for kicks...

... the union on campus at UNC has very limited seating, in particular, for carrying on deep, silly, and/or meaningful conversation. In the past two months, I have become an expert at locating just that perfect seating location. Sometimes this involves the perfect technique of hovering. Sometimes this is just good timing. However, this morning, my "luck" ran amouk.

I was forced to journey down to the basement of the union, wherein, I discovered the perfect location for quiet and peaceful meetings. Little did I know, but over Thanksgiving break, UNC renovated the lovely room on the left side of the study area downstairs in the union. They have put in hundreds of nice chairs and tables... fantastic study location and the best part is... no one knows about it yet!

And, in case that wasn't perk enough... the neon flashy sign over the entrance still reads "the Caberet." Renovation not quite complete.

Yes, folks, this is true. I set up shop in the caberet. And talk about Jesus. A lot. :-)

good days... and then not good days

ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY
by Judith Viorst

"I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there's gum in my hair and when I got out of bed this morning I tripped on the skateboard and by mistake I dropped my sweater in the sink while the water was running and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day...." (for the rest of the story: go here )

Some days you just wake up and know that they'll be spectacular! Others, even in Australia, just aren't so hot. On the days that aren't so hot, I am constantly reminded of a Matt Redman song, which goes something like this:

Blessed be Your name/ When the sun's shining down on me/ When the world's 'all as it should be/ 'Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name/ On the road marked with suffering/ Though there's pain in the offering
/Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out/ I'll turn back to praise/ When the darkness closes in, Lord/ Still I will say/ Blessed be the name of the Lord

So, blessed be the name of the Lord, whether on good days, or even on Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad days... can I do that?

I choose to say yes. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Off-roading... in a civic?

So, Thanksgiving day 2007...

It all began on a ordinary day in November. I was in Richmond, Virginia, at my grandparents house, for a fantastic day of turkey, relatives, and many many more stories, foods, and adventures. Turns out that my apartment mate from senior year of college was also in town, and had no plans for Thanksgiving.

"Well, HEY!, why don't you spend it with me and my family?!" quoth I.

"Yes!" says she.

So, at 9:00am Thursday morning, I drive into University of Richmond to pick her up.

Enter the road race. Literally.

I start down my typical route through campus to Whitehurst, to pick her up... and upon rounding the bend by the chaplaincy, I encounter approximately 500 runners trekking along on their annual Turkey trot. Not a problem; I am good at 3-point turns. Don't ask how I've gained that skill. I turn around. I go the long way through campus (passing a table full of water cups and some very confused onlookers around mid-campus). Lo-and-behold, when I am less than a block away from Whitehurst, what do I see, but the same bunch of runners, running across the road in front of me. Hey, roadblock. I practice my 3-point turn again. All entrances to Tatiana are completely blocked off by hundreds of sweaty people.

I park in the dining hall parking lot, about half a mile from where I need to meet her, calling to re-arrange picking her up. Because of the large numbers of runners, we cannot go the normal way through that half-mile. So, for once, thank heavens for the drought. We walk through the now-mostly-dry over-flow drainage dam behind the commons. Slip. Oops. Slime. Yuck. We make it back to my car.... just in time to see the runners begin to stream by the entrance to the dining hall parking lot. TRAPPED! There is no way out.

We look to the right: the runners are coming by the hundreds.
We look to the left: there go the runners, taking up the entire road.
We look straight ahead: no-entrance, one-way street.

Best option: one-way street. When a few runners slow briefly, I gun it, breaking through their train, straight up the one-way street, wrong way right. We come to the end of the one way street, only to see the slower runners still running by our one and only exit route....

Slow motion, matrix style.... Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

The only other option is a parking lot to our left, bordering a soccer field and the Alumni center. At this point we have been driving around for about 30 minutes. On a very small campus. My frustration reaches a maximum.

"Are you game?" I ask.
Tatiana clutches her seat with both hands and nods.

As if in the movies, I slowly twist the steering wheel, and we leave the parking lot. We are now on the grass. Heading toward a large row of bushes. With a very small gap. Just Honda Civic size, as a matter of fact. We ease through the gap, less than an inch on both sides. We are now on the soccer field, bouncing through the ruts and turns and ditches. Off-roading... yeah.... A row of holly trees is our final obstacle. The gap there looks too narrow. Tatiana sucks in her breath, as if that will help make our obstacle less horrific. With less than an inch to spare, we clear the gap, bounce through a ditch which is far deeper than I estimated, and emerge on the main road... right in front of the yellow triangular sign stating:

"Slow for emerging traffic."

