lifeasmission

3DM, Learning Communites, and the End of Celebrity-Driven Christian Gatherings

March 31, 2011 // 581710 Comments »http%3A%2F%2Flifeasmission.com%2Fblog%2F2011%2F03%2F3dm-learning-communites-and-the-end-of-celebrity-driven-christian-gatherings%2F3DM%2C+Learning+Communites%2C+and+the+End+of+Celebrity-Driven+Christian+Gatherings2011-03-31+18%3A18%3A12JR+Rozkohttp%3A%2F%2Flifeasmission.com%2Fblog%2F%3Fp%3D5817

Not so long ago I reviewed, Launching Missional Communities, by Mike Breen and Alex Absalom.  Then, some good conversation ensued, both on my post as well as on a post that Mike offered in response to my review. (Incidentally, Mike has recently followed up on this conversation with another post.  You can see my engagement with his ideas there.)

Mike helps to lead a ministry called 3DM (more on them here) that a good number of my church ministry/planter friends have been impacted by.  One of those friends, Doug Paul, and I have recently been having conversations about the relationship between the philosophy behind 3DM and the future of theological education.  In fact, you should check out a brilliant interview that Mike did with Dave Kludt of “The Burner Blog” through Fuller Seminary, especially question 5, on that subject.

A couple weeks ago, as a representative of Northern Seminary, where I work, I was able to participate in the first gathering of a new Learning Community that 3DM launched.  Essentially, this was a gathering of about 40 church teams (3-5 leaders/church) who were beginning a 2 year journey of learning together what it might mean to build a discipling culture, multiply missional leaders, launch missional communities, and establish centers of mission.  The structure of the event (Monday afternoon through Thursday afternoon) was unlike any other Christian conference/event I have ever been a part of and quite frankly, was more helpful than any conference/event I have ever been a part of.  This was the case for one simple reason, it took seriously the idea of praxis – engaging in an intentional rhythm of reflection and action.

The event was structured largely around a rhythm of “idea-driven” corporate times and “application-driven” community times.  Interspersed throughout the week were additional times for even smaller group engagement, shared meals, and prayer/ministry time.

I won’t belabor the point by going into a detailed description of how all these times looked exactly, but suffice it to say, the centrality of praxis (learning/engaging, ideas/skills, or hearing/responding), which drove our time together, set this gathering apart from anything else I’ve been a part of.  Whereas a good many Christian gatherings are predicated on drawing people to celebrity speakers or to a purely intellectual presentation of ideas (not that these are bad in and of themselves), I would hope that more and more Christian gatherings might choose to restructure themselves in the way described above.

3DM is doing good work.  I would go so far as to say they are doing some of the most needed work in helping people/churches get a handle on what it might mean, practically, to embody a missional ecclesiology here in the US as Christendom continues to crumble and we are led (forced?) to ask new questions about the nature and purpose of the church.

If you represent an existing church or are engaged/thinking about church planting, you should absolutely consider being part of a future learning community.

If you are reading this and have been part of a 3DM Leaning Community, please feel free to offer your thoughts and reflections for others.

Posted in 3DM, christendom, conference, discipleship, Fuller Seminary, missional, Northern Seminary

Tweets for the Week : 2011-03-28

March 28, 2011 // 5830No Comments »http%3A%2F%2Flifeasmission.com%2Fblog%2F2011%2F03%2Ftweets-for-the-week-2011-03-28%2FTweets+for+the+Week+%3A+2011-03-282011-03-28+18%3A00%3A00JR+Rozkohttp%3A%2F%2Flifeasmission.com%2Fblog%2F2011%2F03%2Ftweets-for-the-week-2011-03-28%2F

