[present perfect] chapter 6: being present
July 19, 2010 by Jesse Giglio
Filed under authentic christianity, connect, the latest
“No moment is trivial since each one contains a divine kingdom, and heavenly sustenance.” – -J.P. de Caussade
When flipping through Greg Boyd’s book Present Perfect I was immediately drawn to the title of this chapter, Being Present. We live in a day where our situational awareness seems to be at an all time low while our “connectedness” is at an all time high. We carry the world in our pockets and often the concern of everyone but who we’re with. God is in the moment and to dismiss moments is to dismiss God. To miss His story, His purpose and His opportunities for you. We desperately need to slow down from light speed to frame by frame because, as the ATT commerical says, “Any second could be the second.”
Greg opens with the recounting of is favorite play, Our Town. It’s the story of a young girl who dies giving birth and finds out she will be allowed to relive any one day of her life. She chooses her twelfth birthday.
Getting this one day back Emily is overwhelmed by the beauty of everything but also by the pain of how it is disregarded by the living. She yearns for but a moment with her mother, but to no avail, her mother is “busy.” Busy with what? Most likely some imitation of life.
We must realize life while we live it.
The chapter moves to discuss the incarnation of Christ as something that the early Christians understood not as a “once upon a time” but an act that continues on in the present and to the future. We carry Christ with us as we set ourselves aside to enter into the lives of others just as God himself lay down his own life for ours.
Greg then goes into some practical exercises and examples of how it could look to be present in the presence of others and the value of living intentional moments. From riding the bus to being helped at the check-out these moments surround us, opportunities limitless, our task? To see people. Really see them. As Christ did.
When Jesus looked at the world he was able to see past judgment and into the lives of people who needed him. People who were broken and who hurt because of it. People who were once little children and who still need a Father.
Being Present calls us to not just look but see what’s around us. To be intentional with the time God’s presented with us, not just as a lifetime but with the seconds that make up that lifetime. To realize now what God’s up to today.
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book review: deliberate simplicity
April 29, 2010 by Jesse Giglio
Filed under ministry, reviews, the latest
Deliberate Simplicity is about being committed to the core expressions of the church and nothing else. Dropping pretense, program and sometimes even pixels to maintain a purity in the mission of the Jesus. Dave Browning is the pastor of Christ The King church, a community relentlessly focused on three things; Small Groups, Worship and Outreach.
All that stuff I love. The book? Not so much.
The book pushes this idea of a “Deliberately Simple” church hard, too hard. It felt more infomercial than inspiration. And in the end an ill fated attempt at creating a new kind of church brand. The heart was lost in the tone (or maybe the small font, was it just me?)
Deliberate Simplicity opens with the telling of a story of a perfect utopian faith community. A church that has it all. Which church would this be? The author’s of course. It’s tough to get into a story that leads like that.
DS oversold itself.
A few lines that drove the book for me…
(On the use of overhead projectors.) “We’re not trying to dazzle people with Pixels.” Not Shane Hipps fans I take it.
“This is not to say that Deliberately Simple church is the only church interested in reaching out to a lost world. But…”
“I have people tell me, ‘Dave I don’t go to church, but if I ever did, I would check out Christ The King.’”
“CTK was shaping up differently than any church church I’d seen before. I was moaning in my office about how I didn’t have a mentor to show me the way.”
CTK is “different than any church you’ve ever seen before”.
Felt too self promoted. DS also seemed to keep us at a distance from the author, leaving us with charts, church stories and lots of quotes from other people.
Sounds like God’s doing some cool stuff at CTK but as a reader/leader it didn’t work for me.
Begs the question though, do we always need to try and brand the great things God is doing and attempt to sell them? Can commercialization of even good stuff be harmful?
[jesus, the middle eastern storyteller] chapter 6: finding the lost
September 30, 2009 by Jesse Giglio
Filed under bible literacy, featured
by Jesse Giglio (check out the artsy version of this contribution)
Luke 15
This chapter addresses those who are were lost but also separated. People socially pushed to the margins due to race or practice or mistakes. Jesus embraces these people of separation in such a way that he himself is marginalized. He himself is separated.
