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November 30, 2006
Tis the season
I just wanted to post and say that I am proud of the fact that I put the Christmas lights up on our house on November 12. I've never had them up that early. My wife was very surprised when she came home and saw them on. I thought that would spur one of two reactions from my neighbors. One, they would be excited, feel encouraged and be motivated to put up lights on their homes as well. Two, they would be annoyed with me that I put the lights up so early and would feel the pressure to put their lights up. But neither of these two things has happened yet. Bummer. We are currently the only house on the street with lights. Next week or so we are going to go out and get a real Christmas tree. We tried taking out the saw last year and cutting down our own, but it's not quite as glamarous as one may seem.
Posted by rhett at 01:13 AM | Comments (2)
November 29, 2006
Writing and the possibility of failure
I have been writing a blog for a little over two years now. And in that time I have done a lot of writing. One of my aspiring dreams is to be an author of an acutal published book. And not just a published book, but one that people read. Haaaaa. In fact, if you read the tagline of my blog above one of the things I list is aspiring writer.
Writing is fairly easy for me, but not when it comes to something like a book. Articles. Papers. Blogs. Devotionals. I can produce those fairly quickly and with a lot of joy and not too much hesitation. But when I try to sit down and say to myself, "now I'm going to write a book" I all of a sudden freeze up. All my thoughts seem to come out slower and I become the ultimate perfectionist.
Underneath all of this is my fear of failure. What if I write a book and no agent or publisher wants to read it? What does that mean for my dream? Does that make me a failure? It's this vicious cycle. The fear of failure often actually keeps me from doing the very thing that I enjoy....writing.
A year ago October I had the opportunity to interview Donald Miller when he spoke to our college group. One of the questions I asked him was regarding writing.
Rhett Smith: And that last question, and I think you probably get this all the time, but I'm just wondering. Do you have any advice that you tell someone who is interested in writing, and kind of wants to write a book, and no matter what topic it is, what is one piece of advice you would give them?
Donald Miller: Okay, well. Buy these two books: On Writing Well, by Willam Zinsser, and Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. After you finish memorizing those books, move onto The Writing Life by Annie Dillard, and she will get you in the mood to write. But those are the best things. As soon as you have a final manuscript, if you know someone in publishing, send the book to them, if you don't, attend a writer's workshop where agents will be present. That is really important. So that's sort of practical advice on writing, but it's certainly a great life, and even if you never get published, it's worth articulating your thoughts on paper. It just helps you organize what you know, what you believe, what you lived. And those sorts of things.
I found his advice to be helpful and I have read a couple of the books that he suggested.
More recently I came across one of Scot McKnight's posts on writing, Writing--On the Side. I appreciate his advice that writing isn't something that one does on the side, but it is really a way of life. Scot says,
When you look at writers, it is wise to remember that most of us/them began small, and over time the daily routine of writing became a habit. That habit is what you now see; it didn’t spring up one summer break into a full-blown habit.
In other words, writing isn’t done on the side. It’s in the soul, it’s a way of being, and it’s not for everyone. It’s a scribbler’s itch to get it down.
I am realizing that life is not getting any slower and if I hope to not only aspire to be a writer, but actually consider myself a writer, then writing has to become more than something I do on the side. As of now, writing is not something I think I do on the side, but I have to continue to make it more of a habit. Just like I get up in the morning and go running, I need to form the habit of finding time for writing each day. And maybe I just need to eventually send something in for others to read. So what if I fail. I can still give it another shot. Perfectionism can really keep us from some great things. It keeps us from starting at times by paralyzing us. It keeps us from learning valuable lessons from failure.
writing, Donald Miller, Posted by rhett at 01:16 AM | Comments (3)
November 20, 2006
Are thorns choking out your life?
Matthew 13
The Parable of the Sower
1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop--a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 He who has ears, let him hear." (NIV)
I just got done listening to Rob Bell preach a great sermon on this text, and specifically vs. 7. Rob does a great job of looking at this text and talking about the thorns in our life that choke out the plants....the thorns that choke our life. He looks at this text and moves into looking at the concept of Sabbath in our lives.
As I was listening to his sermon I was really convicted about some of the things that I have allowed in my life to choke it out at times. Busyness. Technology (i.e. email and cell phone). Lack of boundaries. Etc. Etc. As I have been reflecting on his sermon and my lack of a Sabbath, it's no wonder that I feel relationally strained, and unable to have any room for things to fall apart or for life to get interrupted. I keep saying that this is only a season....and to a degree it is since my graduate program and practicum will be done in the Spring....but whose to say I won't replace it with something else.
