Michelle's bookmobile

Does anyone else remember the bookmobile coming to their neighborhood on a steamy summer day? Even though the vehicle reminded me of the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile, I loved the idea of a library-on-wheels, parking two blocks from my house. How did they know that this 8 year-old reading addict needed a regular fix throughout the long summer months? Most kids wanted to play in the street until late at night. I wanted to mainline biographies of Helen Keller and Mark Twain. W-A-T-E-R, indeed.

No bookmobile in stops by the neighborhood where I live these days. But yesterday, the mailman brought me two books on my newly-created amazon wish list: Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down The Bones: Freeing the Writer Within and Angry Conversations With God by Susan Isaacs. Though they're not free like the ones from the Weiner-With-Books, my reading crack is here, waiting to be inhaled.

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One other way I guarantee myself a regular supply of books is by writing reviews of occasional new releases from Thomas Nelson. Here's a review of Andy Stanley's The Principle Of The Path:

I'm facing 50. The impending Big Day has had me wondering if this is my one last chance to change direction in my life. Though I tend to avoid both self-help books and titles promising a magic formula of some kind, I picked up Andy Stanley's newest book wondering if I might find a nugget of wisdom for the next leg of the journey.

Stanley, the son of a well-known Baptist tele-preacher, writes with a disarming and decidedly non-churchy voice. It doesn't feel like he's trying too hard to be earnest or relevant. He's simply sharing some practical wisdom about how to change one's life direction in the book's ten easy-to-read chapters. The book also includes a study/discussion guide with some helpful reflection questions.

The book is basically a motivational speech. Though that statement sounds like a criticism, I actually mean it in a favorable way. Sometimes, we all need a coach to come alongside of us and remind us of where we're going, how to get there, and to stop eating cold corn dogs for breakfast. Andy Stanley is that coach, and I appreciated his kind, firm good-natured technique in The Principle Of The Path. I did indeed find a giant nugget of wisdom (Chapter 4, about regrets), and a gentle course correction in its pages.

R.I.P. Charismatic movement?

I've been a Christ-follower since my mid-teens. About half of that time has been spent in Charismatic churches. I've seen signs, wonders, deliverances, fakers, spiritual abusers and epic moral flame-outs, sometimes all at the same church service. I've lived through the second wave and the third. In the West, the recent years have been characterized by some headline-grabbing Charismatic charlatans whose claim to 15-minute fame usually came because they misused or manufactured power gifts, gave their followers dramatic ecstatic experiences and promised prosperity.

Though there are some of these same abuses in the church across the global South and East, charismatic practice and belief are integrated into the explosive growth happening there, rather than being a separate, controversial "Movement" as it usually has been here. Isn't this how its supposed to work? When it does, there is nothing more breath-taking and life-giving.

Though there are theology and tradition reasons a-plenty why charismatic believers formed their own congregations and conferences (and why non-charismatic believers thought this was a dandy idea), in the end "ghetto-ization" has hurt all of us. In our mutual shared fear of coming down with the Swine Flu of religion, heresy, and either John MacArthur or Benny Hinn, we started our chainsaws and amputated one another. Memo to Bride: I don't think this was what Jesus was asking us to do when He said, "If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell" (Mt. 5:29).

J. Lee Grady, the editor of Charisma magazine, recently penned a sort of epitath for the Charismatic movement here in the West. Grady's words are not without hope, but need to be read in the context of the rising tide of statisticians and prophets alike from across the ecclesiological spectrum in the Body of Christ telling us, quite simply, that a lot of us have wandered just beyond earshot of our Shepherd's Voice. Clogged ears are an equal-opportunity employer.

If there is a "third day" church being resurrected from the receding or dying areas of the Body (and I believe there is), Paul's prescriptive description in 1 Cor. 12 will absolutely characterize this beautiful Bride. I am praying that resurrection begins with our shared sense of hearing.

I can't get this image out of my mind

I saw this image on the Jesus Creed blog a few days ago, and I can't get it out of my mind. I don't think I'm meant to.

Please pray for true justice for the people of Iran. Pray for the church in Iran during this time of upheaval.

The sentence that changed my writing life

About 7 years ago, I attended Karitos, a arts conference for Christians. The conference has workshop tracks in a variety of different disciplines including sound/tech, visual arts, dance, writing, worship leading, theater and the business side of music production. Conferees aren't required to lock into a specific track when they register - they're free to attend whatever workshop they like. Some people lock in on one discipline throughout the conference. Others take the smorgasbord approach, filling their plates with creative input from as many different tracks as their schedules allow.

