kinnon.tv

Brian Wants to Frame the Reviews: 'If you disagree with me, you are probably a Fundie!'

Brian McLaren's new book is now appearing in the hands of those who pre-ordered it. My copy of A New Kind of Christianity arrived last Thursday. I grabbed fleeting moments over the weekend to quickly read it. From the dust cover of the book,

We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in the church. Not since the Reformation five centuries ago have so many Christians come together to ask whether the church is in sync with their deepest beliefs and commitments. These believers range from evangelicals to mainline Protestants to Catholics, and the person who best represents them is author and pastor Brian McLaren. [emphasis added]

Brian's book tells us immediately that Brian best represents those of us who question the institutional church. A little "all your leadership are belong to me" perhaps - at least for those of us who dare question the present state of the church. Now, perhaps it's just marketing hyperbole. Maybe Brian really doesn't think he's God's answer to the present state of the church.

Or God's ten answers that is.

But he certainly wants to frame how his book is reviewed.

Scot McKnight pointed to the binary "Quiz" Brian ran on his blog:

"If A you probably are a Fundamentalist..."

"If B you are curious..."

Scot responds,

...the arrangement smacks of radical individualism and denies the foundational role our communities play in our knowledge and social construction of reality. What's wrong with asking about every new idea what "the Church" or my community thinks? Or if it is logically consistent with what I've already concluded to be sound? Not only that, but the world of Jesus was much more like the first answer than the second, and that is has been brought to the fore by cultural anthropologists like Bruce Malina, who adapts the research of Mary Douglas and others.

I also wonder if this is not a false dichotomy: I know plenty of fundies who are intrinsically curious people, who wonder "what if?" and who are always chasing down their questions. I know plenty on the other side who aren't in the least curious.

My friend, Darryl Dash in his post, Ending the Discussion Before it Starts, says this,

I’ve found that there are ways to end a discussion before it even begins. It’s easy: you set the terms of the discussion so that if you disagree with me, then it’s clearly because you have a problem, so it’s no use even continuing. It’s not really fair, but it allows me to pretend that I have the moral high ground while it effectively silences you, if you let it that is. [emphasis added]

And then later responding to Brian's writing at the end of A New Kind of Christianity where it would seem that Brian insists that he and his friends should get to set the terms of the discussion of his book, Darryl writes,

...if we say that we have concerns, it’s implied that we have a problem and we’re trying to shut things down. This makes it hard to review a book, never mind deal with the kinds of issues raised in a book like this.

There is a level of cognitive dissonance in a writer who offers his book as the answer to all that ails Christianity and then also wants to frame how we engage with that book. And the dissonance is deeper in that said writer chooses to label those who disagree with him as close-minded Fundamentalists.

Perhaps it's time to read the 99 Theses of the Cluetrain Manifesto, Mr. McLaren. You sound like the companies they attempt to educate.

I'm sure it's rather unfortunate for you, but you don't get to decide how the rest of us engage with your book. Let me be blunt, your approach is reminiscent of the divisive politics perfected in the nation you call home. Where people who disagree with your president are labeled as racists - or those who agree are socialists. Of course, you showed some of that tendency yourself here, so perhaps I should not really be surprised.

Jeremy Bouma said this in his Goodbye Emergent post yesterday - a post that has generated a lot of response,

Recently, Doug Pagitt wrote on his blog and Brian McLaren said in a video that those of us who take them and others to task are held in bondage to fear and thoroughly un-loving; my motivation for analyzing the theology and beliefs of leaders within the emerging church is fear-based and inherently un-love. One word: ridiculous. I am not fearful; this has nothing to do with fear. In fact, the loving thing to do is in fact confront, prod, and question. [emphasis added - links to Pagitt and McLaren at Bouma's post.]

Let me offer this piece of advice to you, Brian, if you don't want to receive reviews that question your ideas then simply stop writing. It really is that simple. Otherwise you will simply need to deal with the reality that the days of the idea gatekeepers are over. Welcome to the networked conspiracy.

I'll begin to review the book in my next post, later this week.

Brian McLaren, Emergent Village

Mere Churchianity - Finding Our Way Back to Jesus-Shaped Spirituality

I count it a privilege to call the Internet Monk, Michael Spencer, my friend. His writings have been extremely helpful to my family as we've navigated the waters of the church these past five years. [Update: That's these past five years in particular. We've been involved in the church for a whole heck of lot longer than that.]

His support of this humble corner of blogdom has also been greatly appreciated.

I know how excited Michael is about his new book, Mere Churchianity - Finding Your Way Back to Jesus-Shaped Spirituality. I had been looking forward to chatting with Michael about this before Christmas - and then his health concerns turned into a rather severe cancer diagnosis - and Michael's time has been consumed with fighting that battle. (Please continue to pray for Michael and his family as he, his doctors and the prayers of the people continue to fight the cancer.)

Michael's book is now available for pre-Order on Amazon. I haven't read any of it yet, but I know from Michael's writing at Internet Monk and our email conversations that this is going to be both a very good and a very important book. I've pre-ordered my copy from the Canadian Amazon store. It would be a great encouragement to Michael if you ordered a copy now, as well. (Links in this post are to the US Amazon store.)

You can also support Michael via the PayPal Donate link @ Internet Monk. (If you click the linked "Donate link" in the previous sentence - you will go directly to PayPal.)

Michael's medical coverage and his work remuneration have both come to an end and his medical battle is very expensive. (Michael was a teacher at a private Christian school that was more a mission than a profitable venture. They do not have "gold-plated" medical coverage as I doubt they could afford it.)

InternetMonk, Michael Spencer, Jesus-shaped Spirituality

A Missional KISS

I could write another very long post that provided the history behind the present missional impulse - while debating / explaining the desire to either define it or contain it.

We could talk / debate ad nauseum about David Boesch, Lesslie Newbigin, the UK and US versions of the Gospel and Our Culture Network, Missio Dei, missional from a Reformed perspective / Arminian perspective or any number of the finer aspects of "missional". And, at one level, this might be a rather important part of the discussion as we learn how to disciple a mission-shaped people.