I have a lot to think about.
Check out Bell's sermon, Jesus Wants To Save Christians VIII, Week 407.
Posted by rhett at 11:15 AM | Comments (3)
Okay...one more link
My friend Brent has a great post on the issue of masculinity, especially as it has been bantered about regarding the Mark Driscoll situation. Brent's post is appropriately titled, Chopping Off Heads and Crying on Shoulders. One of the reasons I appreciate Brent's words is that because I know that he and I have some different views theologically, yet we are both disturbed by some of the ideas of masculinity in our culture, especially when they are taught in the church.
Brent says:
The problem is that much of this call to masculinity imports its ideas more from the world than from Scripture. I have no interest in organized sports, which, by many modern assessments, decreases my masculinity ratio dramatically. However, that does not mean that I am not masculine and we must not only renew biblical masculinity, we must properly define it.
I would go even further and ask: Is there a Biblical masculinity? Or can it be defined? I'm not sure, I'm just asking these questions and wondering out loud. Should we be thinking about what it means to be human, rather than simply masculine or feminine? I will leave it here for now as I think more on this issue.
Posted by rhett at 11:03 AM | Comments (1)
November 15, 2006
A final thought?
Hopefully I will be moving on to some other blogging topics here shortly. But I did want to just comment on my own views regarding Driscoll and this planned protest up in Seattle.
I for one am not in support of a planned protest against Driscoll or the church. Do I disagree with a lot of what he says? Yes. But a lot of people disagree with what I say as well and I hope they don't plan on rallying a protest against me or the college group because of it.
When is a protest an appropriate form of action against a church or a pastor or the type of theology that is "driving" it? I have no idea. I think the people who are planning the protest feel that Driscoll's words are not only harmful to them, but a threat to a certain belief, or way of life they espouse. You can read their words in the posts below. I believe that Driscoll's views on women and their roles are not helpful and a threat to what I believe and what many women I know believe. Do they impact me directly? No. But for those living in Seattle, maybe they felt it was time for action to be taken. I believe that Driscoll's views on men and testosterone and roles are not helpful either, but they don't influence me. But for those in the Seattle community, maybe they are a threat. So it's hard for me to make sense of this situation.
At certain times I have said some stuff I wish I could have back on my blog. People have disagreed with me and even become pretty angry. There are some comments I made about John Piper a while back, disagreeing with his theological views. Before that, never did I receive so much traffic and comments. Yet, people didn't come protest at my door. When does our theology, which I hate to say is so often lived in our heads, move into a more practical realm where the impact of our beliefs have direct impact on the culture? Maybe this is a case where one's theological views do not sit well with others, because of the practical implications of it. And maybe it's not that we as Christians disagree with one another's theological views, maybe it's the tone and language we use to express it.
Like many of us who blog, or write, or speak for a living there will be times where we say things we wish we could have back and other times we said exactly what needs to be said. We are conflicted people at times with views and theology that is often in flux as it gets worked out in a practical nature. The only difference is is that many of us who live in the online world are working out our theology and practice before otheres, sometimes before we have had time to sit with it or come to any solid conclusions ourselves.
I hope for the sake of the Church (local, national, global) that Driscoll and others can come together and dialogue, pushing for some form of reconciliation, though theological agreement is not needed. This may never happen and maybe many of us feel dialogue and conversation at this point are a waste of time. But in the meantime I will be praying for healing to come to this situation.
Posted by rhett at 04:39 PM | Comments (1)
Update on the Driscoll "situation"
The circumstances (i.e. his blog entries; comments about Ted Haggard's wife, etc.) surrounding Mark Driscoll seem to be one of the most talked about issues on the web right now. Things are escalating on some fronts while others are calling for reconciliation, etc., etc.
Read Andrew Jones post in which he gives a good summary of what is happening, those involved, and some good links.
Andrew closes his post by saying:
What do I think?
I like Mark and he has been a good friend but I think he has watched Fight Club once too often.
Mark Driscoll, Andrew Jones, protest
Posted by rhett at 01:16 PM | Comments (1)
A Planned Public Protest Against Mark Driscoll and his church...
I have on many occasions posted blog entries about Mark Driscoll and his theological views. One of the areas of huge disagreement between Driscoll's views and mine are his views of women and ministry, and especially what seems to be his narrowely defined view of masculinity (several posts back).
Driscoll has been getting lots of attention and has caused a lot of outrage in many circles, especially over his most recent posts on the Ted Haggard scandal and the Episcopalian Church.
Scot McKnight has a very lengthy post on Driscoll and the planned public protests against Driscoll and his church.
