Archive for November, 2005

If you’re one of my three devoted blog readers (including my sister – I set her browser’s homepage to default to my blog, and I don’t think she knows how to change it; oh, and hi, mom!) then strap in. Right out of the gate, please don’t think I’ve “lost hope” or am ready to throw in the towel (you can think that later, if you want!).

I hate the Bible Belt

Not its people. Not its geographic area. Not its amazing friendliness and sweet tea.
It’s the religiosity and habitual-church-attending, combined with an Americanized self-satisfied, materialistic, comfort-driven, convenience-embracing culture. Yea, see. I told you to strap in. But after growing up in it and then serving in ministry in it for the past 17 years, I think I can speak with some authority to my growing hatred of it.

I’ve been involved in a new church plant in a rural town in southeast Arkansas for the past three years. We began meeting in our home in January 2003 for prayer and discussion about the church we hoped to become. Three years later, we’re still earnestly striving to become that church that seeks to replicate the lifestyle and nature of Jesus Christ in our own context.

Here are some things I’ve observed the past three years:

• While it’s been proven time and again by every missiologist, denomination, and Christian agency that NEW churches reach more people than older, established churches, new churches are STILL looked upon in most areas that already have churches as threats to their turf. It’s a sad reality in our own experience that most people in our area just don’t know how to “label” us since we’re not denominational. I suspect that many wonder where we keep our snakes since we meet in unconventional places.
• Location and buildings define church for the majority. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been asked when we’re going to get our own building. I will refuse to rant about that. Besides the fact that the Christian church did not have established “church buildings” until the 3rd-4th centuries, it’s a sad fact that discipleship long ago left our homes and has been relegated to the church-schoolhouse setting. We even call them “Sunday Schools.” Christianity is not a set of facts and information to be learned, digested, and spit back out!!! Our faith is in a risen Savior, and we FOLLOW Him – not study information about Him.
• Our overemphasis on buildings has created a dependence on formal programming. In order to become good “stewards” of these massive facilities that we’ve erected (and justified through endless biblical gymnastics), we’ve had to fill them with all kinds of religious activities and programs. It simply wouldn’t do to have a large facility sit empty most of the week after spending hundreds of thousands (and in many places outside our rural area, multi-millions) on it. So we cram them with activities and then drag the people that our community needs to rub shoulders with the most and dominate their schedules, free time, and energy with programs, rituals, and activities (for all ages, mind you – we start early with the indoctrination that to be religious you need to be at our programmed events). We take the life out of the community and stick them behind brick religion where those without Christ can never encounter them or hear them. They’re so tired of religious stuff when we get done with them that they have no time to serve their community, much less meet and eat dinner with neighbors.
• Our formal programming prevents Christians from THINKING and robs them of creatively expressing their faith in their workplaces and community. We are literally guilty of eating their brains. The way we over-program and shove pre-chewed curriculum and Bible studies down people’s throats is a travesty. Rather we should be helping people to study the Bible on their own, without crutches and encouraging them to plumb its depths daily to discover the purposes and glory of the Father. Unfortunately, however, many denominational curricula chooses instead to repetitively hit the same themes year after year (Southern Baptists continue to emphasize “Sanctity of Human Life Sunday” in January), telling people what to think rather than helping them explore scripture so that they can explain why killing a fetus or terminating the life of an invalid early is wrong rather than just stating that it is.
• “Church life” begins to be defined as what happens when the church is gathered in its buildings rather than what happens as it is scattered through the community during the week. Just look at any church’s calendar, and you’ll see what it considers to be genuine “ministry.” By robbing its community of its Christians through zealous over-scheduling and self-perpetuating activities, a church is effectively silencing the Gospel being lived out. We must begin to recognize, encourage, and equip our people to BE the church out there on a hourly basis, rather than creating religious country clubs, full of activities and services (for all age groups) for its paying members.

