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While looking at the story on atheist pastors, this link popped up and it is quite fascinating. A committed evangelical congregation and pastor that have decided the Gospel calls them to welcome gay and lesbian members. Not welcome them to worship and convince them to change their ways – welcome them fully into the congregation in their orientation and lifestyle. While this is nothing new in most mainline denominations/tribes like mine, this is a radical move for an evangelical. The cost of confessing this kind of grace and saying it is grounded in Scripture and not contrary to it was a loss of half their members and two thirds of their income when the decision was made. But the congregation continues, is growing again, and is moving on.

I’m going to have to explore this ABC online series called The Conversation. Simple recorded skype conversations on some fascinating topics. Maybe the mainstream press is learning to get creative. Its just too bad they don’t emable embedding for their videos on their website or on youtube.


The link to the video is here.

Click here to go to Highlands Church, Denver’s website.

Some are finding this shocking, anyone familiar with Church History is not surprised. Leadership and faith do not necessarily go hand and hand. In fact, most pastors, because of their education and experience are at a vastly different place when it comes to faith, the Bible, and God than most people in the pews, who typically don’t venture past middle school levels concepts. But that time comes when middle school answers don’t cut it with adult questions in the real world and that collision will either be devastating or renewing. Either way, be it pastor or lay person, you will never be the same afterward.

That’s why I like this new song that my oldest son turned me on to – Jesus Christ by Brand New. The lyrics speak to this. Welcome to the 21st Century where pastors live in the same world as everyone else… scary, but a good thing.

Yes, in case you are wondering, this will turn into a podcast this weekend.

too small ritz wired

My good friend, John Armstrong, is leading the Winebrenner Seminary annual Ritz Lecture Series this coming Monday here in Findlay. I am leading a workshop in the afternoon as part of it on the practical application of missional ecumenism, John’s premise (and rightly, I believe) that the greatest scandal of the Church is our division, our choice not to love one another for the sake of doctrinal purity, denominational history, or (my words here) pure stupidity on our part thinking we are right.

Here is the full schedule and registration links. If you haven’t registered yet and live in Ohio our southern Michigan, the book Your Church Is Too Small is well worth the read and a day with John well worth the trip.

Schedule

9:30 -10:00 Registration, book sales open

10:00-11:15 Session one: lecture with Q/A opportunity

11:15-12:30 Lunch on your own. Book sales open.

12:30-1:45 Session two: lecture and Q/A opportunity

2:00-2:30 Dr. Brandon Withrow: An Historical Look at Ecumenism

2:45-4:00 Session three: lecture and Q/A opportunity

4:15-5:30 Session four: examples and discussion of implementing a cooperative mindset, Pastor Tom Lyberg (“The Wired Pastor”) assisting

Registration

Cost: $49 Includes all sessions and breaks – No “Single Session” fee will be offered. A group discount of $5 per person will be given for five or more persons whose registration and payment is included in the same envelope. Copies of Dr. Armstrong’s book will be available.

-To register by phone contact Jerome Glick at (800) 992-4987.
To register online click here. As you register online make sure that in the “My Gift is For” field that you select “Special Event Fee”.

Wired Jesus is my homeboy

Well, I finally sat down and got a podcast out. Its my reflections on how Christians have this tendency to separate people out as the right sort and wrong sort, saints and sinners, saved and fallen, and then keep to themselves. Its this strange twist that forgets that Jesus hung around the social outcasts, not the proper people. The result is that Christians turn on themselves whenever a group spend time with today’s outcasts. I highlight The Strip Church in Las Vegas and the Lutheran Metal Mass in Finland.

Here you have The Strip Church being criticized by the brothel owners and are now welcomed. But of course, they were first commended by Christians for aiming to save “the sinners” but now are condemned for hanging around them. Same with the Metal Mass. People wanted to bring the “young people” back to church but when they brought their music with them, it became unwelcome and ungodly when it worked. And metal fans were mad because metal is about rebellion and can’t be watered down and used by God. Surprise. Because God cares, God doesn’t care what critics have to say about who God should and should not love or party with – nor should the Church.

Enjoy the links and clips below.


Download the podcast here.

Links:

The Strip Church

Orlando Sentinel Story

The Metal Mass

Metal Mass and Finnish Teens

Washington Times Story

In working on my sermon for this weekend, the gospel reading is Luke 15:1-10 and the part that jumped out at me was the accusation levelled at Jesus that he welcomed sinners and ate with them. His response was that heaven celebrates when the lost is found, when the 99 are left to fend for themselves while the shepherd seeks out the one.

