NewLife@Night

The Incredible Shrinking Blog

2007-04-24T13:53:00.000-07:00

Sigh.

Of the many things we've done well as we've started NewLife @ Night, this is not one of them. We've left this blog dormant/bereft/dead as a doornail and you, our reading audience, has been the ones who've suffered.

I'm not promising we're going to get that completely fixed any time soon... but if you're a part of the NewLife community, you're cordially invited to be part of the solution. Drop me a line at mark@newlifeeaston.com and let me know you'd like to become part of the blog team.

4/22/07 - Prison Break: Freebird

2007-04-22T14:01:00.000-07:00

Cause I'm as free as a bird now,
And this bird you'll never change.
And this bird you can not change.
Lord knows, I can't change.
Lord help me, I can't change.
Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Freebird"

They don’t really want you to play ‘Free Bird’. They're just heckling you.
Guitar Hero

Then he said, "There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, 'Father, I want right now what's coming to me.'

This factory owner guy has two sons. The kid brother gets it into his skull that he's had enough. He goes to his dad, and as much as wishes the old man dead: "I want my 1/2 of the inheritance." The dad almost has a heart attack from the shock, but he sits down, does the sums, sells some shares and hands over half the family assets.

The son doesn't even hang around to hear his dad's top ten tips for survival. He legs it. Within weeks he's off to foreign climes, spending the nights filling the glasses of the designer set with his liquid assets. He has such a great time he can't remember any of it the next day. 'Course, the money goes down the toilet. So do the 'friends' when they realize he's broke. So he surfs around and finds a site called www.worstjobsposs.com . He scrolls through the search results and ends up cleaning out the pigsties -- not such a great career move, since he still counts himself Jewish.

He's there with his shovel, scratching away, and suddenly a light bulb goes on just above his head: What am I doing? The worst job in the old man's empire is, like jet-setter status compared to this. If I had any food in my stomach, I'd be throwing up. I'll hitchhike home. Work on a speech -- something like 'You don't have to think of me as family, but please, give me a job.'

After a long hot trip, he truns the corner into his old street. His dad sees him and runs out into the street in his slippers, throws his arms around him, lifts him up and spins him around. And the noise! The whole street hears it. Sooo embarassing!

The son starts his speech, but the dad cuts in, telling his assistant to arrange the biggest street party ever: 'My son was virtually dead, and he's come back. He was lost and now he's turned up. Let's party!'

Don't you just love a happy ending? Me too. Sorry, not this time. See, there's still the big brother issue. He's coming home from work, he turns the same corner and thinks he's in a scene from an old musical: dancing, music, tables up the middle of the street and everyone having a fantastic time. He calls over one of the waiters and asks, 'We just win the lottery or what?' The employee answers, 'Better than that, sir: your brother's back, and your dad's blown the whole entertainment budget on the party!'

That's the trigger. He loses it. Furious, he walks off, kicking lampposts, ranting & swearing. His dad catches up with him but he has to fend off words he'd never heard before from his eldest: 'I've slogged my guts out. Slaving over your accounts. Doing exactly what you told me to do - I've not even taken sick time when I fancied a day down the beach - and did you ever throw a party for me and my mates? No! But when this waster comes crawling back, oh yes, he gets the full treatment. Well, thanks for nothing!'

'Son,' his dad says, grabbing him by the shoulders and eyeballing him, 'you're around all the time, and I love it. What's mine is yours. But how could I not throw a party -- as far as I knew, your brother was dead! Now he's alive. He could've been anywhere, and now he's here, with us. Come on, join the party.'
Luke 15:12-32 (word on the street)

Five Streams

2007-01-31T10:00:00.000-08:00

Last fall, I tried to explain (badly) the difference between "emergent" & "emerging" church.

Thankfully, Scot McKnight, the author of The Jesus Creed & other books, has done the heavy lifting for me... and for us here at NewLife @ Night. Go read his Christianity Today article Five Streams of the Emerging Church... and then come back here & let us know what you think.

Super Bowl Sunday

2007-01-29T09:19:00.000-08:00

This weekend will be a little different... we'll actually meet at the worship center at 3:00 pm in order to watch the big game between the Bears & the Colts. (For some of you, that game will be the bathroom break between the commercials you want to watch... whatever.) Bring your favorite TV-watching food & non-alcoholic drinkables and join us.

