“Finding Your Place in the Story” by Chris Seay

Posted on August 8, 2011

Missional Events in Detroit & Monterey

Posted on August 5, 2011

September 28th-29th: M.Detroit with Erwin McManus, Dave Gibbons, Vince Antonucci, and more…

Detroit, MI

November 10th-12th: Organic Outreach Conference with Kevin Harney, Dan Kimball, & Eric Bryant

Register by Aug. 15th for only $69 per person!

Monterey, CA

Margaret Feinberg Conference Call (7/28) & Book Giveaway!

Posted on July 26, 2011

Join us on Thursday (7/28) for our next Conference Call with Margaret Feinberg from 3-3:30pm CST!

Margaret was recently named one of the ’30 Emerging Voices’ who will help lead the church in the next decade by Charisma magazine and one of the ’40 under 40′ who will shape Christian publishing by Christian Retailing. She has written more than two dozen books and Bible studies including the critically-acclaimed Organic God along with The Sacred Echo, Scouting the Divine: My Search for God in Wine, Wool, and Wild Honey and her newest book Hungry for God: Hearing God’s Voice in the Ordinary and the Everyday.

SIGN UP FOR THE CONFERENCE CALL HERE!

Listen to previous conference calls here!

To win a copy of Margaret’s newest book, send an email with “Hungry for God Giveaway” as the subject to info@margaretfeinberg.com. Be sure to include your U.S. mailing address in the email. The first 10 will win a free copy! Those who do not win will still receive free online resources from Margaret.

Inhumanity vs. Community by Eric Bryant

Posted on July 25, 2011

Why does this happen? Why would someone think violence against innocent people will get them what they want? Who would do such an evil thing?

Police have arrested Anders Behring Breivik for bombing downtown Oslo and shooting at teens at a political camp. Over 80 people have died in these cowardly acts.

According to an article at CNN.com: “Official sources and social media indicate that Breivik might be a right-wing Christian fundamentalist who may have had an issue with Norway’s multi-cultural society. The attack may have been politically motivated, one official said.

‘I think what we have seen today is that politically motivated violence poses a threat to society and I commend the police for carrying out a very swift and effective investigation, but that is still ongoing,’ Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store told reporters.”

A Skynews article describes the suspect with these words:

“National police chief Sveinung Sponheim said internet postings by the suspected gunman ‘suggest that he has some political traits directed toward the right, and anti-Muslim views, but if that was a motivation for the actual act remains to be seen.’”

I do not know how the political parties work in Europe, but the word “Christian” is used way too often to describe people who do not follow the ways and words of Jesus.

To kill other Norwegians because he does not like immigration policies or does not like Muslims shows the depth of evil that can grow when one allows hate inside.

Hate leads to destruction which does not make anything better.

Tolerance is not the answer either. Who wakes up in the morning wanting to be tolerated?! None of us. We long to be loved and belong.

When we are tired of tolerating others, we should try loving them.

How should we respond to world that is becoming more and more diverse?

What if loving, serving, and influencing those around us (no matter from what culture they came) became the norm? (See “Kidnapping a Muslim” or “Why Multi-culturalism Fails“)

In his book Soul Cravings, Erwin McManus writes:

“The farther we move from community, the closer we move to violence…. Where there is no love there is no value for life. When hate consumes our hearts, all we can think of, all we desire is to destroy. When there is disengagement from human community, there is the potential for inhumanity.

The human heart was not created to be a container for hate.

When we allow bitterness, jealousy, envy, racism, lust, greed, and arrogance to fuel our souls, we create an environment within us to be agents of violence.

We live in a time when the most terrifying bomb is not a nuclear one, but a human one.”

Praying for those affected by the tragedy in Oslo….

Praying we choose to create a healthy and diverse society….

Margaret Feinberg Conference Call (7/28)

Posted on July 11, 2011

Join us  for our next Conference Call with Margaret Feinberg on July 28th (Thurs) from 3-3:30pm CST!

