The church values beauty and creativity because God values these things, right? Maybe it’s because God IS beauty and creativity so when we live fully as we were created to live, made in his image and filled with this spirit, when we embrace beauty and creativity we are participating in the life of God. Maybe it’s something like that.

I think in our worship we often forget this kind of stuff these days.

Our buildings are big square office boxes next to other office boxes. Even when we spend LOTS of money on a building it probably just looks like the school down the street. Our art… wait, we don’t really do art anymore. Our music is often times mimics of a pop culture with very little redemptive imagination.

Mostly we come to worship / sing a few songs about Jesus and listen to a message about Jesus, we don’t value much else. And it better not last much longer than an hour… after all, we have things to do.

Well on a night like tonight i remember the value of sacred music and sacred spaces. I think of the good, the true and the beautiful and how the church has always valued these things.

Don’t get me wrong, i struggle with the amount of money that is spent on some church buildings and chapels, i personally don’t put a high value on appearances (in some ways), on pomp and circumstance, and on flashy kinds of things. I live in a tension when it comes to these things. I see value in space and beauty and creativity… but i also like low key, come as you are environments offered by many churches these days.

I’m not sure i like one over the other, i probably prefer beauty to bland but a mix of the 2… i guess.

I do know when i come to a night of worship at a church like the one i am privileged to work and worship at i remember that historically the Church has valued beauty and creativity and has lead the way in sharing it, often through architecture and art. I definitely think the church, in some ways, needs to regain that place in the world.

What do you think?
How do we reclaim space? Especially when it comes to worship and buildings / architecture… or does it matter?

Do we care about beauty or art or creativity? What does this look like as communities of faith if we say we do value these things?

Is it possible to value mission and beauty at the same time? (i’m thinking of the argument, “we could have spent that money on the mission field instead of a building.”

Alright, enough rambling.

My wife and i had an awesome night of enjoying Christmas music in a beautiful building created for worshiping God. It was great and these are some of my rambling thoughts at 1 in the morning.

Enjoy?

peace

erik

This week is dedicated to Nashville! By Thursday my family and i will have loaded up a 16 foot Penske truck and by 8 in the am we will be making our way to Dallas, Texas—Plano to be precise. The move, like so many, is bittersweet. I am more than excited to get to Plano and dig in to ministry at Christ Church (my new church family). I’m giddy, excited, totally pumped! to get to know the middle school students and the adults that are currently leading them – all the crew that make up the group i will be getting to lead with and share life with. I can’t wait. And Texas is an adventure and i’m always up for an adventure!

But i am leaving Nashville—this is the bitter part of the deal. Nashville, more than any other place i’ve ever lived, feels like home. The other time i left i never stopped missing her, so finally i just came back. But now i leave again. I leave friends i absolutely love, a church that is amazing, and a city that has taught me a lot in the 7 years i lived here.

So in honor of Nashville i will be attempting to post my favorite things about her and my fondest memories while living with her.

Probably the #1 thing i will miss about Nashville are the friends i met here. I have a TON of friends in Nashville, some good, some fair weather, some i see often, some not so often, but all of whom i value and will miss a ton.

Some of my best friends in Nashville threw my family a little going away party or a little “Exodus to Texas” party.

Here is the proof (and to see all the pics check out our party facebook page).

(if you click on this picture twice you can see it full size)

I love these people and will miss every one of them more than i even want to admit.

More Nashville-inspired blogging to come.

I read a pretty good amount, not as much as i would like but a decent amount non the less. There are quite a few books i read portions of but here is my 2010 reading list (books i actually completed).
In the Order that i read them not in the order i liked them.

2010 Book List…

#1. iDentity : Who you are in Christ

Eric Geiger

#2. Introduction to the Devout Life

Saint Francis de Sales

#3. The Waste Land and other Selected Writings

T.S. Eliot

A little poetry is always good for the soul. I don’t get about 90% but maybe that’s ok.

#4. The Sacred Meal

Nora Gallegar

I believed i blogged about this book. It was solid, not the best account or greatest insight i have ever read on the Eucharist but it was solid. I would recommend it!