Giving the Belt Some New Holes
Here are a few thoughts related to our own context:

• Our church has not seen a single adult led to faith in Christ in the last three years. Are we really a church? Yet our membership have shared their faith with others consistently. But that “Good Ol’ Boy” Syndrome and Bible Belt mindset is so firmly established here that most folks (including hundreds of church-attending ones) probably think that since they have a favorable impression of Jesus in their minds, that they must be going to heaven. The rationale… “I don’t hate Jesus, so he and I are cool.” The claims of Christ upon their life for service, mission, and transformation are, for the most part, in our area, certainly ignored.
• We still need more committed believers to help us in our church plant. We are trying to redefine the expression of Christianity in our culture. We need help. We simply don’t believe the mission of Jesus was for the purpose of helping us create religious country clubs that primarily serve ourselves. Unfortunately, so many believers would rather be a part of churches that serve their needs rathen than one that enables them to serve the needs of others. We’ve consistently heard of folks that would be a part of our church, if it had this or if it had that (a large youth ministry, comprehensive children’s programs, etc.). In short, people want church to raise their families for them, rather than being equipped to raise their children in the wisdom and instruction of the Lord.
• People in our community who are not involved in any church are not being persuaded to be so by any church older than 5 years. Most unchurched folks simply don’t care what happens within the walls of our buildings. They need help outside the walls, and they’re not going to come in to get it. At the 5 year mark, many a church shifts into a maintenance mode. It becomes focused on keeping its own stuff running more than equipping and expecting its people to be out there, involved, and invested in the life of the community. Therefore, those who are not-yet believers in Christ don’t normally see lives of faith being lived out in front of them – mainly because those lives are sequestered behind walls and busy with programmed activities.

Whew…. I’d better stop for now. I’ll pick up this long rant sometime in the near future. I’d be VERY interested in your feedback, however.

Here are a few books to check out in the meantime…

• Church Without Walls, Jim Peterson
• Unstoppable Force, Erwin Mcmanus
• Unlearning Church, Michael Slaughter

In this interesting post, Ryan Katz, senior editor at Think Secret, takes note of something that I’ve mentioned to friends several times… mainly that the Mac Mini would be an incredible gaming/media center. Sounds like things are about to explode upon the scene and change our watching/viewing habits!!

OK, this may be the funniest church blooper ever….
Download sermon.wmv

OK, so. Today, my little blog has had 1000 hits! (Of course, 500 of those are probably me editing and checking things, but hey, I think that’s kind of cool.

Thanks friends, and folks, for stopping by to check things out.

You also need to check out this pic. It’s hysterical!! Long live Detention Fighters! Thanks to Justin for calling my attention to it!

? And last but not least…
Is Your Printer Spying on You?
Uh, if this isn’t kinda cool/weird/scary… I don’t know what is.

Check out this futurist forecast for the iPod’s application in the next few years…

No more TiVo? Bye bye DVR? Cool!

Carolyn and I went to see Zathura tonight at the Rave theater in Little Rock, We’ve been up here the last few days for Thanksgiving. What a great holiday! I wanted to comment on Zathura, since the way it’s being marketed will cause many to decide NOT to see it. The trailers are relatively tame, and the hype around it is almost non-existent.

However, Zathura is GREAT. Thoroughly entertaining, fun, and an all-around great movie. Even Caro liked it! (and that’s saying a bunch!) I would encourage you to make it one of your holiday movies.

Big Screen Ticket vs. Home Screen Rental
While Walk the Line and others are getting attention and hype, I have a different perspective as to what kind of movie warrants my $7.50. If a movie is a great movie (like Walk the Line) but does not require the big screen to enjoy it, I will normally wait for it to come out on DVD. We don’t have an endless supply of $7.50 bankrolls lying around, so decisions must be made around the Noble house about which movies we attend and which we purposefully rent.

Therefore, Walk the Line is a renter for us. The compelling story will not be in any way diminished by watching it on my 27″ Sanyo with surround sound. However, Zathura, Harry Potter, Narnia, and others of grand scale beg to be seen and experienced on the big screen.

That’s my “screening process” for deciding which movies deserve a big screen ticket.

Agree/disagree?

Waaaahoooo! Yip. Yip. Yip. Yip. Ever had one of those ethereal moments of sublime happiness? Nope? Sorry. But I’m there. Right now. Consider this…

• a hot cup of Lipton’s French Vanilla black tea
• an Apple Powerbook G4 867 purring on your dining room table
• a hefty bucket of Juanita’s mixed peanut brittle at your side….

And you get an evening of ecstasy. Wow. Step back and mourn for your average evening. Me? I can hear angels singing. Aaaah.