Burge notes the opinion of the religious leaders toward Jesus – “Jesus is at fault because he fully accepts people who have failed by every religious and social standard…”
The culture values separation. Jesus inclusion.
Jesus makes his statement on inclusion by telling 3 stories of loss. 100 Sheep. 10 Coins. 2 Sons.
The first in this narrowing progression introduces us to a shepherd; admired in biblical literature but not so in real life. “Suppose one of you has a 100 sheep” Jesus says-evoking discomfort from the religious leaders as a shepherd’s work was hard, dangerous and kept them from keeping the law-”if you were to lose one would you not leave the 99 to go look for it?”
Burge insights- 1. The flock were likely the collective animals of the community 2. Shepherds didn’t work alone. The remaining 99 would’ve still been cared for. 3. The village celebrated the return.
Next we go from likening God to a shepherd to that of a woman (gasp!) losing a single coin. Squirm Pharisees, squirm.
The woman loses, seeks and finds resulting in again a communal celebration. Things that find themselves separated are meant to be sought, restored and celebrated.
The 3rd story develops in complexity but retains congruency. Emphasis remains on community and separation. The father’s affairs with his sons would not have been private nor quiet. The village would be involved and offended and angry at the departing son and the giving father. And then upon his return the village would celebrate together. All but one.
The one who remained. The older son, who had considerable rights to this estate, was seemingly left out. Questioning the father for welcoming this son who separated while at the same time shaming the father by not being present at this community celebration.
The chapter ends by drawing some modern day parallels and ultimately questions…
Do you welcome those on the outside? And celebrate their inclusion?
Jesus lived in the margins.
About the author:
Jesse Giglio loves stories, at least good stories but then again thatʻs why we have bad ones…so we can tell. He thinks life is meaningful. Sometimes the way we live it is not. He’s a teaching pastor and mission architect in Southern California. But prefers activist and raconteur. His church isnʻt too big and isnʻt too small but itʻs not just right either. Itʻs probably a lot like yours.
[jesus, the middle eastern storyteller] chapter 6: finding the lost (artsy version)
September 30, 2009 by Jesse Giglio
Filed under bible literacy, featured
by Jesse Giglio (check out the straight-up version of this contribution)
Luke 15
YouTube Video :: Dustin Kensrue: Please Come Home (acoustic)
Please Come Home by Dustin Kensrue
Well I woke one morning,
found you staring down at me,
you said “I’ll take my share now, father please”,
and you took your money,
and you took your leave,
you drilled my heart and turned your back on me…
And you hit the town,
and you hit the bottle hard,
you race ’round in your fancy cars and you blow all your money,
on brothels, beds, and bars,
before you know your broken times get hard…
I still stand here waiting,
with my eyes fixed on the road,
and I fight back tears and I wonder,
if you’re ever coming home,
don’t you know son that I love you,
and I don’t care where you’ve been,
so please come home.
And now you’ve hit bottom,
all those open doors have shut,
and you’re hungry stomach’s tied in knots,
but I know what you’re thinking,
that you troubled me enough,
nothing could ever separate you from my love…
I still stand here waiting,
with my eyes fixed on the road,
and I fight back tears and I wonder,
if you’re ever coming home,
don’t you know son that I love you,
and I don’t care where you’ve been,
yes and i’ll be right here waiting,
’til you come around the bend,
and I run to you and hold you close,
won’t let go again,
so please come home,
please come home…
Don’t you know son that I love you?
And I don’t care where you’ve been,
so please come home.
About the contributor:
Jesse Giglio loves stories, at least good stories but then again thatʻs why we have bad ones…so we can tell. He thinks life is meaningful. Sometimes the way we live it is not. He’s a teaching pastor and mission architect in Southern California. But prefers activist and raconteur. His church isnʻt too big and isnʻt too small but itʻs not just right either. Itʻs probably a lot like yours.