Margaret was recently named one of the ’30 Emerging Voices’ who will help lead the church in the next decade by Charisma magazine and one of the ’40 under 40’ who will shape Christian publishing by Christian Retailing. She has written more than two dozen books and Bible studies including the critically-acclaimed Organic God along with The Sacred Echo, Scouting the Divine: My Search for God in Wine, Wool, and Wild Honey.

SIGN UP FOR THE CONFERENCE CALL HERE!

Look for the next newsletter in July for a chance to win Margaret’s newest book Hungry For God.

Listen to previous conference calls here.

Church & Non Profit Serving Refugees & On the News

Posted on July 8, 2011

Check out this recent story by Jim Bergamo from KVUE Austin News:

“Two faith based organizations have teamed up to help refugees in Austin. They’re doing it with, of all things, a garden.

There was music and balloons, so you know it’s a party. However there is also a garden smack dab in the middle of this celebration, so a garden party it is.

Two months ago, the Grow Together Team from Gateway Church along with Mobile Loaves and Fishes broke ground on this garden at the Capital Village Apartments in Central East Austin. The complex is home to numerous refugees….

‘What a great way to remember our new fellow citizens than by helping them out and people transitioning in’ said Michael McKee, the Director of Grow Together

The garden allows them to grow food and relationships with other refugees.

‘Like know each others feelings and what kinds of plants they grow in their country,’ said Kalpana Kharel, a refugee from Nepal. ‘Just working together.’

Even youngsters like Thangtinuk Sakawthang from Burma like working in the garden.

‘To do is fun,’ he said.

Besides Burma and Nepal, there are refugees from Africa, India, Iran and Iraq. On a wall surrounding the garden, refugees made chalk outlines of their hand prints. They wrote the names of their home countries as well.

Also participating are men like Danny and Jose. They used to be homeless, but now, through Mobile Loaves and Fishes, help cultivate the garden so the refugees can plant their food.

‘It makes me feel good that I’m giving back into the community and seeing the progress and smiles on people’s faces,’ said Jose Coronado, who works for Mobile Loaves and Fishes.

‘It’s not necessarily a bunch of different communities, homeless, refugees, whatever, it’s one community coming together,’ said McKee.”

“Churches – Protection From or For the World?” by Eric Bryant

Posted on July 6, 2011

We enjoyed visiting several castles on our trip to the U.K.. Our favorite castle was in Wales. Llanstefan Castle was built around 1100 by the Normans. Now it sits empty. After hiking about a half mile in the rain to get to it, we had a great time exploring the ancient ruins.

Castles have a unique function in history. Castles were meant to be a protection FOR the surrounding villages from the enemies coming from afar. When the enemies would march or sail towards the castle, the neighboring villagers filled up the castle where the local lord or monarch lived. The castle was supposed to be a refuge for others in the area.

Castles were not meant to be a protection FROM the surrounding villages.

Too often our churches have a castle mentality. We try to protect ourselves from the world rather than to become a place of refuge for the world. The people around us are not our enemy. They are the reason we are here! The Enemy is the enemy not the people he has confused and enslaved.

Is your church a shelter FROM the world our a shelter FOR the world?

Rick McKinley Conference Call (6/29)

Posted on June 7, 2011

Our next LIVE, free conference call will be on June 29th (Wed.) from 4-4:30pm CST and will feature Rick McKinley, author of A Kingdom Called Desire and Advent Conspiracy, pastor of Imago Dei Community in Portland, speaker, and guest professor across the nation.

Join us for a Q&A from Rick from 4-4:30pm CST

From 4:30-5pm CST we will have a conversation with Jason Jaggard, founder of SparkGood .

Sign Up Here!

Look for the latest newsletter in the next few weeks for a chance to win Rick’s newest book which is called A Kingdom Called Desire.

Listen to previous conference calls here.

Rick McKinley Interviews Eugene Peterson

Posted on March 17, 2011

Catalyst West 2011: Eugene Peterson from Catalyst on Vimeo.

