GlocalNet

It’s really a blast reading Bosch’s Transforming Mission in one hand and N.T. Wright’s Jesus And the Victory of God in the other. I don’t think I’ve ever thought as much in terms of tying Christology and missiology as I have recently. This is what’s driving the whole “worldview” question in my mind. I think that’s going to be a big one for me. I do not believe I would have ever been that interested, or even seen the value of reading them simultaneously, had I not been captured by the Kingdom and then falling in love with the King and finally engaging the world. All three of those things had to be going on at the same time. I doubt I’d understand, truly understand, this had I not first got my hands dirty in planting other churches and engaging domains of society globally.

The greatest learning I’ve done is not when I’ve discovered a single thing—but when a few things have been arranged in a specific sort of way unexpectedly—that gave unexpected results and insights. Kinda like DNA. That’s discovery! I like Sweet’s “ancient-future” insight. Bosch is very adamant we are on a new threshold—that was the early 90’s. Man, I wish he were still alive. I’d love to get his take on so many things.

He distinguishes between scientific and missiological paradigms—he gives four things:

First, new theological paradigms don’t necessarily cancel the old ones—example of the revelation of God through Israel and Christ.

Second, no new theological paradigm insists on absolute right but admits it is incomplete and affected by cultural bias.

Third, scientific paradigms cannot be made without people joining them who are insiders—theological paradigms can make sense to outsiders.

Fourth, scientists operate in one paradigm or another, ordinarily life people straddle two theological paradigms at once (maybe more).

In short, scientific paradigms tend to be totalitarian demanding absolute loyalty from their adherents. Theological paradigms, at least Christian ones, can afford to be much softer around the edges.

This is powerful, powerful, powerful!!!! Heavy reflection here is needed. We’ve done the same when we focus on our models of ministry and methods of engagement. I’m convinced there will be no viral movement of the Gospel in the US until we destroy boundaries of methodology.

It’s 5am. I’m up—reading my Bible, journaling—Starbucks—speak Holy Spirit. Too many decisions to make. Too many issues. Too little time. I am not nearly enough—broken, impatient, energized, fragile, intense, harsh, gentle, stout, tired, firm, enduring, fruitful—how is it I can feel all those things at once. Your Word speaks—hope is always there, along with conviction, instruction, encouragement, and lots of direction. Personal worship—a discipline—at one time maybe—but now, a necessity—a life-source connection. It’s now inconceivable that I could have lived without this for so long.
6am. OK, time to hit the street. Shoes tied, stretching done, headphones on—MP3 loud—start me with something soft—oh yeah . . . this is good. I pass the tall skinny guy—kinky hair, somewhat bent over—exchange waves. Limbering up. First 15 minutes getting into a groove. Second 15 minutes, pass our church . . . now I’m thinking a lot. Focus on one thing, let that oxygen in your brain focus just on one problem, one thing—think it all the way through. I’m amazed how much clarity I get while I’m running. Focusing on one thing. Oh, there’s the guy struggling through a divorce—Father, give him hope. Old lady walking, no hair on her head—cancer—she smiles and waves. Father, touch her body. Barking, I hear it through these headphones. If that big German shepherd ever gets out, I’m dead meat!!!!! Better talk nice dog talk just in case one day, “Hey boy, hey fella, nice dog, good dog, hey buddy. ” Doesn’t seem to help! Nothing like running to Newsboys, Van Halen, ZZ Top, EuroDance, Planet Shakers, Roccin’ Moroccan’s . . .Back to that one thing. Why didn’t I think of this sooner—this will work. Passed my park—I see the roofline on my house, 3 more minutes. 58 have passed, too slow, gotta go faster. Jakarta, Cairo, Hanoi, Sydney, Nairobi, Kandahar, Dubai, Port Dickson, Katmandu . . . I’ve run in all of them and many more—but nothing looks as good as that roofline! Almost there. No more butter! No more Blue Bell! No more fried foods!! Sugar is NOT our friend!
My study, my street, my neighbors, my friends, my house . . . Your world. From this hill be glorified in this life and this family. From this hill, may I touch my community, my country, and Your world. May nations be engaged—from this spot, an unlikely spot with an unlikely person. …