#5.  Giving Church Another Chance

Bishop Todd Hunter

I had the opportunity to have lunch with Todd back in May so i picked up his book and read it quick. And i really enjoyed it! It didn’t rip my face off with amazing and deep theological reflection but is spoken honestly, authentically, and practically about worship, about liturgy, and about the church. It was a really good read and when and if God does open the door for me to plant a church this is a book i will probably read again. Most of all i just love Todd’s heart not only for the church, tradition and liturgy (all passions i share with him) but also his passion for evangelism (which i also share). Reaching those who either have been disenfranchised by church or just don’t care and never have. Todd wants his church community to meet the needs of those who Jesus is after not just those of us who are already on the journey and to do that in the context of high church (i use that loosely) is really refreshing and inspiring! So… go read this book. His new book is on my 2011 reading list… i’ll share that later.

#6. Reflecting Glory :: Meditations for Living Christ’s Life in the World

NT Wright

NT Wright is a stud, we all know that but this book is more on the devotional side of things. So if your looking for a stellar devotional book, especially during the lenten season this year. Pick up this book!

#7. Born To Run

Christopher McDougall

Ummm… how to say this without overstating it. AMAZING! This is probably one of the best non-fiction books i have ever read. Simply inspiring! 

#8. Surprised By Hope

N.T. Wright

Tom again. This book was great. Not as great mind blowing as i thought it was going to be but great non the less. And if you haven’t read or thought much about eschatology and mission this book will probably blow your mind and probably even change you life. It really is a must read for all of us to grew up in the Left Behind (is my end time doctrine) era. MUST READ! And i’m reading the follow up book right now.

#9. The Dwelling of the Light :: Praying with the Icons of Christ

Rowan Williams
I’m preparing myself for some new ink. This was a great little devotional book and also part of my preparation.

#10. Our Anglican Heritage

John W. Howe

#11. The identity of Anglicanism :: Essentials of Anglican Ecclesiology

Paul Avis

The last two books on the list are some Anglican reading i’m doing these days. The church i go to is apart of the AMIA (The Anglican Mission in American) a really great group of people who i am really excited about linking arms with.

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So, that’s my 2010 reading list.

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What was you favorite book of 2010?

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What’s on your list for 2011?
Do share! I will soon.

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Grace and peace

erik

We talk about word – picture association. A certain word will pull up a picture your mind. Well i have a song that pulls up a certain picture in my mind

[SONG] 
Let God Arise :: Chris Tomlin

[PICTURE] 
Cross Point Church, Nashville TN. When i work on Sunday mornings i usually go to Cross Point Sunday night, really enjoy worshiping there and see a few peoples i know! Great place. Well one particular time i went to Cross Point  there was a black guy sitting in the front row and this song came on and he started dancing like a machine! This gentleman was probably homeless, at least it looked that way and he didn’t care that he was surrounded by white hipsters and young white family… he went after it! It was awesome. 

So whenever i hear this song i think of that picture :: a black, homeless guy sing “death has no sting, no final work… let God arise… Our God reigns now and forever…”  LOVE IT! 

I randomly heard that song today, thought i’d share! 

Peace
Erik 

So, despite my disinterest in church I want to go. I know, that almost makes sense. Almost!

The thing is I just want to find a community of people I can connect with, that I can serve, that I grow with, that I can simply share life with. The best place I know to find that kind of intentional community is at a church building that probably meets at some point on a Sunday. So I went to church today, twice!

Church #1. St. Bartholomew’s [ Episcopal / Anglican ] Church
I actually know some people that participate in this community and I have heard good thing so Andrea and I thought we would try it. I really did enjoy it, the homily was great and the service had such a great life to it. Not just your sing, announcements, sing a bit more, sermon, your dismissed deal. It actually had a life, a liturgy if you will. I really enjoyed that. BUT at the same time high church liturgy is so different that what I am accustomed to, I am definitely not completely comfortable with it. The question is, could I be? Hmmm… not sure. I just like the idea of coming as you are (which this church does. Lots of jeans here) but when the minister is in a robe there is a barrier put up I feel. I really like the idea of a pastor being just another dude or dude-et who happens to be leading the congregation in a spiritual journey. The robes throw me off I think.

