Hi, I’m Rob and I am currently planting a church with Ecclesia Stockton. You can find us here, here, or here.
What I learned today…Time Banking
20 NovWould You “Time Bank”?
“How does it work? Essentially individuals make deposits into the Time Bank where they offer to provide a service for a specified period of time. That entitles them to make a withdrawal (of sorts) of an equal amount of time from someone else who has made their own deposit in the time bank for others to draw upon. For example, a health care provider may offer his or her services in exchange for having a contractor come in and do a little work like insulating the basement.
Everyone’s time is valued equally. No money exchanges hands. No worries about bouncing a check or racking up too much credit card debt.
What do you think? Would you spend an hour doing something you’re really good at or really like to do in exchange or having someone else do the same for you? I like that idea!
Tune in and watch the program – Fixing the Future on your local PBS television station. Here’s a brief video clip.
http://www.pbs.org/now/fixing-the-future/index.html”
-Linda Stanley, Leadership Network
Here is a YouTube video as well:
If anyone has any time bank offers let me know!
What I learned today…haha, I didn’t ask for this
18 NovSomeday I dream of doing something caught on tape that can go viral…I’m trying to imagine the scenarios that could produce something like that…
What I learned today…if parents don’t disciple their own kids they are waisting their time sending them to church
17 NovChildren’s ministry in churches didn’t always exist. In fact for the majority of church history it didn’t. It is kind of a new idea that parents would drop off their kids with someone else and expect them to disciple their children to be life long learners of Jesus.
Doug Paul, a pastor at Eikon Church in Virgina, played a part in the research done in regards to how to best disciple kids. He says, “Children were more likely to have vibrant faith if the parents weren’t even Christians than if the parents went to church and didn’t act as the primary disciplers of their kids.”
Here is a link to the PDF on the subject: http://www.eikoncommunity.org/cmwhitepaper.pdf
What I learned today…the ancient Israelites and beer
16 NovHere is a post by Allan Bevere in response to the Biblical Archaeology Review
Did the Ancient Israelites Drink Beer?
That’s what Michael Homan argues in the September/October issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. If this is so how come we don’t find beer mentioned in the Old Testament and why hasn’t this been a topic of any interest in biblical scholarship?
Homan cites three reasons for the lack of knowledge and interest in Hebrew beer brewers: 1) the Hebrew word shekhar (שכר) has been misunderstood, 2) there is a general scholarly “snobbery” concerning beer drinking as opposed to the consumption of wine, and 3) the difficulty in identifying the remains of tools and items in the production of beer.
Now for a little more detail on Homan’s three reasons:
1) Most English translations of the Old Testament render shekhar as “strong drink” or “liquor,” and other terminology that would lead one to believe that the word does not refer to beer. But in the Hebrew Bible the word appears twenty times in parallel with “wine” (e.g. wine and beer). In other ancient Near Eastern literature the terms for wine and beer are often used in tandem. Moreover, the Hebrew word shekhar is derived from the Akkadian word šikaru which refers to “barley beer.”
2) Ancient historians know that beer was a staple drink throughout the Ancient Near East. Why would the Israelites be an exception? We know that grain was grown widely throughout this part of the ancient world because it was easy to grow. Unlike grain, grapes cannot be grown just anywhere. Beer was used as wages and ancient physicians recommended a beer enema for such ailments as constipation. Hammurabi’s Law Code legislates the price and the alcoholic content of beer.
One of the reasons scholars have not embraced beer drinking Israelites is that alcoholic beverages were often mixed. The ancient folk sometimes sweetened their beer with figs or honey. They also added spices. Interestingly enough it has been the advent of modern microbreweries with all the different kinds of flavored and spiced beers that have helped to clear up the ambiguity in reference to ancient beers.
A second reason is that the word shekhar also was the term used to refer to intoxication. This was also true of the word for “beer” in the Akkadian, Aramaic, Ugaritic, and Arabic languages.
Combine the connection of shekhar to the state of inebriation with the vision of the guy with the dirty t-shirt sitting in front of the TV drinking a bottle of cheap swill, scholars have not sufficiently considered the important place of beer in Israelite society. There has been an unspoken assumption that beer drinking is uncivilized.
3) It is been difficult to find archaeological evidence for ancient beer making in Israel because much of the same equipment was also used to make bread. This would be understandable, says Homan, since in the ancient world beer and bread were closely connected. In addition, it is more difficult to find chemical traces of ancient beer in jars and other pottery because, unlike wine, ancient beer did not keep long and was brewed for immediate consumption. Beer drinking was also a community activity. One method of consumption was for several people to drink it from a large communal pot through straws.
Homan ends the article with Ecclesiastes 11:1-2:
Throw your bread upon the face of the water, because in many days you will acquire it. Give a serving to seven and also eight, because you do not know what evil will be upon the land.
Homan thinks these two verses are a reference to the cakes of bread used in the brewing of ancient beer. Thus the sage of Ecclesiastes is advising his hearers to make beer and drink it with friends because no one knows when future calamity is coming.
