Simple visual overview of Luke

Here's simple overview of Luke’s gospel, visually connecting geography with the book’s structure (adapted from Early Narrative Christology: The Lord in the Gospel of Luke by C. Kavin Rowe). PDF version (486 KB)

 http://visualunit.me/2012/02/06/luke-overview

The whole site is worth exploring for all its other  biblical infographics.

The Good - Modesty vs. Extravagance

The Good - Modesty vs. Extravagance 

As I did my yearly whipper-snipping today on a beautiful, totally blue autumn morning, I started to reflect on the tension between two ideals as my clumsy title implies. 

What is the 'good', or rather, the balance point that we as Christians should move towards in life? Depending on the 'brand' of christianity that you lean towards (or that you have come from), either end of this spectrum can be 'good' or 'bad'. 

I found it interesting the degree of pleasure that I had 'improving' the state of my yard: pruning, trimming and weeding as I went, and gradually the activity began to spawn forth visions of 'grander designs' that exceeded the state of our home. Not to suggest that what we have is either too small or not able to meet our needs, or to the other extreme, too big.

Thus my train of thought.

And to where does this line of thinking lead? How would Christ have us live? Should we pursue objects of beauty and 'improve' environment, or should we refrain and live with greater modesty? 

I think that at this point in time I will to some degree withhold comment, as really, this is a life's journey and one that I don't have great clarity on given my current vantage point. I do think that there is a place for aesthetic beauty in this world, to be reflected not just in 'proper works of art', but also in our houses and gardens and attire. Don't get me wrong, I also think that this is a tenuous line and balance point that we need tread (and I know that I am the first to hold others in contempt for their seeming investment in such things). 

What I do think is this, that we need to respond to the Holy Spirit in terms of conviction, and our discipline in that response. 

Do we give when we are compelled from within? 

Do we act as good stewards in living in a way that is honourable? 

Do we work towards the 'good' in the possessions that we have?

And perhaps, most importantly, do we 'do' this out of a knowledge and response of our true value, or so that we 'feel' that we have value…

More to think on this.

Angry Birds

Angry Birds.

I just survived one of the most rewarding (and exhausting) experiences in my parenting life. 

As a parent, there comes a time when you end up in a situation where you have to hold the fort without the skills and experience that a mother (namely, my wife) brings to the family dynamics. This was the situation that I found my self in this last weekend.

For me, the highlight of the weekend was seeing my two youngest children having a world of fun (see pictures below) playing a game, almost of their own invention. Here is how the moment went down:

Bang! Bang! ….. Bang! [sounds of children jumping off the bed onto a mattress on the floor]

Dad: Kids - what are you doing?

Son: We’re playing ‘Angry Birds’. She is the pig and we’re knocking down the castle.

Now, my normal reaction to this type of activity - would be to feel a sense of stress, followed by an exasperated, ‘don’t jump off the beds - that’s not what they’re made for’. Instead - seeing the joy on their faces - and the fact that they were playing in a (relatively) safe way - I replied:

Cool.

So - I learned something this weekend. The ability to relax and enjoy your children being themselves and doing what they do is about (well partially) about letting go. I feel like I have more to ‘learn’ in this way and with any luck - I’ll get better at it too. 

If the beds were a little stronger - I would play ‘Angry Birds’ too. 

Book Review: Un-Christian

I have been (for the last few months… ok 6 months) reading a book co-authored by Gabe Lyons and David Kinnaman. 

It raises a number of confronting questions for Christian in the 21^st Century’s post - post modern context. 

The writing is a response to research that the author (Kinnaman) (part of the Barner research group) conduced at the request of Lyons. 

While it is directed at the USA (both the research and commentary is exclusively pointed this way) there are important and relevant ‘take-a-ways’ that we can reflect on and apply to ourselves and church practice in Australia. It is, however, really important to acknowledge the strong differences that there are between Australian and American cultures - especially when it comes to religion and politics. 

From my perspective I think (up to this point) the most interesting aspect of the discussion has been the discussion around the response of the church (and christians) to the most appropriate (and perhaps effective) ways to live out faith in a post-post-modern environment. 

The book is written around the top responses to the research that was conducted, with each chapter given to discussing the findings and presenting a response. These chapters include: Hypocritical, Get Saved, Anti-homosexual, Sheltered, Too Political and Judgemental.

The writing is quite candid and offers a means for the church to look at itself in the way that it is perceived by the wider community. It does not present this in a way that would suggest that the church should change to alter these perceptions, but does ask whether these perceptions are based on the behaviours of the church and christians that in actually incongruent with what the christian life should look like (thus the title of the book).

I’ll finish reading it soon and post some final thoughts.

Missional Church...what is it all about? (Pt.2)

In breaking down the liturgy into essential elements it is possible to consider what is essential in our church practice. I don’t want to try and nut out all of the doctrine or theology here - but just ask the question - what do you actually need to do to be and function as a church?

I guess from my own experience, it is an important discussion as the answer(s) shape the way that you go about living.

So - in asserting a ‘non’ answer, I think that the most important endeavour is actually the discussion that needs to be had - for the individual, couple, family or church community. 

What you should arrive at through this process is two distinctive aspects:

1) What you should do (theologically)

 2) What you choose (could) to do 

Obviously, there are the negative alternatives to these - what you shouldn’t do and what you choose not to do. 

Once again, there is an interesting question that this raises in terms of tradition and the institutional church. Basically - how much of what churches do is a should a could. You might even find that there are shouldn’ts in there as well.

I think the real challenge in being involved in a missional church community is in fact working out the could. There are so many good things that you can do (individually, as a family or as a church community).  Ultimately, filtering these through your goals or values is best practice, and needs to be continually revisited. 

More to come… I guess ;)

Missional Church...what is it all about? (Pt.1)

So in a recent  discussion with a mate who asked, 'what do you do in your missional church' (to paraphrase), my mind was stimulated again to re-visit this topic.

We are now about four years into our 'no name yet' missional church, and we still don't have a name - but I think that some of our activities, goals and purposes have in some way been codified.

Firstly, one of the main goals of what we are doing is to be able to engage our natural, organic community in the most natural and organic ways. What this means in practise is that we only do the the things that we would normally do - but try and place the lens of living out our faith in each of those activities. For example, for my wife, doing the school run becomes a means through which connections can be made with the other families who go to the same school and who are in the same class. This is something that we normally do - but seeing it as part of mission changes the intentionality behind the activity.

Importantly, this not about doing the traditional church thing and 'inviting' someone to an 'outreach' event, but actually caring for and loving people with whom you are sharing life - with no strings attached.

It might seem crazy, but from my experience the institutional church paradigm tends towards the 'invite to an event' model, rather than what I have suggested above. There is heaps of literature about this - but really, it is about living life the way that Jesus did.

It's a complex topic on one level, but in another sense quite simple....

To be continued...

Recommencing After Easter

Hey all,

We will be starting back on the 13th of April @ Nath and Al's place (see Cal).

We will be discussing values (I guess).

See you there.

Chris.