An Emergent Manifesto of Hope

Today I began "An Emergent Manifesto of Hope", the first book released by the "emersion" partnership between Emergent Village and their new publishing partner, Baker Books. I heard about this book as it was being put together last summer and I have been excited to get my hands on it and catch up with many of the contributors to this conversation.

My hope is that as I read, I can have a chance to reflect on many (probably not all, but who knows) of the chapters, giving some of my own thoughts to these new ideas and views on faith, ministry, and the conversations this group of people are having. I should say, we’re having. I feel like I’ve become a part of this conversation with my small contributions to the Presbymergent group, an outgrowth of some of the ideas in this book. Presbymergent is a community of Presbyterian members and pastors who are engaging the emerging church conversation within their PC(USA) churches and trying to embrace the tension of living as what some have described as "loyal radicals" within this mainline denomination.

So, I’ll start with my thoughts on Tony Jones’ introduction, a good primer to what I’m hoping will be a very interesting book and challenging conversation. Jones traces the history of his involvement with Emergent, the "friendship" of people from varying church backgrounds and denominations who have steered the conversation since the late-90s. Tony talks about this idea of friendship being central to this group, a binding piece that holds together many different perspectives and ideas with faithful relationships. He describes the first meeting of young pastors in Arlington, TX back in 1998:

The room positively crackled. I think that’s because we had the feeling, even back then, that we were on to something. Even as we struggled to determine what that ’something’ was, we talked about an element of the connection that was seemingly even more important, and surely more elusive, and that was and is friendship.

As I have wrestled with this first year of ministry, I have been struck by the need for community and friendship with people who are willing to discuss and work through the concepts and experiences I’m having with me. I see the desire to have these friendships of faith, where we can discuss the way we see God working in our lives, talk about the challenges we face as we see him interacting with the people we are serving, and work towards a better understanding of how we do our ministry and live our lives in light of what we learn. I’ve found this in my small group of post-college, post-INN guys that I meet with every week. I have found something like this with my former roommates, when we have a book discussion. I’ve experienced a deeper "friendship" in faith with Stacy, as she and I work out our questions about faith and life and marriage together. And I’ve also experienced this "friendship" within our unique staff at the INN, where we are always talking about the questions God is confronting us with and the challenges we face in our work.

It’s exciting to know that there is a wider circle of friends who are willing to step out and try new things, work through new challenges, and engage fresh perspectives on where God is leading his people. If it’s not clear, I’m excited about this book and about what Emergent is doing to help people learn and work out their faith in their own settings. I’ll look forward to sharing more thoughts as I read through.

Another perspective on Vancouver

I’ve told most of my story from the Vancouver trip over the past couple weeks. I hope I’ve been able to convey some of the things I’m working through in response to this experience and I’ll hopefully continue to reflect on what God has been teaching me.

I wanted to share another perspective from Fred, one of the student leaders on the trip. He and I have had some pretty interesting discussions on what we’ve both been challenged by during and following our time in B.C. I’ll let his thoughts speak for themselves. Thanks for your contribution Freddy!

"I can feel the city breathing, chest heavin’, against the flesh of the evening"

World Vision Article

Here’s a great article from the Seattle Weekly on World Vision. It’s awesome to hear more details about this amazing group, especially when my good friend Sean works there.

This article and the organization they speak of are both very encouraging as we think of the seemingly overwhelming fight against AIDS in Africa and around the world. Where I don’t feel like I act out much in the international justice realm, I’m encouraged to know that there are those in the Christian community who are standing up to the stereotypes of AIDS/HIV and actually trying to do something about working towards solutions.

Read on: The AIDS Evangelists (Seattle Weekly)

One for the guys (Sean)

I’ve noticed to common themes between Niger and Kenya that I think the 611 men will appreciate…

Top Ten Things You Should Know About Africa (with 11 things you should know)
11) They love Kevin Costner too Nick!

10) Jesse, when driving in Africa, you basically get to make up your own rules.  Backseat drivers either go hoarse from yelling or are killed by the driver.

9) They eat the same thing for every meal, just the way I like it.

There is no way Brian’s parents ever called as early as every freaking rooster on the continent begins to crow.

7) You know how Coors has the slogan, “Coors beer, taste the Rockies.”  Well, African’s slogan is “Orange flavored Fanta, drink it so you don’t have to drink the water and get some kind of venereal disease.”

6) A meeting that starts at 10:30 AM means you don’t actually get ready to go until 10:30 AM- Jesse would be in heaven!

5) Apricot foot scrub?  Nope the Nigeriens and Kenyans exfoliate with sand Seth.

4) Nobody eats cheese Brian, but we could use some goat intestine to pile up in the middle of your tortillas?

3) Nick, reduce, reuse, recycle?  Well they’ve got the reduce thing down by converting “HAZARDOUS WASTE” containers into water jugs…mmm…chemicals.

2) Between Michael Bolton, Phil Collins, and David Hasselhoff, you’d go mentally insane Seth.

