A view from the outside?

Here is another good dose of “food for thought” from author Dan Kimball:

In his book “They Like Jesus But Not the Church”, Kimball questions out loud if people who are connected to the church are also remaining connected to the “outside” world. He wonders if we follow our charge as people of God to be an “everybody church, everywhere”, if we are a people that regularly journey with people who do not identify themselves as Christians? Here are some great questions to ask:

Am I numb or neutral toward people outside the church?

Do I intercede daily for people outside the church?

Who am I praying for now who is not a Christian?

When’s the last time I had coffee or dinner or gone to a movie and hung out with someone who is not a Christian?

How did you do? Are you engaging in the culture that surrounds you or are you remaining insulated in our own comfortable environment? How comfortable are you with doing something about it?

Green tip of the week: What's the probability your supermarket plums are genetically modified?
The BitePlum dandy (um, pretty high). But we'll help you crunch the numbers: the little stickers on fruits and veggies have digits that let you know whether they're conventionally grown or organic, and if they're genetically modified (GM).
The Benefits
· Better odds for your body. GM foods have been in stores only since the 1990s, so we don't know the long-term health risks, and in a 1998 EPA sampling, 29% of the foods tested contained detectable pesticides.
· Less of an eco-gamble. Scientists are concerned that GMOs will reduce biodiversity.
· Winning the taste-bud lottery. Foodies all over the world agree that the range of possible flavors is greater when we just let Mother Nature do her thing.

Wanna Try? Look for the labels stuck on your fruits and veggies:
· A four-digit number means it's conventionally grown.
· A five-digit number beginning with 9 means it's organic.
· A five-digit number beginning with 8 means it's GM.

Are you in the race?

I love author Brian McLaren. His books are quite inspirational and the titles are awesome. I especially love his book titled “Adventures in Missing the Point: How the Culture-Controlled Church Neutered the Gospel”, co-authored by Tony Campolo.

I have often spoken of how in order to run the race of faith we have to actually be engaged in the process of running, of being on a faith journey. As we look at this issue, I wonder how we can use our four point discipleship model, G-od, P-eople, C-alling and J-OY in creating an environment they write about for our church and community.

Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo tell a parable of a boring, little town that decided to hold a footrace. On the appointed day, the runners showed up in all their athletic finery. The crowds gathered. But then, something very strange happened:

“The runners took a step or two or three across the starting line, and then abruptly stopped. One man fell to his knees, crying, ‘I have crossed the starting line! This is the happiest day of my life!’ He repeated this again and again, and even began singing a song about how happy this day was for him.

“Another woman started jumping for joy. ‘Yes!’ she shouted, raising her fist in the air. ‘I am a race-runner! I am finally a race-runner!’ She ran around jumping and dancing, getting and giving high-fives to others who shared her joy at being in the race."

“Several people formed a circle and prayed, quietly thanking God for the privilege of crossing the starting line, and thanking God that they were not like the skeptics who didn’t come dressed for the race.”

The spectators, the authors say, were baffled by this strange behavior, but finally one observer turned to a neighbor and suggested that maybe they ought to get into the race. And so they did. Many others joined them:

“Soon many were kicking off their dress shoes, slipping out of their jackets, throwing all this unneeded clothing on the grass. And they ran — past the praying huddles and past the crying individuals and past the jumping high-fivers. And they found hope and joy in every step, and they grew stronger with every mile and hill. To their surprise, the path never ended — because in this race, there was no finish line. So they were never bored again.”
— Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo, Adventures in Missing the Point: How the Culture-Controlled Church Neutered the Gospel (Zondervan/Youth Specialties, 2006).

Green Tip of the week: Do you have a violent reaction to peanuts - the polystyrene kind?

The Bite: No kidding. For such a small piece of foam, packing peanuts are huge source of annoyance and waste. Keep your nutty reaction under control by reusing them (and bubble wrap too).
The Benefits:
Saving cash. Saving them for future mailings costs less than paying for new packaging and you can use the money to pay your allergist.

Easy recycling. More than 1,500 places nationwide (such as most UPS Stores) will take 'nuts and bubble wrap off your hands.

Fewer new peanuts. Places that collect used peanuts meet 50% of their packing-fill needs thanks to peanut donations.

Bio and recycled options. If you must buy new box-fillers, go with eco-friendlier versions.