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Today, May 17, is a very significant, celebratory—even holy day. Nikki and I have been married 25 years today. Sounds like a long time—but hasn’t seemed it. Sometimes, I find it hard to believe I am doing what I do, living where I live, experiencing life as I do. I graduated from Baylor University in Waco, Texas Friday night, May 16, then drove to Lindale, Texas. The next morning had a brunch and rehearsal in Lindale, then we were married at 2pm in the afternoon. It was fast—and it has remained fast. I see no end of that in sight. 20 years ago, Nikki and I started NorthWood. 30 years ago, I asked her to marry me. We’ve had an awesome journey.
I remember the first time she got on a plane. She flew with me to Chicago for a meeting. I hadn’t been flying much at that point. We went through a bad storm and the turbulence was incredible. I acted like it was normal — even though it wasn’t! Now, she flies around the world without me at times—pity the customs agent who tries to go through her purse!!!!
I remember our first argument — 1am, the night of our wedding — driving in San Antonio trying to find the hotel. My first encounter with manhood — refusing to stop to get directions as to where we were going — the stars would suffice! But they didn’t!
I remember my first stupid act. As a joke, I poured ice water on Nikki in bed to wake her up. It was very, very stupid, and I paid very, very dearly. I haven’t done that again.
I remember the birth of Ben & Jill. I wept both times. The beauty of emerging life—how can that ever be described. The responsibility of a little bundle of flesh that is so incredibly dependent on you for everything. Now, having to learn to let go—a part of my life that I enjoyed more than any other time.
I remember when I said “I do.” It wasn’t at the ceremony—but 5 years later after we’d had a session of “creative communication.” I wanted to end it—so did Nikki—it wouldn’t be the last time for either of us—but it was the moment we said “for better or worse.” Easy to say “yes” with romance — harder to say “yes” with …

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For the past couple weeks I’ve been in Indonesia trying to help with development work. The relief work has now shifted to development. You will hear less and less about Banda Aceh as time goes on. It’s not the top story on the nightly news now and hasn’t been for a few weeks. However, most people there still suffer dramatically in every dimension and will for years to come. The media and current events must not drive our action — it must be our love and eternal perspective — everything else falls short. Now that it’s into development, it falls into that endless pit of “just another place on the map” where people have it hard.
The tsunami broke all our hearts and people came from every part of the world and every ideology to serve regardless of their perspective because people were hurting. That’s good. But please don’t forget — thousands die daily from starvation, lack of pure water, war, famine — and there is no one to grieve over them. When I’m in an undeveloped or developing nation, and see human carnage and often dead bodies on the side of the road, my heart breaks that they’re left like a dog hit in the road. It gives a few yelps, dies, and then cars just drive around it until someone pushes it out of the way or it desintegrates right where it died over time.
I took a stroll in hell the other day. It was Gehenna, the place Jesus talked about that you don’t want to go to when you die. I literally saw garbage piled for miles, hundreds of feet into the air. Paper, furniture, rotting left over food, all kinds of waste — even dead bodies slowly smoldering — couldn’t tell if they were human or animal. The stench was over-powering. Fires were everywhere to burn and condense — it burned your eyes and the smoke got deep in your clothes. This was every bit as bad — if not worse — than Banda Aceh. In the haze of the smoke and humidity I could make out people like sticks — bending over with baskets on their backs. These were treasure hunters — filling their baskets with metal to be sold, half-eaten food, to be taken home, used sanitary napkins to be taken home, washed out, and used again. I want to vomit …

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The Application Window
From Bruce Wilkinson, Founder of “Walk Thru The Bible”
2 Timothy 3:16-17

DOCTRINE:
What should I believe?