The majority of McKnight's blog post is an open letter of biblical counsel to Driscoll by Rose Swetman, a Vineyard pastor. Read Swetman's post as she questions Driscoll on his views regarding women and ministry, and his overall comments about women in general, etc., etc.
McKnight says: If anyone at Mars Hill reads this: for the good of the Church in Seattle, for the good of the Church in the USA, and for the good of the Church in the world-- so connected is it by the internet, I urge Mark Driscoll and the leaders at Mars Hill to gather together with the many concerned in Seattle to converse and, to the degree possible, to seek the face of God in reconciliation.
You can read here about the planned public protest against Driscoll and his church by People Against Fundamentalism
Here is an excerpt of what you can find on their site:
Mark Driscoll has been promoting a brutal form of Christianity for more than 10 years. Through his church (Mars Hill) and network of churches (Acts 29), Mark has been actively preaching misogyny to an increasingly large audience in Seattle and beyond through his books, podcasts, and blog, grinding up lives like a woodchipper. (For you fundamentalists out there who are unfamiliar with the term "misogyny" having grown up captive to its influence all your lives, Wikipedia has a nice overview.)
'Preaching' may be too staid of a term. He has been relishing in his misogyny, rolling around in it like a feline in catnip. His latest women-bashing came in a blog post about former pastor (and former head of the Christian umbrella organization National Association of Evangelicals) Ted Haggard's marital infidelity. As is typical with misogynists and other abusers, Mark blamed women for the terribly hard time pastors have controlling their sexual urges: "It is not uncommon to meet pastors' wives who really let themselves go..." The post makes for an interesting read; Helen, over at Conversation at the Edge dissected it well, so I won't rehash it here.
Mark also regularly rants against men who don't meet his minimum testosterone bar, which seems to be a Father Knows Best, 1950s, I-Am-Man-Cook-Me-Dinner, Bear-My-Children sort of fantasy ideal. His poison, though, is woven insidiously through much of his writing and thought. (See for example how he just has to bring the hammer down in an unrelated post here.)
After standing by while Misogynist Mark beats up on women regularly, it is time for us to stand up for the oppressed. People Against Fundamentalism is sickened by the injustice preached from the Mars Hill pulpit. We are done standing by while Mark the Misogynist takes his misguided religion and hollows out the humanity, dignity, and equality of the women in our midst.
Mark Driscoll, Scot McKnight, protest
Posted by rhett at 01:22 AM | Comments (0)
November 10, 2006
What kind of theologian was Karl Barth?
Benjamin Myers has written a great post, Ten Propositions on Karl Barth.
As I have said many times, Karl Barth is one of my favorite theologians and one of the most influential on my life, theology, preaching, etc. But his volume of work is so huge that one is alwalys learning, and relearning more and more about Barth and his theology.
Here is a short run down of Myers Ten Propositions (but go to his post to read the details):
1. Karl Barth was a reformed theologian....
2. Karl Barth was an ecumenical theologian....
3. Karl Barth was an ecclesial theologian....
4. Karl Barth was an exegetical theologian....
5. Karl Barth was a moral theologian....
6. Karl Barth was a scientific theologian...
7. Karl Barth was a poetic theologian....
8. Karl Barth was a contextual theologian....
9. Karl Barth was a joyful theologian....
10. Karl Barth was a nomadic theologian....
Karl Barth, theology, Benjamin Myers
Posted by rhett at 09:17 AM | Comments (0)
November 09, 2006
I'm torn...
For those of you who have read my blog before, well you know that I am obsessed with LOST. It is one of the most amazing shows on TV and I absolutely love it. But let me be honest. I'm a little annoyed with some of this season so far (some of the pacing of the story, character choices) and I'm especially so annoyed that Eko was killed off last week. Uggghhhhh!
So as LOST is annoying me a little these days (though I'm strongly committed and holding it 1st) another show is making its way into my heart. What is this show? The show is Heroes and I think it is one of the best shows on television. It has some of the most fascinating story lines and the characters are awesome. I especially love the character
HIRO NAKAMURA played by Masi Oka. Great, great stuff. If you aren't watching this show, then you need to be.
Oh, and of course there is 24 which I am eagerly anticipating. After watching the trailer for the upcoming Season 6 I found myself hardly being able to wait for January to come.
Posted by rhett at 11:57 PM | Comments (5)
site recommendation
A new site recommendation. the church and postmodern culture: conversation
Posted by rhett at 01:16 AM | Comments (0)
Scot McKnight on Ted Haggard....
