Altar Preachin'

Journey with me to a land far, far away called youth camp. Remember on Thursday nights (that's Holy Spirit night in Pentecostal camps) when you would stand in the altars for hours? Sometimes the preacher spoke and other times we jumped straight to the altar service. I remember when this would happen in my home church. People would simply say, "we had such a great service we never got to the preachin'." Well, I am not ready to vouch for the ethos of the previous statement. However, I would like to declare it false on the pretense that there was some "preachin'."

A couple of weeks ago we had a prominent denominational figure at our church. Our church is an anomaly in Pentecostal circles because we do not have long altar services and the usual Pentecostal idiosyncrasies have somehow skipped over our church. However, on this Sunday, we did have a time in the altar. Then, as every one was beginning to leave, the preacher did it...he started altar preachin'. It then hit me that this is a seldom commented on element of Pentecostal spirituality. Yes there is much to be said for the function of the preacher/teacher in the pulpit. Perhaps there is just as much to be said about a BAD preacher/teacher in the pulpit. However, we cannot over look the role of the altar preacher. To further explain, altar preaching is when the sermon is through, the congregants have prayed in the altar and then you hear "I want everyone to look right up here." This is usually followed by a ten minute sermon-ette. The beauty of this is that these sermon-ettes are often the most relevant portion of the service. The "walls" that separate the minister and congregant have been torn down and the congregants are usually well aware of the presence of the Spirit of God (which was there before the altar service I might add). I can't help but wonder what the Church would be like if the entire ministry of the pulpit was "altar preachin'?" I am not talking here about ecstatic displays of the Spirit and other Pentecostal phenomenon, but I am talking about the absolute awareness of the Spirit in the midst of the congregation and the ability of the pastor to speak to the heart of the individual, erasing the boundaries of pulpit and pew and allowing the Spirit of God to deconstruct both the listener as well as the giver of the message. Yes, I think we could use a little more "altar preachin'."

Jeremiah and Babylon

File this under the "I can't believe this but it sounds profound and I'm not sure what it means for me right now."

This past week I was preparing for our Wednesday night gathering. We have been doing a series on the Arts and exploring the gospel message in various art forms and artists works. Last week we looked primarily at a poem entitled The Rose That Grew From Concrete written by TuPac. This week was to be about stained glass. The premise was this: we must make the choice to come together with other broken pieces (lives) and allow God to unite us in a single piece of art that, when put together, tells his story of redemption and restoration. I was looking at Jeremiah for our text and I came across this revelation.

Jeremiah 29 contains the great "I know the plans I have for you" verse. I love this verse! It is a great reminder that God is in control. However, I had never stopped to see that this verse was set within the context of the Babylonian captivity. Previous to this verse Jeremiah begins to give the Word of the Lord to the people as they are living in captivity. This Word basically contains life instructions of how to live in captivity. The message tells the people to do ordinary things like plant gardens, eat what they produce, marry, have children, multiply, etc. The message is very clear that they are going to be there for a long time. However, in this midst of captivity, in the midst of questioning their identity as the children of God, the Israelites are told to see the peace of the city. Seek the peace of Babylon! They are to seek the peace of the people that captured them! The scriptures are very clear on this point: if you seek the peace of the city, you will live in peace. (29:7) This is very contrary to the "eye for an eye" theology that we are taught. Israel could have tried to stage a revolt, they could have rebelled, they could have done a lot of things that would have been motivated by their desire for retribution. Instead, they are told to seek the peace of the city that captured them. I find it curious that the verse quoted above (I know the plans I have for you) comes after this statement. It is as if God is saying to the Israelites, "I know that it goes against your better judgement right now, I know that you want retribution. Remember though, I am God and I am the one that will keep you." As long as the Israelites stay rooted in the forthcoming promise of God then the retribution of the moment must necessarily fade away into the present pursuit of the peace of the city.

Now, I am not sure what this means except that for me, I feel as if we are living in Babylon. Tony Campolo had this great line where he stated that he loves living in the US. He stated, "it's the best Babylon on the face of the earth. But at the end of the day, it is still Babylon." I agree. This is not the kingdom of God. This is Babylon. I have to believe that God has called us to accept the fact that we do not live in the fulfillment of the kingdom right now but God calls us to seek the peace of the city while living in it. What exactly this means I am not sure. I have some ideas, but I think that we are all supposed to work out for ourselves what the peace of the city looks like in our own situations, jobs, neighborhoods, homes, and families.

Shalom,
Chris

Podcast Top Ten

Here's an updated list of my favorite podcasts. As I am contemplating my favorite podcasts, I am wondering how we ever lived without them. This past Christmas I received a video iPod and have been hooked on podcasts ever since. So, here's my favs right now in no particular order.


Mars Hill Bible Church
Napkin Scribbles (Leonard Sweet)
Tony Campolo Podcast (Across the Pond)
Strongbad emails (you know you love it!)
Relevant Podcast
Princeton University Podcast
Mosaic
Donald Miller (Conversations with Derek Webb)
Resurgence Featured Audio
Pentecast (Shout out to Joel)


Happy podcasting boys and girls!
Shalom,
Chris

Will the real Gospel please stand up?

