Evangelical Leader, Jim Wallis, Now Favors Marriage Equality
Do you hear that? It's the winds of change
Sermon Podcast: Will You Tell Them?
"Or is what’s at stake here something different? Perhaps the call here has to do with figuring out a way for Jesus’ followers to proclaim the truth of the Gospel in a public way that actually communicates something positive about the unfolding reign of God—in which the poor receive good news, the captives are released, the blind are given sight, and the oppressed are set free."
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It's All About Getting There
By Derek Penwell
Shipping
Shipping. In the end it’s all about shipping.
It’s not about starting. Anyone can start.
It’s about producing. It’s about seeing a project through to completion. It’s about shipping.
Used to be, I was a good starter. I liked the process. I’d get excited about something, and I’d go out and buy a notebook to start taking notes, start planning, start getting ready to start.
And pens. I bought a lot of pens.
And calendars. Notebooks, and pens, and calendars.
How could I not be serious with all these office supplies?
Or, after I got into the computer age, it was software. If I only had the right software, I’d already be finished.
The problem was I mistook starting for shipping. I thought that if I could just get started, I would have done the really important work. If I could just line up the perfect office supplies, the right software, I would have solved the hardest part.
I mistook preparing to work for work.
And it’s not that preparing for work is unimportant. You need the right tools to do the job. Unfortunately, I spent so much time getting the right tools, then organizing them, and making sure the desk or the paints or the tool bench was just so, that I could walk away from the work thinking I’d accomplished work without ever actually working.
Perhaps, even more importantly, I usually had tools enough to start anyway. I convinced myself that the work couldn’t get done, however, without “better” tools.
Here’s what it took me so long to figure out—and occasionally still need help figuring out—good work is the application of resources in the service of realizing a goal—that is, good work is about completing a project and shipping it. Good work doesn’t require a perfect beginning. Perfect beginnings are a white whale that lead you to the middle of nowhere.
Good rule of thumb: If the work you’re doing isn’t bringing you closer to achieving your objective, it’s wasting your time. Not only is it not helping you do good work, it’s preventing you from doing good work—since all the fiddling around deceives you into thinking you’re actually doing something, when in fact, you’re actively, not doing the very thing that would help you achieve your goal.
Sometimes you just have to use the notebook you have.
Maybe you have to make peace with the fact that the old Bic you find at the bottom of the drawer will work just fine.
Perhaps what you need isn’t new software, but a bare-bones text editor and the determination to start driving the cursor across the page—before you have all the details worked out.
The Church and Getting Sidetracked
One of the problems with following Jesus is that you never know quite where he’s going to go. According to the Gospels, the disciples regularly found this little idiosyncrasy of Jesus vexing.
First, he’s going here. Then, he’s going there. The disciples found it next to impossible to keep up with him.
Then, after Jesus left, they stood around, waiting for someone to tell them what to do next.
After the ascension, they stood around looking into the heavens, wondering, “Now what?” Suddenly, two men in white robes sidle up and say, “Why are you just standing there? Quit mouth-breathing and get back to work.”
At Pentecost, they were all gathered together in the Azalea Room at the local Holiday Inn Express, wringing their hands, unable to work out just where to go next. The Holy Spirit showed up, kicked them out into the street with no discernible plan, “For crying out loud! Will you just get out there and start working?”
“We don’t know what to do.”
“Of course you don’t. And you’re never going to know sitting here, rearranging office supplies. You’re going to have to get out there and start.”
“We don’t know where to go.”
“If you wait to start walking until it’s all lined up for you, you’ll never find out where you need to go.”
“But what if we go in the wrong direction? What if we do the wrong thing?”
“You will. Inevitably. You’re going to make so many mistakes, even Lindsay Lohan’s going to look thoughtful next to you. But so what? Most likely, you won’t know exactly what to do and where to go until you’re already out there in the middle of it. So, go ahead and make some mistakes; because making mistakes in the service of a goal is preferable to sitting about endlessly rehearsing the reasons to continue sitting about.”
Congregations too often gets sidetracked. Worried about making mistakes, congregations freeze up.
Well, that’s not true entirely. It’s not like congregations that are afraid of making mistakes don’t do anything. They start things; they just don’t ship much that’s interesting. Unfortunately, the things they start are things with which they feel comfortable.
They spend a great deal of time lining up budgets, making flow charts, buying fancy stationary, dreaming up new programs. And these things feel like good work, like ministry.
But so often these scared congregations stop just short of doing good work because they fear making a mistake. Not wanting to do something that might raise the ire of the faithful, they stick to things they know—which would be one thing, if what they know actually took them toward anywhere interesting. As it is, much of the normal flurry of activity fails to help them arrive at a destination, amounting to energy expended in the service of wheel-spinning.