Scot McKnight's post Ted Haggard and the Evangelical Environment may be the best post on this issue that I have read. Thanks Scot for writing with such clarity and getting to some of the deeper issues in this matter.
Posted by rhett at 12:46 AM | Comments (0)
November 08, 2006
Christian Machismo...
Kristie Vosper has some comments and reflections about gender roles and masculinity after her visit to Mark Driscoll's church. It's a good post by Kristie and I think an honest reflection, where she both enjoyed the church, agreed with a lot of the teaching, but struggled with some of the ways masculinity is defined.
Here is her key paragraph, which I think is helpful:
I liked what I learned of Mark Driscoll as I sat in the 2nd row of this Warehouse Hip church, Mars Hill. I flinched though, wishing he would express a broader definition of masculinity and not create such a narrow space for men to live in.
I find myself reacting in a protection of men who do not like sports, who don't have an interest in Ultimate Fighting and who may not ever desire to watch an episode of Jack Ass. As a girl raised by a man who is an Eagle Scout, Scuba Diver, Backpacker, ER Technician, Elder in the church, Youth group volunteer, Off pitch hymn singer, Science enthusiast, lover of all things nature...I have a significant understanding that masculinity is not defined as narrowly as some would like.
Kristie, I agree. The way that a lot of Christianity defines masculinity and what it means to be a Christian man is way too limiting and narrowly defined.
Scot McKnight continues his series on Women in Ministry, specifically reflecting on the issue of manhood.
Here's an excellent excerpt from his blog as he reflects upon and interacts with Sarah Sumner's book, Men and Women in the Church: Building Consensus on Christian Leadership.
Here's the question: What does it mean to be a Christian man/husband?
Men (and women) are wondering what it means to be a man. Sumner begins with manhood in "worldly" terms--where it basically means "to be above," to be higher. She states that "be a man!" is a powerful challenge (and a fear if the challenge isn't met) for males.
She next turns to John Piper's view: "a sense of benevolent responsibility to lead, provide for and protect women" and "to affirm, receive, and nurture the strength and leadership of worthy men" is the design of God for women (85--from Grudem/Piper, Recoving Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, pp. 36-52). Sumner says this about it: first, it's a definition, but not from the Bible. "Nowhere does the Bible say that God designed men to be the leaders, providers and protectors of women" (85). She questions whether the Bible teaches women to discern the worthiness of a man's strength and leadership.
Sumner suggests the Bible is more open than this; that this is OK and it is good; but that there are other themes possible for men and women.
She doesn't think the Bible teaches men to be masculine or for women to be feminine. The Bible calls us to be like Christ.
Piper, Sumner argues, is not calling men to be macho; he's calling them to be responsible. His view of manhood fails women and men because it teaches men to assess themselves over against women (90). It teaches men to identify themselves by a feeling (91).
women in ministry, theology, Scot McKnight, Kristie Vosper, John Piper
Posted by rhett at 01:09 PM | Comments (1)
Kristin Armstrong's blog....
Kristin Armstrong, whom some of you might know as Lance Armstrong's ex-wife (though I know her identity is more than that, but at least you can make the connection here) has a great blog. One of the reasons I like her blog is her writing about the connection between her spiritual walk and her running. This is an area of life that has really intrigued me after spending the last four months training for the Chicago Marathon. Check out her blog.....
Posted by rhett at 12:02 AM | Comments (0)
November 07, 2006
Andrew Sullivan catches wind of Mark Driscoll's comments...
If Driscoll was looking for national attention, he sure is getting it.
Andrew Sullivan has some thoughts....
HT: Andrew Jones
Who is Andrew Sullivan?
For some interesting reading, check out Mark Roberts' blogging series Andrew Sullivan, Hugh Hewitt, and Retrofitted Christianity regarding Hugh Hewitt's interview with Andrew Sullivan a couple of weeks ago.
Mark Driscoll, Andrew Sullivan, Hugh Hewitt, Mark Roberts
Posted by rhett at 04:24 PM | Comments (0)
Are people getting bored with online communities? So where do we go from here?
The other day I was reading over at Brent Thomas' blog and I came across this interesting news article he had posted, In Teens' Web World, MySpace Is So Last Year.
The answer to that question is apparently. The article is a fascinating look at the what is really the migration of teenagers from one online commmunity to the next. The article talks about the early rise of the online community Xanga which saw usership fall, later to virtually be replaced by MySpace. Now it seems that Facebook is the online community to be in.