What About Hell?

Posted on March 16, 2011

With the recent controversy surrounding judgment and the nature of hell, speakers and writers like Scot McKnight and Margaret Feinberg have offered their insights and a thoughtful approach.

In an article orginally featured in Outreach Magazine last month, Dan Kimball writes about the importance of understanding and communicating on this important topic. Dan writes:

“Emerging generations want to talk about hell.

I first realized this leading the young adult ministry at Santa Cruz Bible Church. Every year, we surveyed the group on what they wanted to study, and each time they asked questions about hell: Is it real? Why would a loving God send people to hell and is it right to do that? It seems funny to say, but hell was on the hearts and minds of those 800 young adults.

You’d think that in today’s culture it would be counterintuitive to regularly talk about hell to emerging generations. People both inside and outside the Church are extremely sensitive to associating God or a religion with something as horrifying as hell. While it’s quite comfortable to teach about Jesus having a heart for the marginalized, studying what He said about hell can be intimidating and very uncomfortable. However, in almost 20 years of serving with emerging generations, I’ve found that they are very interested.

Why Should We Talk About Hell?When you stop to think about it, references and allusions to hell run throughout our culture. Think about the Far Side cartoons with the red devil and pitchfork or how hell is used in our everyday language. It’s even in many rock songs (think AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell”). Jesus also talked about hell and used graphic metaphors for the reality of it. When we ignore the fact that He talked about it, we allow pop culture to define it. Or it gets defined by aggressive street preachers carrying signs with “HELL” written in flaming letters and yelling offensive comments to passersby. Talking about hell gives people an understanding of what the Bible actually does or doesn’t say about something they are very much aware of already. We cannot let pop culture define hell as something cartoon- or fable-like and harmless. Or let it get defined and dismissed as something that only fundamentalist street preachers talk (yell) about in a fire-and-brimstone way.

I’ve found that when we only talk about the nice things of the Bible and ignore the more difficult topics, we’re seen as only teaching partial truths about what we really believe. I believe emerging generations want us to be upfront and honest with whatever we believe—both the comfortable and uncomfortable truths. And when we don’t talk about both, we can come across insincere, almost like we’re hiding something and thus, untrustworthy.

Today, there is a wonderful interest in discussing theology and the difficult questions of the Bible. I’m working with a guy in his 20s in our church who isn’t a Christian, but he’ll be helping me design and think through theological issues and difficult questions for some open forums we’re planning.

Fascinatingly, I’ve found that emerging generations are very interested when we do teach about hell. But how and when we talk about it are critical, as are our attitudes. At Vintage Faith Church, every year since we planted the church, we give what I jokingly call our annual hell sermon. Sometimes, it happens naturally when the study we’re preaching through references hell or the afterlife. A couple years ago, we talked about it in our “Hot Theology” series. Somehow, the topic of hell comes up every year, and I’m very glad it does.

When we do teach about hell, here’s how I generally go about it:

A cultural analysis of hell. I start by giving some examples from pop culture of how we generally portray or think about hell today. I teach what various other world faiths believe about some sort of hell in the afterlife to stress that the concept of hell is not isolated to the Christian faith. I also go into how Dante’s Divine Comedy and other medieval works of art have subtly shaped our concept of hell, which isn’t scripturally accurate. So we have to be careful not to come to our conclusions based on cultural or literary definitions.

Motives for talking about hell. During one of our hell sermons, we showed a Seinfeld clip in which Elaine discovers that her boyfriend (Puddy) listens to Christian radio but then nonchalantly makes comments to Elaine about how she’s going to hell and he isn’t. At one point in the scene, she explodes: “If I am going to hell, you should care that I’m going to hell.” I used that clip as a springboard to illustrate that when we talk about hell, we should never do it out of mere Christian curiosity or interest, but as Elaine says, if we do believe that people will experience judgment, we should be grieved and doing whatever possible to be on the mission of Jesus, living out and communicating the Gospel. I want people to understand we’re talking about hell out of love for others, not out of condemnation, manipulation or with anything less than a broken heart.

