All I want for Christmas

Growing up Christmas was by far my favorite holiday.  Every Christmas eve I would go to my Nanny’s house and we would eat dinner and open presents.  Afterwards my Granny and DaDo would come over to my house and stay the night.  Every year it got harder and harder to sleep…i just couldn’t wait to wake up, go downstairs and see what Santa brought me.  Every year it seemed I got more and more stuff…IT WAS AWESOME!  As I have gotten older I have started to realize I just didn’t need more stuff.  I love receiving gifts but it just seemed so selfish.  Every year Christmas was becoming less about Christ and more about me.  Christmas was a season to celebrate me more than to celebrate the birth of Christ.  So in the last few years I have been rethinking my Christmas wish list.  I want the gifts I receive and give to reflect the beauty of the Christmas story.  I want them to reflect the hope that came to the world through Christ.  I want them to reflect the love of God for all the world.  So over the last few years I have been encouraging others to look at alternative gift giving.  I am not some person who thinks toys and gadgets are bad but if all we focus on is ourselves and all the stuff we want then I think we are missing the beauty of the Christmas story.   Maybe this year replace one gift for yourself and ask others to contribute elsewhere.  You might ask where should they give…I am glad you asked!

Each week until Christmas I am going to highlight a few alternatives for you to consider.  Some of these I have given to others I have not but they are all worthy of our consideration this Christmas season.   So without further ado here is the first alternative to consider.

Toms Shoes

OUR STORY

In 2006 an American traveler, Blake Mycoskie , befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One. Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by caring TOMS customers.

Since our beginning, TOMS has given over 150,000* pairs of shoes to children in need through the One for One model. Because of your support, TOMS plans to give over 300,000 pairs of shoes to children in need around the world in 2009.

Our ongoing community events and Shoe Drop Tours allow TOMS supporters and enthusiasts to be part of our One for One movement. Join us.

WHY SHOES?

Most children in developing countries grow up barefoot. Whether at play, doing chores or just getting around, these children are at risk.

Walking is often the primary mode of transportation in developing countries. Children can walk for miles to get food, water, shelter and medical help. Wearing shoes literally enables them to walk distances that aren’t possible barefoot.

Wearing shoes prevents feet from getting cuts and sores on unsafe roads and from contaminated soil. Not only are these injuries painful, they also are dangerous when wounds become infected. The leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted parasites which penetrate the skin through open sores. Wearing shoes can prevent this and the risk of amputation.

Many times children can’t attend school barefoot because shoes are a required part of their uniform. If they don’t have shoes, they don’t go to school. If they don’t receive an education, they don’t have the opportunity to realize their potential.

There is one simple solution…SHOES.

Of the planet’s six billion people, four billion live in conditions inconceivable to many. Lets take a step towards a better tomorrow.

Last year I heard about Toms and asked for a pair for Christmas.  Many of you who know me know I hate wearing shoes.   I normally wear my worn out Adidas flops.  The only other pair of shoes I do wear are my Toms.  I ask you to check out their site and give a pair of Toms for Christmas.  Not only are they comfy but you will be embodying the message of Christmas.

http://www.tomsshoes.com

Sunday Mornings

For the last year each Sunday morning has dealt with a particular theme.  We have explored The tough saying of Jesus 1 & 2,  study books called exploring faith & practicing faith, and most recently we did a series on evil.  We have had weeks where conversation is flowing and people are engaged and other weeks where I am there by myself twiddling my thumbs.  So through much prayer I decided that instead of finding some lesson or some theme to explore we would should just pick up our Bibles.  So for now and I hope for the long-term future we will gather on Sunday mornings and read the Bible.

Now for some that might sound a bit boring but so is being uninterested in the lesson/theme which could last for weeks.  The idea is to come together and read the Bible as it is meant to be read.  Many times we pick up the Bible and read it to seek what it says on a particular subject or in our case on what theme we are discussing.  We rarely if ever allow the subject to arise from our reading.  My hope is to approach scripture as a story that is rich enough to enliven conversation without us having to bring to the Bible our agenda, lesson or theme.  My ultimate desire is to spark a passion in us as a community to read the Bible.  My hope is that through our weekly gatherings we will begin to discover the living Word and the Word will being to grab each of us in a way that we will want to read the Bible every day.  I also want to encourage study of scripture but I personally don’t think that can happen in a fruitful way until we have a passion to read the Bible.

One more thing about Sunday mornings…The 4th Sunday of every month we will meet at IHOP off of Harding & Nolensville at 9:30AM.   Pancakes and Jesus… yummy!

Peace,

Nate

Long time…

Ok, Ok, Ok…it has been way too long since the last post.  Here is what is going on in our community right now.

We watch Monday Night Football every Monday night (that there is a game) at the Spradling Mansion.

