The Journal

Socrates said, "An unexamined life is not worth living." This is my feeble attempt at examining my life.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Before the Beginning...applied

5:00 PM Posted by Daniel Rose , No comments
So, if Jesus is the center, his life, death, and resurrection culminating in the reality that he is Lord, how does this apply to mission? How does this reality determine how we ought to live and act as his followers?

Well, that's just it, we have to follow. I really like what Rt. Rev. Dr. David Zac Niringiye says here, it has been stuck in my head. We are to be followers.

If Jesus is the center then we go where he goes.

We follow where he leads.

We love how he loved.

We extend grace like he extends grace.

We engage the lost world at the expense of our own safety and comfort.

We enter into relationship with people who are the same and different from us.

We speak truth. We live truth.

We love the Scriptures.

We ask questions.

If we accept the invitation to follow and we believe that Jesus is the theological center of everything then our lives cannot be lived as our own.

1 Corinthians 7 offers a helpful reminder:
You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. (1 Corinthians 7:23 ESV)

If Jesus is our center then we cannot, must not, retreat behind the walls of a holy hideout. We must, we have to step out into the lost and broken world and...

engage it,
question it,
challenge it,
transform it.

Following Jesus necessarily pushes us out and into the world as transformative ambassadors who bring

a story,
a message,
healing,
love,
grace,
mercy,
truth,
transformation.

To call yourself a "Christian" means you are required to go on expedition on behalf of the one who bought you.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Before the beginning...

5:47 PM Posted by Daniel Rose , No comments
If we are going to be wrestling through what we believe and how those beliefs drive us to mission then we need to determine what is the controlling idea. In a previous post I outlined my presuppositions. Now, I want to give what I think is the controlling idea that we need to have at the center of our doctrine.

While some would argue for beginning at the beginning, Genesis, I think we need to start before the beginning. As I wrestle through the driving force for my doctrine that drives us to mission I think we must look at one person:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15-20 ESV)

This is the hymn from Colossians 1.  It is an incredible statement of who Christ is. There is so much here that we cannot possibly dive into and digest all of it.  First, we need to understand that Paul was pointing out that Jesus is the real emperor.  The phrases and descriptors used here are those that were also ascribed to Caesar. Paul subverts the Empire and calls Jesus out as the real king.

Consider what is true of Jesus, he is the image of the invisible God.  If we want to see God we look at Jesus. He is the creator, he is the ultimate authority, and he is the preeminent one.

It doesn't stop there.  Jesus made peace.  Pax Christus versus Pax Romana.  One was brought through crucifixion and the other through war and violence.

Peace and reconciliation though are not for just people.  It is an all encompassing reconciling for the entirety of creation.  The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus then must be the central lens through which we understand all things.

Alan Hirsch says it well, "Jesus is Lord."

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Lead Me...

9:21 AM Posted by Daniel Rose No comments

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGE6Davndh0]

Monday, April 25, 2011

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Friday, April 22, 2011

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Monday, April 18, 2011

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Friday, April 15, 2011

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Where's the 'Real'?

5:00 PM Posted by Daniel Rose No comments
I am being struck more and more by my inability to be quiet.  I get uncomfortable.  It makes me feel like I am missing something if 'the Twitters' or the 'the Facebooks' are turned off.  Heaven forbid, I don't access my email.

When I study the Scriptures it strikes me that the same is true. I don't settle down and respond in the quiet moments that follow. I move on to what is next.

I have been thinking about so many things in my life and so much of it needs to be written down and processed.  But, I don't have the white space to write and process.

I don't have the space to be quiet.

 

 

Why?

 

 

Because I think it scares me.

 

 

In the quiet I just might meet the God of the universe and no longer be in control.

 

 

What about you?

Leadership As Influence | Catalyst

3:07 PM Posted by Daniel Rose No comments



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Leadership As Influence
By Charles Lee

Leadership is often defined as influence.


In my opinion, everyone possesses the ability to "influence" or lead others in the general sense of the word, but not everyone is a leader (i.e., someone who functions in a publicly recognized role of guiding and/or influencing others). There are numerous individuals who influence the lives of many and yet don't function well once given a key role of leadership in an organization and/or company.


The reality is that leadership in a formal sense requires a certain set of perspectives, values, and praxis that very few are able to carry out well. Over the years, I've had the privilege of working with some phenomenal leaders that are literally changing the landscape of our world. Here are a few insights I've picked up about what it takes to become a great leader:




  • Pain Frames Purpose - Great leaders do not run away from pain, but rather, recognize that pain is what truly forms and informs their life purposes. It is not to say that they are sadistically looking for pain. Rather, their passions are often rooted in part by their experience of pain and suffering. Passion by definition is not only a reference to fervor, but also the willingness to move forward in the midst of pain.




  • Collaboration is Necessary for Creative Innovation - Leaders recognize that they cannot and will not do it alone. Every great endeavor needs a team or community to help it flourish. Great leaders move from simply wanting collaboration to sensing a deep need for it. In other words, collaboration is not a nice add-on, but rather, a necessary foundation for moving ideas and people forward. In addition, innovative leaders welcome voices from unrelated fields to spark creativity and refinement of purpose.