Church #2. The Villiage Chapel [ Non-denominational / Calvary Chapel style ]
I went to this church often on Sunday nights when I live in Nashville before. I really enjoy it. The pastor is solid and preaches primarily verse by verse. I like that focus on the bible despite the fact I don’t think the bible is meant to be preached verse by verse all the time. The worship is laid back and not showy AT ALL. I really like that. The worship team actually sits off to the side, always sits and it’s kidna acoustic, singer / song writer style, pretty chill. BUT there is no life to the service. It’s just wam – bam – thank you God. Sing / announcement / sing / preach / goodbye. No real liturgy to be had.

So the bottom line is that I liked both churches. Something more about one and other things more about the other.

MY FREAR :: am I becoming a church shopper?

[ long pause --- NOOOOOOOO!!! ]

But how do you find the right community if you don’t “shop a big? I have decided to go to a few churches, mostly one I have been recommended or heard about some way. We (my wife and i) will go and instead of shopping for a long period of time and then “feeling” it out our plan is to just pick up and plug in and poor ourselves out. So we have a few more we have either been invited to or want to try… we’ll see where we end up. I am praying we find a community that just fits! Not sure we have yet.

I am sure I will post more of this conversation over at community planting sometime soon.

Live Love
Erik

Well I went to church on-line today! It is Sunday so I had to go to church this morning, right? But this Sunday morning was a little different. I decided to watch the Leadership and Compassion / Civil Forum, hosted by Rick Warren at Saddleback Church (so I went to church).

This blog has entire forum setup to watch. It’s all youtube so it loads like butter and is easy to watch. You can find this video all over the place though.

Rick Warren asked the same questions to both candidates separately. I thought it was a pretty helpful format. I think it helps to get a feel for both candidates and helps to really hear what they each have to say on particular topics.

If you want a real side-by-side comparison check this out. It’s the transcript with the answers next to each other, pretty helpful to be able to read it this way.

For me, Obama said a lot of convincing things and carries himself way better than McCain… in my opinion. I probably agree with them both on some things but with neither of them on all things.

Politics :: Who knows!

That’s where i’m at. I really want to follow Jesus and still don’t feel like I have a good grasp on how the Jesus following Christian would interact in the world of politics. I think it’s way more complicated that most of us let it be. Or maybe I just make it to complicated. Who knows!

What do you think? 

I like the idea of voting for Jesus. I’m looking forward to reading Shane Claiborne’s book. I do understand that can be a trite escape from a real obligation. But maybe not.

Who are you getting behind these days? And why?

PS: I am going to REAL church tonight. A friend of mine is playing drums at North Coast Church, Carlsbad campus. Haven’t been there and I am looking forward to it!

Shalom (now that’s political !!!)

My friend Todd Maberry and i are having a conversation over at www.communityplanting.com 

The conversation is just starting so it’s the prefect time to jump in. We have set up this website / blog to facilitate a conversation about church planting / community planting. We are both dreaming about planting a community of people that would exist to love God & follow Jesus and bring his kingdom to come on earth, right now. 
We will be posting a few times a week and would love anybody and everybody to participate in the conversation.

The most recent post tells a bit of my story and how i even started thinking about planting a church / community. Here is a chunk of that post but make sure you go check out the blog, bookmark us, add us to your blog roll, post a comment or two, keep coming back…

PS: if you have the blog app on facebook come find both Community Planting and Revolutionary Thoughts, we’re on there and we need some more friends!

————————————–

Here’s that post…

It was the summer of 2001, I was getting ready to do an internship with an itinerate evangelist, Stephen Manley. I really felt like God was leading me into the traveling, preaching/teaching gig. I knew it would look a bit different than the guy I was going to be traveling with and a bit different than most of the guys and gals that I know who travel full-time as “evangelists”. First off I probably wouldn’t go by the title evangelist. But regardless of the unique expression my life might take I was feeling strongly lead into itinerate evangelism, being the traveling speaker guy.