We bowl every Tuesday night (last night is Nov 10) at Tusculum Lanes

Crazy Love is Wed nights at 7pm

T.Y.A.C. Sunday is every Sunday morning at 9:30AM

I updated the calendar…check it out

More to come soon…

Peace,

Nate

Sunday Mornings

  Over the last several months we had been studying Faith Matters.  In that series we came across a chapter on evil that sparked a lot of conversation.  Now that we are done with Faith Matters I thought we should revisit our initial conversations on evil and dig a little deeper with the help of N.T. Wright’s book Evil & the Justice of God.

Starting Sunday Morning August 16 23 we will be discussing the ideas presented in Evil & the Justice of God.  There is a accompanying DVD with this book that will help guide our discussion into 4-parts.

August 23-Introduction:What is Evil?

August 30-Old Testament Perspectives on Evil.

September 6-New Testament Perspectives on Evil.

September 13-What Can We Do About Evil?

Join us on Sunday Mornings at 9:30AM

Walking a Labyrinth

A few months ago I called Rev. Battle Beasley rector at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church to ask if our community could meet there one night.  Over the last month our group has been reading and exploring the practices of the book The Sacred Way.  One of the chapters is the spiritual practice of walking a labyrinth.  St. Mark’s has an outdoor labyrinth and I thought instead of just talking about walking a labyrinth we should go walk a labyrinth.  Wednesday night 7 of us did just that.  Before we walked Battle took some time to explain the history & meaning of labyrinths.   The design of the labyrinth at St. Mark’s is called Chartres. 

Chartres Cathedral labyrinth

 

 

 

The name comes from the famous Chartres Cathedral labyrinth in France…can anyone sayroad trip? 

 

 

Moving on…Battle gave us paper and pencils to jote down some questions or thoughts we had before entering the labyrinth and after walking it we should return to those thoughts to see if there was some clarity.  I have walked a labyrinth before while I was in seminary but this for whatever reason had a different vibe to it.    This time I walked knowing that this was not a waste of time but rather a chance to deepen my relationship with God.  A chance to hear God and for me to listen.  As I began walking I noticed one phrase repeating in my mind, inward reflection outward focus.  Over and over again this repeated in my head.  As I reached the center I stood inside one of the petals looking outside the labyrinth.  I noticed the blue sky, the trees, the green grass not really focusing on anything just looking.  After a couple of days to ponder these two things I believe there is a connection.  I know that reflection leads to action but I always seem to get sidetracked.  I notice a lot of things and maybe that is the problem for me when it comes to action.  What action should I focus on?  There is a lot of things that have my attention but what truly has my focus?  I believe God is stirring me to action.  Not to multiple things but something singular/something I will focus on exclusively.  God only knows what that is…for now.  

Peace,

Nate     

Messy Spirituality

A few years ago the church I was the youth minister at asked me to be the speaker at our churches family camp.  The theme for that weekend was Messy Spirituality.  I wrote 4 sermons based off  the book Messy Spirituality by Mike Yaconelli.  I copied and pasted those sermons together at www.wordle.net  and this was the image I got back.  Just thought I would share…

Peace,

Nate

Essential reading

Eugene Cho is fast becoming my favorite blogger.  He and his readers spent some time tossing back and forth what they thought was the 10 most essential books for Christians.  You can read his list here http://eugenecho.wordpress.com/2009/03/27/my-10-absolutely-essential-books-for-christians/#more-4005

 

 I was looking down the list and can say that I haven’t read very many of those books.  I have read bits and pieces probably but not all the way through.  The one that I find the most essential on that list (keep in mind I am saying the most essential to those I have read on Eugene’s list) is Surprised By Hope by N.T. Wright 

 

 http://www.amazon.com/Surprised-Hope-Rethinking-Resurrection-Mission/dp/0061551821/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238178153&sr=8-1 

The sub-title is “Re-thinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church.”  Don’t let re-thinking fool you.  N.T. Wright isn’t necessarily re-thinking but rather re-explaining what heaven, resurrection, and the mission of the church meant  in the context of the early church.  He peels back all the layers of tradition that has piled on top to get to the core of what Jesus and his followers believed about heaven, resurrection, and the mission of the church.  It is a beautiful book that would make a great read leading up to celebrating Easter.   Speaking of that I think I am going to re-read it starting today.  Another book Eugene mentions on his list   Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne.

 

 

 

 Irresistible Revolutionis a great book.  The stories that Shane shares are extraordinary.  I mean the man called Mother Teresa on the phone!  It cannot be overstated for people who desire to put their faith into action I can’t think of another book that articulates what that looks like better than this book.

http://www.amazon.com/Irresistible-Revolution-Living-Ordinary-Radical/dp/0310266300/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238179386&sr=1-1

 After reading his list and the list’s of people commenting on his list I started to think of what one book do I chalk up as essential to my journey with God.  What is the one book that I

 

continue to look at, study, ponder, and wrestle with.  The one book that I think every Christian should read.  I know many of you are waiting for me to say the Bible.  I know that many of us read way too much about the Bible instead of reading the Bible but that is not what I am going to say.  This book is the one I go to first after I read my Bible.  Most times that I read my Bible this book is close by so I can see if the author has any insight (and she usual does!) about what I have just read.  To me this is the most essential book I have on my shelf. 