But at another level, it is simply more talk - when what we need to do is simplify the talk so that people might consider being formed as mission-shaped.

A suggested Missional KISS

The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. And that is what He is calling us to do.

The first sentence is from Eugene Peterson's poetic transliteration of John 1:14
And for those who don't recognize the acronym KISS.

mission-shaped, missional

DannyMac Says Mercy is Not Optional in the Missional Conversation

Dan MacDonald is a good friend and PCA Pastor in Toronto. He blogs sporadically - but he's always worth reading. Dan has entered the fray on the Missional = Liberal discussion and scored a KO in my opinion.

...when respected Christian leaders say that an emphasis upon social justice may lead to theological slippage, they are, I think, getting the cart before the horse. It is true that historically, some churches and denominations departed from biblical orthodoxy in the early 20th century, retaining only a strong biblical sense of social justice. In response, orthodox evangelical churches grew wary of both the doctrinal departure of many mainline churches, and of the social justice that they emphasized. The first wariness is healthy, wise and necessary. But the second wariness - of embracing social justice - needs to end. Now.

Mercy is not an option. Mercy is a reflection of the gospel of God who had mercy upon poor, miserable, sin-addicted self-destructive slaves - you and me. The gospel is all about mercy. Jesus showed spiritual mercy, physical mercy, social mercy, relational mercy in His ministry; he foreshadowed the new Creation He will one day bring in.

Please go read it all and comment there (as well as here, if you'd like). Thanks Dan for this very welcome addition to the conversation.

mission-shaped, missional, Dan MacDonald, Does Missional Mean Liberal?

For I was naked...

...and you preached to me about penal substitutionary atonement. I was sick and you said a Biblical understanding of leadership would bring me comfort. I was in prison and you sent me a book on the Biblical understanding of membership. [link]

There is a point at which Leeman's missional slippery-slope argument borders on the insane - or at least, the asinine.

Studying this might alleviate said issues.

UPDATE: And Todd Littleton has a good post on slippage.

mission-shaped, missional, missional slippery slope, social justice is not in my bible

You Might Not Be Missional...

...if your response to the term is to see it as a liberal/progressive plot to move the church into the purely social gospel column.

[Note that I've edited this post for clarity and updated it with a few more links since first published earlier today.]

I've been away from the blog for a while. Mostly tweeting and retweeting 140 characters of limited wisdom. In that Twitterverse, someone noted Brent Thomas' response to Jonathan Leeman's 9 Marks post, Is The God of Missional Gospel Too Small?

Leeman begins his cautionary tale with this;

It's been said that liberalism often creeps into the church through the doorway of evangelism and mission work. I think that's right

And shortly thereafter,

More and more evangelical and missional leaders have begun to characterize the gospel of justification by faith alone, penal substitution, and the salvation of souls as a "small gospel." [emphasis added]

One might reasonably ask who the "more and more" are - though it's probably just easier for Leeman to refer to the amorphous "they" to make his point - stats and facts being optional.

Thomas, who like Leeman writes from a Reformed perspective responds to the post,

It seems that, on one side, we have many moving towards what is becoming known as a “missional” approach, focusing on God’s mission to restore all things to Himself through the person and work of Jesus Christ. It might be said that Tim Keller is at the forefront of this movement. On the other side, we have the more traditional, church-focused camp spearheaded by 9 Marks Ministries and Mark Dever focusing on the supremacy of penal substitionary atonement in any talk of salvation (I’m not so sure these things are mutually exclusive, personally, but that’s not really the point). Again, this is just my sense and I could be wrong, but from my perspective, such as it is, I not only sense a growing separation, but that separation being pushed by the more traditional side. [emphasis added]

I've read Thomas' post a number of times and commented there on how I felt Leeman's central four points against missional sounded like boilerplate from certain Reformed blogs - attacking the particular Emergent Village brand of the much wider global emerging church conversation. (As an aside, please read Reformed Pastor Michael Newnham @ Phoenix Preacher on what he feels the wider emerging church conversation has added to 21st Century Christianity.) In rereading that post this morning, the emphasized line in the above quote stood out to me.

Thomas sees missional as "focusing on God’s mission to restore all things to Himself through the person and work of Jesus Christ" over and against Leeman and 9 Marks focus of the "supremacy of penal substitionary atonement in any talk of salvation."  The Kingdom of God position versus a soteriology that revolves around penal substitionary atonement. To which I want to respond - what difference does this argument really make to the unbelieving people in your neighbourhoods?

Sorry brothers.  Your discussion may be a great one for the academy but I don't see it helping with a necessarily simple and important understanding of missional.

My Credentials, or Lack Thereof, to Be Involved In This Discussion
I'm not a theologian. In my 55th year (how I hate to write that), I've been a Christian since 1982. I have owned a television production company with my wife since 1985 - I'm a writer, director and editor who has spent 95% of my career working in secular media. I've also been, for want of a better phrase, a lay leader in the church for more than half the time I've been a believer - predominantly in charismatically-flavoured Baptist and independent churches. Imbi and I now attend an evangelical Anglican Church in downtown Toronto.

In 2006, I began working with an organization that identified itself as a Movement of Missional Leaders. I was documenting that movement from behind the viewfinder of an HD camera. Never one to miss an opportunity to engage in interesting conversation, I was drawn into hours of discussion on missional with missional practitioners & thought leaders on three continents - while also producing hours of content that discussed all things missional.

References to those missional discussions & insights can be found in hundreds of posts here at kinnon.tv.

One of those posts was written for the Rick Meigs' inspired Missional Synchroblog, What is Missional Church? or A Little More Missional Shampoo. In it I unpack where the recent missional discussion has come from - identifying Lesslie Newbigin as the instigator of this present missional conversation.

In brief, Newbigin returned to the UK in 1974 after the better part of four decades on the mission field in India. What he discovered was a post-Christian/post-Christendom culture that no longer understood the Christian meta-narrative. Newbigin recognized that for the Gospel to have any kind of impact on English culture - Christians would need to become missionaries to their own nation.

How did that translate to North America?