I never used Xanga, mainly because I was late to the party. I've been running a blog since about August of 2004 and this site has been running since about May of 2005. This summer, after much hesitation and procrastination I decided to join MySpace and register our college ministry as well. I thought I was finally with the times, but soon realized that almost all of my students were on Facebook and not MySpace. So guess what. I joined Facebook and our college group started up a new site as well. We still keep MySpace, but the numbers at our MySpace page pale in comparison to our Facebook page and the use that it receives.
Is all of this making you dizzy? It is me, and that's really the point. Who can keep up, and if you aren't a teenager who are usually on the cutting edge of innovative and hip online communities, there's no chance you or I will ever be totally up with the times and with it.
What is it that really attracts people to a site? You would think design or something like that, but it seems to be functionality (easy to use) and generated community (who and how many are in your community). That's what MySpace seems to have. Ease of use and the branded name with an already huge, built-in community. But I personally love Facebook a 100x more than MySpace. It is much more clean looking, innovative and easy to use and view. But I'm getting bored like these teenagers as well. Why?
I think that this quote from the bottom of the article hits the nail on the head.
Evan Hansen, a sophomore at Falls Church High School, said he didn't buy into the MySpace hype and is waiting for the craze to die.
"Over time, people are going to get sick of talking to people on the computer," he said. "I just think people will want to spend more time with each other-- without the wall of technology."
I think people are getting sick of virtual community. Not the virtual community itself or what it has to offer, but rather, they are sick of more and more of their time being lived in this online community. It's one thing to use these sites as places to connect, touch base and inform, it's a whole other thing to spend 4-5 plus hours a day in these communities. What ends up happening is that the virtual community replaces the real community.
I'm going to continue to blog as much as possible (hopefully 4-5 days a week), and I'm going to continue to keep up my MySpace and Facebook profile as well as that of our group. It has enhanced ministry and relationships in some great ways, but it can never ultimately, or should never ultimately, replace the human element of community from our lives.
I think that these sites are good places to get information and to communicate, but not to live. There is obviously something much, much more rewarding with talking with a friend on the phone or sitting down over coffee with them. That is much better than returning comments and messages from 200 plus friends online that you rarely see. But these sites can be used to connect people. To move people towards more genuine in-person community.
Over the next week I am going to explore more about this issue of online community and the sites that are so popular. It is something that I am interested in and it is something that is relevant to our culture and especially the students I work with. And for those of us working in church, where community is so important, we want to be sure that online community enhances our lives, our ministries, rather than takes away from it.
online community, MySpace, Facebook, Xanga
Posted by rhett at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)
November 06, 2006
Return from Hawaii and some things in the news that caught my eye
The reason I haven't been posting: I was in Hawaii for ten days with my wife and her family and I didn't want to spend time on the computer. It took a couple of days to withdraw from my computer/internet addiction, especially when the hotels offerred wireless internet, but I managed.
A few things caught my eye while I was away and I will look forward to blogging more on these issues.
First, Mark Driscoll has a post on Evangelical Leader Quits Amid Allegations of Gay Sex and Drug Use. Driscoll gives some thoughts on how Christian leaders can set some good boundaries and avoid sexual immorality, especially in ministry.
Second, Andrew Jones covers this issue as well in Haggard and the Hazzard of Hotels. I agree with Jones' here that Driscoll's comment on "wives" is untimely and I disagree with Driscoll's view completely. Not that I don't think it's important for spouses to want to look attractive to each other, but I don't think responsibility should fall on only women or the wives. Driscoll doesn't mention the responsibility of pastors and maybe he would. But how many male pastors are out of shape and overweight? Where is their responsibility in being sexually available? Read Driscoll's post to follow this conversation. Zach Lind responds in Driscoll suggests it's her fault.
Third, Driscoll has another post that I am interested in more thoughts on. Dear Abby: Can I wear my swim trunks to church?. Dress at church is an issue that I'm really interested in, only because it comes up so much at our church. Whether it's the lack of dress, or the casual dress. From people looking like they are strolling in from a night of clubbing, or are strolling in looking like they are headed out to surf afterwards, dress continues to be an issue at our church.
Fourth, Zach Lind and Mike DeVries have some thoughts on the Way of the Master and Rob Bell's Bullhorn controversy. On a funny sidenote: Some of my college guys (video and tech guy) and myself decided to go out to the beach one day and film four videos for a series I was doing. They were meant to be Rob Bell/NOOMA style. But we soon learned that anything that we tried looked like just a poor imitation or ripoff of NOOMA. And that's what this video ends up looking like and most others that I have seen. Everyone's trying to emulate Bell in their church videos and it just isn't the same.
Posted by rhett at 07:42 AM | Comments (1)