  • Courage Guides Decisions - Great leaders are marked by their courage in decision-making. They rarely lean towards the popular vote. Courage inherently implies that there exists a presence of fear and disheartening obstacles. Courage is the ability to move forward despite the presence of fear.




  • Compassionate Justice Provides Perspective - No matter how tough a great leader may appear, deep inside they all care about the people they lead. Compassionate justice is a reference to a work that seeks to make things right with a posture of real care. It's not simply about accomplishing the "task", but more importantly, achieving something together without dehumanizing those participating. People ultimately "follow" a leader because they sense that they have their best interest in mind, even if it means that they go against the grain.




  • Focus of Implementation - Great leaders don't just talk, they do. They realize the hard work is in the implementation of their vision and courage. They don't make excuses nor choose to sit on their ideas. They choose to move forward and figure things out along the way. Great leaders are focused on implementing better. There's not satisfied with a 30,000 feet view. They also want to see what's right in front of them. The focus is not just greater vision, but greater action. Great inspiration without great perspiration is nothing more than wishful thinking.


Living life as a leader is a noble pursuit. It takes a special person to move beyond the romanticized version of influence.


Are you a leader? If so, our world needs you at your best!


 



Charles is the CEO of Ideation, a creative agency that specializes in helping organizations and businesses take ideas to implementation via innovative strategy, branding, design, marketing, web, social media, and innovative events.




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This is a very, very good article on Leadership.


Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Easter, B-O-R-I-N-G

4:27 PM Posted by Daniel Rose No comments

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I received this in the mail yesterday.  I was completely shocked. No, I was aghast.

Then my heart broke.

Easter is the single greatest moment in the history of the world. Time was split in two.

Sin lost.

Life was victorious.

The whole of creation redeemed.

Easter is anything but boring. Easter is anything but a slick marketing technique.

If the church thinks that Easter is boring, that the church needs to liven it up, that the church needs to do it "differently", then we are more lost than I could have ever imagined.

Here's the real kicker, this ad is targeted at church goers. It's targeted to the people who show up to church. Really? Let's grow by shifting sheep? Really?

Really.

It's a game to be won. Sadly for many of us pastors "winning" = "nickels and noses".

In the grand scheme of things this post won't matter.  It will be lost in the minutia of all the noise. But, I had to write it, because this is wrong. Completely and utterly wrong. There are no two ways about it.

In the midst of EACH and movement of 400+ churches uniting together for the cause of Christ, this church chooses to forsake unity. Why?

"Winning".

That's why.

I think maybe we need to read a little 2 Corinthians  to close out:
Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

(2 Corinthians 4:1-6 ESV)

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The Beginning

6:09 PM Posted by Daniel Rose , No comments
As I stated in my previous post, we are going to go on an expedition with God to see how what we believe matters and how it determines the ways by which go on mission. Any good expedition requires the right provisions.

So what are our provisions?

I think we must start with a brief discussion of my own presuppositions. The reality is that none of us are 'objective'. We all have passions, history, frameworks, and a lens through which we evaluate things.

I think that my presuppositions would include some of these frameworks:

  1. I am a male, anglo, middle-class, American, with a graduate level education. I am married, I have children (a boy and a girl). I come from a broken home, the oldest of three sons.

  2. I am Presbyterian in polity and Reformed in dogma. I do think that the Westminster provides us with one of the best frameworks for systematic theology. However, I am growing weary with systematic theology as much of it seems to be disconnected from biblical theology and has slipped into proof-texting.

  3. I grew up church-going in a mainline church. I did not begin living the Christian life until June 1995.  My foundational understanding of how to be a Christian comes from the teaching of Campus Crusade for Christ.

  4. My ecclesiology was shaped through the ministry philosophy of Campus Crusade for Christ and over the last six years has been largely influenced by a mix of Reformed writers and missional church writers. Therefore, I reject the attractional model of 'church growth'. It seems to me that the church joining in with God on mission is attractive, so much so, that we don't need lights, fog machines, or super-stars.

  5. I think that the church is responsible for transformation and the cultural mandate of Genesis 1.

  6. I am not post-modern.  I am not modern.  My epistemology is a bit convoluted, I'm working it out, bear with me.

  7. I think that the Bible is authoritative and without error in its original manuscripts.  There are plenty of other venues to discuss this one, it's my presupposition. You can presuppose otherwise, but I am not going to spend time defending this.


I reserve the right to edit this list as more comes out in my writing.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Best day ever

12:45 PM Posted by Daniel Rose No comments


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The Beast got a ball from Josh Hamilton. His first at a game ever!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

A Few Thousand Youth

11:11 PM Posted by Daniel Rose No comments


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Second Ebenezer Church of Detroit hosted the city-wide EACH worship gathering for youth tonight. It was electric and hopefully translates into so much more.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

The Final Line

6:47 PM Posted by Daniel Rose No comments
The Beast: Offense: BB, 2 steals, 1R. Pitching: 2 K, 0 R.

Friday, April 8, 2011

The Jersey

7:02 PM Posted by Daniel Rose No comments


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It is officially baseball season!