Archive for March, 2009

Highlights of the Week:

1. A definite highlight was Tim and my trip to Toronto for The Evolving Church: Amidst the Powers conference. Walter Wink, Stanley Hauerwas, and Marva Dawn were the plenary speakers. Hauerwas (pictured), specifically, has had great influence on my understanding of the interaction between the church and the powers. Through this weekend, I’ve become more convinced of the necessity for Christian nonviolence. Though it does not always seem to make sense, I believe it is vital (plus, just war theory doesn’t always make sense either). Be sure to check out Tim’s blog for more.
2. Amanda, Giselle, and I walked to and from work last week. It was wonderful to be outside and to spend some meaningful time together. We actually had a chance to talk, which is not always easy. Giselle pretty much yells at cars and people as they go by, sort of like a puppy does.

Books I’m Reading:

Still doing my book face-off between (a) The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier by Tony Jones and (b) Why We’re Not Emergent: by Two Guys Who Should Be by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck.. But I’ve put these on hold for now. I was getting tired of the topic, and book “c” seems more relevant for the season of Lent.

(c) I finished The Circle of Seasons: Meeting God in the Church Year by Kimberlee Conway Ireton. As stated before, it has been extremely helpful in understanding the importance of working our lives around the church calendar. I recommend it to anyone who takes the story of the Church even somewhat seriously.

Disappointed by: The NFL’s constant and continual over-protection of the (seemingly) only position that matters—that is, quarterback. Poor defensive players.   

Job update: I have four irons in the fire right now, and I’m just waiting to hear from any of them. I suppose if all four offer me jobs that would be a good “problem” to have. Starbucks is interested in hiring me, but I’m waiting to hear from them what the next step is. But I should be started there soon.

Seminary update: We started a new class called “Prophecy and Contemporary Ministry,” which is a course on the prophetic books of the Old Testament. The professor is Dave Lamb, and the book we are reading is called Exploring the Old Testament: Guide to the Prophets by J. Gordon McConville. The prophets are incredibly interesting. If you are like me, you’ve always been taught these from a “dispensational” standpoint (Daniel is talking about the rapture, Isaiah is talking about the millennial kingdom). It’s finally nice to break away from some of that.

Looking forward to:

1. Giselle is to be dedicated on April 5^th, and her first birthday is coming up on April 21^st. 

My mom asked me what I thought about The Christian Science Monitor article “The coming evangelical collapse.” Below is my email back to my mom.

Re: What are your thoughts on this article?

Hey Mom,

I read this article from The Christian Science Monitor yesterday from a friend of mine. I pretty much agree with this article. I’ve been aware of this issue for about a year. It is a trend in evangelicalism to go “back” to Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy (albeit, many of those RCC and Orthodox Christians are becoming evangelical, but not as many going the other way). Partially, this has to do with the evangelical-Protestant inability to create “connection” with something deeper (like the historical faith Christianity is), the promotion of doctrine over unity (we need both, but evangelicals have promoted doctrine too highly when the Bible finds both to be equally important), and the removal of all things “mysterious” that Christians, like RCC and Orthodox Christians, embrace.

I think he is correct that evangelicalism has aligned itself with a political ideology, though Christian in some ways, is not in others. Young evangelicals are aware of this and so many are on different political ends as their parents. As one young evangelical told me a story, “Someone asked me, ‘Are you a Democrat or Republican?’ I responded, ‘On what issue?’” …Whereas, their parents have seen a black-and-white division between parties, the young evangelicals see some Democrat ideals as Christian (e.g., social issues) and some Republican ones as Christian (e.g., pro-life). As in my experience, one young guy said [to summarize Scot McKnight’s story], “My youth pastor wants to know if I believe the Bible is ‘inerrant.’ He keeps bugging me. But I don’t care that much. Because my youth pastor doesn’t care about the poor, he’s done nothing for justice in the world, and he didn’t even hear about the situation in Darfur until I mentioned it to him last Christmas.” Young evangelicals want their faith to embrace the “wholeness” (love, truth, justice, salvation, etc.) of Jesus. Sadly, many young evangelicals will walk away (if not, pushed away) because they will be perceived as “liberal,” but really, they are seeking to promote the whole mission of Christ.

I don’t think megachurches (Calvary Chapel, Willow Creek, Lakewood, Saddleback, etc.) will go anywhere any time soon, but they will likely see declines because younger people seek community and find it difficult to do so in large crowds. Thus, megachurches will have to reevaluate their ministries.

The only thing is that many young evangelicals will stick around. They love Jesus. They love the people in their churches. Some don’t care. Others will likely try to reform and change things but will be met with resistance.

My hope is that we (Christians) can get beyond our categories of “evangelical,” “mainline,” and “Catholic,” and just be Christ-followers working together.

So, overall, I think the article is on to something, and we should pay attention. From my experience, much of what he says is true.

Love,
Evan

PS - I only scanned this article by Christianity Today, but it deals with the article you sent me. On the Lasting Evangelical Survival 

So, have you read the article?