Vast swaths of the U.S. still function in what remains of a Christendom culture. The plot has not been completely lost. But that is not the case for many of the northern states and is certainly not the case in a post-Christian Canada. And the reality is that the trajectory of the Christendom areas in the predominantly Southern States is towards post-Christendom. (See the data coming from Barna, the Pew Foundation and anecdotally in this article from USA Today. Ed Stetzer is the goto person to understand what's happening to the church in North America.)

And this is my simple, yet I believe, easily comprehensible understanding of What is Missional:

To quote Eugene Peterson, it's about,

The Word (who) became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.

Becoming missional means we realize that Jesus has "moved into the neighborhood" and we are to follow him. It stands in stark contrast to church buildings that say, come. Missional stands counter to the attractional church model of Christendom.

I believe there are three aspects to this discussion. Missional is incarnational - in that we are to be the hands, feet and voice of Jesus in our neighborhoods - positional in that we are to move out and amongst, and relational - we are to love our neighbors, whether they ever darken the doorsteps of our church buildings or not - in fact, whether they ever even "become Christians". Luke 10 provides a framework for that journey as we move into our neighborhoods - engaging everyone we meet - entering wherever we are invited - receiving hospitality and engaging in relationship - understanding that in C.S. Lewis' words, Aslan IS on the move - and we are to follow Him.

My definition does not negate the need for Christians to be a part of a real Christian community where they are being discipled and are growing in their faith and their witness. Chicago's Life on the Vine would be one example of a church attempting to live this out. (Dave Fitch is one of the leaders there - and Imbi and I shot the Stetzer/Fitch videos in LotV's building.) There are many others. But the focus is not the building as the locus of the community.

Missional is about us getting off our butts and actually engaging with our neighbours as Christ engaged with the people he met - teaching and then sending His disciples out to do the same.

But.

Sometimes it's seems easier to simply engage in esoteric arguments about who has the completely correct theological understanding - rather than to actually meet and love our neighbours.

Missional isn't complex - but apparently, it also isn't easy.

_________________________________________________________

You might also find this post helpful on the Missional Longview - written a week after the one I link to above for publication on the actual Missional Synchroblog date. And please make a point of reading the other posts in that synchroblog. If you are at all interested in What is Missional? Brent Toderash aka Brother Maynard wrote eight posts covering all 50 of the Synchroblog posts with a final summation here.

The Missional Mobilization video with Pete Atkins in the sidebar is also worth watching in light of this post. Pete and Kath Atkins, Fresh Expressions missioners in the UK, have had a profound impact on Imbi's and my understanding of missional/mission-shaped - as they are both thought leaders and practitioners.

And might I also recommend you add these voices to your missional blog reading list if you haven't already: Jason Coker and the three JR's: JR Briggs, JR Rozko and JR Woodward.

Ed Stetzer, mission-shaped, missional, Missional Tribe, Lesslie Newbigin, Missional Synchroblog

Thoughts @ the End of the 2nd Week of the New Decade.

I'm finding it hard to post this week. I've begun a number of posts and abandoned them for good, or for a more appropriate time.

I'm still troubled by things from last week that need further discussion. I'm missing the sane voice of my good friend, Michael Spencer. (Please keep praying for Michael and his family.) And the Haiti Earthquake puts the brokenness of this world into forced focus.

You can find me commenting 140 characters at a time on Twitter: @kinnon. You will also find brighter Kinnon lights in the Twitterverse if you follow @liamkinnon and @kailikinnon - Imbi's and my oldest and youngest, respectively.

A couple of quick comments then.

First, the BHT's illustrious Matthew Johnson (Twitter: @revmhj) tweeted about this post from Oak Leaf Church, Selfish Christians. Matthew liked it. I didn't and commented there. Discipleship has got to be the biggest problem in the Western Church (and probably the Church universal.) This story, More U.S. Christians mix in 'Eastern,' New Age beliefs, in USA Today from last December (that I believe Ed Stetzer pointed to) strongly makes that point.

The second comment is about Mark Driscoll's Tweet (Twitter: @PastorMark) about his plans coming together to go to Haiti with a film crew "to help raise awareness & money for the church there." Now, I don't want to question Mark's heart in any way. But I do need to ask the question of why it's necessary for anyone, other than those who are going to work on the ground, to take a camera crew to Haiti right now?

There are probably more than 50 crews already there. Producing more tragic visual impact than one could ever possibly need. Do you really need to be there to raise awareness? (Look at this post of Jordon Cooper's alone.)

Resources are already so scarce, does Haiti need any more attention-tourists arriving at this point to tell anymore stories of the horror and trauma? (@TimmyBrewster points to the fact that the FAA is not allowing anymore planes into Haiti as there is no where to put them and no fuel available for them. UPDATE: Moments after I posted this @NPRNews says aid flights have resumed.) World Vision, World Concern, the Red Cross, Oxfam and every other credible agency is there working there tails off - with people shooting what's going on. And every network is covering this tragedy as the biggest story of this still young new decade.

I doubt another "film crew" is necessary.

UPDATE: And one final thing. If you want to give X% of sales this month to Haiti, that's very cool. But do you need to make it part of your marketing communications. I find that kinda "gross" in the words of @jaredcwilson.

InternetMonk, Mark Driscoll, Haiti Earthquake, Boar's Head Tavern

What God Wants from Marriage

This post was triggered by @jaredcwilson's retweet of an @johnpiper tweet:
Crying real tears at the altar of God cannot replace covenant-keeping with your wife. Malachi 2:13-14

And this is Eugene Peterson's translation of the above reference:

...You fill the place of worship with your whining and sniveling because you don't get what you want from God. Do you know why? Simple. Because God was there as a witness when you spoke your marriage vows to your young bride, and now you've broken those vows, broken the faith-bond with your vowed companion, your covenant wife. God, not you, made marriage. His Spirit inhabits even the smallest details of marriage. And what does he want from marriage? Children of God, that's what. So guard the spirit of marriage within you. Don't cheat on your spouse. [emphasis added]

christian marriage, marriage covenant

Ruined by the Applause

Imbi's cousin Joosep Tammo is a teacher and pastor in Estonia (and the former head of the Estonian Evangelical Alliance). He wrote this on Facebook earlier this week.