 

 

 It is called Stations of the Banquet: Faith Foundations for Food Justice by Cathy C. Campbell. 

http://www.amazon.com/Stations-Banquet-Faith-Foundations-Justice/dp/0814629385/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238180255&sr=1-1

“Stations of the Banquet, a Scripture-based exploration of the Christian story of salvation as a food story, provides nourishment for those engaged in living out the food and justice challenges of the Gospel.  It highlights the power of our biblical and theological traditions to name the root issues of our day, shape our hope, and define horizons for action.  It is a resource for study and prayer.”  

I was in a class in seminary and this book was one of the required readings.  At first I had no desire to read this book.  It just sat on my shelf for weeks.  To be honest it wasn’t really until after the class I read it.  Before every class we would pray one of the prayers found at the end of each chapter of the book.  If you get the book just for that it is worth the price.  The prayers are some of the most beautiful and vibrant prayers I have ever read.  The rest of the book is just as vibrant and beautiful.  For some it might be a bit wordy and I guess that is why I haven’t bought 10 copies and passed them out to friends and family.  This book really needs to be read and digested in community.  If you do decide to check it out I urge you to ask a few people to read it with you.  This book is dense to say the least.  I won’t give you a long drawn out overview of the book because my words couldn’t do Stations justice but here are a few quotes.

“Time spent in prayer is time spent at the heart of the universe.” Pg 54

“In the simple act of feeding the hungry, we do not just do a good thing or follow a moral imperative to care for our neighbor; we are actually invited to encounter the living Christ, the mystery of the universe from before time to after the end of time.” Pg 70

“Generosity is the impulse at the root of a gift economy.  It is our contemporary spiritual challenge.  It is at the core of the path of abundent life for all.” Pg 158

What about you?  Do you have any essentials? 

Peace,

Nate

Speak of the devil

On Sunday mornings our community spent a couple of weeks talking about evil and satan.  I guess ABC caught wind of what we were doing and they decided to talk about it too.  ABC Nightline has a segment called Face-Off.  Tonight will air the Face-Off called “Does Satan exist?”  An interesting panel has been assembled, here is the lineup.

“…philosopher Deepak Chopra and Bishop Carlton Pearson will face-off against Pastor Mark Driscoll of the Mars Hill Church and Annie Lobert, founder of the Christian ministry “Hookers for Jesus” about the existence of the Devil.”

You can watch it online here http://abcnews.go.com/nightline/faceoff

I don’t know if ABC will show anything different than what is online but If you have ABC I would encourage you to watch.  I love conversation but sometimes I wish the conversation was with people who actually study the devil.  I understand this is ABC and they are looking for good TV more than anything.  I can’t sit here and say I have “studied” the devil.  I tend to focus on Jesus and following him but after watching this and talking with my group on Sunday mornings I need to spend some more time reading about satan. 

I found a couple of books to look at…

http://www.amazon.com/Birth-Satan-Tracing-Devils-Biblical/dp/1403969337/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238103120&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Evil-Justice-God-N-Wright/dp/0830833986/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_7

What other articles/books could help?

Peace,

Nate

 

“avoiding the appearance of evil”

 

There is a great article on Scot McKnight’s blog Jesus Creed by Chrissy Wright.  

Read it here

http://blog.beliefnet.com/jesuscreed/2009/03/friday-is-for-friends-chrissy.html#more

We seem to paint our definition of sin with a narrow brush.  It seems that sin has been reduced to what we can see.  Sin shows up there but as Chrissy points out sin also shows up in things unseen.  As Chrissy says following Jesus “ It is not an easy path. It is not a selfish path. It is not a comfortable path. It is not an orderly, all laid out, avoid these five things, do these three things, neat path.”  Chrissy finishes with, “It is a daily, creative, intentional adventure of learning how to love, learning how to sacrifice, and learning what it is to see His Kingdom come and His will be done.” Amen to that!

Peace,

Nate

Sex God

This Wednesday night we will re-start our discussion on the book Sex God:  Exploring the Endless Connections Between Sexuality and Spirituality.  We will also talk about what we might look at after we are done with Sex God.  If you have any thoughts or suggestions about what we should do next bring them Wednesday Night or leave a comment on here.

 

Here are some pictures from the 30 Hour Famine this weekend.  In total we raised a little over $5,000 dollars for World Vision.  Hope to see you Wednesday night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peace,

Nate