I included a picture of our fish tank in an earlier post. It’s a great stress-reliever to watch the fish swim around in and out of the little house in the tank and to listen to the bubbles from the filter.
It is with sadness that I report that we have lost one of our dear fish friends … Gator … so named because of his orange color, representing the Florida Gators.
We may have to acquire Gator II to fill the void. We remember that great Bible verse … And this too shall pass.
This article was included in The Ledger, the local newspaper in Lakeland, Florida. http://www.theledger.com/article/20080323/NEWS/803230341
Mike, the pastor of The Rock Church in Winter Haven, Florida, is a friend of mine. He and some other church leaders went to the church building on Saturday morning for prayer and preparation for Easter activities and services. When they drove in the parking lot, they found something they weren’t expecting to find, a man’s body. They quickly called 911 and the police came to investigate.
Once the man’s body was identified, the family was notified, and they came to the church to see where their loved one had been found.
Mike has had a great opportunity to comfort and minister to these people throughout the week. He called the Ridge Baptist Association Director of Missions to say that the family asked him to take part in the funeral services. He used this time to share Jesus. As a result, 20 people committed their lives to Christ!
It is incredible how Jesus turns tragedy into triumph! You never know who or what you will meet.
I’ve been reading The Culturally Savvy Christian by Dick Staub. I’m finding it to be a very fascinating book.
In the middle of the book, the author outlines and defines the different kinds of love: affection, friendship, eros, and agape. Each one of those loves is necessary to enrich our culture and share Christ’s love with others. Agape love, the most important, is the love of Jesus. It is a giving love, not getting. “We long for true community but cannot achieve it with natural love alone; we need agape” (page 116).
I think about this giving love (agape) in my work world. I’m responsible for about 30 children everyday for before/after school care. Those children (and their families) need love …the love of Jesus. I strive to show Jesus’ love to these elementary-aged children in holistic ways: spiritually, intellectually, creatively, morally, and behaviorally …and in ways without saying the name Jesus or the word love.
I show love by offering them healthy snacks every afternoon that I know they will eat and enjoy. I offer them various activities to strengthen their minds and creativity …reading, art projects, table games, and gross-motor active games. All at the same time, I strive to model moral and ethical behaviors descriptive of Jesus. For many of these children, I am the only “Jesus” they see and experience. I’m working to be a culturally savvy Christian in which “the glow of God’s presence is fueled by love” (page 125).
How about you?
I’ve just begun reading The Church of the Perfect Storm, edited by Len Sweet, containing a compilation of essays by other authors. The church is headed for and in the midst of culturestorms: postmodernity, post-Christendom, and post-scale. Each of these storms is huge and requires huge adjustments, but the future is secure in God and Christians need not run from these storms. Len Sweet says, “Christians go out to meet the storm. Christians embrace the wind. And pass out kites” (page 5).
The tsunami of postmodernity is “the name given to this fragmentary, digital, dizzying world of kaleidoscopic changes” (page 8). Postmoderns want to know why there has to be a reason for everything. They want to experience everything; they’re curious. They’re more interested in relationships and through dialogue and discussion truths are discovered in those relationships.
Now if the tsunami wasn’t enough, here comes a Category 5 hurricane: post-Christendom. In this storm, the culture has washed its hands of the church. Christianity is no longer the common denominator in the culture and in the church. More people recognize the golden arches of McDonald’s than the cross. We can’t emphasize the Christian side of holidays like we once could; Christmas trees are now holiday trees. There is a very small percentage of teens who even know what Christianity is or who Jesus is. Sweet says, “the best days for Christianity lie in the future, but only if we get rid of Christendumb thinking” (page 21). The church needs to think and act missionally in a missionary culture.
Next comes the storm of global warming, post-scale. Within post-scale comes post-human, post-round, and post-cold storms.
As post-human, Sweet calls us cyborgs; we have become machines with our medications. At the first sign of any medical symptom, we medicate … ADD, ADHD, anxiety, obesity. As an educator of small children, it bothers me that we medicate before any other evaluations. Much more can be done to overcome the signs of common reasons for medications.
In a post-round world, we can be connected to anyone, anywhere, at anytime. We live in a “wired world.” With all this connectivity, it can be said that the world is actually flat and the church needs to be on the edge. Why do we say the world is flat? Because everything and all events are personal. Today’s generation doesn’t know or talk about WWII but we do know and talk about 9-11 and even the Space Shuttle Challenger. We can tell where we were and what we were doing at those times. “Anything that is working in a post-round culture is less a performance ritual than a participation ritual” (page 29). Churches must cash in on the EPICtivity of the culture: experiential, participatory, image-rich, and connective.
Finally in a post-cold world, we’re losing our renewable natural resources. Water is becoming extinct. I live in Delaware and it’s a known fact that we don’t eat anything from the Delaware waters …the joke is that the fish glow and have 3 eyes… from the nuclear power plant. We’re all going green to protect our natural resources: water, land, forests, fish. Sweet asks why local churches aren’t partnering with local communities to ensure that every person has clean water to drink.
These storms are suicide; we’re bringing them on ourselves. These storms must be cured with truth.
More to come on The Church of the Perfect Storm later … highly recommended reading … check it out for yourself. I’ve only touched the surface here.
I’m currently reading The Culturally Savvy Christian by Dick Staub. In chapter one, “The Popular Culture We Are In,” he gives 3 topics on the power and influence of popular culture, stating that popular culture rivals religion as preacher and teacher, storyteller, and identity and community shaper.
As preacher and teacher, it informs people about things that matter most. In doing this, it achieves a role once done by education and embraces a spiritual role once tackled by churches. New songs, movies, and books are released and printed weekly to answer the essential human questions: “Is there a God? Who is God? Who are we? What is our meaning and identity? Where did we come from? What is our destiny? What is love? Why am I lonely? What will make me happy?” These are the questions that Jesus once engaged; now they are the questions addressed by popular artists.
Storytelling has always been an important part of communication and information sharing. Jesus was a storyteller. Today popular culture is using this most effective method of communication. One important aspect to remember in storytelling is to tell the stories well and truthful. Incorrect stories can lead an entire group or population down the wrong path. Storytellers must know their stories correctly and tell them creatively.
Communities are formed around commonalities. In the past, families and religion determined community identities. Today those identities are shaped by popular culture both externally and visually through symbols instead of words, tattoos, jewelry, hairstyles, musical tastes, and dress. People may find that they have more in common with others globally than locally; therefore, they have a stronger bond and connection with people across the world rather than in their own neighborhoods. That’s why many people have turned to online people connections instead of face-to-face encounters.
For more on this book, check it out … highly recommended reading.
