Interesting Evangelism Strategy

 

Sigh.


I saw this invitation to a new life in Jesus in the parking lot of a state park in Michigan this weekend. I was in Grand Rapids visiting Mars Hill Church. Mars Hill was a great experience. Their mission statement is telling of their commitments, "To live out the way of Jesus in misisonal communities and to announce the arrival of His Kingdom by working for measurable change among the oppressed." Somehow, I don't think the owner of this vehicle has the same spirit as my new friends at MH. Just a guess.

A New Social Gospel?

I remember thinking as far back as early in college that I didn’t fit in the categories that were out there.  It seemed like (now remember this IS 1980’s Texas I’m remembering); it seemed like people were either conservative Christians or liberal democrats/ atheists.  I didn’t mind a lot of the ethical positions of conservative Christians, but my atheistic/ democratic friends (that was a sort of redundancy back then and there, I must admit.)  cared more about the things that Jesus seemed to care about than my conservative Christian friends.  It seemed like people were either on this ‘side’ or that ‘side’ and I didn’t fit either one.  I appreciated some of moral positions of one group and some of the economic/ social positions of the other group. 

 

I remember even asking in seminary, in an ethics class, who’s doing this right?  Who is really embracing the “Politics of Jesus”—to borrow from John Howard Yoder’s wonderful and challenging book--?  The response was “The Catholics”.  Well, ok.  Maybe.  But, nothing against Catholics at all, but that didn’t seem like a likely path for me. 

 

What I have since come to discover is that there were then and are now a LOT of people feeling like I was and do.  People feeling like our faith and our faith commitments had been hijacked by political parties who use religious leaders to drive the masses to their political brethren.  I’m not really a ‘masses’ kind of person.  I bet you aren’t either.  It doesn’t seem so revolutionary to say it, but it seems like it is to practice it: Jesus is bigger than any one political party.

 

I’ve come to appreciate the folks who identify themselves as ‘emergent’.  They are seeking and finding a new paradigm for what it means to live out our faith in all areas of life: social issues, economic issues, political, religious—without being herded as, you know, ‘the masses”.  It just seems like with the emergent folks, the fences are lying in scrap pieces all over the landscape.  It’s messier than having the fences in place, predictably dividing us.  But Jesus was pretty messy too.  It just seems to me that our nation needs a little less vitriolic religiocentic partisanship and a lot more thoughtful, prayerful, engaging, loving, truth-telling Jesus following on whatever the issue may be and whatever the cost to us.

 

Here’s an interesting article from Newsweek about what’s happening among New Evangelicals trying to transform the world:

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15566389/site/newsweek/

 

 

Transformational Ministry

Here is a link to a story that PBS’ Religion and Ethics Newsweekly did on Lawndale Community Church in Chicago.  It’s another example of a local church making a significant difference in the life of its community. 

 

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week1102/feature.html#

 

This kind of ministry seems to me what Jesus would have us be about.

 

Here’s the church’s website too: http://www.lawndalechurch.org/

Email address change

Greetings.

I have changed my email from ericahowell@earthlink.net
My new email address is:

ehowell95@gmail.com

After October 31, I will not be able to receive mail through earthlink.
Thanks and sorry for any inconvenience. 

Eric

PS For those of you who received so much enjoyment from 'erica', your days are thankfully numbered.

Recent Concerts

The last two weekends, we have been treated to some remarkably wonderful music as part of our House Concert and CoffeeHouse series.  We are so fortunate in Charlottesville to be blessed with tremendous talent in music and the arts.  At our House Concert we had Peyton Trochterman and High Society perform.  They were great.  These guys blew away the small-but-enthusiastic crowd away with thoughtful lyrics, trumpet riffs by John D’Earth, and Matty Metcalfe on the accordion.  The whole evening was a lot of fun for everyone.  Here’s a link to his site: http://www.peytontochterman.com/.  The Paramount Theater has invited High Society to perform a CD release party.  They are the first local band to be welcomed to the Paramount—and with good reason.  On Sunday evening, we were blessed to have Alex Mejias give a warm, spiritual Coffee House concert at Broadus.  Alex is a local musician who loves to play re-tuned hymns and other spiritually rich melodies.  He left Monday morning for Nashville to record his next album. 

 

My only regret about both events is that more people weren’t there to enjoy them.  I don’t really know what to do about that (if anything can be done.)  Perhaps we need to do a better job getting the word out or personally inviting people.  Well, whatever the case, this kind of stuff is just too good not to share.  I genuinely feel that way about our whole church experience.  This stuff is just too good not to share. 

 

Huge props to the folks who pulled these events together, Jacob Goodson in particular.  All of you did a really nice job!