Archive | September, 2009

BBG Sneak Peek of the Day

by on September 30, 2009

This morning’s excerpt comes from Chapter Four, which is about Jesus breaking the boundaries of the priesthood. Enjoy!

“Priests were meant not to work alone but to serve and encourage others. Somewhere along the way they began serving as gatekeepers, those who stood as buffers between God and the rest of us, doling out religious goods and services to those deemed worthy. Institutional religion has always been quite good at this. It seems there are plenty of creative ways to stand at the gate and choose who comes in and out. You can use doctrinal statements, make people sign declarations, ask people to jump through hoops to become members, require strict codes of conduct–the list goes on and on. But Jesus did not act as a gatekeeper or call himself a gatekeeper. He did, however, call himself a gate.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus describes himself as the gate through whom sheep pass to find safe pasture and abundant life. He doesn’t describe himself as a gate (or in some translations, a door) because he wants to keep people out. He is the door because he wants to provide a way in. And once this door is open, people can come in and go out and find a good spot on the grass. When the curtain tore in two, Jesus was letting all of us know that the door into God’s presence was permanently open. Jesus shows us that a faithful priest is not a gatekeeper but a door opener.”

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Chapter 3 Sneak Peek

by on September 29, 2009

In chapter three I talk about my obsession with the story of the wise men, otherwise known as the celebration of Epiphany. Here’s your Boundary-Breaking God sneak peek of the day:

“Epiphany celebrates the God who unites us from east and west, north and south. I have seen in my own family how God has united a mother and father from cultures, families, and religions that were worlds apart. In that most surprising joining together, the trajectory of our family has been brought into the expanding promise of God. My parents leave out a number of wise men (and their camels) year-round, perched in their colorful robes. Even now as I walk through the halls of my parents’ home, I pause to reflect on their presence in this house of converts. My mother, a Lebanese Druze, traveled a great distance to find the path of Jesus, and these wise men act as signatories to that crucial part of our family history where foreigners and outsiders are welcomed as family members. In more ways than I can ever explain, the celebration of Epiphany is our story. It is the strange and wonderful trip into the heart of God from a world that felt millions of miles away.”

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Exclusive Book Excerpts!

by on September 28, 2009

Exciting news, everyone- my book is officially HERE! (Yes- it came in earlier than expected!) It’s in stock at Amazon now (you can click the link to the right to order) and over the weekend it has been spotted at a number of Barnes and Noble stores. To celebrate, I’ll be posting exclusive excerpts from the book this week. I’d love for you to pass them around and let people know about The Boundary Breaking God. Here’s the first one, from chapter two, which is about the story of the exodus:

“One of my friends often uses the phrase ‘It is what it is.’ He says this mostly when something doesn’t make any sense or feels overwhelming, and it is almost always accompanied with a shrug. Personally, I accidentally killed a bird a few years ago when it flew headlong into the front of my car, and I cannot even say ‘It is what it is’ about that, so I’m perhaps a little biased in believing this is not always a helpful response. However, it seems rather obvious that the exodus story would have been very different if God heard all those cries of the Israelites and replied, ‘It is what it is.’ God doesn’t shrug at suffering. God is not resigned to the brokenness of the world but is intent on bringing healing and wholeness back to all of creation. As a person who follows God, I cannot look upon the violence of this world and say, ‘It is what it is.’ I must say, ‘This should not be.’ I am not called to accept violence with a helpless shrug but to feel the deep despair of it, to be pulled toward action because of it, to imagine a future without it. The call of God’s future evokes our desire to pursue justice, to live like what we do and how we choose to live truly matters. We do not follow a God who says, ‘It is what it is,’ but the God who says, ‘I am who I am.’ And who God is in the exodus story is a God who hears the cries of those who suffer and responds. If we are to follow God, we are called to do the same.”

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Should church be fun?

by on September 23, 2009

Here’s a question to start your Wednesday morning. A friend and I had a lively discussion the other day about whether or not church should be fun. What do you think?

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Proof Companies Can Go Green

by on September 22, 2009

After my post yesterday, I thought I’d offer up an example of a company that has wholeheartedly embraced the green economy- and they did so as the world’s largest flooring company.

