wholly jesus [an interview with mark foreman]

Some guys just seem to get it. But let me back up a little bit first…

When studying Bible history it doesn’t (or shouldn’t) take long to pick up on some cultural differences between the ancient Eastern culture of the Hebrews and the modern Western culture that we now live in. Yet so many people read the Bible as if it were written by and to a modern Western culture. Doing so causes us to miss the point of much of the Holy Scripture. The sad thing is that too often this happens in churches all across America.

So it’s special when you meet someone who not only knows about these differences, but also understands how to apply them to our modern lives.

Mark Foreman is one of those dudes.

Mark is the author of a new book called Wholly Jesus: His Surprising Approach to Wholeness and Why It Matters Today. He’s the lead pastor at North Coast Calvary in Carlsbad, CA, and an associate professor at Bethel Seminary San Diego. He’s also the father of Jon and Tim Foreman of the band Switchfoot.

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Mark about his book, and you can catch all of that interview right here…

What do you think about what Mark shared? Is his challenge something that you’re up for? Is it something that you even agree with? What steps do you need to take today to make the kind of changes that he talked about?

Bonus links: You heard Mark share about his favorite Swtichfoot song, and many of you probably also enjoy my personal favorite… Dare You To Move.

5 current google trends [and the church]

One of my favorite things to do is to check out Google Trends. It’s not only interesting to see what other people are searching, but sometimes this stuff actually gives me ideas on things to write!

The amazing thing about tools like Google Trends (and Twitter’s trending topics) is that there are few ways to get a better understanding about what people want to know.

The reason I think this is important for the church is that we must be skilled in how to talk about these topics from a Biblical Christian worldview.

So here’s the top five searches from Google Trends from earlier today, and some Christian discussion on each of these topics.

1. ovine

O-what? Yeah, me too. There apparently were lots of searches by people just trying to understand what that word means. Well, it means ‘sheep-like’. It’s a word used to describe Dolly, the first cloned mammal. It turns out that the six year-old cloned sheep died of a disease normally only common in sheep twice her age.

It seems like it would be a blow for advocates of cloning. But does that give the church a reason to celebrate? Be careful how you answer this one. While the event may help support the Christian position, we still need to be careful to focus on doing the right thing rather than trying to ‘be right’.

2. trap or die 2 mixtape download

This one makes me feel old. This is a new release by Young Jeezy. It seems that the first one was a bit controversial, making this release pretty highly anticipated. Young Jeezy seems to be very loyal to the streets and the way of life that he’s come from.

While the loyalty is admirable, it saddens me that people feel stuck in that place. I don’t know that I’m saying that the church should try to provide a ‘way out’, but it’s probably more important to think about how to bring life to places where there is the lack of hope.

3. phillies fan tasered video

Okay, the video of this one was actually pretty funny to me… for about a minute. Then I think about what this says about our culture. I guess that the dude even called his dad about this stunt before he did it, and his dad told him that it wouldn’t be a good idea.

Not only did this guy not heed his father’s advice, but he exhibited a ‘me first’ mentality that too many people seem to take these days. His attitude showed complete disregard for anyone other than himself. Sure, there’s the question of excessive force, but does anyone else see the problem with this guys lack of respect for anyone or anything other than his own selfish desires?

4. stephanie miller

I don’t follow her at all, but Stephanie has a liberal news/comedy radio show. I think that she started trending in searches because of a guest appearance by MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer. Brewer expressed frustration over the fact that the person arrested for the Times Square bombing (attempt) is of Pakistani descent.

Interesting… rather than be frustrated by people attempting to blow up heavily populated areas, she’s concerned about the nationality of the criminal that tried to do it. She’s upset because of how people might react towards Pakistanis. Sounds like a little misdirected anger if you ask me.

5. bret michaels press conference

So I’m a child of the 80′s and loved the rock music from that era. And if you’re anything like me, then you surely know all about Bret Michaels from the band Poison. More recently you may have seen him on The Celebrity Apprentice raising money to help find a cure for diabetes (a disease that both he and my son have).

