Random Thoughts after A-G-O arrived!

This week has been a good week …On Monday, Andy Morgan’s little book packed with bite-size wisdom Under Pressure: How to Avoid Getting Squashed By Pressure arrived. I like it … in fact I think there’s loads of goodies there we so called “adults” could use! Thanks Andy.

Then of course, the package above with a personal smiley from Jen Lemen (wow!) came yesterday. And you can imagine the excitement I had opening it! Lo and behold … I think I’m the first one in Malaysia who has a copy … hehehe (I’m willing to stand corrected on this).

Now, I can get on doing some work and contributing to the group blog aGenerousOrthodoxy.com. I think I will have something by 5pm later. Now I can move beyond the sample chapter (By the way, I aksed one local Christian bookstore to bring it in, hopefully we’ll have some copies in October. Let me know if you want a copy!)

so, I suppose some thoughts will spill out in the garden here (someone told me to newcomers it’s more like a jungle – I admit I am messy, and I think I’m pretty complex as I age).

With Emergent Malaysia taking some baby steps (you can read it here step one, step two, step three, and some notes here, notes 1, notes 2, the Church on the Other Side (which I think is a usual starting point kind of book), A Generous Orthodoxy would give me some directions on how to keep us moving along together.

I like what Brian pointed out in a recent article Bless This House?: Why efforts to renew the church are often misguided

“…what’s really going on beneath all the superficial talk of “emerging church.” Far more than cosmetics are under consideration: the very purpose of the church, the gospel, and the pastorate are being re-thought. If that doesn’t disturb, surprise, or excite you, you don’t understand what is being said.

Everywhere I go, on the fringes and in unexpected places (including in all the wrong denominations where this sort of things shouldn’t happen), I discover churches and leaders who are grappling with these deep questions. They want to be blessed in order to be a blessing to the world. Their dream does not stop with the church. They’re thinking about God’s kingdom coming on earth as in heaven.

Whatever conversation I’m interested to be part of at a deeper level relates to what he says above (I’m not a Brian junkie by the way .. I just like his style). Maybe it’s been done at the seminary/academic level, or amongst the more “intellectual” group, how about at the grass root level where most pastors are and where the people live? These are the places where “genuine” change is needed. But we need to start listening and talking first. Anyone else wanna join?

By the way, I found the arrival of Andy’s book to be “interesting” .. with so much going on I need every little bit of wisdom to “Avoid Getting Squashed By Pressure” … it’s already a challenge pastoring a young church, being a father of an energetic 2 year old (and soon one more coming), not forgetting I have one wife who needs tender loving care, and a load of other stuff on my plate. God’s grace is always sufficient … that I know …