wonders and reflections in God's presence

You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational. Cultural Creative 94% Idealist 88% Existentialist 50% Postmodernist 50% Romanticist 31% Fundamentalist 19% Modernist 19% Materialist 13% What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com

Thanks to Corey for this link.

(this was originally published by me on the Eklektos blog)

It’s official. According to an article today in The Baptist Press, Faith Harbour has been “disaffiliated” with the Southern Baptist of Texas Convention because of its relationship with Eklektos.

The article states:

Biles recounted that the committee hoped to clarify Faith Harbour’s stance toward a church it is helping sponsor and allowing to meet in its facilities, which bills itself on its website as welcoming and affirming of homosexual, bisexual and trangendered people.

Additionally, the new church, Eklektos, has a female senior pastor. Biles said the committee and Faith Harbour pastor Randy Haney were unable to resolve their differences over Faith Harbour’s involvement with Eklektos.

Aside from the fact that Eklektos is not a “church” in any official capacity, and I am not the Senior Pastor, it’s a shame that the political climate of the SBTC is such that merely associating with a ministry outreach that does not condemn homosexuals is so threatening. Does Jesus condemn homosexuals? No, Jesus goes out of his way to associate with people the church of his day condemned, and he offered them love.

I realize that many people differ on the Biblical interpretation of Scripture surrounding issues of homosexuality. My hope is that Eklektos will minister within that controversy and seek Christ in the midst of it. I acknowledge that even the most faithful Christians can disagree over whether homosexuality is sinful — Randy and I differ on that issue — but this ministry is here to reach people who are typically ostracized and hurt by the Church, and to offer them a loving and non-judgemental community in which to seek Christ and grow in discipleship. Even if we all agreed that homosexuality was a sin, should a church require gay and lesbians to be celibate or “convert” to heterosexuality? No. Not anymore than the church should require divorced people to reconcile, wealthy people to divest their money from companies that promote unrepentant consumerism, or gluttonous people to go on diets.

Randy, I know you have suffered greatly for beng a friend to me and to Eklektos. I am sorry that the state of the church is such that men and women are still persecuted for following Christ’s example. Your witness is greatly appreciated.

Comments?

I have decided to post the articles I’ve written this past year as pages on my blog.  Only the ones I like of course.  The newest is posted below, in order to get the technorati tags.  I’ll post the others as pages and posts, too … but I’ll change the date of the post to reflect the date of its original publication.

I took the spiritual gift inventory and “hospitality” was NOT one of my gifts!  But there were people in my church who were off the charts in hospitality!  You know who they are – the ones who are always preparing table decorations for the next church dinner.  They are the ones who love to cook, bake, decorate, and entertain – the Martha Stewarts of your church.  Now, I love being with people; and I actually love to host parties at my house.  But, for me, hospitality amounts to the following: “There’s the refrigeration, and there’s the pantry; when you’re hungry, help yourself.”

Most recently I’ve been reading that hospitality is a key to successful church growth.  The experts make a distinction between merely being a “friendly church” and a church that shows “real hospitality.”  We’ve all heard of the jokes about the frozen chosen.  Perhaps you’ve even visited a church one Sunday and had no one say a word to you the whole time you were there.  Even churches that consider themselves “friendly” are warm and open to each other, but relatively cold to the stranger.  You know that a sanctuary that is only 60% occupied on a Sunday morning, can still feel “full” and closed to an outsider.

To our credit, most of our churches have become much better at appearing friendly.  We have greeters are placed strategically at the door to meet visitors with a smile.  Information desks and Welcome Centers are geared especially for newcomers who are seeking information on the church.  We wear nametags so we can greet each other by name.  More and more, there are genuine smiles and welcomes come from people in the pews, and sometimes even invitations to join new groups in the church.  But real hospitality, radical hospitality, is even more than that … and it doesn’t have much to do with table decorations either.  Radical hospitality has to do with making room in your life for someone.  To be a growing church, we need to make room not only in the church, but in our lives, for new people.

For centuries (even millenniums) hospitality has been a moral mandate.  It involved welcoming the stranger.  Not just smiling at them and saying how happy you are to meet them, but really welcoming them into our homes and offering them food, shelter, and protection.[1]  Remember the condemnation God had for the city of Sodom when they were not hospitable to the strangers in their midst.  As Christians, too, we are called to welcome the strangers into our homes.

This is really fun … these are all the states I’ve been in. Now some I was just passing through, and to be truthful I was only in the airport for a lay over in Washington State.

create your own personalized map of the USA

It’s not as impressive looking at my map of the world … but I do have a goal to visit every continent at some point in my life.

create your own visited country map

As you can tell, I really like to travel.   Thanks, Kyle, for the map link.

The other day I was commenting to my boss about my relationship with women clergy.  I mentioned that, in general, I seem to resonate more with those who were ordained in the 70′s than those being ordained now, at least those in the Presbyterian Church. He said, of course, they were the trailblazers.

I never thought of myself as much of a trailblazer.  I’m much too conventional for that.  But then, when I look back on my life … there ARE certain trailblazing aspects to my personality.

• I don’t ever seem content with the status quo.
• I’m not afraid to go a different direction than the crowd.  In fact, I LIKE going a different direction that the rest of the crowd.
• I evaluate and think for myself.
• I can see possibilities.
• I thrive on influence.  That is, I feel most fulfilled when I am making a change or making a difference in something …

But I don’t really consider myself a trailblazer.  I think myself more as the pioneer type.  I like to be on the cutting edge, but not the bleeding edge.  I am not creating the trails, but when see a new trail that looks promising, I’m not afraid to be one of the first ones to travel that way.  I like to think I make it easier for others to follow.

Even the life of a pioneer is dangerous.  You never know, really, how dangerous it is until you’re there.  You can do your best to be prepared, but you have to have a lot of trust.  And you need a lot of imagination, because there are some challenges you cannot plan for ahead of time.

I could never live with the uncertainties of pioneer life without a trust, a deep faith, that Christ was leading me and Christ was with me.  Most of my motivation for pioneer life comes from a fire in my belly, not reason in my head … I am convinced that the Holy Spirit is present in me most through that fire in the belly … that passionate desire for a new way … a more Christ-like way.