INSTRUCTION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS:
How Should I Believe

CORRECTION:
What should I not believe?

REPROOF:
How should I not behave?

“Application Acrostic” - 12 Questions to ask about the text
IS THERE …
A ttitude to adjust?
P romise to claim?
P riority to change?
L esson to learn?
I ssue to resolve?
C ommand to obey?
A ctivity to avoid or stop?
T ruth to believe?
I dol to tear down?
O ffense to forgive?
N ew direction to take?
S in to confess?

Last night, I had a blast with our interns. We were talking about discipleship. One of the big omissions of that discussion is generally worldview and discipleship. We got into some intensive debate and conversation about what is a Christian worldview. It left me with a lot of thoughts. “Handsome Richie” from Korea helped us understand worldview was more the combination of who you were as a person—seeing life from that. One from “Rooster Donnie” who debated it wasn’t possible to have a “Christian” worldview—it was just worldview and we all come at it from personal positions. One from “Missionary Paul” who saw it as a grouping system with one big umbrella making up several positions. Then, there was our Ph.D. “Dr. Bob” who took us on a limited historical and personal journey of what it is.

Combine all this with what I’m doing this year in my personal worship, and I think just from the first 4 days of the year it’s going to be an exciting year. I’m ready for something different. Since ’92, I’ve been reading through the Bible with a devotional and journal, and it’s been awesome, but I’ve gotten somewhat bored. So, this year I’m doing something very, very different. I found this 65- year-old book that is only the words of Jesus—the red letters. I start, as always, in my journal putting down what’s going on and what I sense God is doing. I then read only one Jesus story or saying, not my usual 5 or 6 chapters. Then, I reflect on it and ask what does this mean to me and what do I do with it. I then read a devotional by Peterson called “A year with Jesus.” This year, I have begun as a devotional N.T. Wright’s “Jesus and Victory of God” so I read a few pages out of that. Finally, I’m also reading as a devotional David Bosch’s “Transforming Mission.” It takes me an hour at least to get all this done.

Why this approach? I want to discover Jesus more and deeper than I’ve ever known Him. I want the personal reflection of who He is from His Words, combined with a theologian about who He is, and a missiologist about what implications that has for us. In just the first few days, I’ve discovered you can’t do this without serious world view issues being brought up—from …

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I’m writing a book on a particular dimension of starting churches. For the past month, I’ve been gathering resources, studying, reading, and examining what we’ve done at NorthWood, and other places. I have four months to get this sucker done with tons of lectures, studies, etc. before me—please pray for me! Twenty years ago when I started NorthWood, it was more of a denominational approach.  Fortunately, a year into our plant, I stumbled on to Rick Warren who was a part of a whole new way of me seeing the church. Then the Purpose-Driven Model became the “alternative.” It was like there was a new way to start churches and that was it! Not anymore. There as so, so, so, so many ways to start churches—so many kinds of churches—each promising to be the messiah to the church in the West. Frankly, the greatest contribution Rick Warren gave to church planting was his ability to open the door to new ways of starting churches so that multiple models would emerge—which has happened, not his Purpose-Driven model. Sometimes it may seem like a curse to a young guy figuring out which format, model, yada, yada, yada to use, but it’s really a blessing.

I was going through a notebook I used in 1994 when I taught my first church planting conference called “Planting High Yield Churches—half of it I threw away today! Two things I started with. First, new churches reach lost people better than established churches so we should start churches to reach lost people. The first half of that sentence is true. The second half is only partially true. I used to believe if I could just get them converted it was a done deal. I’ve learned that is not true. The second thing was learning to think. There were 3 questions you should ask, and did you think you’d always be relevant and be able to design your church where you are opposed to mimicking someone else. I then came up with these principles of design—most are still relevant. Some are not.

Bottom line, nothing has changed more, or is in more of a state of flux, than church planting. Today, it is more crucial than ever to learn to think critically, read broadly, evaluate carefully, study others, and travel extensively if you have any hope of doing something that will last (which is the point after all—as …

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1.  Began construction of our new Worship Center—21 years in the making!