Though I was there with the dance ministry from our church in WI, I'd planned to treat Karitos as a creative Old County Buffet that year. I'd attend a dance workshop or two with the team from church, but planned to sample some theater and writing workshops as well.

My plans changed when I found myself in a playwriting workshop with a veteran New York director. (His name escapes me right now, I'm afraid.) He told us we'd each be developing a 10-minute play in his series of workshops at the conference. He'd instruct, we'd go off and write. We'd come back and read, and he (and the others in the workshop) would critique. And then we'd do it all over again.

I came to Karitos that year with some playwriting experience. I'd sold a fair number of skits to church publishers, and had been through the development process with 3 full-length plays. But I'd never huddled in a tiny, out-of-the-way classroom at a conference with a half a handful of other writers and bared my soul as I incubated an idea. It was a safe, supportive environment and transformed the grueling first draft process into a joyful, revelatory experience.

But it was a single sentence in the first workshop of the day that changed my life as a writer and caused me to scrap my plans to snack on a variety of different sessions. The theater instructor encouraged us to brainstorm ideas for our scripts. I wrote down a couple, and knew immediately that one of them had live current flowing through it.

"Your script could go like that," the instructor said, affirming each of us with our initial ideas. "...or it could go like this." He asked us to push at our initial concept, and come up with another storyline based on it. At first, I congratulated myself for coming up with a second idea that was even stronger than my first script concept. Until he made us do this two more times. My first and second ideas were good, and I wanted to rest there. But his words wouldn't let me. He asked me to dig far deeper into unsurveyed terrain than I'd ever done before. I was terrified I would hit a hollow cave. The gut-twisting process forced me to confront my fears, and compelled me to discover the real truth buried inside that first good idea.

I spent most of the rest of the conference scripting the fourth variation of that idea. (If you're curious, I have it written in story form, and I'd be glad to send it to you to read.)

Though I loved brainstorming, and well knew that the first idea was hardly ever the finished product, I'd never had anyone goad me on like that before. When I'm starting a writing project now, I still hear his words: "It could go like that...or it could go like this." They keep me from doing the easy thing. Or the first one.

Writers, speakers, teachers, pastors - what simple sentence has changed the way you approach your work?

P.S. - This year's Karitos will be held in Bolingbrook on July 16-18. Check it out here. I'll be teaching a couple of workshops this year, praying that some in attendance will have the kind of breakthrough I did a few years ago. Other writing instructors this year include Keri Wyatt Kent, Nicole Mazzarella and Diane Eble.

From Eternity To Here Q & A

I loved Frank Viola's latest book, From Eternity To Here, so when his ministry team offered readers an opportunity to be a part of a blog tour today, I jumped on the bandwagon. I had the opportunity to ask Frank a couple of questions as well as join the conversation taking place around the blogsphere today about the book. My questions (and Frank's answers) are below, followed by a list of other blogs participating in the tour today.

(1) If the pastor and leadership team of an institutional, evangelical program- and building-centered church were to read From Eternity To Here and all were to deeply embrace the paradigms you present in the book, what might that church look like a year from now? Please be as specific as you can.

I think that church would be heading more toward community. It would be more Christ-centered. And I also think that if they took the entire message to heart, they would rethink their leadership structures, their mode of operations, and what they did in their services or gatherings. I’ve had some pastors tell me that after reading the book, they’ve begun a journey of knowing the Lord anew and afresh. And they are rethinking many things they had assumed, but now are admitting do not work.

(2) Which of the three paradigms (Bride, House, Family) has impacted you the most? Why? How has it changed the way you relate to God? To other believers? To those who don't yet believe?

They all have. The Bride of Christ has caused me to see my Lord as a passionate Lover and so I’ve learned to join the eternal love relationship that’s been going on before time between the Father and the Son. The House of God has caused me to see that I cannot live the Christian life by myself. I need other “living stones” with which to be built together to form a habitation for God’s pleasure –a Bethany , a place where Christ can lay His head and where He can find rest and reception. The Family of God has caused me to see my fellow Christians as real brothers and sisters and to see that I share the same life that Jesus, the Firstborn Son, does. The life of God.