The one thing you'll miss is the halftime show - instead of watching Prince (sheesh - Prince was cool when I was in college, and we all know how long ago that was!), the NewLife @ Night worship band will cut loose and we'll get to worship the One who made it all possible, even the silly commercials. (And, no, that isn't Philo Farnsworth or Vince Lombardi.)

See you Sunday afternoon...

1/28/07 - Heroes: "with great power..."

2007-01-29T09:14:00.000-08:00

When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.
Luke 12:48 (NLT)

Hiro: We're changing the future. By taking action, we've changed something.
Ando: What if we make it worse? And if there's going to be a nuclear explosion, shouldn't we be flying away from the bomb?
Hiro: A hero doesn't run away from his destiny. My only concern is whether I need to hide my true identity. Perhaps a costume?
Ando: You even mention tights and a cape, I'm going home.
Heroes: One Giant Leap (Season 1, Episode 3)

And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.
Mark 12:30-31 (NLT)

Not everyone is meant to make a difference. But for me, the choice to lead an ordinary life is no longer an option…

Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: "With great power comes great responsibility." This is my gift, my curse. Who am I? I'm Spider-man.
Peter Parker (from the movie, “Spiderman”)

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13 (NIV)

1/14/07 - "dust"

2007-01-14T17:12:00.000-08:00

Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.

1st Corinthians 1:26-29 (TNIV)

May you believe in God. But may you come to see that God believes in you.

May you have faith like Jesus. But may you come to see that Jesus has faith that you can be like him.

A person of love and compassion and truth. A person of forgiveness, and peace, and grace, and joy, and hope.

And may you be covered in the dust of your rabbi, Jesus.

Rob Bell

1/7/07 - "hardwired"

2007-01-07T15:31:00.000-08:00

Worship is first & foremost for His benefit, not ours, though it is marvelous to discover that in giving Him pleasure, we ourselves enter into what can become our richest & most wholesome experience in life.

Graham Kendrick

What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn't treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness & confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.

Romans 1:21-23 (The Message)

11/19/06 - "the Bible is a love letter"

2006-11-15T09:49:00.000-08:00

The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.
A.W. Tozer

It is Christ Himself, not the Bible, who is the true word of God. The Bible, read in the right spirit & with the guidance of good teachers, will bring us to Him.
C.S. Lewis

You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.
John 5:39-40 (New Living Translation)

11/12/06 - "Prayer as Conversation"

2006-11-09T15:33:00.000-08:00

Spiritual people are not those who engage in certain spiritual practices; they are those who draw their life from a conversational relationship with God.
Dallas Willard

Someone is there...More, someone is there who loves me. It was a startling feeling of wild hope, a feeling so new and overwhelming that it seemed fully worth risking my life on.
Philip Yancey

And when you come before God, don't turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?

Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply.
Matthew 6:5-8 (The Message)

11/05/06 - "24/7/365"

2006-11-03T15:08:00.000-08:00

I'm coming back to the heart of worship... and it's all about you, all about you, Jesus. I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it when it's all about you, all about you, Jesus.

Matt Redman, "The Heart of Worship"

Worship is first and foremost for His benefit, not ours, though it is marvelous to discover that in giving Him pleasure, we ourselves enter into what can become our richest and most wholesome experience in life.

Graham Kendrick

So let's go outside, where Jesus is, where the action is—not trying to be privileged insiders, but taking our share in the abuse of Jesus. This "insider world" is not our home. We have our eyes peeled for the City about to come. Let's take our place outside with Jesus, no longer pouring out the sacrificial blood of animals but pouring out sacrificial praises from our lips to God in Jesus' name.

Make sure you don't take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of "sacrifice"—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.

Hebrews 13:13-16 (The Message)

10/29/06 - "I'm Free"

2006-10-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

I'm free to do what I want any old time...
The Rolling Stones, "I'm Free" (recently covered by The Soupdragons)

It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows. For everything we know about God's Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That's an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?

Galatians 5:13-15 (The Message)

see you Sunday night at 5:30 pm...

Deep Thought #3

2006-10-20T15:19:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that a movement born of visionaries and dreamers would become dominantly known for its traditions and rituals.
Erwin McManus

Words: "Innovative"

2006-10-19T09:53:00.000-07:00

For a number of years, the church office reached me by calling my pager, putting in the church phone number, then hoping I could find a pay phone to call in. Now, thanks to cell phones, I can be reached almost anywhere (except for a short stretch of Fig Ave. between Jefferson & American). Innovation has changed communication & ministry. And I'm not exactly on the forefront of the technological revolution - no Blackberry, no text messaging, no camera in my cell phone.