Here’s What I Think
- Use the tools you’ve got … until you have enough experience to know they’re not sufficient. Then, go get what you need. (Consistently reversing the order here, will almost certainly guarantee you won’t ship.)
- Start working. Start heading toward a destination.
- If you don’t have all the details figured out about your goal, start working anyway. You’re more likely to understand exactly what you’re trying to do only after you’ve begun.
- If you don’t have the exact GPS coordinates in hand, start heading in the general direction. (This isn’t the same as traveling at random. Start heading north, if north is where you think you need to be.)
- Make some mistakes. Embrace your mistakes. They provide you valuable information.
- If you’re on a journey to a destination, backtracking is not defeat; it’s re-calibration. (If you have an idea where you’re going, backtracking is almost always better than sidetracking.)
- If you’re vaguely afraid of going someplace, it might be that you need to pay more attention to that place. It could truly be dangerous. Or it could be that it’s the very place you should be headed, since all truly interesting places involve a certain amount of risk.
- Start. Produce. Finish. Ship. Repeat.
Sermon Podcast: When Jesus Calls Your Name
"Even she, who’d hung on every word he’d said while he was still alive, didn’t recognize his voice for Death whispering in her ears. But then Jesus said her name. And when Jesus calls your name, no power on heaven or earth is strong enough to silence his voice."
Easter is here! Time to live the resurrection!
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Ben Powell, Director of Music
Finally (no thanks to Geoff), our new Director of Music is officially on the staff page. Check him out. Show him some love.
Red for equality.
[D] merchant.
If you're in question of the timbre of [D]mergent, their new foray into branding may set you straight.
YES. They most certainly are sleeveless.
Ya know. Just so you don't have to cut the sleeves off yourself - something we were all going to do anyway.
If you're interested in buying one (of course you're interested), they're available on Cafe Press.
Sermon Podcast: How Are We Supposed to Feel? (Luke 22:14-23:49)
"Ambivalence is often the place where we live. Things are generally never all good or all bad. Whether it’s the glory of palms or the passion of crucifixion, the good news of the gospel is … God won’t rest until Easter outshines them all."
Palm/Passion Sunday, folks. Heavy stuff. As we all know, Good Friday is just a few days away.
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Derek is killing it over at Huffpost.
What If the Kids Don't Want Our Church?
A word to the wise, Congregations at large. Don't become this guy.
"Hey, you kids get off of my Antique American Oak Bow Glass China Cabinet!"
Arguably, one of the Rev's best yet.
A Journey of Faith
A poem from our own Darla Bailey. A variation on it was used in this week's greeting.
God, I have seen you hungry –
But, Lord, I have never been without food;
and yet, I have ached from within for the answers to the
questions that go unanswered, I have ached for serenity,
courage and wisdom.
God, I have seen you thirsty –
But, Lord, I have never been without water;
and yet, I have wanted to quench my yearning for rest
and refreshing news of guaranteed peace for the future.
God, I have seen you naked –
But, Lord, I have never been without clothes to cover my body;
and yet, I have felt vulnerable and exposed. I have wanted to wrap up
in a garment of comfort and compassion.
God, I have seen you in prison –
But Lord, I have never spent even a day behind bars;
and yet, I have yearned for freedom to express myself as
I am. To be able to break from the shackles and demands and pressures.
God, I have seen you as you have been
hungry, thirsty, homeless and imprisoned.
And, yes, Lord, I have seen my own self – my own needs. May I
see you as my fellow sojourner – traveling the journey of
faith along side me.
Darla A Bailey 3/1990
Sermon Podcast: The Foolish Traveler (Luke 10:25-31)
This past Sunday, we were blessed to have Diana Garland deliver our sermon. Came all the way from Waco, TX. She proceeded to blow our minds.
“Christianity is not about what we believe. The way to love God is to love those whom God loves.” —Overheard at @douglassblvdcc
— Ben Carter (@notbencarter) March 17, 2013
Diana Garland at DBCC
For those of you who don't come to our Sunday Morning Class with Derek, I have two things to say in no particular order:
B) Shame.
A) Dr. Diana Garland, Dean of the School of Social Work at Baylor University (yes, the one in Texas) is going to be presenting this Sunday!
But, hey, you know what? Even if you miss her at 9:30, you could still hear her. She'll also be filling the pulpit on Sunday morning. Check her out! you can click below for some more info on her.
