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Filed under: from the profane to the sublime, people

Veteran

Uncles Bob, George, Rudy, Shelby, Richard, Vaughn and Lee were all veterans. The first four in the list fought in WWII. Two of them were shot and one of those two returned from the Pacific with malaria. After months of weight loss, yellow skin and bad dreams Rudy recovered from the disease. He died ten years ago with fifty year old fragments of shrapnel in his thigh.

One uncle was a teamster, one was a plumber, two were farmers, two worked in a sawmill, and one stayed in the military until he retired. In spite of the fact that all but one were drafted, not one complained about having to serve. At family reunions, when asked by admiring young nephews, they would share their funny stories, keep the bad ones to themselves, and make clear, that if necessary, they would do it all over again.

Brad, Ace, Mike, Tom Sr., Mike, Steve, Robert, Earl, Joe, Chris, Stan, Ross, are just a few friends of mine who have served in the military. In various branches and at various times they gave of themselves knowing, as every person in the military must, that they could be asked to give more than any of us care to think.

Rodger, Robert, and Eric, each serving now, will be celebrated as veterans in the not too distant future. There is something Christlike about the choice to serve. My hunch is that each of these guys would be uncomfortable with accolades. All of my uncles were. Let me say, on behalf of many who love and admire you, thanks.

As a kid I was regaled with stories and I asked probing questions about the experiences that my uncles, my Dad and other veterans had. Kid’s don’t think about saying thank you. Let me do so now… thank you.

And thanks be to God for your willing service, your love for family and friends and your commitment to your country.

Filed under: people , Veteran's Day

Do you fly the green “E”?: Emerging, Emergent, Missional, etc.

Some of you have, in recent months, asked questions about the relationship between the Wheatland Mission and Emergent. Some have asked, “Is Wheatland Emergent?”. Still others have asked, in general, what the deal is with the Emerging/gent Church. What is known as the “emergent conversation” is something that I have followed, listened to for the last few years. Still, the terms, the players and the conversation partners are

Filed under: McKnight, missional, people , Emergent, emerging, missional

The 6 Man Kings of Arthur

This is a video article from Sports Illustrated Kids. It tells the story of 6 man football in Arthur, Nebraska. That’s the small town where our daughter goes to school. If you watch closely you can see her talking in the 6 man cafeteria.

The Kings of Arthur

Filed under: people , 6 man football, Add new tag, Arthur Nebraska

Not an endorsement, but …

… I appreciate the effort. Tonight the state representative of our district rang our door bell and talked with me on our porch. He asked about the things that matter to our family and why we vote the way we vote. He listened, he told us that he was now, and would continue to be, responsive to the needs of the people in his district, and asked if he could count on our vote. I told him he couldn’t but we would at least consider what he had to say.

A lot of cynicism fades away when people actually talk with one another.

Filed under: people

Bonhoeffer on Missional

I have recently started re-reading Bonhoeffer’s little book Life Together with a few friends. This book was the result of the time Bonhoeffer spent with a group of renegade pastors meeting in a secret seminary during WWII. As members of what was called the “Confessing Church” they shared their lives in prayer, study and work for the sake of being faithful witnesses to Christ in Nazi Germany.

I hadn’t thought of Dietrich Bonhoeffer as a missional thinker per se but his opening comments about the

Filed under: Bonhoeffer, books, missional, people , Bonhoeffer, missional

solzhenitsyn: requiescat in pace

Please forgive me, (sign of the cross) it has been over a week since my last post. Some biggies have died recently including the comedian Bernie Mac and the musician Isaac Hayes. However, there is one who passed away recently who won’t get the press coverage he deserves but whose voice would be especially useful in light of the craziness in Georgia.

I regret that I never had the stamina to read the Gulag or Red Wheel Cycle. I did read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich in High School but can hardly remember it. There’s some good info on A.S. here: Solzhenitsyn.

Filed under: books, from the profane to the sublime, people , solzhenitsyn

Hirsch #1

If you are not familiar with Alan Hirsch you can read more about him at The Forgotten Ways Blog. Also, you can check out his books here: The Forgotten Ways and The Shaping of Things to Come.

This past weekend I traveled to New Orleans to attend a small conference with Hirsch, the staff of Journey Christian Church of NOLA, and my KS friends George and Brad. It was a tremendous opportunity to pick the brain of a brilliant thinker who has thought both broadly and thoroughly about the concept of Christians living as missionaries in their own cultures.

You may have thought, as I have, that the word missional is easily misunderstood. While the word has not been in use long, it’s been used long enough in a variety of contexts that its meaning has become unclear for many. We have used the word a lot in our community in the aspiration that we would continually become more missional.

Hirsch made one very important suggestion to this point. Rather than abandon the word missional and create another term (One which will communicate the ideas of living as God’s missionary people in today’s culture.) Hirsch adds one word to it, one that makes all the difference: missional-incarnational. The idea of being God’s sent people is combined with the reminder that God himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, became a flesh and blood human. (John 1 provides a lot of help in understanding the biblical concept of the Incarnation: “the Word became a flesh and blood human being and moved into the neighborhood” – v. 14.)

How has the meaning of the word missional become obscured for you? How do you think adding the term incarnational helps?

Filed under: missional, people , Alan Hirsch, incarnational, missional

Music Monday: “Roland, the Headless Thompson Gunner”

The best songs are stories. This has always been the case even when the story is buried deep. If the story behind this song sounds interesting you can read about it here: Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner.

I’ve always enjoyed Warren Zevon and this is his final performance before his death a few years ago. Enjoy:

This song might get my blog that envied PG rating I’ve been longing for.

Filed under: from the profane to the sublime, music, people , Warren Zevon

One of my favorite people: Eugene Peterson

I have lots of favorite people. The three of you who read this blog are at the top!

My bro in law Rustin posted this video on his site. This brief conversation is so rich that I found it worth including at this site as well. It is 28 min long but if you sit through it all I think you will find yourself the richer for it. Eugene Peterson is the author of such books as Under the Predictable Plant, The Jesus Way, Eat this Book and he is the translator/writer of the Bible version The Message. Enjoy…

My (current) favorite Peterson quote: The way of Jesus is always local and ordinary.

HT: Rustin, and internetmonk

Filed under: Peterson, books, people