2.  Our Team (small group) Ministry grew by 50%.

3.  Key leaders from around the country gathered to commit to plant churches.

4.  Record numbers of people involved in Haltom City, Puebla, Mexico, and Hanoi, Vietnam in multiple projects.

5.  Record giving to missions.

6.  Record number of Youth and Children baptisms.

7.  Because of NorthWood’s involvement in Vietnam, I was privileged to be a part of the historic talks for religious freedom in Vietnam and our NGO, Glocal Ventures, was placed in the MOU to be a model for how churches engage society.

8.  On a personal note, our son graduated from NYU, got engaged, and our daughter left for Baylor. My first book came out, finished my second one, and am now writing my third, with a fourth to follow. God help me!!!!

9.  On a sad note Bob and Jo Arthur, who helped us start our church, both passed away this year within months of each other.

Probably missing a lot. This is just some. Feel free to add to cool stuff!

National Geographic did a story on Steve Case, Cofounder of AOL, in its October 2006 Traveler Edition. He is investing $500 million of his personal money to launch Revolution, a company that “seeks to drive transformative change by shifting power to consumers.” One goal is to create “disruptive businesses” that will revolutionize how we live and vacation.

The man who has driven globalization more than Soros beyond economics through AOL, which I believe history will record, says, “I wouldn’t say the majority of Americans have embraced globalism. They’re still, for the most part, very America-centric. But there’s a recognition now, more than 20 years ago, that to really understand what’s happening in your everyday life, it’s more important than ever to develop a broader global understanding . . . But, the bigger change is more psychological. I sense a growing desire for meaning and purpose in people lives, and a growing recognition that might come from experiencing people in other cultures. The trick is figuring out a way to help travelers bridge the gap between the safety of their own culture and the foreignness of another.”

This guy sounds like me!!!! He wants to do vacations for people to have resorts in ethnic villages. I want to focus on vocations engaging society. He talks about how travel experiences are homogenized, but I would say so is life.

I shared with our interns the other day that I really believe the future of the church is more with the early twenties group than anyone else.

Ti has two families—one here not far from the Red River in Texas and one not far from the Red River in Hanoi! Five and a half years ago, our families were blessed with a bundle of hyper-active Vietnamese energy with the arrival of Ti Luu who was 17 and came as a high school exchange student. Ti has brought massive joy and a lot of cultural understanding to our family. We love him and he is part of our family. We also love his family in Hanoi. I have no doubt if we lived in Hanoi his Dad and I would be best friends.  Ti graduated with a degree in engineering Saturday, December 16, from Texas Christian University (TCU). Several exchange students who have lived with NorthWood members attend TCU. Many of them were there for his graduation. Right before he graduated, we called his Mom and Dad in Hanoi and he spoke to them. We took pictures and emailed them to his Mom and Dad immediately. Ti heads back home to Hanoi in January to find a job or start a company. We will miss him deeply but will get to see him as we travel to Hanoi. Ti Luu may well be the Asian Bill Gates. Rock and roll my Vietnamese son. We’re incredibly proud of you. Ti has taught the Roberts’ family many lessons. Here are just a few:

1.  When people come and live in your home, they become a part of your family if they stay long enough! Seeing one another day-in and day-out—in good moods and bad—you really find out who each person is.

2.  Every culture and family has remarkable things about which you can learn and bring into your own culture and family. The family loyalty that Vietnamese have is so far beyond anything Anglo-western culture gets today. When you live with people of different cultures, even in your own culture, their culture rubs off on you. Both of my biological kids would like to live in Asia. They love it there. Ti’s a big reason.

3.  What do you really believe about God and why? It’s easy to develop your positions from books. It’s an entirely different thing to develop them from life. It’s one thing to accept the assumptions of your ancestors. It’s another thing to think deeply about truth and what really matters …

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