Charlie Wear’s Notes

The Lord God Reigns by Carl Tuttle, Firmpaths Music, (c) 2010

This is just too good…

From Missions Misunderstood:

Everyone’s traditional. Some of us just start new ones rather than following someone else’s. There are consequences to the tradition of pragmatism. You might be seeing “results” with the way you’re doing things but consider this:

• If people come to faith through confrontational, guilt-trip evangelism, they’re coming to a confrontational, guilt-trip faith.
• If your church’s myopic focus on Biblical knowledge makes it more lecture hall than place of worship, you’re likely going to get a bunch of armchair Reformation theologians and wanna-be ancient Greek scholars who are more concerned with being right than anything else.
• If you allow your church to get so large that it’s a challenge to really know everyone (anyone) else in that local body, (versus starting smaller, more local gatherings,) you are discipling your people into a less personal expression of Christianity and, therefore, a less personal view of Jesus. [Pragmatic argument:] Of course, relational church can happen in your megachurch (through small groups, cliques, informal social circles, etc.), but as you add programs and square-footage, it begins to happen in spite of how you do church, not because of how you do church.
• If your church is mired in legalism, it won’t last. Legalistic religious people eventually can’t keep up with their legalisms. To them, God is only pleased with an impossibly demanding cycle of performance. They usually end up abandoning their “faith” or isolating themselves for fear of secular contamination.
• If your church worships worship, your people might not learn to worship God. At the very least, they could be left unable to worship without a worship band and Mediashout® video backgrounds. Believers need to learn to worship, learn, serve, and share without the help of the professionals who make their livings by (intentionally or otherwise) perpetuating dependence.
• If your church sits in grandstands with the lights dimmed, staring at a jumbo-tron, don’t be surprised if they act like spectators.

I didn’t know what to expect when I went to see Clint Eastwood’s latest film, Gran Torino. I guess I was expecting a kind of Death Wish meets Billy Jack (and if you understand these references you are no doubt a senior citizen like me). What I got was something I wasn’t expecting, a lesson on life and death and missional living.

Eastwood’s Polish protagonist, Walter Kowalski, is someone “you don’t want to mess with.” He is angry and bitter and doesn’t seem to understand what is happening to the world around him. He’s racist and profane. He is desperately sad at the passing of his wife. He is disappointed in God and the church.

Then, a strange thing happens. When the next-door neighbor Hmong family infiltrates his life in unexpected ways, he becomes a bridge builder and a mentor to the next generation. How this all plays out is a lovely example of outstanding storytelling.

Kowalski’s relationship with the local priest is worth the price of admission. I was gripped and surprised by Gran Torino, especially it’s unexpected conclusion.

I finished reading William Young’s, The Shack, yesterday. All I can say is, "Wow." This is one of those books that will make you laugh and cry and think really hard. We published a review and an interview on Next-Wave in October 2007, but I didn’t get around to getting a copy until about a week ago. Reading this book had a profound effect on me that I am going to be processing for some time to come. The insights it contains into the very nature of God are amazing. Beyond all of this, it is very well-written. I have no doubt that it is going to continue to have an amazing impact.
700 Club Interview:

My friend, Bill Dahl, has published The Porpoise Diving Life, the Book on the Internet. Whatever you do, don’t read it! Here are some very good reasons for not reading it: 1) Bill is not a megachurch pastor; 2) Bill is not a famous best-selling author; 3) Bill does not have a goatee, nor does he wear a beret. Bill is just a radical follower of Jesus. Having never been paid to do ministry, he just does it because he wants to be obedient to God. If you have found your true purpose in life and are living in ecstatic fulfillment of it, you will find this book irrelevant and boring. If you have times of disappointment, depression, and difficulty in your journey of faith, then stay away from it, you may find your true "porpoise." Besides, should you read a book written by a guy who wears snorkeling equipment to stand in the bushes? Come on…