Before my internship started that summer I lived with a family for about 4 weeks, the Moore family. {Side note; they were / are an amazing family. I feel like I learned a lot from living with them, interacting with them, and just watching them as they interacted with each other.}

Living with them had it’s perks, primarily the home theater they had in their basement and right next to the room I was staying it. I LOVED IT! Watched the entire Star Wars trilogy multiple times on the big screen during those weeks as the basement dweller. But I also picked up another random video. The video was a denominational video about ministry or something, not specifically about church planting. I watched the video for some odd reason. A chunk of the video happened to be about church planting and a pretty amazing thing happened. As I was watching there was a 10 minutes or so chunk of a guy sharing his heart about church planting and his story about planting a church. As I was watching this guy the Spirit whispered in my ear as he squeezed my heart and said, “plant a church…

(to read the rest of this post click here…)

Here are some thoughts that have been running around my little head for awhile, just thought I would get some input…

So… i want to share my experience; when I fast, when I serve the homeless, when I tithe to a certain organization I really believe in, when I read the bible, preach a message, bla bla bla…

But the avenue of the blog begs the question, “am I bragging?” Am I publicizing my piety for lifting myself up or am I just sharing my experience as a short of public journal of my journey.

If I blog / on-line journal about my experience am I still not letting my right hand know what my left if doing? Am I sufficiently hiding my “piety” / my Christian practices / my faithfulness to what God is leading me into? Do I even need to try and hide my “piety”?

(PS: I hate the word piety. It has such negative connotations that I do not intend to give it and maybe aren’t inherently there. But yea, piety…)

Another PS.S. is the fact that I don’t hardly EVER fast, I NEVER actually help the homeless, tithing is hard but I do and giving beyond my tithe is even harder… I don’t list these things because I do them often I list them because I don’t do them often but I hope to do them often as I grow and find opportunity. My question is when and if I ever do these things that might be considered pious should I write about them. Should I share my experience our should I “in secret” do and keep it there.

Just something I thought about as I was thinking of ways I want to serve and follow Jesus.

Be Peace

I go to a church here in North County California called North Coast Calvary Chapel, you might of guessed… It’s a Calvary Chapel church. It’s a great church, with great people, and a great teaching pastor. Mark Foreman is the teaching pastor, and like at all Calvary Chapels he goes verse by verse through the bible. Most of the time I really appreciate that.

Over all it’s a very solid church community and my wife and I have attended there for the last 2 years or so. Me, the last year since I have only lived in California for a year. Well the church just moved into a new building. VERY NICE! Maybe too nice but when you are running 2000+ and probably got a bit of money behind you I guess you can do that.

Last night they had a benefit concert at the new building. Benefit concerts are all the rave these days and often they do very cool things. To be honest I don’t know what the show last night benefited, I was just helping out. I think it was just kinda of to promote the ne church but I am not sure. But the show was amazing!!!

There were two bands that opened up the night, I know don’t who they were and it really doesn’t matter. THEN there was This Holiday Life, I was pretty bummed because I actually didn’t get to see their set, I was helping out by manning the t-shirt table. These guys are really really good though, you should check out their stuff for sure!

But I was relieved of my post just in time to see Switchfoot play, they headlined the show and they were amazing. When the pastor of your church is the father of 2 people in the band you get to have then play at benefit concerts at your church, nice little perk! But they did an acoustic set and it really was amazing. I, once again was blown away by their lyrics, the thought and the hope they fill their listener with. SO FREAKEN GOOD!

BUT my highlight was when Jon Foreman came out and did the encore by himself. I was kind of hoping he would do some of his own stuff that night but he didn’t, at least not until the encore. For the encore he did a song entitled “your love is strong”. It rips my face off every time I listen to it. You have to, have to, have to go buy his 4 little ep’s, they are pretty amazing. Your love is strong is on the sping EP and is worth the purchase of all four just for the one song.

So yea, it was a great show. Had a great time!
(but it sure does make me miss live music in Nashville!)

Be Peace (“you have one life left to live” Jon Foreman)

Erik