OK, got that out of the way. Sorry for the moment of gloating bliss. If you’ve been having a bad day, well, suck it up. I’ll probably have one tomorrow. Let me have my evening of sheer delight.

The Anti-Blogger
I hooked up with a great friend the other day. In Arkadelphia. A converted Reddie… That’s all the hint you’re gonna get. OK, so he looks like Woody Harrelson, but no more. Anyway, over latte’ from Thrio’s, he informed me that he had actually read my blog, but had just about decided that blogs, for the most part, were a bunch of hoo-ha.

I was a little disappointed that my blog had not caused heaven to descend around him and completely transform his little, meaningless life, but I didn’t let on.

“What do you mean,?” (you anit-blogging Nazi, I thought).

He proceeded to tell me that it just appears to him that in a place where people have actually very little human contact… in just such a place, people would be the most real, authentic, and willing to share their failures… since there wasn’t someone they had to look at when pounding a keyboard. He explained that most of the blogs that he’d seen were all a little, well, (in my own words here) – Brady-Bunchish. Just a little too happy. Perfect family pictures, inane dribble about one did with one’s day, about what one ate (or didn’t), etc.

He just didn’t see the point. His feelings echoed that of my sister, who upon looking over my blog, attempted to post a comment along the lines of “What the hell is this?!” I still laugh about that.

And with that being said, for my friend the anti-blogger, I thought I might post just a few thoughts to make his day better…

• My incredible wife of 13 years now had her third battle with Hodgkin’s Disease this year (the first was in 1991, and the second was in 1995)… For a period of 6 months, she had chemo, and at one 4-week period, drove to Little Rock (an hour and a half from here) 5 days a week for treatment. We have a ton of medical bills from all this that we have no idea how we’re going to pay… Caro is in remission (again!)
• My design business that was started in August of 2003 to help us financially while we started a new church is about as thriving as bacteria in a tub full of bleach.
• Our church that so many seem to think is “cutting edge” and “contemporary” and dynamic and all that jazz… well, it’s OK. We’re just ordinary folks trying to live out a fresh expression of discipleship in our area. But it hasn’t grown much (if at all) in the past 6 months, and we’ve had to tap our savings this month to pay what little staff support we do receive…
• My own personal foibles and weaknesses are so many that I wonder how in the world I can even influence a possum, much less a thinking person, toward the Lord Jesus.
• I’m losing more and more hair on the back of my head… dangit.
• I’m 37 years old… and what the heck am I doing?…

Get the drift?

I hope this made all you anti-bloggers out there delight in my dismay and doubt. I’m only a fellow struggler. So imperfect. Yet I am earnestly convinced in the existence of a perfect and loving God. I DON”T have all the answers. I’m NOT thrilled about our financial uncertainties. Things aren’t all good at the Noble’s. Yet, here I am…

Choosing to Blog Joyfully
The things I write about, well, he was right. I choose to blog about things that are uplifting, sometimes insightful, and perhaps challenging. I don’t like to focus on what’s not right. Heck, I worry about that enough in my head. Why make you miserable too?

But here’s the deal… just as Paul wrote to the disciples in Thessalonica… “in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with joy…” (1 Th 1.6), so too, I choose joy. IN SPITE OF what I don’t understand, IN SPITE OF cancer, IN SPITE OF sad checkbooks, IN SPITE OF… you name it.

[In fact, I preached a message somewhat similar to this last night at Monticello's community Thanksgiving service at First Baptist... You can hear it on Journey's website, if you'd like.]

But here I am… life is real, raw, and confusing sometimes. Things AREN’T perfect. Not situationally, at least. But deep down… I am truly, really, honestly, JOYFUL. I love life. I am able to endure all hardships – mystically, mysteriously, really – I believe, because of my confidence in my forgiveness. Being forgiven, freed, and given purpose enables a person to embrace life even when there are sharp edges.

So.

Right back atcha, you anti-bloggers, you! ;)

I’m going to keep sitting here tonight, popping my brittle (the cashew mix is the best!), drinking my tea… (it’s cold now because I’ve been typing to you the last several minutes… time for a refill), and enjoying my Mac.

Crunch, crunch, sip, sip, type, type. Life is good. in spite of.

Upon a rock he reclined there
Steady blowing, growing colder was the air
Restful, wistful, reading in autumn rays
Water lapping, leaves falling, all a form of holy praise.

