I wrote this article for youth ministry types, but I think it can be extrapolated into many venues.

It captures some of the things I’ve been thinking about this Advent season.

I hope it might inspire some of your own Advent reflections.

Oh come let us adore him…

The next four Sundays celebrate Advent in the church calendar. Advent means “arrival” and one of the purposes of Advent is to anticipate Jesus’ arrival… both in the past and for the future.

Our Mars Hill community will be observing Advent through special gatherings that will be held on the Sunday nights at 6:00 PM and include teaching, reflection, and prayer.

The themes will center around…

• November 30          Hope
• December 7            Peace
• December 14          Joy
• December 21          Love

Readings are offered for those who may want to journey daily throughout Advent.

Also, there will be an Advent Blog, where those from the  community are invited contribute their Advent reflections through art and writing.

I have found that observation of Advent such a tremendous help for preparing our family to celebrate Christmas. If you have never observed Advent before, this might be a great first step.

Alan Hirsch, Director of Forge Mission Training Network, and author of The Shaping of Things to Come and The Forgotten Ways, spent a day with pastors at GRTS and the Grand Rapids Community was invited Chapel where he spoke.

The following are my brief notes of his lecture. It was also recorded and is available for download.

Four Essentials for the Western Church in the 21^st Century

1. The church must rediscover the absolute centrality of Jesus (Christology)

• We must (re)align ourselves with Jesus Christ
• We must go back to the roots of our faith
• The closer we get to Jesus… the more dangerous he is
• Has Jesus been subverted from the church?
• Jesus does not suit our middle class sensibilities

2. The church must rediscover the ethos of discipleship

• We need discipleship not entertainment
• Without discipleship you end up with a church that is less than Jesus intended
• The authority of the church to speak, comes out of our ability to embody the message

3. The church must rediscover a missional-incarnational impulse

• This exposes the very nature of God
• The church doesn’t have a mission… the mission has a church
• We must reframe around “sent-ness” not “come-ness
• Incarnation- into one’s world (Jesus- 30 years in the neighborhood and no one “noticed.” This is the opposite of colonizing people’s cultures or an “attractional” posture.

4. The church must rediscover the ethos of the structure of apostolic movements

• Consider church’s resources in the first 200 years contrary to the resources the church has today. Have our resources mixed our message?
• Movements are not elitist. Everyone is involved, everyone carries the potential for change (priesthood of all believers)
• “Movements” are reproducing and reproducible
• Movements avoid centralization of power
• We must broaden out our understanding of leadership as it is currently too narrow (Eph 4)

There are many ways to reflect on these comments. My initial thoughts stem from a more practical perspective: For church planters, I can see these ideals being inspiring. For congregations… and youth ministries… steeped in their own traditions (think of the programming you “have” to do), what does this re-discovering look like and is it truly possible?

Rediscover we must. It may be the difference between serving others or serving ourselves. One is Christian, the other is not…

Scot McKnight speaks at GRTS’s chapel this Wednesday, March 26 at 10am.

Scot is professor at North Park University in Chicago, author, and blogger.

Feel free to join us on Wednesday!

Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure by Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser encourages people to write their story in 6 words.

The phrases are actually quite compelling and its inspiring me to consider what might 6-word memoir might be.

Smith was interviewed on NPR. He said the advice he gave people who wrote was this… be honest.

I wonder what I’d write.

I wonder what you’d write.

I wonder what students in our youth groups would write… maybe they’d be the most honest of all…

Postscript: Some of you have asked me what my 6-word memior is. Here’s my shot…

“Left black and white for color.”

Check this out.

Here’s some ways you might consider expressing Advent with your faith community.

Advent Conspiracy is an international movement restoring the scandal of Christmas by worshipping Jesus through compassion, not consumption.

Worship more.

Spend less.

Give more.

Love all.

Baker Book House in Grand Rapids is hosting an “Emergent Roundtable Discussion,” next Thursday, October 18th, at 7.00 PM.

Those participating in the conversation are…

John Frye – serves as pastor at Fellowship Evangelical Covenant Church, Hudsonville, MI. He’s a great guy, a veteran pastor, and an avid blogger. John is one the first people I met in GR. I respect his ongoing pursuit of theological integrity and ministry innovation.

Andre Daley – serves as pastor at Mosaic Life, Grand Rapids, MI. Andre planted Mosaic Life and has been a significant mentor to me, especially regarding multiculturalism and the church. He’s a good friend and he’s even let me preach at his church!

Mike Wittmer – serves as Associate Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. Mike is a friend and a colleague. I appreciate his ongoing commitment to ask helpful questions for the ongoing emergent conversation. Mike is the author of Heaven is a Place on Earth.

Sarah Cunningham- is the author of Dear Church: Letters from a Disillusioned Generation. I found her book very meaningful and have recommended to many of my 20-something friends. A while back I felt compelled to blog her back with my own post called, “Dear Sarah.” I look forward to meeting her.

Steve Argue – i’m just trying to make meaning in the many worlds in which I feel I straddle. I’m glad to be a part of this.

If you’re in town, come and join in on our conversation. I’m looking forward to our time together and I’m grateful to Baker for setting this up.

I’ve had the privilege of speaking a couple of the Sunday services at a local church called, Mosaic Life. Andre Daley is the pastor who planted this church with a great community of people in East Town, which is just east of the city of Grand Rapids.

Feel free to download my messages. I’d encourage you to download Andre’s as well! The two messages I gave were…

Siesmic Shifts in Faith

Gospel Participation

I’ve be watching our latest survey on our blog. At the the point I’m writing this, we’ve had over 160 responses with 91% of those participating saying that, when it comes to the 18-30 year olds, we have nothing to worry about, they’ll be back in the church.

So , I’m trying to understand what this means. It’s possible that, by the nature of my survey (which is hardly scientific), the “Don’t worry…” answer seemed like the best alternative. Given such a high percentage, however, it makes me want to know the reasoning behind their answer.

I have also received emails from people in this age group saying things like (to summarize), “Are you crazy? Do people really think we’re coming back?’

So, in my quest to unpack and learn from the survey responses, here’s my question: If you voted, “Don’t worry. They’ll be back.”, would you be willing to share why you chose this answer? I am genuinely curious and want to understand why this has become the most popular answer.

If you chose another answer, feel free to chime in.

If you haven’t voted, vote and offer a comment!

Thanks! I hope this takes us into some good conversations.

Pictures are worth a thousands words… and words are worth a thousand pictures.

Last Sunday at Mars Hill, Rob Bell interviewed Alan Close about his latest project– “Dust.” This is a graphic novel series that seeks to visually capture and communicate biblical episodes.

Dust’s first issue is called “Fire From Heaven” and tells the story of King Ahab, Jezebel, and Elijah’s encounter with the priests of Baal.

Alan’s art is amazing and thoughtfully brings color, expression, and imagery together in an attempt to capture the multiple dimensions of the story. His work is supported by his own study and interaction with the text. He seems very concerned to bring the story to life while still remaining true to the episode.

Click on the picture to order a copy.
Hear the interview.
Read an article on his project from the Grand Rapids Press.

Whether we use graphic art or graphic words in our communication, Alan offers an encouraging challenge for all of us to consider how we interact with the biblical narrative. If it’s dull, predictable, or redundant, I wonder if we have failed allow the message to resonate with our true selves thus missing the point of the story.

Maybe the Christian story is boring to adolescents, not because their hearts are hard, but because their hearts are full of life and are starving for something beyond the one-dimensional.

What do you think…

Do you think youth ministries (and churches!) are too creative with the biblical narrative or not creative enough?