When we talk about a worship gathering being innovative, we're talking about more than edgier music and/or changing the look of the worship center. What we pray will happen is that this time each Sunday night will use whatever means & methods that will best communicate the truth of Christ to a postmodern culture, whether those methods are ancient or cutting edge.

New Life @ Night is definitely seeking to be an innovative worship gathering.

Words: "Experiential"

2006-10-18T18:47:00.000-07:00

In many churches, you're pretty much a spectator at a worship service with three major exceptions:

church gymnastics (sit, stand, kneel, walk the aisle, etc.)
congregational singing (meaning the part where the guy up front urges us to sing as opposed to the music performed by the band or choir)
giving (putting money in the plate/basket/pouch/bucket/whatever as it goes by)

In experiential worship, the gathering is intentionally designed to involve more movement & participation on the part of the congregation through a variety of methods. These could include prayer stations, small group discussion, contemplative silence, multi-sensory experiences, and much, much more.

New Life @ Night is definitely going to be more experiential.

Words: "Emergent" and "Emerging"

2006-10-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

Like I said yesterday, these aren't the same thing in churchspeak. Chances are pretty good you haven't heard of either of these in regards to worship or worship gatherings unless you pretty much live on the Web and/or hang out with church planters. (There's nothing wrong with hanging out with church planters - aka folks who start new churches - it's just that their conversations are seasoned with words unlikely to be used in "normal" conversation - stuff like "emerging" and "missional" and "ethos"... more on the last two of those later.)

The definition of the adjective "emerging" is "newly formed or just coming into prominence" - which refers not only to a more experiential (we'll get to that word next week) style of worship but also to a new postmodern culture & thought that is affecting more & more folks in our community.

OTOH, "emergent" (for the most part) refers to a group of folks known as the Emergent Village who are involved in planting & supporting "emerging" churches. While we can learn a lot from them, they are not all theologically on the same page as NewLife Community Church. (Yes, all of you hardcore nitpickers out there, the whole emerging/emergent thing isn't quite that simple... but this is close enough for what we're doing here in Easton, CA.)

NewLife @ Night is definitely trying to speak the truth of Jesus Christ to the emerging culture.

Words: "Contemporary"

2006-10-12T13:10:00.000-07:00

The English language is a crock. Look, I'm not agitating for us to adopt a new language, though it wouldn't hurt for a large chunk of us to learn a bit more Spanish. (I'm pretty much limited to Mexican foods & some curse words my buddies in high school taught me, so I'm not the poster child for bilingual communication.) My problem is with how easy it is for words & terminology to shift in meaning - regardless of your language of origin.

Which makes our job that much harder when we try to come up with ways to quickly describe the upcoming NewLife @ Night worship gathering... and end up fumbling through words like "contemporary", "emergent", "emerging" (yes, there's a difference), "innovative", and "experiential". You see, nearly everyone has their own preconceived notions when they hear those particular words & phrases - notions that can cause you to envision something very different than what we're dreaming of for Sunday nights.

So, in the interests of good communication & actually getting some use out of my B.A. in English, let's take a closer look at this - shall we?

contemporary
In my addled brain, this sounds like a "hip" word from the 60's... I get mental pictures of the Monsanto house at Disneyland & those funky egg-shaped plastic chairs that hang from the ceiling.

In evangelical circles, this became the buzzword of choice when describing new services in the 1980's & '90's - in fact, you still see it today. A church will advertise "traditional" worship at one time and "contemporary" at another time. In general, what they mean is as follows:

"traditional" - the same thing we've been doing for the last 50 years
"contemporary" - we changed the music (sold the organ & do more praise choruses), but otherwise the service is pretty much the same

NewLife @ Night is definitely NOT a "contemporary" service.

Deep Thought #2

2006-10-05T07:49:00.000-07:00

Words have power. A.W. Tozer makes this provocative statement at the beginning of his classic book The Knowledge of the Holy: "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." I'd like to propose that, in a similar way, what comes into our minds when we think the word church is the most important thing in shaping how we function as a church.

Dan Kimball, The Emerging Church

T-25 Days and Counting...

2006-10-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

The first "official" NewLife @ Night worship gathering will be on Sunday night, October 29th.

As a special gift to everyone who attends that first Sunday, we'll give you an extra hour of sleep, courtesy of Daylight Savings Time.

Deep Thought #1

2006-10-04T11:11:00.000-07:00

Calling a church service a "time of worship" does not always make it so.
George Barna