Bet they didn't know how aptly they positioned that sign, now did they?

And we nearly hit a very surprised jogger. Nearly.

And that is the story of Thanksgiving Day 2007, when I went off-roading in my Honda Civic.

Why Discipleship? (part III)

Discipleship is the way in which people and the church as a body grow concurrently.

We are called to discipleship because it is the way in which the church grows. It is Biblically mandated, as well as shown in examples throughout scripture and the secular world. Hebrews 10:24 says “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Ephesians 4:11-13 says that God gave each one of God’s people individual gifts, for the benefit of the body, “so that the body of Christ might be build up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Romans 15:1-2 tells us “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” In the same way that Deuteronomy 6:7 commands parents to speak of the Lord’s decrees to their children and instruct them in the ways in which they should go, we too are called to holy admonition of one another. In other words, the role of each member of the body is to strengthen, train, and build up the other members of the body. Furthermore, those who are stronger are called to bear up the weaknesses of the weaker.

Discipleship leadership and growth is also demonstrated through scripture: Joshua learned from Moses, Elisha trailed Elijah for years, Jesus led his twelve disciples, Paul trained Timothy and together they led the churches. Even in secular community, parents raise their children, training them in the ways in which they should go; doctors have residency; successful politicians have mentors; and graduate students have doctoral advisors. Discipleship, or the act of relational growing, is not only scripturally mandated and essential to the person of Christ, but is also the way in which we were designed to grow.

Without discipleship, the growth of the church stagnates, or, as Bonhoeffer said, is Christianity without Christ.

Why Discipleship? (part II)

We are called to discipleship because this is the example which Christ practices and teaches and it works

The ministry of Christ extends this call to discipleship, by illustrating the perfect work of church growth, painting a picture of leadership development, spiritual mentoring, and mass revival of which the post-modern church could certainly take note. Jesus divides his time into four categories: time with the disciples, time with the masses, healing the sick (an extension of time with the masses), and time alone with the Father. Robert Coleman points out that in the public relations department, Jesus spent the majority of his time with the disciples (Coleman 45). He concentrated on twelve men, for the benefit of the majority. Coleman (35) observes, “Jesus was not trying to impress the crowd, but to usher in the kingdom. This meant that he needed people who could lead the multitudes.” He built his ministry around relationship, recognizing that it is both the end goal of redemption and the means by which redemption is brought to fruition.


In John 15:15-16, Jesus describes his leadership strategy and relationship with the disciples, saying “I no longer call your servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father, I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last…” Jesus calls his disciples, he trains them, and he sends them, recognizing that this is the most effective way to reach the masses. He invited them into his presence, equipping them to lead when he was no longer present. It was the work of eleven of these men that laid the foundation for the modern church. In John 17:18-20, Jesus sends the disciples into the world, praying for them and those who will hear his words through them. Jesus recognized, as Coleman (31) points out, that his ministry depended on these few many leading the many. Jesus is, as Cloud and Townsend point out, our example for living (chapter 5) as well as training disciples. Our very relationship with him is a discipleship relationship because he is our living example. This is what Bonhoeffer meant, saying that Christianity without discipleship is like Christianity without Christ.

We are called to discipleship because we are called to follow Christ.

Why Discipleship? (part I)

“Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Discipleship is an important practice to pursue for three reasons: first, because relationship is God’s covenant plan for the growth and maturity of his people; second, because this discipleship the example which Christ practices and teaches and it works; and third, because discipleship is the way in which people and church as a body grow concurrently (Stay tuned for parts II and III).

PART I: God's Covenant Plan for the growth and maturity of his people:

In Genesis, in the final act of creation, God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…” (Genesis 1:26). Inherent in this first statement is the idea that God is completed community unto himself; this is reaffirmed in the theology of the trinity, God in three persons, in perfect community, or perichoresis, with himself. Man, because he is designed in God’s image, is also made for community. The second thing which God tells us about man is that “It is not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). And so God makes for him a helpmate, to walk with him, share his load, and literally, to “help” him. In other words, man was designed both to walk with God and to walk with others.