Bret is one crazy (and successful) dude, but he’s been in the hospital recently with a brain hemorrhage or something. I find it hard not to pray for someone with the influence that he has. I pray that God would draw him close, shake him up, and use this experience to draw other people closer to Himself.

final thoughts/questions

What do you think about these trending search topics? How would you address these things in conversation with someone who doesn’t hold the same worldview that you have? What do you think about this exercise of occasionally reviewing search engine trends?

[the africa diaries] day fifteen: headed home

Waking up this morning I couldn’t wait to get home! While I tried to enjoy my last few hours with the team, my mind was already wandering home.

At breakfast we all talked about how wonderful this experience was, while I (as the team chaplain) challenged them to not let it end here. What would we do when we got home to continue making a difference for the people and the mission that we were just on.

For me it’s been continuing to share the images and stories of what God has stirred in me throughout this trip. For others on the team it’s sharing their experiences with churches back home. Regardless of what we did, we all certainly felt responsible for telling the story about what we did and what we saw.

I knew that my life would never be the same. I also knew that it would be difficult returning home to the abundance to which I’ve become accustomed. Even the ordinary task of walking into a grocery store would prove to be difficult.

But I also knew that I needed to get back to my most important ministry of all… my wife and my son.

What if my greatest impact on a trip like this is not just in the work that I did while I was there? What if I could continue to have an even greater impact in the life of my son by showing him that I’m serious about making the world a better place, and that he can too? What if this whole thing sets off a chain reaction (even if it is just in my family) to make a difference not only half-way around the world, but even in our own backyard?

This is one of the reasons that I couldn’t wait to get home.

Sure, I missed my family. But I couldn’t wait to get back to some of the most important ministry work that God has entrusted me with.

Thank you to Jim Oakes, John Hutchins, Bob Larson, Cavin Philbin, Jean Ann Feneis, and the staff of Five Talents International for letting a crazy blogger like me tag along on an amazing trip like this! You have all touched my life in a way that I’ll never forget.

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Check out more from this series in the africa diaries.

[the africa diaries] day fourteen: back to kampala

Mission accomplished.

Our work is done, and we now begin our journeys home. First the long drive across Uganda from Kasese to Kampala. Then after our last night our team flies together from Kampala to Nairobi to London where we part ways and I board my flight from London to Miami then on to Tampa.

So the long drive back to Kampala became our last opportunity to really soak in the experience.

Part of me can’t shaking the idea of getting back to the comforts of home. This makes me think again about the differences in our lives. I think about the people that cart huge jugs of water around because they don’t have plumbing and public water systems.

One of the first things that I’m going to do when I get home is to take a shower. I’ll probably use the equivalent of one of those jugs of water in my shower.

I wonder if I’d use as much of it to bathe if I had to cart it a couple of miles from the river to my home.

I think about the homes that we drive by and how they’re made. As we arrive in Kampala I see new construction that confirms that even larger scale construction projects lack the building quality that make these safe places to live and work.

I’m heading home to a place that was built to withstand a category 4 or 5 hurricane. A virtual fortress.

In fact, as I write this, we’ve seen the effects that natural disasters can have on similar construction. The January 12th earthquake in Haiti resulted in such widespread damage because the building standards weren’t at a level reuired to handle such an event.

The construction that I’ve seen throughout the parts of Africa that I’ve just visited are of similar standards. I cringe at the thought of a similar disaster happening in a place like Kampala.

Our worlds are very different.

But this isn’t a night to be sad. It’s a night to celebrate! We’ve just finished an important work, and it’s something that we should be proud of!

Certainly we didn’t fix the world’s problems in a two week trip. But we did plant a seed.

A seed that we pray will bear great fruit in the months and years to come. They are seeds of hope and a future. It is a hope that can only come through love and nurturing. We stood beside them, sowed our minds and hearts into them, and let them know how much we believe in them.

We leave behind hundreds of people whose lives will never be the same because of the work that we’ve just done! And THAT my friend, was cause to celebrate!

I thank God every day that I’m able to impact other people’s lives in a positive way, and I pray that I continue to have opportunities to deliver Hope to many others…

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Check out more from this series in the africa diaries.

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