Enamusele meeldib saada kiitusega ruineeritud, selleasemel, et saada kriitikaga päästetud.

Imbi's paraphrased translation:

The majority of people (would rather be) ruined by compliments than have (critique) save them.

This seemed particularly appropriate in light of some of the discussions taking place in blogdom right now.

I'm also reminded of the line (probably from Tolstoy but normally misattributed to Edmund Burke):

All that it takes for evil to triumph is for good (people) to do nothing.

And may I suggest, rather cryptically, that there are a lot of supposedly good people who have done nothing, while evil has been allowed to triumph. And I am stunned by their apparent inaction.

truth

1200 Weeks and 1 Day Ago

In a universe far, far away.... (whoops, wrong story)

It was the 28th anniversary of the US Gov recognizing Fidel Castro's Gov. (The US Gov later claimed they couldn't make out Fidel's Gov in a lineup.) The 10th anniverary of Dustin Diamond's birth. (Who?) And the 34th anniversary of President Truman (a peaceful Democrat President) announcing the development of the hydrogen bomb. (Gee, thanks, Harry.)

But. Most importantly.

At least to Imbi & me (and my Mom & Dad), eight thousand, four hundred and one day ago, William Mikhel Medri Kinnon was released into the earth's atmosphere. An only mildly toxic human unit (he pee'd on me his very first day), Liam is the eldest of the three Kinnon kids.

A gifted writer, song writer, musician and more, Liam makes us proud. (And in this case, I don't buy that pride is a sin.)

Happy Birthday Son!

[Data from Wolfram|Alpha, of course.]

Liam Kinnon, birthday

From the Archives: Not Stupid, Well Perhaps Maybe Some Are...

LinkWithin (which shows up at the bottom of each post with suggestions for other posts) often points me at posts of my own that are particularly appropriate to the present conversation - when not offering completely off-the-wall suggestions.

This one below from October 2007 seemed rather appropriate. I've edited it somewhat.

Group think is not limited to churches; whole movements can be so infected.

____________________________________________

I recognize that it's a rather cryptic title. And some folk won't bother to read it because, frankly, it makes little sense. There is a real art to headline writing. This post doesn't reflect that.

The title is a reference to a post from Todd Heistand that I linked to last week, Congregations Aren't Stupid.

I truly would love to believe, as Todd quotes Eugene Peterson writing, "the congregation is not stupid and lumpish, waiting for pastoral enlightenment". But on pondering that statement and Todd's post, my experience suggests otherwise.

My buddy, Brother Maynard talks about leaders, the people in the pews and the Stockholm Syndrome,

...yesterday I was driving along and thinking about past (bad) church experiences, and what causes us to stay in those situations, even thinking that they are normal or acceptable. We feel affection for or affinity with the leader, we’re “in it together,” and we’re “on the same team” and all that. Then suddenly — sparked by a news story on the radio I think — I found myself thinking about Stockholm Syndrome.

Not to be too harsh or to put too fine a spin on it… but isn’t that essentially what we’re talking about here? Perfectly normal people suspending their better judgment on many issues based on identification with the perpetrators (or ringleaders, or whatever) of some, let’s say “unhealthy” system.

I'd probably say perfectly normal and intelligent people suspend their judgment and reasoning abilities and buy into just about any kind of nonsense. This Juanita Bynum clip (via Jared @ The Thinklings) would be an extreme case in point.

But there are congregations throughout the world that are, for want of a better word, stupid. For, as Forrest Gump is wont to say, "Stupid is as stupid does."

Rather than exhibiting the power of collective intelligence*, they reflect the swamp of collective stupidity. Their senior pastors or movement leaders operate like potentates with management skills worthy of inclusion in Bob Sutton's book or possibly one of Robert Hare's - whilst these so-called leaders are busy self-identifying as Level 5 leaders. Yet the pew people/movement identifiers stay loyal followers.

If you dare to suggest their leaders are a little less than the biblical model for leadership, you find yourself being threatened with Old Testament plagues as you've dared to "touch the Lord's anointed." (If you dug through the comment archives on this blog, you'd find that very thing there.)

I have sat with people who have told me horror stories (and yes, I could tell some of my own) about the disastrous impact of certain Christian leaders on their lives and/or those of their families. And yet most of those storytellers still attend the same churches or are part of the same movement. "All our friends are there." "We just ignore the bad stuff." "Yah, I know he/she/it is not a very nice person, but people are still getting saved, right!?" "Actually, I really didn't need my left arm. I am right-handed after all. And the limp? Didn't Jacob walk with a limp."

Brother Maynard's concept of this being like the Stockholm Syndrome is helpful - at least for those of us outside the swamp.

Thoughts?

ADDENDUM: I think it's important to note that I think the vast majority of people in church leadership are not psychopaths or sociopaths - in fact, most are good people trying to do what they believe God has called them to do. However, there are enough "perpetrators (or ringleaders, or whatever)" to cause great concern. And I am truly shocked by the number of pew people who know full well what is going on...but do nothing other than show up faithfully and give liberally of their time and money.

UPDATE: Rainer Halonen and Greg Laughery join the conversation in the comments - but both have written good posts on their own blogs.

Rainer, who works as a "missional missionary" in the Ukraine points to

...visiting pastors, mission teams, etc…  coming to this country, who, even after seeing the problems, recognizing that all is not right, continue to support the system without confronting the issues."

Greg has continued in his Exodus series with Part 5, where he says,

We are experiencing the deep psychosis of cultural despotism that is thoroughly soaked into our Christian flesh and blood, leaving us with empty imaginations. Our bones are disintegrating before our eyes, our bowels are exploding, and there is no strength left in our guts. Too much fast food spirituality. Are we stupid or what?

UPDATE 2: My friend Sonja @ Calacirian responds to both Brother Maynard and me in her very good (as usual) post, On Breathing, Painting and Sweden. Where we normally see eye to eye on topics, Sonja disagrees with me here.