1) The people in rural villages put our savage run to shame…to shame…

Sean in Africa

Another very exciting thing is happening with this blog: My good friend Sean Baird is heading off to the country of Niger on September 10th. While he’s away, he has asked to be a "guest blogger" here at Twenty-three, sharing his thoughts on his work in Africa as well as his insight into the greater issues he’s working with, including disease, poverty, AIDS, water, and working with relief organizations.

Take a look at his post below and please check back often to hear more about what Sean is doing. I feel incredibly privileged to let this site be a vehicle for his voice and I ask that you please consider his ideas. For those of you who are new to my blog, from Sean’s email list and referral, welcome. It’s great and humbling to have you join this conversation here.

Please pray for Sean as he is away, that he will be safe and continually challenged by God’s calling to help those in need.

Saying goodbye

June can be a season of partings, especially around the post-high school, post-college years. One year it’s a time to say goodbye to friends you’ve grown up with, playing sports against, who will be moving to another part of the country, off to college or to travel the world. Another years it’s people setting out into married life with each other, out into the great unknown together, parting from roommates and family to be one. Or it’s a new job, a new opportunity, a fresh start. In our calendar that’s only roughly based on the 12 months and more realistically based on the passing academic years, June is often that time of transition.

Maybe I only feel this because I’m still so closely connected to the academic calendar, being married to a teacher. Or because the end of college is only a year behind me. But this June I have felt the weight of the partings and endings more. Friends leaving for who knows how long or just the summer. I’ve said a farewell to co-workers. Stacy passes off her students and waits for the next bunch. We say goodbye in June.

This is another June to June moment. I guess what I’m awkwardly saying here is that it’s been great to see people off onto new adventures lately, but it is bittersweet. It’s awesome to know that my friends are pursuing their dreams, exploring new opportunities, pushing themselves beyond the world they’re comfortable in. But I’m also selfish and I hate having to do the goodbye thing. For a summer, for a year, for who knows how long.

My consolation on this subject is that with the kind of partings I’ve had over the last few weeks, each one has been in anticipation of those people coming back, with great stories, new ideas, and with the knowledge that these friendships will still be intact.

I think I hate Myspace

So, I understand that it’s "all the rage" to have a Myspace page. I actually think this blog is cooler, but man, everybody’s got a Myspace page. So, I’m trying to get mine set up right now. It is pissing me off!!!

The design is cramped, jumbled, and screams of over-stimulation. The Edit profile stuff is counter-intuitive. I selected a bunch of songs I wanted to be linked on my page, and only one works.

Alas, I feel like I have to make this work. I’m always late on the band wagon and this is no exception. I suppose I will make this gripe brief and continue the fight…

With one final word: I think I should be the one with myspace.com/sethjames, not some other random dude. I’ve been sethjames all my life and therefore I’m entitled to that URL name. I’m not using Twenty-Three because they lock you into that for the rest of your existence and I plan on turning 24. Oh, the humanity!!!

Here’s what I’ve got.

Post-Books and Beer, Round 1

We had the first installment of the "Books and Beer" series last night at my place. Jesse, Nick, Brian, Sean, and myself all gathered to eat good food, drink good beer and discuss a great book, Christianity Rediscovered. We had a very good discussion, touching on salvation, missions, the raw gospel, among plenty of other things.

Highlights:

Hearing what each guy thought about Vincent Donovan’s approach to African and world missions.

Being challenged to think about this text in a different way than I had when I read it myself.

"Let’s just say Pat Robertson…wait, let’s not name names…let’s just say some crack-pot…"

I feel like our discussion was productive in that it allowed us each to flesh out some of the bigger ideas and implications of Donovan’s work, especially his interpretation of salvation and the purpose of missions. Some of the ideas expressed last night were pretty difficult to chew on (universalism, the essential truth of the gospel, cultural interpretation of Christianity), but by talking them out a bit, we all are able to walk away with something to think about and a desire to learn more.

The concept of a continuing dialog pervades this type of meeting. The conversation that took place last night was not something foreign to us, nor is it something that came to a conclusion with our parting. I think we are like many communities of believers, who meet to discuss and learn about God and His interaction with our lives, but never seem to pin down all the answers or really even address all our own questions. That’s why this dialog is so important. We know that coming in, we won’t be able to walk away with a solution, but we know we will learn things that help us continue our pursuit.

I appreciate the guys, the Brotherhood, and their willingness to open themselves up to criticism and debate. We’re not always easy on each other, but everything is said in a loving spirit, a spirit that desires growth and maturity from our brothers. I thank God for giving me a place to be open about my thoughts, a place where none of us are going to burn each other at the stake (although we probably should sometimes).

"The experience of discovery such as I am describing is rather more like the loneliness of a person who has climbed to a mountain peak and sees spread out around him the most beautiful panoramic vision and vista and finds it completely impossible to describe that vision, or even to discuss it, except with someone who agrees to climb that peak in turn."
    – Vincent Donovan

To more great views and the larger mountains that follow…