline”, “evangelical” and “emerging” doctrine, thinking and indecisiveness; even though my wife and I attend a Methodist church – weird. We think that someday we will leave, but we do love some of the people there and believe that God has called us there. (We love Wesley, but are not always that crazy about what happened to the community he founded).
I believe that God sent His son to reclaim us and that through Jesus Christ we can have a deep, intimate relationship with God our Abba. I believe that God is very much alive today and that if we all just slow down, quiet down and calm down we can’t help but have an encounter with HIM. I love being in ministry and believe that God calls all His people to ministry.
On a lighter note, I love the outdoors, fishing, kayaking and camping with my wife and family. So, that’s me in a nut shell. I won’t bore you with the other details unless you ask, we’ll let the blog answer or raise the questions (I’m on facebook if you’re interested).
Trucker Frank and I hope that you will join in the conversions, we don’t have all the answers, in fact we are learning about God, ourselves and others each and everyday. We know that this won’t be read by thousands or even hundreds, that’s not the point, we be happy if a few people joined the dialogue. We ask that you are respectful as we believe that once the dialogue breaks down the learning and growth stops. Also, we want to challenge you to share your opinion, not someone else’s, let God speak to you and share your insights with all who come to “The Table”.
So, forward for our KING
In HIM - fbw
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