Sorry, Bill, I need to part ways with you on this. I don’t believe in collective stupidity. I do, however, believe in a state of collective fear. Or should I say … pack behavior. We are, after all, dogs. Or, in the words of Handel, sheep. No one wants to be excluded from the pack (herd). May I refer you to my (not so wonderful) post on the topic? The people in a church know exactly what happens to those who step out of line. The leadership make sure of it.

Please read her entire post.

Technorati Tags: Brother Maynard, church leadership, Church Stockholm Syndrome, sociopath leader, stupid

Technorati Tags: Brother Maynard, church leadership, Church Stockholm Syndrome, sociopath leader, stupid

Here's A Thought

If you make your living as a Christian "idea-leader", have left your wife and family for reasons unshared, post pics of your kids while whinging about being a single parent on your blog, want to advise clergy on how to perform marriages, your girlfriend shows up on your blog to defend divorce while posting pics on her blog of the two of you dancing, your wife comments on the need to make divorce hard (which you delete) and then comments on another blog about adultery (also deleted), don't you think that this might be a good time to SHUT THE HECK UP!

Good grief, sir. A little humility might be in order.

Emergent Marriage, Yes, I'm Really Pissed, So You Claim to Have Read the Didache - but act like you missed Chapter 2

It was a Waning Gibbous Moon...

...when I was born 19,789 days ago.

And this is my first post of a new decade in a ten year old millennium.

And my last post, 'til my 19,790th day.

Presuming I don't "die before I wake."

This post brought to you by the artificial intelligence of Wolfram Alpha, the crowd-sourced wisdom of Wikipedia and the muddled synapses of my Muggle brain.

Even if the title sounds like a Monty Python line.

Why He Was Born

How Many Kings, Indeed

via Triple D

Merry Christmas

"God bless us, every one."

More Music: Colonizing The Cosmos

Some friends of mine. Worth listening to.

Colonizing the Cosmos

Read more here from another fan.

Goats and Grapefruit

This got my goat... or somebody's.

Just in case you don't get the grapefruit reference.

And go here to give a goat in Canada. We did.

Pomplamoose, World Vision, Give a Goat

I Don't Care if CSi Can Do It, I Can't

I've spent years working in edit suites - with some of THE most powerful visual tools at my finger tips. I'm just glad I don't work with clients in that environment today. (99.9% of my editing takes place by myself these days. And no, it has nothing to do with what deodorant I use. )

This kind of stuff in movies and TV shows must make editors, stuck in edit suites with clients, a little crazy [via Adobe's John Nack - original here]:

Client: "How come they can do it on CSi but you can't do it here? Especially with how much money I'm being charged per hour!"

Editor: [Sigh]

CSI Lies, freeze & enhance, book'em Dano

A Little Christmas Sax

A Saxamaphone* Quartet led by George Furlow.

George (2nd from the left) is one of my closest male buddies. We became good friends on a trip to South Africa in 1996. We then went on to spend way too much time laughing together - whether in Pittsburgh, Toronto or points beyond. (And we worked together 50% of the time from 2002 - 2004 at the church where the above was recently recorded.)

George, and Baritone player/hilarious individual, Warren Yeckel both studied with Canadian saxaphonist Paul Brodie while doing their music degrees @ Duquesne in Pittsburgh.

George has a very good "smooth jazz" Christmas album available here or on iTunes. It plays throughout the Christmas season at our place. (His other albums are also worth checking out.)

A number of the Kinnons will be descending on the Furlows this time next week. And we are looking forward to it. Hope you enjoy the tunes above.

*Saxamaphone is what GP (Guinea Pig) called a sax on the multi-award winning kids' series, Once Upon a Hamster. (We won some of those awards for our work on that show.) GP's word has gotten stuck in my head.

saxaphone quartet, George Furlow

A Little Christmas Music for You & Yours

For those reading this via RSS - my apologies for how ugly the formatting gets. Feel free to click through to the blog. Thanks.

In my DannyMac inspired attempt to be nice before Christmas (though I'm guaranteed coal in my stocking anyway), I thought I'd point you at a favourite Christmas album or two.

Number One at the Kinnon household is Handel's Messiah, A Soulful Celebration. Christmas begins with the Hallelujah Chorus cranked from whatever music delivering device is available.

This YouTube clip lets you hear it. Crank it up!

Number Two would be Rob Mathes' William the Angel album. Elsewhere on this nanonode of the worldwide interwebs, I've pointed you at Rob singing Chris Falson's I See the Lord. Since we had the pleasure of working with Rob back in the early mid-nineties, he's gone on to become a well known arranger and producer.

But Chrismas remains a well-loved season for Rob, with his annual Chrismas concerts in Connecticut and/or New York. (One year we will be there.)

This clip features Rob doing Wake Up It's Christmas Morning.

Here's the US iTunes link to William The Angel.

Number Three would be Sarah McLachlan's Wintersong, which plays throughout our Christmas iTunes playlist(s).

The poignant Joni Mitchell song, River, reminds us of those who don't necessarily find Christmas to be such a joyful season.

Number Four would be Michael McDonald - Imbi's and my favourite male vocalist, bar none. This clips features MMcD on ukelele of all instruments. (He must be a friend of Brad Boydston's.)

You can also grab a DVD of a concert Michael did with Rob Mathes that is also part of our holiday season celebrations.

Hope you enjoy the tunes and may this Christmas be a wonder-filled time for you and your family.

Christmas Music from a French Grapefruit?

Oh. Sorry. I confused Pamplemouse with Pomplamoose.

I like Pomplamoose more than a French grapefruit - no need to add sugar - they are sweet, yet still pleasantly tangy.

O Come All Ye Faithful - Pomplamoosed. [via McCoy, Jared, Thinklings, etc.]

The Importance of a Theological Education

...from one of jonny baker's favourite creative people, Roger von Oech (Twitter: @RogervonOech)

And Jesus said unto them, "And whom do you say that I am?"

They replied,

"You are the totaliter aliter, the vestigious trinitatum who speaks to us in the modality of Christo-monism.”

"You are he who heals our ambiguities and overcomes the split of angst and existential estrangement; you are he who speaks of the theonomous viewpoint of the analogia entis, the analogy of our being and the ground of all possibilities.”