A Tolkien book, a small-town pastor
Under heaven’s canopy enjoyed his Master
With tales of fiction, pages worn
Captured mind as leaves were torn
From limbs on high and drew the sight
Of man from page to colorful flight
Till they lit on land and lake
Some to sink and some to bake.

Gusty hour of wondrous beauty
Replaced the normal day and duty
This man in awe retired till later
Trodding pine path, praising Creator.

I’ve been on a personal retreat the last several days and therefore have been “blogless.” I’ve missed keeping updated on several folks while I’ve been gone.. Matt, Justin, Kenny, and another blog I’ve been following: nextreformation.com. I’ve also gotten hooked on gizmodo.com – a haven for all gadget lovers.

The picture to the northeast is of a small rock on the shores of Lake Degray. I stayed at the lodge there these past few days. An absolutely beautiful place! The family and I took off for Arkadelphia on Sunday afternoon on a whim. Caro was taking pix at a crafts fair in Dumas and called and said, “Wanna Fanta?” uh, I mean, “Wanna go somewhere?” I said, “Sure!” In the next two hours, I’d packed and we were off.

We enjoyed a great 24 hours! Shopped in Hot Springs and walked some trails. Beautiful. Then Caro and the kids left Monday evening while I stayed for a coupla more days to read, reflect, relax, and refresh.

I typically try to do a couple of personal retreats each year, one in the spring and one in fall. They do wonders for my focus and spirit. This one was no different. I used to be pretty “legalistic” in how I approached these getaways. I’d take my Bible, notebook, and guitar and forbid myself any entertainment or contact with the “outside” world. Almost a monastic experience. However, I’ve learned that’s important to balance myself during these times, and this experience was uniquely refreshing for me.

I walked the trails that my family had walked on Monday, hearing the echoes of my kids’ laughter in the trees. As a cold front blew in on Tuesday, I sat on the shore of Lake Degray, reading Tolkien’s Lost Tales 1, listening to the steady wind gusting through the woods behind me. I was tranquilized by the sun glittering on the lake in front of me… So inspired I actually wrote a poem! (scary!) See it in another post.

One thing I’m sure about… of all the unique and wonderful things I noticed, read, saw and heard over the past several days… I LOVE LIFE. It is only through the lens of faith that a person can truly enjoy simplicity, solitude, and communion with the created. And when that faith becomes personally focused and directed into a humble relationship with the world’s Redeemer and Messiah, Jesus Christ, all of life becomes a gift and a stewardship.

As I packed up to leave on Wednesday, I was struck by the simple declaration of joy that my daughter inscribed on my dusty Dakota… “I love evrybity.” I love everybody. Thanks, Adelyn, for that reminder of simplicity and faith. It’s the same declaration that God made in the cross of Christ.

Loving life because of Him who only is life….

You sense it; we all sense it. The very way we get our news and information has radically changed. During any election year, do you really believe anything a network news anchor says? Or how about all those talking heads that are supposed to be “experts?”

Toodle on over to Terry Heaton’s insightful blog on cultural shifts. He’s got a great entry there on the demise of the mainstream media. It’s a must-read for those of you trying to understand how to communicate with more people today.

Around the House
I worked around the house all day while Caro was in Dumas taking pictures for their Arts & Crafts festival. Cleaned out and organized the storage room behind our studio. Since we built the add-on studio three years ago, it’s been accumulating junk. What a sense of progress! Hooray.

Now onto the next 100 things on my around-the-house list…

It’s officially a tradition… our once-a-year-family-photo! Caro is an incredible photographer here in town (check out her site!), but each year, we get our good friend David Atwell to take our fall family shots. Thanks, David! Check ‘em all out here.

My daughter, Adelyn, has become obsessed with money in the last week or so. Somehow she’s managed to scrounge together $27. It’s burning a whole in her pocket. We almost had a meltdown the other night when I wouldn’t take her to Wal-Mart so she could “buy sumpin.”

In the past week, we’ve pulled three teeth… I’m starting to relate her insistent demands for pulling any tooth in her head that is not firmly in place with her greed. Tonight, I pulled another tooth – her top one. That’s two nights in a row. As the light began to dawn in this dad’s head, I asked her, “Adelyn, do you want me to pull your tooth so that the tooth fairy will bring you more money?”