Churches have a hard time grasping this. We love the image of the Good Shepherd but forget the content of the image – Jesus seeking out the stubborn, ornery, rebellious sheep that won’t stick with the flock. If you are going to be like Jesus, that is where you go. You give up security to risk finding the one who is farthest from the flock. Of course, the result is that the flock is either confident in their own abilities to hold together or they get anxious and mad because the shepherd isn’t doing his job – taking care of them.

I think the metal mass is a great example of this tension and shockingly, it is the creation of Lutherans, Finnish Lutherans no less. Proof that heavy metal Lutherans is not an oxymoron or shorthand for describing pipe organs.

Lutheran pastors around Finland are embracing this because the “lost” generation of 40 and under have left the organized church. If they showed up on a Sunday morning, to say they wouldn’t fit in would be an understatement. However, if you watch the video, the response has been incredible.

Luther is worth remembering – speak the gospel in the language of the people and they will hear. Just remember, sooner or later that language won’t be your own and you will have to learn theirs.

yes, there is a podcast in this. give me a couple of days.

ben franklin
This is nuts. I don’t live in Philly but a blog tax? As I facebooked, is this a money issue or a free speech issue. I think this is nuts and I hope the city goes down in flames in court.

Here’s the link.

95 Theses Rap

It appears I spoke too soon. Here you have the bio of Martin Luther and the Reformation in a rap. Unfortunately the web site of the creator is down, so I can’t give you more than this youtube link.

Word, dawg.

lutheran songs today

At the beginning of this year I wrote an article for our denominational magazine, The Lutheran, about a new set of song books by my friend, Eric Wefald. Like many mainline denominations, we have a difficult time getting our groove on in worship with anything that was written after the 19th Century. This collection of song books draws not only from contemporary artists but contemporary Lutheran artists!

Okay, that might sound like an oxymoron at first, Lutherans and anything contemporary, since change comes hard for some of us of northern European ancestery. But for those who have been hanging around some of our rockin’ youth gatherings (imagine – 35,000 teens doing service projects in New Orleans last year), you know there are bands that rock the house and convey the radical unconditional grace that is central to our tribal identity.
Lutheran Songs Today take the best from many of these different groups, scores them for church house bands, and makes it possible to do them locally in worship. Eric has worked his butt off to get the copyright releases, the band support, and now is working to get this into the hands local worship leaders.

Do you have to be Lutheran to buy or appreciate the songs? Absolutely not! So check out the web site and order a copy today.

So why don’t Lutherans rock out in worship and have a hard time with things like video in worship, facebooking faith, or things that seem to abandon the fruits of the printing press? Ah, that is another blog entry and probably worth a podcast. In the meantime, enjoy the Lutheran Song from the group Lost and Found and find out that famous Lutherans include people like Dana Carvey, Bruce Willis, Steve Jobs, and Dale Ernhardt Sr. Yep, doncha know.

Networked Blogs Tab

I started on this several months and forgot about the whole thing. However, on this last weekend of vacation I have been doing a few upgrades on WJP and found this. So share the Wired Jesus love with your friends and get their photos on the page. Its not quite like five years ago when I started out and had over 5000 listeners but there is still a few thousand listeners out there and I’d love to see your pictures.

Also, send me your favorite blogs to add to my list to follow. After all, WJP is about digital wanderings on faith!

Finally, a new podcast. What sparked it was some of the positive experiences I have had with congregations and change in recent months but the reality that most have become what Len Sweet calls “Bastions of Boredom.”

Bastions Of Boredom from The Work Of The People on Vimeo.

This great video done by Work of the People is a great summary of why too many existing congregations and denominations are dying. We have forgotten our mission and what God has given us and made it boring and a club. The weird part is that it is increasingly generational. The split between what Len calls the Guttenbergers and Googlers is increasingly Baby Boomers versus everyone else. The Flower Children who wanted to choose their own thing and have it their way increasingly sound like their parents – do church our way and talk our way. And guess what, their kids and grandkids are walking away and going to new congregations that don’t have the Guttenberg baggage. So while denominations print out new irrelevant hymnals instead of considering how googlers communicate and worship and congregations dither more about having the right faith statements and faithful living like Jesus, the church as we know it dies and a new, reborn one is taking its place.

I still contend it doesn’t have to be that way and Len is making that case too.

Download the podcast here.

Links:

The Work of The People

The Work of the People – Bastions of Boredom

Leonard Sweet’s Napkin Scribbles Podcast

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