"You are the impossible possibility who brings to us, your children of light and children of darkness, the overwhelming roughness’ in the midst of our fraught condition of estrangement and brokenness in the contiguity and existential anxieties of our ontological relationships.”

“You are my Oppressed One, my soul's shalom, the One who was, who is, and who shall be, who has never left us alone in the struggle, the event of liberation in the lives of the oppressed struggling for freedom, and whose blackness is both literal and symbolic.”

And Jesus replied, "Huh?"

This cracked me up. How easy it is to get trapped in our own words and concepts — especially the complex ones — and miss out on the experience of what's actually happening. [link emphasis added]

I found this very amusing this morning. Too many folk are sent off to seminary to learn how to lead - and this, only slight exaggeration, is what ends up being produced.

As Roger notes, this humour could well be applied to many fields - not just those of the seminary.

Now I need to go and get my totaliter aliter. One never knows when it might come in handy.

seminary humor

Coffeehouse Theology Study Guide (Free 'til Dec 31st)

Ed Cyzewski (@edcyzewski on Twitter) is a gifted professional writer who blogs on culture and the church @ In A Mirror Dimly - one of my favourite blogs. (Ed's blog on writing is also worth following.)

Ed is also the author of a good book, Coffeehouse Theology:

Coffeehouse Theology will help the reader understand, shape, and live out practical Christian theology in the postmodern context. Beginning with the relationship of cultural context and theology, Coffeehouse Theology roots theology in the church’s mission to be the presence of God’s Kingdom.

If you haven't had a chance to read Coffeehouse Theology, Ed and his publisher are offering a 35% discount (coupon code: K82E1D8E6).

FREE EBOOK STUDY GUIDE:
Until the end of 2009 - a scant 16 days away - you can download a free ebook version of Ed's study guide for Coffeehouse Theology.

I've already grabbed mine.

From the Archives: Sociopaths as Church Leaders

A brief moment in the archives reminded me of this older post of mine.

In light of this week's I Should Be Shocked post and this, the line in the graphic below seems particularly appropriate (taken from the 2nd last quote* at the bottom of this post):

_________________________________________

Originally posted July 30th, 2007 (mildly updated here)

I found this post from Touchstone Mag rather interesting. They point to this series, from Jesus and the Culture Wars, Christian Sociopathy - Parts One, Two and Three. From Part Two,

The Sociopath is unable to develop any kind of true, loyal attachments to people. This inability to be genuinely connected to others renders their experience of life bland, colorless, boring, and tedious. Consequently, they turn to power, not love and relationship, as the primary motivational factor for their lives. The sociopath seeks to gain power through which she can find some sense of connection to humanity by causing the suffering of others. The more she is able to make another suffer or hurt, the greater her sense of personal power, and the more exciting and invigorating life becomes. (Dr Martha) Stout says that the motivation for self aggrandized power is so strong in the sociopath that many of them work hard to place themselves in leadership positions because the authority of an office or position gives the sociopath the tools and avenues she needs to both feed and fuel her mental illness. (Emphasis and link added.)

I'm sure that some of my regular readers will recognize these character attributes in certain folk they've worked with or are working with now.

I found this quote particularly enlightening,

Sociopaths are not the most conscientious of workers, but they know how to make a splashy entrance from time to time, or initiate some new project, to maintain the appearance of normalcy- to keep people from finding out about their sociopathy.

Or to keep people believing the train is still on the rails - even when its long since left the tracks.

Sociopaths lack remorse. They have absolutely no sorrow or shame for the things they do wrong and the ways they hurt other people. In fact, more than lacking in remorse, they often justify what they do- if not externally, at least internally. Their efforts at self-justification usually involve whole other layers of hurting others as they lie and falsely report about them to justify their sociopathic behavior.

I live in shock at the apparent lack of fear of a just God, when I read the fountain of words that some supposed leaders are willing to spew to cover their own misdeeds. (Or their willingness to hire lawyers in vain hope of covering their tracks.)

Sociopathy is incurable. Even if it were curable, sociopaths almost never want to be cured. They look at people who allow an overriding sense of obligation mitigate their responses to situations and consider them total fools. Sociopaths can oftentimes be heard as describing the conscience that others possess as a weakness and an impediment to personal power and progress.

And then there are the number of people who desperately desire to find themselves enmeshed in the machinations of these leaders. From Part Three,

It is stunning the extent to which Christians forgo what they know to be true, pure, and right when they get to sit across the table from a powerful and charming bishop, pastor, or seminary professor. Studies show that otherwise normal and healthy personalities will do some of the most atrocious things in their blind allegiance to an official with a title.* (emphasis added)

Although, it does seem sometimes to be more of like calling onto like. Or, perhaps, the well-practiced abilities of those Maureen Rogers calls CA's (charismatic ___holes). Stanford Professor Bob Sutton comments on Maureen's CA post,

Maureen makes a compelling case that "CA's" are the worst. I agree that people who have the power to attract and persuade others, but are selfish and mean-spirited beneath the veneer, are extremely dangerous. In fact, although charismatic leaders are generally described in positive terms by management theorists, other behavioral scientists often portray them in darker terms -- especially when they write about political and religious leaders. The best book I've ever read on the dark side is by anthropologist Charles Lindholm, which is simply called Charisma. Unfortunately, it is out of print, but it looks like you can pick up a used copy on Amazon. Lindholm shows how leaders including Hitler, Charles Manson, and Jim Jones used their charisma to do vile things to their followers and enemies. (emphasis added)

Now, perhaps I'm just a romantic (though Imbi would strongly disagree) in my belief that true conversion experiences can radically transform folk - which I believe I have seen.

Unfortunately, my experience is also that there truly are wolves in sheep's clothing - however well they wear those clothes.

celebrity rock-star pastor, church leadership, sociopath

I Should be Shocked

But I'm not particularly.

I spent far too many years working and consulting in the mega-church world not to have continually stumbled across the dead and dying faith of former followers - victims of the vision of the leader.