• lifeasmission ReDeux: Olga Awesomeness http://bit.ly/i8Mdmf #FB #
• lifeasmission ReDeux: NT Wright, Angels & Airwaves and The Gospel http://bit.ly/eqW4px #FB #
• lifeasmission ReDeux: Maxed Out http://bit.ly/h5Dqmn #FB #
• Crazy awesome proposal scene on The Office tonight. Steve Carrell is out & in a clutch move move, big daddy Will Farrell is in! Love it. #FB #
• shared: why attend a conference highlighting failure? a short video http://bit.ly/fSjmqd #
• lifeasmission ReDeux: Emotional Culture http://bit.ly/as1Yuq #FB #
• shared: Church Planters…Chick-fil-A is sweetly calling out to you http://bit.ly/hWX72s #
• Have an iPhone? What does your home screen look like? http://twitpic.com/4cfnml #
• Looking forward to an open community discussion about the needs of downtown @ElginIL tonight w/ other engaged citizens #FB #
• Duke Divinity | For virtual theological education. Your thoughts on the use of online technology for seminary learning? http://t.co/OInxpY5 #
• lifeasmission ReDeux: Tweets for the Week : 2011-01-24 http://bit.ly/gA8h0V #FB #
• Anyone in the market for a brand new 500GB Time Capsule? http://bit.ly/fviyxI #FB #
• shared: the end times – in America http://bit.ly/fO9xph #

Posted in weekly tweets

Depersonalized and Taken Advantage Of

March 25, 2011 // 58222 Comments »http%3A%2F%2Flifeasmission.com%2Fblog%2F2011%2F03%2Fdepersonalized-and-taken-advantage-of%2FDepersonalized+and+Taken+Advantage+Of2011-03-26+03%3A43%3A29JR+Rozkohttp%3A%2F%2Flifeasmission.com%2Fblog%2F%3Fp%3D5822

I had something happen to me last week that has never happened before.  I got dropped by my car insurance company, State Farm.

I received a letter in the mail that said on account of the three claims that I have reported in the last three years, they were no longer willing to insure me.  I looked over the letter and thought about each accident.  As I did, I couldn’t help but feel depersonalized and taken advantage of and I began to reflect on how prone we often are to do this very same thing to others.  Here’s what I mean…

Accident #1, The Fence

The first accident happened while I lived in Memphis.  I was driving down a busy 2 lane road and a car, probably 4-5 cars in front of me, slammed on their brakes and turned left w/o signaling, cutting off traffic that was coming the other way.  The cars in front of me all braked rapidly as did I, but as I looked in my rear-view mirror, a car was barreling down so I decided to spin the wheel to the right where there was noting but grass and a fence in order to get out of the way.  Good thing I did, because the car absolutely would have slammed into me.  The result was a good bit of damage to the right front end of my car and a few broken slats in a fence.

Accident #2, Moving

The 2nd accident came just over a year later and happened while we were moving into our new apartment.  We had rented a U-Haul truck to move all our stuff, so I was driving that.  At one point I had to back the huge truck down a narrow alley and out onto a street.  Once I actually made it to the street I had a friend guiding me as I couldn’t really see behind me or keep an eye on traffic.  I could not possibly have been moving any slower, but as I was backing up to his direction, I heard a crunch.  The rear bumper of the truck had done some damage to the bumper of a parked car.

Accident #3, The Deer

The third accident took place, again, almost exactly a year later.  Amy and I were driving home to Ohio on the Turnpike.  We were in the right lane of a two lane portion of the Turnpike heading east.  All of a sudden, a woman in an SUV pulled up to our left and began honking her horn and waving her hands.  Obviously this took our attention off of the road for a moment and on to her.  As soon as we glanced back, we saw a couple deer on the side of the road very near our lane.  Since this lady was directly beside us, there was no room for us to move over to the left and with another car directly behind us, slamming on our brakes didn’t seem like the best idea either.  For some reason, one of the deer began running beside us and then jumped in front so that we gave it a good butt bounce.  Off the deer went, but we lost a headlight and had some minor paint damage to the bumper.

In the event that you trust my recounting of these accidents, I hope you’ll agree that it would be hard to make a case for my being a bad or negligent driver.  Instead, upon closer examination, it becomes apparent that my ill state (the one who had to file a claim) actually came about by external factors (bad driver in accident 1, bad navigator in accident 2, and dumb deer in accident 3).

My point in all this isn’t exactly to defend myself, but to point out how easy it is to depersonalize and take advantage of people when we aren’t willing to step into the details of peoples lives and circumstances.

We do this all the time.  We depersonalize people and take advantage of them in making judgments and estimations based on appearances w/o being willing to step into the minutia of their lives, their circumstances and stories.   Doing so is not only a source of great injustice, but it short circuits the fundamental work of the gospel.