What I learned today…Nouwen on prayer
15 NovThe world says, “If you are not making good use of your time, you are useless.” Jesus says: “Come spend useless time with me.” …
…Prayer is being unbusy with God instead of being busy with other things. Prayer is primarily to do nothing useful or productive in the presence of God. To not be useful is to remind myself that if anything important or fruitful happens through prayer, it is God who achieves the result. So when I go into the day, I go with the conviction that God is the one who brings forth fruit in my work, and I do not have to act as though I am in control of things. I have to work hard; I have to do my task; I have to offer my best. But I can let go of the illusion of control and be detached from the result. At the end of each day I can prayerfully say that if something good happened, God be praised.
• Spiritual Formation, p. 19f
Things I learned today…Alan Hirsch
14 NovIntro to the Forgotten Ways
Jesus is Lord
Disciple Making
Apostolic Environment
Organic Systems
Communitas
What I learned today…
13 NovIn October there was a Day Conference with Tim Keller in Johannesburg at Rosebank Union Church. All the audio is online.
* Session 1: The Priority of Churches
* Session 2: Urban Churches & Contextualization
* Session 3: Gospel and Culture
* Session 4: Q and A
* Session 5: Evening City Celebration
I have read 3 books by Tim Keller: The Reason for God; Generous Justice; Counterfeit Gods and they have all been amazing. To this day just about the only person I would every pay money to hear speak is Tim Keller. Always appreciate his thoughts. If you are involved in leading the church in an ever changing culture then check these out.
What I learned today…Who died and made you king of anything
2 NovTwo Sunday’s ago at Ecclesia we looked at the concept of judging. The word for judging is “krino” in Greek. In our passage in Matthew 7 judgment is forbidden: “Judge not or you will be judge. The measure you use to others will be measured to you.”
We discussed how the word “judge” is used by Jesus and the NT authors in an ambiguous way. At times judgment (krino) is commanded and at times judgment (krino) is forbidden. The word is neither universally positive nor universally negative. In fact in 1 Cor 5 you find judgment commanded and off limits in the space of two verses.
There are three very clear observations where judgment is not to occur.
The first place is when judgment has transitioned from good discernment to condemnation. In Luke 6:37, the parallel to Matthew 7 it says: Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
The second place is when you have failed to apply the same standards to yourself. In Matthew 7:3-5 Jesus says the hypocrite is the person who first judges another brother for having a speck in their eye while they have a plank sticking out of their own. Jesus says to first remove the plank from your eye then you can help with their speck. He doesn’t say to ignore the speck, only practice self-criticism before you talk to others. Measure yourself before you measure others.
I gave 5 pieces of advise to avoid letting discernment turn into condemnation and how to make sure you don’t have a plank in your eye: 1) Look at your hands in the issue and not just theirs-own up to where you have fallen short in the situation 2) Keep things as small as possible going to a person and letting them clarify or save face 3) Replace gossip with the truth-the only difference between gossip and the truth is who you are talking to 4) Replace being a know it all for a fact finder-instead of assuming that you know all the details give the person a chance to clarify 5) Replace thinking the worst of someone with thinking the best of someone-If you think the best you won’t make closed book assumptions about a persons motives or willingness to change if need be.
The third place is in judging those outside the church. In 1 Corinthians 5 Paul simply says it is none of our business. It is our place to judge those inside the church and not our place to judge those outside the church. Which, if you have ever heard a Christian running for office trying to bring back morals you get this feeling that something is wrong, it is because something is wrong. They are running on a platform, judging those outside the church, that Paul said is none of our business. I know that may thoroughly ruffle your feathers if you want to “Take back America for God” or think anything that Glen Beck does is a good idea but it is a hard repercussion of NT teachings to ignore. I highly suggest two books: Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and The Myth of a Christian Nation by Greg Boyd.
After the talk at Ecclesia I found these lyrics and video to a song called “King of Anything”. I thought it captured really well the posture of someone who isn’t interested in what the church has to say and how someone may feel when someone keeps saying it to them anyways.
Next post, I’ll try to look at the positive side of judging (krino) that is commanded in the form of discernment.
Keep drinking coffee, stare me down across the table
While I look outside
So many things I’d say if only I were able
But I just keep quiet and count the cars that pass by
You’ve got opinions, man
We’re all entitled to ‘em, but I never asked
So let me thank you for your time, and try not to waste anymore of mine
And get out of here fast
I hate to break it to you babe, but I’m not drowning
There’s no one here to save
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?
You sound so innocent, all full of good intent
Swear you know best
But you expect me to jump up on board with you
And ride off into your delusional sunset
I’m not the one who’s lost with no direction
But you’ll never see
You’re so busy making maps with my name on them in all caps
You got the talking down, just not the listening
And who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?
All my life I’ve tried to make everybody happy
While I just hurt and hide
Waiting for someone to tell me it’s my turn to decide
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be?
Who died and made you king of anything?
Let me hold your crown, babe