Wanna Try?
· Plastic Loose Fill Council - visit this site or call 800-828-2214 for the nearest packing-peanut drop spot.
· Custom Wrap Cellulose Wadding - recycled paper that works as a filler or wrap ($45/two 24-in-by-200-ft rolls).
· Sealed Air Bubble Wrap - bubble wrap made using partially recycled plastic ($5/12-in-by-10-ft roll).
· U-Haul Biodegradable Packing Peanuts - made from cornstarch, they're durable but will decompose in H2O ($5/1.5 cu ft).
· Virtual Bubblewrap - once you pop, you can't stop.

What is missional?

Over the past few years I have often used the term “missional” when describing what the church is called to be. Missional is one of my favorite words even though my Microsoft Office 2003 tells me it is not a word or it is, at the very least, a misspelled word. Figuring out what is means to be missional here in our community is a central focus for our ministry in 2008. In conversation with others I have discovered that the term missional is often misinterpreted to be something it is not. Dan Kimball, in his new book They Like Jesus But Not The Church, gives us a few descriptive images of what he sees as missional. I tend to agree with his assessment, but leave it for you to interpret. What do you think? Is he right, and if he is, how is God calling us to react to such thoughts?

-from They Life Jesus But Not The Church

What Is Missional?

-Being missional means that the church sees itself as being missionaries, rather than having a missions department, and that we see ourselves as missionaries right where we live.

-Being missional means that we see ourselves as representatives of Jesus “sent” into our communities, and that the church aligns everything it does with the missio dei (mission of God).

-Being missional means we see the church not as a place we go only on Sunday, but as something we are throughout the week.

-Being missional means that we understand we don’t “bring Jesus” to people but that we realize Jesus is active in culture and we join him in what he is doing.

-Being missional means we are very much in the world and engaged in culture but are not conforming to the world.

-Being missional means we serve our communities, and we build relationships with the people in them, rather than seeing them as evangelistic targets.

-Being missional means being all the more dependent on Jesus and the Holy Spirit through prayer, the Scriptures, and each other in community.

Bottle/can collection success!

Another banner month for our bottle/can collection. This month we raised $36.70. That brings our two month total to $63.80. Our goal for 2008 is $500. This is part of our campaign in 2008 to "green" our church as well as contribute to the ministry of our church. Congrats to all who have participated.

First post for 2008

Friends:

A blessed new year to all of you in the name of the one who cannot fail, Jesus the Christ.

I am reading a fascinating book titled Church Re-Imagined by one of my favorite new authors, Doug Pagitt. In it he takes the reader on a spiritual journey reflecting the life of his Minneapolis church, Solomon’s Porch. I appreciate the way he calls us to approach our faith walk as he invites us to partner what we know about faith with how we react to what that faith calls us to be about. Let me give you an example:
”There are many of us who have come to believe that the “gospel” that sits at the center of much of the Protestant life today is a bifurcated version of the gospel message, one that reduces the call to Kingdom life to simple belief about Jesus while leaving the exemplary Christian life to the very devoted” (Pagitt 31)
The question Pagitt raises is a good one that we will be exploring this year as a people at St. John’s. Pagitt is asking us to ponder how we will balance learning about Jesus with acting like him. We will spend 2008 re-imagining how God is calling us to action as we witness to our faith. I look forward to the journey and ask you to pray about how God is calling you as an individual to a life of faithful living and how God is calling our church to be faithful witnesses to God’s message.

Remember, I pray for the readers of this blog every Friday morning. How can I pray for you?

Peace
PB

Prayer-points
-for the people of Iowa today as they give the countries first measurable indication of how our presidential election will shape up
-for all those who are facing home foreclosure or job loss
-for the mission of our church and Synod

Good Search: Thank you for using Good Search in 2007. St. John’s received a check for $11.97 as a result of our web searching in 2007. I would like to encourage you to continue to use Good Search in 2008. Our fundraising goal using Good Search is $100.00 for 2008 (that is just 27 searches per day). Why not make Good Search part of your toolbar search engine in 2008? Please use St. John’s Lutheran Church (Redford, MI) as your charity of choice. Thanks!

Green tip of the week: Great present #1: 365 Ways To Live Green by Diane Gow McDilda. Many of our green tips for 2008 will come from this great resource.
Tip: Change the way you shower. Beyond taking shorter and colder showers, you can take other steps to conserve water and natural resources while cleaning up. Standard showerheads put out up to 5 gallons per minute. Low-flow showerheads can cut that in half. If a low-flow shower isn’t satisfactory, try using an aerator showerhead. Air is added to the water as it flows from the head, making it feel like a higher flowing showerhead. You can also add aerators to spigots, reducing the flow of more than 2 gallons per minute to 1. Aerators are relatively inexpensive and easy to install.