Like insurance companies such as State Farm, it is so very tempting to just objectify people for our own purposes.  For insurance companies, getting personal and refusing to take advantage of a flawed system would adversely effect their bottom line, so they depersonalize and take advantage of people.  For us, getting personal and refusing to take advantage of the temptation to generalize and stereotype takes time, effort, and a willingness to have our most fundamental assumptions about the world called into question, so we follow suit.

In the midst of a culture which inclines us to function with the utmost concern for efficiency and our own best interests, I believe that Jesus calls us to the inefficiency of incarnational living and the freedom of a life lived for the sake of others.  Insurance companies may take the bait, but I hope I/we don’t.

Posted in culture, gospel, justice, money, stories

Tweets for the Week : 2011-03-21

March 21, 2011 // 5819No Comments »http%3A%2F%2Flifeasmission.com%2Fblog%2F2011%2F03%2Ftweets-for-the-week-2011-03-21%2FTweets+for+the+Week+%3A+2011-03-212011-03-21+18%3A00%3A00JR+Rozkohttp%3A%2F%2Flifeasmission.com%2Fblog%2F2011%2F03%2Ftweets-for-the-week-2011-03-21%2F

• lifeasmission ReDeux: Fuller: Dual-Degree http://bit.ly/9G9U9t #FB #
• lifeasmission ReDeux: Molde http://bit.ly/gK0YBv #FB #
• Yeah, and never come to Elgin to visit! #
• lifeasmission ReDeux: Tweets for the Week : 2010-08-23 http://bit.ly/fymNzg #FB #
• There is a spiritual heaviness to life in the city that we instinctively want to adjust to. In doing so we pay a regrettable price. #FB #
• The Agora. South side of Millennium Park. http://instagr.am/p/CVdku/ #
• On the Loop @ Quincy/Wells CTA Station http://instagr.am/p/CVN_8/ #
• On my way into the city for an afternoon meeting re: the production of a short film about the state & needs of theological education. #FB #
• De-freaking-layed in Charleston, SC. Ugh. Don't these people respect how much I miss @amyrozko?!! Come on @unitedairlines #FB #
• lifeasmission ReDeux: Tweets for the Week : 2010-07-26 http://bit.ly/g6WDAm #FB #
• shared: The Rob Bell Fiasco: Why We Can’t Have This Conversation http://bit.ly/f6YAfs #
• Hanging out at a 3DM Learning Community w/ @scomarsh & lots more new friends. Good stuff happening. #FB http://twitpic.com/4a49ot #
• lifeasmission ReDeux: Missional Preaching Part 3: Preaching as a Call for Response http://bit.ly/cK7FP4 #FB #
• lifeasmission ReDeux: The Role of the Bible in Society http://bit.ly/bCqNzY #FB #
• Note: Those asking Christendom questions will never be able to appropriate the insights of Post-Christendom thinkers. We need new questions. #
• In SC for a few days w/ @Mike_Breen checking out 3DM Learning Communities for @nseminary #

Posted in weekly tweets

Tweets for the Week : 2011-03-14

March 14, 2011 // 5814No Comments »http%3A%2F%2Flifeasmission.com%2Fblog%2F2011%2F03%2Ftweets-for-the-week-2011-03-14%2FTweets+for+the+Week+%3A+2011-03-142011-03-14+18%3A00%3A00JR+Rozkohttp%3A%2F%2Flifeasmission.com%2Fblog%2F2011%2F03%2Ftweets-for-the-week-2011-03-14%2F

