The Hole In Our Gospel; Inspirational and Challenging

Has the Gospel been limited by the way we present it? Is there more to the "the good news" then just a mere transaction? Is this life all about the life after or are we missing something? According to Richard Sterns, president of World Vision, there is much more. Richard Sterns sets to challenge and inspire readers in "The Hole In Our Gospel", by sharing his personal story in becoming the president of World Vision, and challenging the readers to join in the work of God in a world in need of a Gospel without a hole.

Richard Stern crafts a personal narrative that proves to be inspiring. As he walks through his personal road as a follower of Christ, you come away feeling that you have met Richard over coffee. His presentation of his story is a highlight in this book. As Richard Sterns is climbing the corporate latter, he finds himself interviewing for a presidential position at Wold Vision. With a spirit of reluctance, Richard Sterns decides to accept the position in World Vision and his life has never been the same.

Sterns also challenges his readers to get involved. As he presents some of the largest "life" issues in the world today, he carefully reminds his readers that there is a hope, and we can be involved in sharing that hope. Sterns shares some success stories to remind us that success is possible. At the same time there needs to be more done. Ultimately, Richard Sterns reminds us to not limit "gospel" to the afterlife. He reminds us that we have a message of hope for the right now. We do have the ability to share the Gospel without a hole in it. The question is are we willing to do this. If we are this book is a good starting point in this important conversation.

You can find Thomas Nelson's page for this item here.

-dj

Finding God in Unusual Places; Shakespeare in the Park

This time of year is wonderful! I personally love it when you can walk outside late at night or early in the morning, and not worry about freezing your toes off. There is just something about warm late nights that brings a certain satisfaction to me this time of year. I absolutely love it! I feel that there are many reasons that summer is the best season. You have baseball games, amusement parks, swimming, camping, and many other activities that open up in availability this time of year.

One of those activities that I have learned to love is something that happens this time of year locally. In German Village (Columbus, OH) you are able to see Shakespeare in the Park, performed by Actors Theater. (Although they are not limited to Shakespeare, they do many forms of theater.) My wife and I began going on the weekends of last year to watch these fantastic performances in the perfect setting, an outdoor theater in the park, surrounded by a historic part of town. To be honest I was unsure if I would like this or not. I have had some experience with theater overseas in England, but beyond that, my experience was limited to reading the plays for homework assignments in college.

I found myself very apprehensive the first time I experienced Shakespeare in the Park last year. I have always wanted to be "artsy" in someway. I actually remember looking through my wardrobe trying to find "artsy" clothing that would mesh in with the theater crowd. My apprehension came from the fact that I could be seen as an outsider. It was very possible that I would stick out like a sore thumb, and that people could tell that I do not belong with the theater crowd. (Is this pathetic?)

We arrived at German Village and found the best spot available for the show. As the wife and I unfolded our chairs, I scoped out the crowd. The crowd was as I expected. Diversity and an artistic spirit was very much present. I wondered if my plaid shirt, boot cut jeans, and sandals was enough to be considered apart of the scene. As I finally sat down, I took more time to really study the people there. There was a little girl (about the age of 9?) that had her own copy of "measure for measure". I could over hear her enthusiasm about the upcoming performance. The mother had mentioned to another person that she had most of the play memorized word for word! Are you kidding? This girl was for real. I felt that I was being shown up by a theater guru that wasn't even half my age.

I also noticed the blanket people. You see there are two tiers of the crowd. There was the chair people, which we were apart of. I was happy to be a chair person. But then there were the blanket people. There seemed to be a whole new level of "artsy-ness" to the blanket people. Many of them sat cross-legged and they had picnic baskets and wine with glasses and all. As I surveyed my new environment, I felt more an more out of my league. There was this nagging feeling that I didn't belong. I was certainly ready for the show to finally begin.

My apprehension soon fell to the way-side. The opening music came on, the actors began their first scene. All of the sudden it hit me. These guys were really good at what they do. Understand this, I have seen some of the most famous plays and performances in the most famous theaters in England. I certainly had something to compare the acting and the setting to. I was overwhelmed with the creativity and talent that I witnessed that night. It is like when you go to the movies and you go in thinking about life and all the problems that you are experiencing. But then the opening credits roll and you find yourself caught in the story, and all of those prior thoughts disappear with the opening sequence.

As intermission came, I leaned over to Meghan shared my thoughts on the experience. Meghan shared my enthusiasm about what we were apart of. We talked about how the acting was top-notch and how it was amazing that there were just a handful of actors and actresses playing all of the parts.

Here is the funny thing about that night. I went into the evening with heavy apprehension about a whole lot of silly things. But as the night progressed, as I witnessed great acting and narrative execution, I simply had forgotten about any apprehension that I might have had. I got caught up in the whole experience in itself.

Something occurred to me that night. You see, I felt very much on the "outside" of the theater crowd. I felt the need to bust out my most "artsy" clothing just to be seen as perhaps an "insider". I even felt uneasy about being a part of the chair crowd, and I allowed a 9 year old Shakespeare fanatic make me feel even more insecure. But after all said and done, these insecurities faded away as I experienced something special. When there is an outpouring of creativity and skill, does it not make everything else seem trivial. As the show ended, I realized that I came into the night very much insecure about where I was relative to the theater crowd.

