My good friend James asked a great question about this picture on his blog:

Is this picture a good metaphor for the church in our culture and context?

I agree with James that for the most part it is. Although I struggle with the picture of the building moving and the implication of the “institution” moving (identifying the “brick and mortar” or our “structural models” as somehow definitive for the Church), I like the general idea of the Church moving into the community rather than simply expecting people to come to the Church. I think the Church needs to be on the move and that the Church needs to be mobile; however, I also believe the Church is people rather than simply an organization, denomination, building, structure, etc. Along with replacing the image of a stationary church, I think we need to shed the picture of the Church as the physical building or organization and instead, see is as the community of faith and local Churches and local expression of this larger community. Maybe a better picture would be people joined together, shedding the trappings of the modern building and structures (all of which are important but not a defining point of the Church) and moving freely, influencing culture, spreading hope, love and new life.

The following question is derived from a quote of Athanasius in the fourth century:

Is it better in perplexity to be silent and believe, or to disbelieve on account of perplexity?

This question is definitely worth some thought and reflection.

I just returned from seeing Cloverfield and I am disappointed. I had expected a creative movie with a good story but instead, I experienced Godzilla without a good beginning or end. On the way home I was reflecting on my recent experience at the theater as well as the fact that almost all the blockbuster movies in the last couple years have been sequels and I pondered the following question:

Where are the good, creative and compelling stories? Why the rash of movie sequels, when I think people are longing for new and creative stories?

Our culture needs good storytellers. The Church needs good storytellers as well – people who can help others connect with “the big story,” the meta-narrative. We need leaders to help people find meaning in their own story by finding their place in the bigger story of God.

Have you thought about Christianity and evangelism as finding a place in the bigger story? Have you thought of your life, your story, as apart of something much larger?

Over the last few days I have been reading Douglas Coupland‘s book, The Gum Thief. It has caused me to reflect on a number of things including the following question in my life:

How many times do we interact with people (Staples, Starbucks, Esso, etc.) and are oblivious – even ignorant – to the pain and loneliness that is beneath the surface of the people we regularly interact with? Why are we like this and how can we change?

There is no easy answer to this one but the question is a good beginning.

Are positive feelings the only evidence of an experience or encounter with God? Is it equally possible that feelings stemming from conviction or rebuke could be of equal evidence of such an encounter? Interestingly, throughout Scripture the common feeling or expression from someone who had a personal experience with God or an angel was fear. Maybe we are missing out on identifying what God is doing (in our lives and in our churches) because we have limited the spectrum in which we understand how God operates. I think there are times when our “encounters with God” may be awkward, inconvenient, convicting, etc ., yet I think they are equally profound and holy moments.