• shared: Why Church Planter Conferences are SO much better than Church Growth Conferences. http://bit.ly/dTIiBm #
• shared: Missional postmortem: some personal struggles, part 2 http://bit.ly/hyV1KG #
• The @fitchest has a great new book out. Check his blog (http://bit.ly/hCyAoL) to download the intro. & get a 40% if you buy. #FB #
• Movie & Discussion night w/ friends in Elgin tonight – "Waiting for Superman." #FB #
• lifeasmission ReDeux: Help? http://bit.ly/bZ5vJx #FB #
• Little girl on the way in June. @amyrozko is letting me practice how to do the hair. Pretty awesome right? #FB http://twitpic.com/48wog5 #
• lifeasmission ReDeux: JR's Career Path http://bit.ly/ac09YQ #FB #
• Boom! #FB http://twitpic.com/48l5ak #
• lifeasmission ReDeux: The Wedding Goods http://bit.ly/hRyCt0 #FB #
• shared: Before you read LOVE WINS by Rob Bell http://bit.ly/eWdC8F #
• Amazing dinner: pesto/bbq/spicy burger sliders, sweet potato fries, colorful salad, limeade & mint ice cream cake courtesy of @amyrozko!! #
• lifeasmission ReDeux: Tweets for the Week : 2010-12-13 http://bit.ly/fDWXKu #FB #
• Rent your 1st redbox movie online & get a free 1-night rental (I will 2 if u use my link by 3/17) http://redbox.tellapal.com/a/clk/RyYGL #FB #
• Meeting up w/ @gregpaullynn. Just 2 @FullerSem guys talking about life & church planting. #FB #
• lifeasmission ReDeux: Forerunners of The Great Emergence http://bit.ly/gIY9NJ #FB #
• shared: Tweets for the Week : 2011-03-07 http://bit.ly/hyqxvS #

Posted in weekly tweets

Tweets for the Week : 2011-03-07

March 7, 2011 // 5813No Comments »http%3A%2F%2Flifeasmission.com%2Fblog%2F2011%2F03%2Ftweets-for-the-week-2011-03-07%2FTweets+for+the+Week+%3A+2011-03-072011-03-07+19%3A00%3A00JR+Rozkohttp%3A%2F%2Flifeasmission.com%2Fblog%2F2011%2F03%2Ftweets-for-the-week-2011-03-07%2F

• lifeasmission ReDeux: Back to the Cross http://bit.ly/bm8o3I #FB #
• shared: Why Do We Allow Toxic Leaders? http://bit.ly/gVDit9 #
• Following Epiphany, there is no other way to Easter but through Lent. #FB #
• lifeasmission ReDeux: Sweet Jesus Love http://bit.ly/dBEfKE #FB #
• "The opposite of poverty is not property. The opposite of poverty is community. " — Stephan Bauman #FB #
• lifeasmission ReDeux: Missiological Research: Missio Dei, Salvation & Discipleship in Post-Christendom http://bit.ly/i01pxU #FB #
• I just need 1 more person to get this awesome deal to get it for free! 2 movie tickets for $9!! http://t.co/Mm4PaIk #FB #
• The closer we are to God the less inclined we are to throw stones. — Shane Claiborne (good words in the midst of the #robbell stuff) #
• Peacemaking in a culture of violence. Interesting image – http://twitpic.com/45tu83 #
• Crashing the SCUPE parry w/ @amyrozko as we visit w/ David Miller from AMBS #FB #
• RT @amyrozko: "[As parents] Let's do more preparing than protecting [of our kids]." -Tim Elmore – Great quote! #
• shared: Ways Lesslie Newbigin Helped to Cultivate a More Robust Missional Ecclesiology http://bit.ly/fEqBMw #
• lifeasmission ReDeux: Chicago and Seeding Missional Communities http://bit.ly/c9vJIr #FB #
• shared: Ur Video: Who Gets Into Heaven? http://bit.ly/gtPNEC #
• Get down on this deal – 2 movie tickets on Fandango ($30 value) for $9 http://t.co/Mm4PaIk #FB #
• Just 1 more day to get 2 movie tickets for $9!! Hop on it & use this link, http://bit.ly/f0TRNF #FB #
• Blog post brewing — The Emerging Guild of Missionary Theologians. Now, if I can just find the time to write it! #FB #
• lifeasmission ReDeux: Virtual Community & Video Venues http://bit.ly/clv5xg #FB #
• lifeasmission ReDeux: Malone Thanksgiving 2007 http://bit.ly/i0bF5D #FB #
• Finished "The Witness of God" (Flett). Maybe the heaviest theo. lifting I've done. Will take weeks just to process notes in the margins! #FB #
• Check out my good friend Doug Paul's posts on "What Does Going Deep Actually Mean?" 1) http://j.mp/ii2eEz, 2) http://j.mp/gFkDJV #FB #

Posted in weekly tweets