Read More"Jesus Is Not Coming Soon"
“If we believe Jesus is going to make a special trip to strap jetpacks on us, we aren’t forced to care about our brothers and sisters (the heathen who are staying behind to be destroyed anyway), about the creation we’ve been given, about any of the tasks God assigns us through the prophets and through Jesus himself. If, for example, your primary interest in Israel, like that of Texas pastor John Hagee and his millions of followers, is how you can help promote your version of the End of Time through the Chosen, how can you truly be a Friend of Israel?”
For so many reasons, this clip from Dr. Strangelove comes to mind when this topic is discussed.
Greg Garrett hits the nail on the head. And while rapture enthusiasts are easy targets, we are all pretty adept at finding excuses to put aside the Kingdom we're supposed to be laboring for.
That said, please don't feel bad about watching Slim Pickens ride a nuclear warhead to the ground. That's never a waste of time.
Sermon Podcast: Looking out the Window (Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32)
"There’s almost a competition, isn’t there? As if to say, “Ha! You think you were bad off; you should have seen me before I got saved. I did everything you did, and I kicked the dog! Obviously, there must be something big about God’s grace if God’d fool with a sorry ‘ol somebody like me.
"But, let me clue you in on a little secret: If you’re the type of person who generally goes to church on Sunday Mornings, while everybody else is out doing something more productive, chances are you’ve got more in common with the elder brother.
"Am I right?"
So, the question remains:
Would you go to the younger brother's Welcome-Home-from-Vegas We-Know-You-Wasted-the-Family-Fortune-But-Don't-Seem-To-Care Party?
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Send us your stuff!
Our website is like our front porch to the world. It is often the first thing folks see when they’re introduced to us online. We’ve been working tirelessly to cultivate our site to make an accurate representation of just how cool this place is.
All that said, we want the front porch decorations to be of the whole family, not just a few.We need you to send us stuff. Any stuff.
Shot a video clip at the Fairness Rally? Send it!
Took a picture at the Trunk r’ Treat? Send it!
Saw a funny video on YouTube? Send it!
Wrote a blog post on discipleship? Sustainability? BMWs & earthworms? SEND IT!
Snail mail, Email, carbon copy, dark room, sketch artist rendering, pony express, or drop by the office. Just get it here.
We’ll be the moderators. All you have to do is get it to us. We want to know what you’re thinking. We'd like to know what makes you laugh, what engages you intellectually, but most importantly, we want the world to hear our collective voice as a community of faith. No matter how zany it may be.
Let’s make our front porch light up the neighborhood.
To prove to you that we will literally post (almost) anything, here is a video of Bon Jovi and some goats.
Happy Thursday!
Not Minding My Own Business: Leviticus, Morality, and Not Killing Gay People
By Derek Penwell
This article originally appeared in The Huffington Post .
Minding my own business. That's all I was doing. A little catching up on social media, when I came across an articleabout a Colorado pastor, Kevin Swanson, who warned on his radio show that inside of ten years, gay people will likely be burning Christians at the stake—because, you know, that's how the gays do . . . at least since Nero.
What really caught my eye, though, was a quote from another person on the show, who suggested (wrongly) that people can be indoctrinated (though he doesn't say how) into a lifestyle (homosexual) for which the Bible demands "capital punishment."
Read MoreSermon Podcast: My Ways Are Not Your Ways (Isaiah 55:1-9)
“But then God unveils the guest list: “Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”
Does … uh … somebody want to tell God that that sort of thing is frowned on in these parts? You start having parties with all those people, drinking ginger-ale punch and eating spanish peanuts, and pretty soon they start thinking that you approve of their lifestyle.”
Derek fills us in on what God wants us to do about all those free-loading sinner folk.
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But what if you don't have papers?
“I couldn’t always understand my students’ banter, but I pretended and continued with false confidence into the realm of thesis statements and college acceptance, encouraging my students to believe that they could find success on the other side of an AP exam.
’But what if you don’t have papers?’ a boy named Cesar asked one day.
’Which papers?’ I asked, stupidly – my mind on essays and homework.
’You know, Miss, Papers.’”
We often talk about the plight of the millennial generation and its burden of educational and financial uncertainty. What we often fail to recognize is that these disadvantages are exponentially magnified for those who don't have "papers".
Sure, you can go to college.
Then what?
Les Misérables and the Church.
In honor of the Oscars, a little musical theater parallel.
Interesting comparison of the Church and the character Javert of Les Mis from Douglass Anne Cartwright. The post comes from Phil Shepherd's site, Whiskey Preacher.
Phil and his wife, Stephanie, co-pastor a church they founded in Ft. Worth, TX called The Eucatastrophe. Pretty cool spot. Pretty cool folks.
Lobby Day Photos
Here are a couple of photos from the Rally for Fairness at the Capitol last Wednesday. If you have any you'd like to add, send them to us!