“Yes!” she emphaticallly responded.

Granted, the tooth/teeth were all loose. Yet, she’s milking the system. She’s going to have to find another way to earn money soon. The law of supply and demand as it relates to tooth-profiteering cannot apply. Her supply is dwindling, and from insider information (or is it “incisor” info?), I am confident that our tooth fairy is not going to pay premium for her teeth.

With all that being said, it has been rather exciting around the Noble house the last few nights.

In our reading group Tuesday morning, we were discussing Part 3 of Hirsch and Frost’s book The Shaping of Things to Come. One of the thoughts that struck me during our discussion was how often in Scripture and in life we experience the drama of pause. I mentioned this on Tuesday’s podcast but wanted to try and get some thoughts hammered out here as well.
? After the six days of creation, there was a day of rest… of pause.
? Abraham & Sarah’s life was put on pause between the desire for a child, the promise of a child, and the final reality of a child in Isaac.
? There was a pause while the Israelites experienced slavery in Egypt for a little over 200 years. (For an excellent article arriving at this conclusion)
? There was another long pause between Egypt and the Israelites finally obtaining the Promised Land while they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.
? There is a pause in Job between his grievous losses and his restoration.
? There’s a seven-day pause for King Saul where he was supposed to wait on the prophet Samuel to come to Gilgal. (Saul couldn’t wait and forfeited his kingdom.)
? A period of inactivity (perhaps pause?) in King David’s life – when he should have been at war with his troops – led to his adultery with Bathsheba.

[My TV just started blaring and startled Caro and me in the quietness of our living room. Apparently the kids had "paused" Sponge Bob on the TiVo, and the amount of time for the pause was up, so it switched back to live TV - and the ridiculous volume the kids had the TV set at.]

? Due to the sin of the nation, Israel experienced a 70 year pause in redemption history in captivity in Babylon.
? There was a pause after the Israelites returned to the land and built their houses before they addresseed the issue of rebuilding the temple. The prophet Haggai speaks for God, “Is it time for you to be dwelling in your paneled hosues while my house remains in ruins?”
? There is also a long pause between the last prophetic word of Malachi and the coming of the Messiah in Jesus. (about 400 years)

NT Pauses…
There are also pregnant pauses in the New Testament… periods of waiting that force those who experienced it to ask questions of the Lord or to endure hardship.

Consider the pause between the announcement of Lazarus’ desperate illness, his death and Jesus finally coming to his tomb… the time between John the Baptist’s imprisonment and his death… the moments between Peter’s first walking on the water and his sinking… the time between Saul’s conversion/loss of sight and his encounter with Ananias…

Learning from Pauses…
We can learn so much from the pauses of life. There is great power in pause. Having life put on pause for us reminds us that we are not in control. A pause gives us opportunity to examine ourselves and our presumptions. Pauses force us to slow down and many times, they open our eyes and minds to the greater significance of life and events.

Whether it’s an illness that beds you for several days or simply that occasional deep blue funk you struggle with that forces introspection, the pauses of our life can do much to bring us before the Prince of Pause.

In Revelation 8.1, the seventh seal is opened and “all heaven was quiet for about half and hour.” Wow. Stunned awe and silence. A dramatic pause in heaven prepares all creation for what happens next.

Perhaps that is how we should treat our pauses as well. Look forward to what God is doing next in your life. You may not be especially thrilled with where you are now, but be patient, be faithful, bring your mind in grateful submission to your Savior… and wait. The prophet Isaiah tells us that those who wait upon the Lord will find theit strength renewed.

Here are some other significant pauses to consider…
? The time between Jesus’ death and resurrection
? The time between the promise of the Holy Spirit and His coming at Pentecost
? The time between Jesus’ ascension and His future return…

Life may actually be designed for pauses… Rather than repeatedly and stubbornly jamming the “play” button, seeking action and busyness, perhaps we should all learn to rest, be silent, wait… and watch.

Just some extended thoughts. Thanks for pausing long enough to reflect with me…

Here’s an interesting website… www.43things.com. I’m still checking it out, but it seems to a be a Top 10 List (albeit expanded to 43) that people say they “want to do.” Check it out and see what you think…

Here’s three of mine so far…