Ray Anderson, the CEO of Interface, claims he began to take stock of how his company made their flooring after reading a few books about the environment. He says the results he got back made him want to throw up. He realized that in that year Interface used 1.224 billion pounds of material from the earth to create $802 million worth of flooring products. About 400 million of those pounds were abundant natural resources. The remaining 800 pounds consistent of non-renewable resources such as coal, oil, etc. And of those 800 pounds, a whopping two-thirds of those materials were simply burned up in the process. He found this to be so ludicrous- both from a business perspective (what a waste of money!) as well as an ecological perspective (what a waste of precious natural resources!) that he was determined to redesign the entire way Interface made flooring. Interface has a goal of reaching total ecological neutrality in the making of their products. You can read on their website about concrete steps they have taken to do things like reduce their water intake by 75% and divert over 100 million pounds of material from landfills.

Anderson wrote a book telling the story of this major overhaul in Mid-Course Correction: Toward a Sustainable Enterprise. Not only is it packed with wise insight, it also proves that being ecologically savvy makes good business sense. It’s cheaper when you use less resources, being ecologically aware brings you a satisfied and loyal customer base, and because you are doing something worthwhile in the world, your employees will feel a high level of satisfaction working for you (and therefore will do a better job). Interface was voted by Fortune magazine as one of the best places to work. In the first two quarters of 2009, Interface has netted $410 million.

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Why Don’t We Take the Green Economy Seriously?

by on September 21, 2009

I tend to appreciate Thomas Friedman’s take on things. I especially appreciate this recent article about the state of our green economy in the NY Times. Here’s an excerpt from the bottom of the article:

“O.K., so you don’t believe global warming is real. I do, but let’s assume it’s not. Here is what is indisputable: The world is on track to add another 2.5 billion people by 2050, and many will be aspiring to live American-like, high-energy lifestyles. In such a world, renewable energy — where the variable cost of your fuel, sun or wind, is zero — will be in huge demand.

China now understands that. It no longer believes it can pollute its way to prosperity because it would choke to death. That is the most important shift in the world in the last 18 months. China has decided that clean-tech is going to be the next great global industry and is now creating a massive domestic market for solar and wind, which will give it a great export platform.”

I try not to be frustrated by the fact that America is so behind in seeing the future of green industries. But it’s incredibly frustrating. Not only is it an ethically good choice (seriously- who can have disdain for supporting renewable energy?!) but it’s also the kind of sizeable untapped market that should make even the most die-hard capitalist drool. Instead, we have a nation filled with creative entrepreneurs like Applied Materials who have to move their brilliant new products (not to mention their factories) to other countries because we are not interested.

What in the world are we waiting for?

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Justice Revival Block Party- Saturday!

by on September 18, 2009

justice revival
If you live in Dallas, come out to the Justice Revival Block Party this Saturday from 2-4. There will be free food, free music and the chance to meet a diverse group of people who are coming together to work for justice in our city. You can find all of the relevant information here. As you’ll see, you have an opportunity to bring a backpack with some basic items like shampoo and socks that will be distributed to the homeless through local shelters.

While you’re at it, be sure to put down November 10-12 on your calendar for the actual Justice Revival at Dallas Market Hall. A diverse group of pastors and leaders are joining forces to work toward creating 25 partnerships with local public schools and 700 units of sustainable permanent housing for Dallas’ homeless.

This is a great opportunity to work for positive and life-giving change in our city- hope you’ll find a way to get involved!

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Rain, Rain, Show the Way

by on September 17, 2009

It’s been raining for almost a week solid here in Dallas, and the rain has brought along the dreariest grey skies and the muggiest feeling. My shiny happy spirit after Chicago feels like it’s gotten covered with a soggy, sad little blanket.

But then last night at Teaching Team, we had a really energizing conversation about our upcoming gathering where we are baptizing one of our young community members. This made me remember two things: 1) laughing with people is the best remedy for absolutely anything, and I’m so happy to have such great people surrounding me and 2) water is good. It’s not only good, it’s really beautiful, and powerful, and I could probably talk about the symbolism of it all day.

It’s still raining today, but it doesn’t feel as dreary anymore. I’ve decided to see all this rain as co-celebrating what will be happening in our community come Sunday when we welcome that sweet girl into this big family of God’s love. And I find myself smiling.

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