The following post is based upon a comment that was left at Pete's Blog I preached this last Sunday at our Church on the Spirit of Adoption. One of the points that I made (yes I had two points. I am sorry to disappoint everyone. I promise that I will not have any in subsequent sermons) is that when one is adopted into a new family one must leave a previous family and take on the traits and the values of the new family. I stated that one of the problems with Christianity today is that when we were adopted into the family of God we failed to leave our previous family and try to live as if we are in both. The way that we do this is that we sanctify our previous family so that it's traits and values fit in with our new family. It was at this point that I stopped. I could go no further in this thought process. I wanted to talk about how we have sanctified certain political parties and eschatologies and economic systems, etc. but I didn't. I couldn't because I felt too much pressure to stay within the confines of "orthodox" evangelical thought. Here's my list of questions:

Why can we not talk about issues from the pulpit that are very clearly talked about in scripture? For instance, I had not dare bring up the issue of pacifism in the pulpit (and I am referring here to dialogue of pacifism and not an advertisement for commitment) without fear of being shunned by the Church (read loose my job). We cannot talk about issues of social justice without being labeled as followers of the social gospel and being dismissed. We cannot talk about alternative views of eschatology without having our faith questioned. We cannot question our unbridled commitment to capitalism without being labeled a communist. My questions are numerous, but they all boil down to one simple fact: we are scared of the volatile and unpredictable nature of the gospel. The scriptures raise questions about life but until we are able to take those questions seriously, I doubt our ability to truely be effective ministers and churches that are participating in the missio dei.

Shalom,
Chris

Georgy in Guatemala and other sundry items

Hello. My name is Chris Powell and this is my blog. I realize that most everyone knows this, but I feel as though I should reintroduce myself following my apparent blogging death. I have been extremely busy attending to the needs and process of having a little girl named Isabella join my family. (If you are interested in this story, then you can read more at my adoption blog.) This little girl has meant so much to Holly and I. I thought that I would re-enter the blog world by reflecting upon the recent visit of Georgy Bush to Isabella's homeland: Guatemala.

It was asked in the Bible if anything good could come from Nazareth. I remember thinking of this verse as I sat in Guatemala and heard of Bush's plan to visit the country. I immediately thought, "can anything good come from him coming to Guatemala?" Apparently, there were several that shared my sentiment. I was unsuccessful in finding a person in Guatemala, including both Guatemalan citizens and US citizens, that was hopeful of a good outcome to his trip. Let's face it, the man is not exactly God's gift to foreign policy.

I was riding with Holly and Isa into Guatemala City with our driver who was Guatemalan. I very carefully asked what he thought about the US and how it is handling its relationship with the rest of the world. What he stated astounded me. He was very well versed in US policy and was able to correctly identify the atrocities of US foreign policy. What surprised me the most was that this man seemed to know the big picture. I sat in the car and listened, saddened at the fact that most US citizens have been blinded so that they cannot see the simple truths that this man was pointing out. So, lest I criticize without offering a better way, here are some things that I offer up in the name of peace.

First of all, if you want to fight global terrorism Mr. Bush, end extreme poverty.

Secondly, if you want to help the Guatemalan people end poverty and corruption in their own country, declare a war on drugs. If there is crack in the US, chances are it was funneled through Guatemala before it got to the US. The resulting underground mafias and drug rings in Guatemala are tearing the country apart. (Just ask President Berger who is having to answer for some murders attributed to the national police)

Thirdly, work towards trade agreements that promote self-sufficiency in Latin America. It is always easy to send aid to a country that needs it. After all, it makes you look and feel good for doing such a deed. The problem is that sending aid becomes addictive or rather the feeling of domination that comes from the euphoria of giving to someone in need becomes addictive. As such it is not long before the giving of aid becomes nothing more than an emotional and economic form of colonialism. Perhaps it is time that we perpetuate self-sustenance with our aid and not dependence.

Fourth, let's promote a consistent ethic Mr. President. The people in Latin America, primarily in Venezuela are scared to death. Why? Because they have oil. The last time we chose to end a humanitarian crisis (or so it was labeled after not being able to find WMDs) we did so in a location that conveniently has oil reserves that we are dependent upon. I would have to say that I would be a little nervous if I lived in Venezuela as well. The people of Central America see that we have invaded and occupied a country in the name of freedom and under the banner of "Christian America." Simple deductive reasoning leads one to ask if the ethic we are perpetuating in our foreign policy is consistent with Christian ethics. The answer is no. So, what does one do when the leader of "Christian America" comes into your backyard and offers you a better way of life that is founded upon a "Christian ethic?" The answer is that you run as far away as you can in the opposite direction. Until our policies line up with the ethic that we are claiming (or better yet, loose the title "Christian America" as it has not been relevant for quite some time - if it ever was) we cannot expect people to take us seriously in our diplomatic efforts.

Finally, the above are merely suggestions. I do not mean to sound anti-American in all of this but I do believe that as Christians we should reclaim our prophetic voice and be able to speak into an empire.