Scriptural perspective. I then specifically teach from both Old and New Testaments to start to develop a biblical perspective on hell. We teach about the very limited understanding of the afterlife in the Old Testament and focus mainly on what the New Testament says. We’ve actually read aloud every New Testament verse referencing the word “hell.” I try to lay out a biblical definition of hell before we try to answer the question of whether or not a loving God would send people to hell.

I talk about words and names used for hell in the New Testmament and show how it was around 700 B.C. when Greek writers used the terms hades and tartarus (2 Peter 2:4) in Homer’s Odyssey. I briefly go into Platonic views of the afterlife, which framed the culture Jesus lived in. We look at the specific New Testament Greek words used for hell (hades, tartarus, gehenna) and how God chose to use two familiar pre-existing Greek mythological terms describing an underworld of the dead (hades and tartarus) predating the New Testament by 700 years. He chose to use these words from Greek mythology to communicate to us about hell.

We also look at how Jesus used the word gehenna (translated “hell” in English), which was the Valley of Gehenna—the garbage dump outside the city walls of Jerusalem where dead bodies were thrown out, worms ate flesh and fires were constantly burning. So the imagery of fire, worms, etc., makes sense when looked at through a historical lens. We also need to differentiate between when hades is used, such as in Luke 16, and when gehenna is used.

And at the same time, we also have to look at possible metaphors for hell and their individual contexts. Plus, we cannot forget the many other passages which may not use the words hades or gehenna but do specifically, strongly and soberly talk about judgment after death.

Something interesting I teach is that the English word “hell” that has been translated in our Bibles from the Greek words gehenna, hades and tartarus is derived from Hel, the mythological Nordic goddess of the underworld, similar to the English word Easter, derived from the fertility goddess Eastre.

Mystery and reality. I try to approach this topic humbly and with mystery but also teach it is a reality. I specifically state that only God knows someone’s eternal destiny. We walk through various Scriptures explaining that it is appointed for people to die and that everyone will face judgment (Heb. 9:27). We also look at the differences in judgment between a Christian and non-Christian. I share that much of what hell will be like is a mystery, but that we can know it is eternal, a place of regret, etc. I do share that there are varying views about hell among Christians, including annihilation (when people cease to exist and don’t experience eternal suffering).

Escaping Hell and Where We Go in the Afterlife Are Not the Gospel . I can say that there are no dull moments when teaching about hell. It is actually a topic of high interest to most people. Again, it goes back to why and how we talk about it. Jesus didn’t seem to focus on hell as a means of evangelism. His teachings primarily focused on the kingdom of heaven on earth. Too often, I think we’ve subtly made hell the primary motivation for salvation and the Gospel, altering or losing the beauty of the holistic Gospel (I Cor. 15). The Gospel is not just about what happens when we die, but about our lives being changed here. I know that as a church, we don’t want to dwell on the reality of hell, but at the same time we must never forget there is a hell, even if it is a mystery to what it is specifically.

Almost every time I teach on hell, I close with this quote from Charles Spurgeon—a reminder to me and to our church why we do teach on such an uncomfortable topic:

“If sinners be dammed, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”

I know as I lead a church with a high percentage of emerging generations in it, hell is something we talk about. Not to manipulate people. Not to scare them in an unhealthy way. But because they are thinking people who definitely have questions. And because Jesus and the New Testament does teach about it. If we do believe there is a hell—even if we don’t understand exactly what it will be—we must talk about it because we care about the people Jesus loves, the people He died for so that they would not experience hell, but have abundant kingdom life here on this earth and be with Him for all eternity.

How can we not teach about it?”

To listen to a message from Erwin McManus shared a few years ago at Mosaic in Los Angeles called “Life’s Toughest Questions: Is There a Hell?”, click here.

To listen to a message from John Burke shared at Gateway Church in Austin last year, click here for Final Destination: Heaven and click here for Final Destination: Hell.

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