OTHER BLOGS PARTICIPATING IN THE “FROM ETERNITY TO HERE” BLOG CIRCUIT
Today (June 9th), the following blogs are discussing Frank Viola’s new bestselling book “From Eternity to Here” (David C. Cook, 2009). The book just hit the May CBA Bestseller List. Some are posting Q & A with Frank; others are posting full reviews of the book. To read more reviews and order a copy at a 33% discount, go to Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Eternity-Here-Rediscovering-Ageless-Purpose/dp/1434768708/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233609867&sr=1-4

For more resources, such as downloadable audios, the free Discussion Guide, the Facebook Group page, etc. go to the official website: http://www.FromEternitytoHere.org
Enjoy the reviews and the Q and A:
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Out of Ur - http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2009/05/viola.html
Shapevine – www.Shapevine.com (June newsletter)
Brian Eberly - http://www.brianeberly.com
DashHouse.com - http://www.DashHouse.com/
Greg Boyd - http://www.gregboyd.org/blog/
Vision Advance - http://vision2advance.blogspot.com/
David Flowers - http://ddflowers.wordpress.com
Kingdom Grace - http://kingdomgrace.wordpress.com
Captain's Blog - http://www.captainestes.blogspot.com/
Christine Sine - http://godspace.wordpress.com
Darin Hufford - The Free Believers Network - www.freebelievers.com
Zoecarnate - http://zoecarnate.wordpress.com
Church Planting Novice - www.churchplantingnovice.wordpress.com
Staying Focused - http://kimmartinezstayingfocused.wordpress.com/
Take Your Vitamin Z - www.takeyourvitaminz.blogspot.com
Jeff Goins - http://jeffgoins.myadventures.org
Bunny Trails - http://bunny-trails.blogspot.com
Matt Cleaver - http://mattcleaver.com
Jason T. Berggren - http://blog.jasonberggren.com/
Simple Church - http://www.simplechurchjournal.com/
Emerging from Montana - http://wordofmouthministries.blogspot.com/
Parable Life - http://www.theparablelife.blogspot.com
Oikos Australia - http://www.oikos.org.au/blog/
West Coast Witness - www.WestCoastWitness.com
Keith Giles - http://www.Keith.Giles.com
Consuming Worship — http://www.consumingworship.org
Tasha Via - www.tashavia.blogspot.com
Andrew Courtright - www.andrewcourtright.blogspot.com
ShowMeTheMooneys! – http://www.showmethemooneys.com/
Leaving Salem, Blog of Ronnie McBrayer - http://leavingsalem.wordpress.com/
Jason Coker - pastoralia.missionaltribe.org
From Knowledge to Wisdom - http://isthistheway.typepad.com/
Home Brewed Christianity - http://www.homebrewedchristianity.com
Dispossessed - http://kblog.kevinjbowman.com
Dandelion Seeds - http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dandelionseeds
David Brodsky's Blog- "Flip the tape Deck" - http://flipthetapedeck.blogspot.com/
Chaordic Journey - http://jeffrhodes.wordpress.com
Renee Martin - http://www.reneemartinmusic.com/profiles/blog/list
Bob Kuhn - http://organicchurchnola.wordpress.com/
Living with Freaks: www.livingwithfreaks.com
Real Worship - http://therealworshipleader.com
Fervent Worship - http://ferventworship.blogspot.com
Julie Ferwerda Blog - www.JulieFerwerda.com / www.OneMillionArrows.com
What's With Christina?! - http://w2christina.blogspot.com
Irreligious Canuck - http://www.irreligiouscanuck.com
This day on the journey - http://guychmieleski.blogspot.com
Live and Move: Thoughts on Authentic Christianity - http://liveandmove.blogspot.com/
Spiritual Journey With God - http://www.elvineve.blogspot.com/
Dries Conje - http://www.echurch.co.za / http://www.thejesusfeed.com / http://www.bookdisciple.com.
Journey with Others - http://journeywithothers.blogspot.com
On Now to the Third Level - www.080808onnowto.blogspot.com
Christine Moers - www.welcometomybrain.net
Breaking Point - http://marybethstockdale.wordpress.com
Hand to the Plough - http://www.handtotheplough.com.au
Jon Reid - http://jonreid.blogs.com/oneanother/welcome-pilgrim.html
Weblight - www.blog.worldwidewebservices.se
D. L. Webster - http://gzmproductions.com/dlwebster
Searching for the Whole-Hearted Life - wholeheartedlife.blogspot.com

Note from Michelle: Not sure why the hyperlinks aren't working on the list of sites above - I do encourage you to visit some of these other sites, but you'll have to do it via cut `n pasting.

Unmuzzling a revolutionary

I found the post below on Monday Morning Insight, a website targeted at evangelical church leaders, with a strong and uncritical bias towards the big box and multi-site folks. In the midst of all the cheerleading that goes on at MMI for strategic leadership culture, someone will post an occasional gem from an opposing voice. These gems stand out like diamonds set in charcoal.