   What do you think?

Highlights of the Week:

1. Job search seems to be looking up. Three interviews this week.
2. This past weekend felt really long, which is a good thing. And I have a four-day weekend since I don’t have work Monday or Tuesday.
3. The weather is warmer so Amanda and I have been taking walks with Giselle. It’s nice to get outside, instead of watching TV or something like that.

Books I’m Reading:

Still doing my book face-off between:

(a) The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier by Tony Jones and (b) Why We’re Not Emergent: by Two Guys Who Should Be by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck.

(c) The Circle of Seasons: Meeting God in the Church Year by Kimberlee Conway Ireton. It has been extremely helpful in understanding the importance of working our lives around the church calendar. First, working around the church calendar is countercultural. Whereas our culture’s calendar is shaped around “spending” (Christmas is the most obvious example), the church’s calendar is shaped around the story of Christ and his Church. Second, in line with the season of Lent, the reason we fast from things is to “create space” for God to move in. Where we would fill ourselves with food, we fast and ask God to fill the emptiness.

Disappointed by: (a) Panera Bread. I ate lunch there after church on Sunday, and, later that night, my lunch returned. I was pretty sick, and I think it was their fault. Fortunately, I’m a Christian, and I will forgive them and may even eat there again. (b) Leatherheads featuring George Clooney, Renée Zellweger, John Krasinski, and David de Vries. I had been looking forward to seeing this movie. So, Amanda and I rented it from Netflix — The movie was incredibly slow. The plot was poorly developed (if you could say it developed at all), and the characters were completely without nuance — I don’t recommend it at all but don’t take my word for it. Feel free to check it out yourself.

Put It on Repeat (what I’ve been listening to): Bought a new cassette-insert that actually works. The most notable thing I listened to was Relevant Magazine’s podcast from last week in February, which had me cracking up while I was driving in my car – especially about the impending Chimpocalypse

Job update: three interviews this week! A variety of positions – Starbucks (Monday), another youth pastor position (Tuesday), and non-profit position (Friday).

Seminary update: We didn’t have class last week, but we will be resuming tomorrow (Tuesday).

Looking forward to:

1. Continuing Lent
2. My other three job interviews this week
3. Getting a job that fits my needs, as well as my family’s needs
4. Giselle is to be dedicated on April 5^th, and her first birthday is coming up on April 21^st. We are just trying to figure out the celebration details right now.
5. Going to Toronto with Tim in March, speaking at a youth retreat in April, and going on a seminary retreat in May.
6. March Madness, which is the only time of the year I watch college basketball – let’s go UNC!

As a child in an evangelical church, when it came time for “Communion” (which happened once a month, if that, mind you), the plates passed me by. I was told that I was not “allowed” to partake because I was a child. As I grew older, I suddenly became allowed to partake in the Lord’s Supper. I quickly learned that I wasn’t allowed to partake as a child because children simply don’t understand what it’s about, that is, remembering Christ’s death for our sins, but now I did.

I’m not sure I ever thought twice about this. I would say to myself, “Of course, children are immature, and they don’t understand a lot of things, so why would they understand Christ’s death remembered at Communion?”

However, I recently began to question the logic behind this thought. I mean, seriously, how well enough do I understand Christ’s death anyway? It wasn’t until about a month ago when I visited a mainline church in downtown Philadelphia that the error in this logic became more concrete for me. As Amanda and I approached the table, I noticed a small child taking the wafer (now drenched in wine), placing in her mouth, and eating it.

I’ve never seen that before…

But I thought to myself, in God’s eyes, I am just little child. I’m immature. I don’t have complete knowledge. I still miss the mark.

I mean, I’ve read the passage in 1 Corinthians about the Lord’s Supper, and I’ve always assumed that children were excluded. But, as far as I can tell, the exclusion of children from the Lord’s Supper is an argument from silence. And, as far as I know, the Orthodox, Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Communion do not exclude children from the table. So why do we evangelicals?

Some would say, “Well…they have to be believers, and you can’t become a believer unless you are able to comprehend the commitment you are making.” That’s fine. But where does Paul say that? Paul is more concerned with people treating Communion lightly, and, as far I’m concerned (and this is somewhat beside the point), taking the Lord’s Supper once a month or once in-awhile is more of treating it lightly than allowing children to partake (actually, in the Orthodox church, if you miss a number in-a-row, you excommunicate yourself…bummer).

Plus, don’t we want our children to know what’s important to us? And isn’t Communion? So, perhaps, children should participate in the Eucharist (in some way) so that they will see what’s important to the covenant body, that is, remembering Christ’s death until he comes. I know some parents who give it to their children, and I know others who simply have their children at the table with them as they partake.

Either way, Communion/Eucharist/Lord’s Supper is incredibly important. It shouldn’t be taken lightly. And this is a reason for having children partake rather than against it. For we, who as a community desire to help raise these children in the ways of Christ, are responsible for showing them that we all need to remember Christ’s death until he comes…children included.