But as we folded our chairs that night to pack up and head home, it occurred to me that I was leaving as someone that was part of the experience that night. I was wowed and amazed at the performance as anyone else was that night, including the fanatic 9 year old. I learned a great lesson that night. I walked away that evening feeling that it only takes a shared experience to level the playing field. What people do and how they do it carries the potential to allow anyone to join in a feel like they belong.

Isn't this the message of the first century church. Under that culture, diversity was something that was very prevalent. There were even different religions that came together to see what it meant to follow this Christ in their world. The meshing of all of the cultures, religions, and even genders really gives us a picture of what it would have meant to be a part of the first century church. But read these words as recorded in Acts 2:42-47;

"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

I could just imagine the apprehension of an "outsider" coming into the picture in those days. Did you have to dress differently to feel that you were apart of what was happening? Did you have to memorize, word for word, the ancient scriptures to be included with this special experience? Would people look down on you if they felt that you didn't belong? Then I look at these verses and realize something. Shared experiences led to a level playing field then too. Any apprehensions disappeared in an experience of togetherness that one felt as you witnessed the works of the Spirit in peoples lives. I wonder how long it took for one's apprehensions to fade away. Was it after someone shared with you the teachings of the greatest commands? How about the third time you would share a meal together? Or perhaps it would be the time when you fell sick and others sold there possessions to make sure there were finances to take care of your needs? Either way, I feel that if you were an "outsider", It didn't take long for you to feel other wise.

May we begin to realize that church has something great to offer. As my experience with Shakespeare in the Park proved to be a lesson learned on what it means to "belong", let us look to the first century church to recapture what it means to to be a church in the 21st century, with an open invitation to belong.

-dj

Man-cation and Conversion

As I dropped off my family to the airport, I realized that my life for the next couple weeks would be interesting. Meghan and Jacob were going to spend the week with my in-laws in Mass. This left me two weeks to celebrate my Man-Cation (If you haven't figured it out that is "vacation" but since I am a Man...well hopefully you can connect the dots.)

I already had made a tentative schedule. My plan was to watch as much of the Bond films (including the extras) as I possibly could. My food situation was going to be fulfilling in not such a good way. My menu has shaped up to be fairly unhealthy. After two pizzas, several outing to McDonalds, soda, and a daily dose of cereal at awkward times, I am beginning to feel the results. That aside, it has been a week of a whole lot of nothing. On Friday night, I went to bed at 1:00 am, and woke up at 2:30 pm the next day! I have not slept that much since the good 'ol' days of college.

The house is a little crazy too! The dishes still need to be done, the bathroom needs cleaned. my laundry needs to be folded. Just last night, I realized I needed to do something soon to maintain a happy second week to this man-cation.

I have noticed something else very interesting. It seems that my behavior has slowly changed, as the days go by, since the man-cation started. If there were a couple more weeks of man-cation, I am convinced that I would turn into a bachelor in all its glory. (If you knew me in college, this is not a good thing.) I will leave the specific changes to the imagination. The point is that, for the good for my family, I need to change back into a responsible human being before the week is over.

It is amazing how change can creep in over time without one noticing any change at all. Being in the Christian heritage, we talk about this process a lot, especially in the context of sin. Casting Crowns penned the lyrics to "Slow Fade" which speaks about this;

"It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade"

It's so easy to see change as a painstakingly slow process in this context. Many times we do not just wake up in a lifestyle of sin. Rather is starts slowly and over time it overtakes our lifestyle. Even though many of us in our Christian heritage see this, is it possible we can see "conversion" in the same way?

In the modern world, conversion was the answer to a proposition. It was difficult to see that it may be more of a process. "Converts" were the result of good preaching, and a conviction by the modern standards. I am not suggesting that this does not happen today. This is not my point at all. What I am suggesting however, is that more and more people are skeptical of the modern way. Easy and and pat answers for life's toughest questions are becoming less relevant. Authenticity and purposeful living are becoming more and more convincing to the world around us. Conversion has been looked at in many ways as an event. Is is possible for this "changes" to creep in through the Holy Spirit as we choose to follow in the ways of Jesus? I do know this. Not all of us had the "Damascus" experience. It is only of late in my life that I am truly learning how to follow Jesus in today's world. And to be honest, I am a far cry away from a polished product, nor do I think I ever will be one. Yet, my "conversion" occurred over 13 years ago.

Invitation and alter calls were the way to go at one time. I do wonder how effective this will be in the future. My gut tells me that shared experiences and life with relevant purpose will allow others to join in and try this out. Through this process, perhaps conversion takes place.

This concept of slow change should not be foreign to us. As my man-cation experience shows, I believe we all have times where this makes sense. Casting Crowns shares this same process in "slow fade", and I think we can all agree that sin can creep into our lives over time and change our lifestyles. I am only asking that we may look at the conversion as something similar. Let us not limit the Spirit's work in hearts as just an event. I think it may be possible that we will see conversion as an ongoing process more and more as the world around us is drastically changing.

-dj