Two things can be learned from Genesis about the practice of discipleship: first, man was made for both horizontal (with one another) and vertical (with God) community; inherent in his DNA is the need for community to be an integral part of any process which he undertakes. Second, the curse results in a loss of both horizontal and vertical community (Genesis 3:8-24). Therefore, the work of redemption is a return to the created order (Cloud 37) in which we are called back into two relationships: relationship with God and relationship with others. This return to relationship is both the end and the means to the end of the redemption from sin. In other words, the end result of our redemption is that we are restored to right relationship with God and each other. Yet, the method by which we are brought near to salvation is also relationship (both with others and with Christ). Cloud and Townsend put it this way (122): “Independence from relationship is independence from God himself, for he is present in his Body; it is also independence from the way he designed us to grow… Biblical growth is designed to include other people as God’s instruments.”

Discipling is simply the art of relational growth. It is from this basis of relationship that we as Christians receive our call to discipleship.

Pain, Gain, and Teamwork.

On Sunday, dear friends, I ran a 5K in Raleigh. The Old Reliable Race has occurred for 24 years now, and supports United Way... I learned this after being interviewed about it on TV.

For those of you not savvy in the running sphere, a 5K is a 3.11 mile race, typically run, jogged, walked or sprinted.

First place went to a very very horizontally challenged man. Turn him sideways, and he disappeared. Except for the florescent orange shorts, which would reveal his location, even on the darkest night. Second place went to a man with a baby stroller. Added momentum, I think so... the child slept throughout the entire race. Meanwhile, I nabbed the interview with News Channel 14, airing on TV for a total of 30 seconds, 24 times in one day. Yes, overkill. But dang it, I enjoyed it. And I had a remarkable finish in 28 minutes and some change. Fifth place woman in my age category. Two-hundred and fifty-second overall. Yes, I like the first statistic better.

And unlike the last 5K that I ran, wherein I decided to check out the "pain is gain" philosophy of not training and "just doing it," (Nike meets Nietzsche?) I actually trained for this race. However, I converted Jim, our Intervarsity international staff to my mentality of pain and gain... ergo, my legacy lives on. Regardless...

Upon the conclusion of this race, I found myself considering racing as a mentality for life, yet again. This particular race, I ran as a team with a friend... we trained together, we planned the race, and we ran the race together. And our time reflected our combined effort. Now, let's be straight... I am incredibly competitive. I view running as a competitive sport in which I strive, by myself, to beat my own personal speed goals. I have never run as a team before. And frankly, the idea scares me most of the time. I like to be a lone ranger, dang it. After all, this is why I run: So that I don't have to play with other kids. Clearly.

But sometimes, the game isn't about me. Shocker, yes, I know. Sometimes, running is like life. And our task is to run as a team. For the benefit of the team. Even if that means taking one for the team. Or being carried by the team. One of my friends tells a great story about running as a team with another woman... my friend fell, early in the race, and ran slowly, with a limp, for the remainder of the race. Her friend, rather than finishing with a quicker time, slowed down to run with my friend. She encouraged her, challenged her, and made her finish. She ran the race for the team, not for herself. Her time was slower, but their combined average was faster than it would have been, had she left my friend in the dust, and finished by herself.

The same metaphor applies when we're learning about community. Sometimes its easier to keep running on ahead, by ourselves, grasping concepts which seem easy to us, leaving behind those who don't seem to get it as quickly.... for example:

* Multi-ethnicity
* Social Justice
* Discipleship
* The idea and necessity of Community

Just understanding it ourselves is enough... so we blast by, leaving behind our "teammates" finishing the race by ourselves within our allotted time period. We lack a team mentality. I lack a team mentality. We don't slow down to carry our teammates with us. We expect them to keep up, and if they don't, darn it, well that's just too bad.

So I'm going to propose something radical.

What if we're called to run as a team, and our combined time, metaphorically speaking, is what matters, not our individual times?

What if we're called to be a body? Imagine if the leg were to say that it wanted to grow to full potential, without the torso also growing in proportion? Disaster, right?

What if you are your brother's keeper, and what happens to your brothers and sisters in community matters to your growth?

What if it's more important that you both cross the line, than that you individually cross it quickly?

Does this mean don't run as though to win the race? No.
Does it mean that you hinder your own growth? No.
Does it mean that you have to change your mindset, to "run" or "live" for the team? Yes.

Radical, yes. Worth it, yes. Something to think about...