" Hey staff, here's an important saying you need to memorize,
'Any vision that's not my vision is di-vision'.
Division! - Get it! "

As the number of butts in seats increased, these mono-vision leaders felt as if they had the God Housekeeping Seal of Approval.

"If God wasn't happy with me, He'd tell me."

It doesn't help to remind them that God had to use an ass to get through to Balaam. One would think a pyjama-clad blogger or two wouldn't be out of His reach.

"Balaam wasn't a minister of the Gospel. That passage could never apply to me. Although any blogger who dares criticize me is definitely an ass. And probably not a Christian one."

I referenced a young 'successful' preacher in my recent post, What We Win Them With Is What We Win Them To;

A case in point, this painful video at Out of Ur. I have no doubt this young man basically has good motives. But he's not interested in hearing any critique. Entertainment is good because it gets butts in seats - "cuz, it's all about the numbers, baby!" And this young man's church has the numbers to show - so the rest of us just need to shut our festering gobs.

But, in line with Whitmarsh, do those numbers reflect the raising up of people who are disciples of Christ - whose lives exhibit "sacrifice, service, humility, forgiveness, love, grace and mercy."

This stomache-turning story of humiliation, fear and just plain evil would suggest otherwise.

It's the story of Dr. James Duncan, critiquing the ministry of Perry Noble (in a strong, somewhat obsessive, but reasoned manner) and finding his world turned upside down with threats of violence, actual identity theft, harassment, stalking and much more - this viciousness from a fulltime security person at Newspring and a number of Newspring volunteers - with the apparent approval of other Newspring staff (if one follows the Twitter trail according to Dr. Duncan). Noble claims not to have known.

Is it any wonder that a 'pastor' whose Twitter bio is "Wanna Be Ultimate Fighter!" - who spends an inordinate amount of time talking about 'ignoring bloggers and critics' in videos he has posted on YouTube (where in one he talks about God stopping him from smacking a woman in a restaurant he thinks has dissed him) - assuring his loyal listeners of how much smarter he is than the rest of us while he confuses missional with attractional then goes on to insult emerging - is it any wonder he would raise up combative, arrogant followers.

That those followers engaged in what might appear to be crimes worthy of a RICO investigation suggests the minimum response of the "leadership" at Newspring would be to meet with Dr. Duncan and profoundly apologize - seeking forgiveness. Instead they post weasel words in their statement that suggests Dr. Duncan is to blame and was simply after a big payout from Newspring.

I should be shocked. And you, Mr. Noble, should be ashamed.

______________________________________

UPDATE: Please read the good folk at Phoenix Preacher in Michael's Not Very Noble post and the comments that follow.

Previous kinnon.tv posts that have mentioned Perry Noble:
Church of the Little Rascals (2006)
Perry Noble and Out of Ur (2006)
Perry's All Fired Up (2007)
How to Rebuild a Bent Toadley and Other Church Ministries (2009)
The De-Churched or Not EVEN Virtual Part II (2009)
What is What?(2009)

Consumer-Driven Church

Facebook'd Narcissism

This isn't the first time I've received one of these messages from Facebook in my email. And each time they crack me up.

The message appears to say;

I want you to become a fan of Me.

Now. I'm not inferring that Brother Jim's a narcissist. I don't know him that well.

But.

We've gone from being Facebook friends to him now wanting me to become his fan.

And.

That's no way to build a friendship, Jim.

Sure. I recognize that evil Facebook forced you to stop adding friends after 5,000.

Quelle domage, dude.

And now if I want to hear from you, I'll need to become a fan.

But.

Really.

Can anyone have 5,000 friends.

At least in the friend definition of friend.

And did you ever truly want to be my friend.
[Short pause to get sobs under control.]

Or.

Was this just a way to add me to your audience.

Evil Facebook, Facebook, Humor, not haiku

Am I Justifed in Talking About Sheep & Goats

WARNING: I'm not a theologian. Though I occasionally attempt to play a feeble one on these interwebs. This would be one of those times.

This post was triggered by the response to the Manhattan Declaration on the part of many in the 5 Solas Camp(s) - those young, old, restless, resurging and reformed. For these folk, the only bona fide Christian is a Sola Fide Christian - justification by grace alone through faith alone.

For them, anything else, is another gospel. Any mention of works, immediately moves the purported believer into the non column, tarred with the Social Gospel brush, feathered with pages ripped from the Apocrypha. 'And there's absolutely no way we're gonna sign a Declaration with THOSE kind of people.'

I'd been a Christian for more than 20 years before I heard my first discussion of Sola Fide. (Ed: Bill think's he's a Christian, we won't know if he's one of the elect until the day of judgment, eh!)

As one whose theology is Wesleyan/Arminian, my understanding of soteriology (doctrine of salvation) is as a free will response to the prevenient grace of God, freely offered by Him to all - good works the natural and expected response after salvation. I believe Jesus' younger brother, James, when he says, 'faith without works is useless.'

Eugene Peterson poetically paraphrases Jesus words in Matthew 23 : 23-24,

"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God's Law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment — the absolute basics! — you carelessly take it or leave it. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required. Do you have any idea how silly you look, writing a life story that's wrong from start to finish, nitpicking over commas and semicolons? [Ed: emphasis added by that heretic, Kinnon]

I do NOT believe in a works-based salvation, but confess that I am more than a little suspect of those who make statements like this, (from an attack on J.I. Packer that Challies approvingly linked to)

the Manhattan Declaration represents another step toward accepting the false notion that being a Christian is demonstrated by doing something about social issues. [emphasis reflects author's original emphasis]

My friend, Jared Wilson (firmly Reformed in his faith), made this comment this morning @ the Boar's Head Tavern

I will go down swinging against the confusion of faith and works. But being a Christian IS demonstrated by doing something. Being a Christian isn’t accomplished by doing something. But doing something demonstrates we’re being something. This is basic James stuff. Basic “vine/branches” stuff. [emphasis added]

One wonders whether the Challies-friendly writer two quotes above would question Jared's salvation. Probably.