So what do you think?

Highlights of the Week:

1. Received two excellent grades for the two digests I had to write for class
2. Had a snow day on Monday. Giselle crawled in it, took a face-plant, and came up laughing. She was really cute.
3. Spending quality time with Amanda and Giselle has been great! I wouldn’t exchange it for anything in the world.
4. The Well had a beautiful Lenten service on Thursday. Amanda, Giselle (only kid there), and I went. It was a time of personal repentance, communal repentance, and taking part in communion together. Giselle slept through most of it since it was past her bedtime (she’s not as spiritual as us…haha).
5. We had dinner over the weekend with our friends Caite and Eric Rivera. They are expecting a child in August. Amanda’s known Caite forever, and Eric’s a pretty swell fella, too.
6. My mom was diagnosed with cancer in August. It was a recurrence of breast cancer. She had a PetCT scan on Friday, and, on Tuesday, it came back with awesome results! Some of the cancer spots aren’t there any more, and what is left has decreased in 1/2. So, this is great news! She’ll continue treatments until all of it is gone. Please continue to pray for her.

Books I’m Reading:

I’m having a book face-off right now between:

(a) The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier by Tony Jones and (b) Why We’re Not Emergent: by Two Guys Who Should Be by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck. I like Tony’s book (though Tony and I don’t always agree). I think he explains the emergent movement well, as I understand it to be, and he clears up a lot of misunderstanding that comes from the “outside.” DeYoung and Kluck make some valid points, and I do believe they did their research. Most times, when I read things that are against the emergent movement, I find them poorly researched and (if not always) mean-spirited and cynical. The authors did their research, and they are pretty kind…for about 25 pages. But I will keep reading along. I’d like to know what others think about the movement.

Put It on Repeat (what I’ve been listening to): I haven’t been listening to much music since my cassette-insert for my iPod broke. I bought a new (but cheap) one, and it sucked. My car’s cassette player kept rejecting it. So, I bought a more expensive one. I tried it for about 5 minutes, and it seems to be working fine.

Job update:

Here’s where a part that’s not so interesting becomes very interesting. On Thursday, I received an offer from the temp agency for a position at Wells Fargo. The location was in Chester. I had my reservations, and, since I felt slightly pressured to make a decision immediately (probably because they said, “We need an answer by the end of today”), I took it and was scheduled to start (that) Monday. On Friday, I told Calvary I had accepted the job, and Friday was my last day. They were cool with it.

Well, over the weekend, I attended my parents’ church because my dad was sharing how he has handled financial decisions in the past. He may have encouraged budgeting, but I can’t remember. But, whatever it was, Amanda wanted to re-do our budget that would include my new job.

So, that evening, we sat down to do it. We wanted to move out of Amanda’s parents’ home (where we live now) so we needed to see what we could afford. We did the math and came out $33 in the red (…not good). Here’s what we determined:

• Wells Fargo: x amount of dollars (multiplied by) 40 hours per week (minus) daycare for Giselle (minus) transportation costs (minus) more taxes = $40 profit (!!!) from what I was making at Calvary.

I also found out that I would have to take the train for about 4 hours a day plus working for 9 hours would add up to be 13 hours every day. So, the $40 profit combined with the stress on my family is simply not worth it. Thus, I called and emailed the temp agency, apologized multiple times, they responded not so nicely (somewhat understandably), and we parted ways. Also, emailed Wells Fargo, and they were much nicer and understood thoroughly.

Needless to say, I called Calvary, and I resumed working there on Tuesday (because of the snow day on Monday). I guess what made the decision to go back to Calvary the easiest was when my dad talked about enjoying the “precious moments” in life on Sunday. My grandpop died in 2004, and my dad said, “I always think: How much would I give just to spend one hour with him now?” So, yes, the Wells Fargo position is full-time, and, yes, I have a better chance at keeping the position after the temp position runs out, and, yes, I would be making (a little bit) more money. But what about the toll it would take on my family knowing that I would be gone 13 hours a day and not reaping many benefits from it? So, that was a huge part of my decision not to take the position.

I have another job interview for a non-profit company coming up next Friday so keep me in prayer. I’ve been also communicating with two churches now about youth pastor positions. So, something will work out soon.

Seminary update: No class this week.

How I’m doing with Lent: I’m not doing so hot with the one-visit-for-up-to-one-hour-on-the-internet limitation. I’ve failed multiple times since I’ve been using email to corresponding with potential job opportunities. But I’ve kept up with the fast. That’s good. Amanda and I are enjoying working through Lent together. I have yet to crack Matthew so failing big-time there. I’ll get on it. Trust me.

Looking forward to:

1. Continuing Lent
2. My other job interview on March 13
3. Getting a job that fits my needs, as well as my family’s needs
4. Giselle is to be dedicated on April 5^th
5. Her first birthday is coming up on April 21^st
6. Going to Toronto with Tim in March, speaking at a youth retreat in April, and going on a seminary retreat in May. Should be some good times.