The post below is one of those gems. I tried to find its orginal source on the web, but was unable to do so. I have a couple of observations about Choudhrie's list at the conclusion of this post.

*Victor Choudhrie's 15 essential steps for changing traditional churches into New Testament churches.

1. Replace professional clergy with Priesthood of all Believers with authority to baptize, break bread and equip fishers of men. (1 Peter 2:9)

2. Replace Church building with "House of Peace." (Luke 10:5-9; Matt. 10:11-13)

3. Replace programmed Sunday service with daily informal gatherings. The Bride of Christ must have intimacy with her Lord every day and not just for a couple of hours a week lest she become unfaithful. (Acts 2:46-47; Hebrew 3:13)

4. Replace tithing with sharing the enormous financial resources and goodwill available in Christian homes. (Deut. 8:17-18; Acts 5:32-34)

5. Replace the "Crumb and Sip" Holy Communion with simple "Community meals" eaten together with gladness from house to house. (Acts 2:46; 1 Cor 11:20-23)

6. Replace loud music with speaking to each other in psalms and spiritual songs making melody in your heart. (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16)

7. Replace the spectator church to participatory, interactive, prophetic and Missionary sending church. (1 Cor 14:26-31; Acts 13:13)

8. Replace organizational and denominational churches with citywide network of house churches. (Romans 16:3-15)

9. Replace barren church with multiplication. The Bride must not remain barren, but reproduce and fill the earth. (Acts 1: 8; 1 Cor 9: 19-30)

10. Replace submitting to one man - by submitting to each other. We must encourage, comfort, exhort, edify and serve one another. (Galatians 5: 13; Eph. 4: 2, 15)

11. Replace purposeless church with a goal oriented mandate to disciple nations. (Romans 15: 20; Matt. 28: 19)

12. Replace powerless and fruitless church with militants who heal the sick, raise the dead, expel the demons, bind the ‘strongman’ and plunder his possessions. (Matt 11:12, 12:29)

13. Replace all presidents, directors, chairman, secretaries and all the other non-biblical titles with apostles, prophets, and the fivefold ministry gifted elders. Change from a dead organization to living organism. (Eph 4:11; Titus 1:5-9)

14. Replace all Sunday schools, Bible schools, and prayer cells and cottage meetings and call them full-fledged churches. So that they can disciple, baptize, break bread, equip and send missionaries. (1 Cor 16:19; Col 4:15)

15. Replace all selfish goats who are members for hatching, matching and dispatching with sheep who take care of the hungry, thirsty, naked, strangers, sick and the prisoners. (Matt. 25:31-46)

*Victor Choudhrie is a cancer surgeon by profession. He is a senior Fellow of the American and British colleges of surgeons. He quit his job as the Director (CEO) of the Christian Medical college, Ludhiana in Punjab, India in 1992 to take up full time Church planting ministry in central India. His wife Bindu is also in full time church planting ministry, equipping women to be house church leaders and trainers. God has blessed this ministry abundantly. Large numbers of grassroots level leaders have been trained who have planted thousands of house churches all over India as a result.

My first response to this post was "This is what I signed up for over three decades ago!" As a young Christ-follower, I read my Bible and dreamed of being a part of a revolution that looked like this list. You know what? I still have the dream, though its been tempered by the reality that getting from here to there isn't all that simple. Even those who lived closest to the spiritual Ground Zero of the church - those in the Upper Room at Pentecost/Shavuot in Jerusalem a week and a half after Christ's ascension - struggled (quite clumsily, at times) with questions a-plenty about how to function as a waiting Bride in their new kingdom reality.

I imagine most churches would like to believe they're following a first-century model. Bill and I have been a part of churches across the theological and ecclesiological spectrum, including a valiant year and a half attempt at house churching. Each congregation claimed to have at least some of the items above as their own core values and practices. And, perhaps they have, though the values and practices have often been de-fanged and tamed. (See #12.)

But though I have a hearty "amen" to the list, I wonder how to get from here to there, especially when it comes to items like #3, #8 and #15. (And honestly, I think we can do #6 amped.) I have lots of questions, and the uneasy awareness that many of us here aren't really interested in going there at all.

And I have to ask myself if I'm really, really willing to pay the price to move from here to there. True confession: I've sort of acclimated to here and learned to muzzle that 15 year-old revolutionary inside of me. Every time I pray, "Your kingdom come", it yanks the muzzle off of her.

But if I keep it off...what happens next?