I found this Q&A exchange about Jim Belcher's book, Deep Church @ The Gospel Coalition rather telling

TGC: Speaking of the traditional church, you have gotten some pushback on your definition of the Gospel. Some contend that you have expanded the definition too much. How do you respond?

Belcher: I think they are right to point out that my definition of the Gospel includes more than justification. If they equate the gospel with justification then my definition is different; it is broader because the Bible’s view is broader. For example, for Jesus the Gospel is the announcement of the Kingdom and our call to be part of it. [emphasis added]

Let me give a graphic response to those who want to make the Gospel = Justification, full stop. (My commentary continues below.)

Jesus judges and separates the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25: 31-46. And perhaps I just can't find the secret gospel = justification message of Jesus in this passage, but it certainly seems that he's judging what we've done - and sending us to our appropriate rewards. (And yes, this passage scares the stuffing out of me. Oh. Wait. That must mean I don't have assurance and thus haven't been justified.)

Again, in my not humble but accurate opinion, Jared Wilson nails it when he says, "doing something demonstrates we’re being something."

This feeble studier of theology would suggest that there won't be a test on the day of judgment as to whether we have our doctrine all worked out.

[AS MONTY PYTHON MIGHT DO JUDGMENT DAY]

JESUS: [WITH POSH BRITISH ACCENT]

Oh my dear Bill. 2.5 Solas. I'm so sorry. Off to Purgatory with you.

HOLY SPIRIT: [ALSO WITH POSH BRITISH ACCENT]

Ahh, Jesus. We only send the Catholics to Purgatory. This one claims to have been a Post-Evangelical Anglican.

JESUS: [GRATINGLY POLITE]

Oh my. Well then. You'll just have to go to Hell, now won't you.

To those thoroughly middle class preachers who want to question the theology, in fact the salvation of your brothers and sisters in the trenches feeding the hungry, providing drink to the thirsty, befriending the friendless, clothing the naked, tending to the sick and visiting the prisoner; as Peterson paraphrases scripture above, "Do you have any idea how silly you look... nitpicking over commas and semicolons?"

Justification, sheep and goats, Manhattan Declaration

Chris Falson with Rob Mathes & Friends

Something Imbi and I produced in the 90's for Maranatha! Music.

Chris Falson w/Rob Mathes: I Love to Tell the Story from Bill Kinnon on Vimeo.

Chris Falson w/Rob Mathes: I See the Lord from Bill Kinnon on Vimeo.

Chris Falson, Rob Mathes

What is What?

Last week, I had a long chat with someone I hadn't spoken to in years. He's a well known leader in the wider church world - one who has become tired of consumer church, sounding almost post-evangelical. He reminded me of the above statement - one he remembers a seminary professor sharing with him almost four decades ago. It's no less true today.

Last night, the iMonk shared this video on the Boar's Head Tavern, The Christian Side Hug. This is what masquerades as discipleship in youth ministry. A steaming pile of gangsta-style from middle-class white kids singing suspect purity theology. And we wonder why the 18-30 segment are leaving the church in droves.

Yet, we will use the same nonsense in an attempt to win new "converts." Brad Boydston points to this good post from Dan Whitmarsh, Anything to Make a Sale:

... the strategy is: do something fun/cool/outrageous to get people in the door, then tell 'em about Jesus.

Let's be clear about one thing: the motivation is great. Telling people about Jesus is our highest calling. Creating opportunities to tell people about Jesus is a wonderful task.

But there was a dark side that very few people really wanted to talk about: this 'wow 'em and tell 'em about Jesus' strategy doesn't do much in the way of creating disciples. Instead, it creates instant flash with no long-term impact. The fact that even 70-80% of Christian kids leave the church after high school ought to tell us we're doing something wrong. That we're not growing Followers, that we're not raising Disciples. Instead, we're creating Consumers who will always chase after the next big fix, wherever that comes from. We're not raising young people who understand such basic tenets of Christianity as sacrifice, service, humility, forgiveness, love, grace and mercy. We are, in fact, temporarily distracting young people with smoke and mirrors, sneaking the gospel in there, assuming that, since they 'said the prayer' following the pizza and root-beer gorge, they're 'in.'

And here's today's problem: those raised in this world are leaving their youth ministry days behind and moving into senior leadership in churches across America. . .and they're using the exact same strategies in the larger church.

A case in point, this painful video at Out of Ur. I have no doubt this young man basically has good motives. But he's not interested in hearing any critique. Entertainment is good because it gets butts in seats - "cuz, it's all about the numbers, baby!" And this young man's church has the numbers to show - so the rest of us just need to shut our festering gobs.

But, in line with Whitmarsh above, do those numbers reflect the raising up of people who are disciples of Christ - whose lives exhibit "sacrifice, service, humility, forgiveness, love, grace and mercy."

Tony Robbins attracts huge crowds. He has loyal followers who hang on his every word and buy his every product. Actually, Tony has loyal consumers. And that is what much of the the entertained pew fodder are in North American megachurches and megachurch wannabees - loyal consumers. If we can keep them entertained, providing them with the "tools" to be better whatevers (husbands, fathers, mothers, wives, children, students, employees, employers - you name it) then we can guarantee growth.

But.

What we win them with, is what we win them to. Win them with entertainment, and you've created customers - who expect to be continually entertained.

Picking up our crosses and following Jesus is not particularly attractive. Buying into a worldview where the last are first, and the first are last doesn't win us any earthly popularity awards - and seems antithetical to the North American Dream.

So.

Please allow me to suggest.

If you insist on bragging about your church, don't tell us about the numbers. Tell us about how the Kingdom has come to your community. Tell us of the lame who walk, the blind who see, the debts that have been forgiven, the reconciliation that has taken place at personal, generational & racial levels, how the poor and the outcast are loved and taken care of, how widows and orphans are grafted into the church family, how your community is experiencing the Year of Jubilee - because of what the Spirit is doing in and through your church.

But if all you can talk about are your numbers, then, please...

...just shut up. It's long past old.

[NOTE: If you click on the image at the top, it will take you to a larger version, which you are more than welcome to use. It was created in Adobe Illustrator & After Effects CS4.]

Consumer-Driven Church, InternetMonk