AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 10:06:00 PM ----- BODY:

I'm making the Switch! Just like I was converted to Macs a few years ago and will NEVER turn back to the old ways of PC's, now I'm being converted to the more colorful, explicit, and powerful Typepad. People have been wtinessing to me for a couple of years..truth is, I've been a seeker of blogs for about that long. I didn't necessarily know that I was a seeker...but as I looked at other blogs and got a chance to experience the deeper, more enlightened ways of Typepad, I started asking questions. Those who intersect in my journey started telling me about Typepad and sooner than I expected, I realized that I needed Typepad as my blog savior and lord. So, tonight I am inviting Typepad onto my keyboard...I am humming, "Just as I am" because Typepad is going to have to accept me just as I am without a clue! To check out the archived Past of my blog, still consult http://rdugall.blogspot.com. But for now, bookmark this link and join me as we do life together! http://yliapu.typepad.com/spiritualregurgitations/.

-------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 1:52:00 PM ----- BODY:

Well, many of you who know me know that I do this with a bit of "tongue in cheek" but also with a bit of seriousness. Today's USA Today (as Rome says, "the multi-colored fishwrap) ran a front page article on Rev. Oprah in the Life section (see http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-05-10-oprah_x.htm). Draw your own conclusions but this proves once and for all why Oprah is the Anti-Christ in my book. Dr. Phil is the false prophet...you know that! I've been warning my family and friends...watch out for this woman. She is more influential than all the TV evangelists and mega-church pastors combined. She has more $$ the gross national product of Canada...oops, that might not be saying much...mmmm, let me try that again. She has more $$ than God...oops, can't say that because of that "cattle on a thousand hills" thing...mmmm, let me try that one more time! She has more $$ than the combined budgets of all the megachurches in the USA. How does that sound? Oh I don't know...I'm just going to sign out and let the chips fall where they may! All I can say is "beware"! And people think the Da Vinci Code is a threat to the faith..."I don't think so!".

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:6:52 PM COMMENT-BODY:LOL! Well, you should check my post "In Defence of Oprah" at my blog.

Peace,
Jamie -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: H. West COMMENT-DATE:6:43 AM COMMENT-BODY:This article is most definately an interesting comment on our culture and what people are looking for. Its says a great deal about what people really value. However, I wonder if even despite her "message of salvation" Oprah is missing the part about where all of this power and blessing comes from. Is it yourself or God? I wonder also if she is also so attractive because in a way she is saying "you don't need anyone else" and that is also attractive because it offers the salvation that we desire, but it also caters to our fleshly desires in offering some sense of control. You can have salvation and you can also do it on your own. That sort of message would definately appeal to an indiviudalistic America. -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 7:51:00 AM ----- BODY:

Last night, my roller hockey team, the Avalanche, won the very first, Challenge Cup of Idaho. Dude, it is NOT the Stanley Cup but what more can I say! Here I am standing with my "captain", Andy Z, and holding the precious cup. We will have our names inscribed on it and we'll all have a chance to have the cup in our own possession for a few days (just like the Stanley Cup). So, I might have a chance to sleep with the Cup, take it to the beach, superglue it to the hood of my Silverado and parade it through town...the possibilities are endless. Frankly, I've done it all in life now...lived, led, worshipped, loved, and won the Challenge Cup for Roller Hockey excellence in southwest Idaho. Man, Jesus can come back now cause I'm ready. Now, I am honest enough to know about these sort of things...some day when this Cup is found in some landfill, my name will be inscribed on a Cup along with the other roller hockey legends of Nampa, Idaho. That will be a day to remember! So anyway, our team was in first place all season...we wooped up on the Northstars, 4-2 to win the cherished hardware. Got a gold medal for my effort...that's not bad for the oldest guy in the league. It's all good. Now on to the fall season and a repeat performance. Maybe our team will become a dynasty...who knows!

-------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 3:11:00 PM ----- BODY:

I've heard all sorts of things about the Chuck Norris phenom...pretty much, that's bogus. Because Jack Bauer is the baddest man on TV bar none. I can't wait for him to come face to face with that wussy President...Logan, what a lying, cheatin, freakin, treasonous wimp. That's all for now! Four more hours to go! Almost as important to watch as the next series of Nooma videos...almost as important to see as God's next miracle in human history...almost as fun to view...oh, forget it!

-------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 10:16:00 PM ----- BODY:

OK - I've been hung up lately...frankly, been doing so much writing that I've neglected this precious space. Here's a few things I've been thinking about lately... “The future of the church depends on whether it develops true community…unless we sense that we belong to each other, with masks off, the vibrant church of today will become the powerless church of tomorrow” Larry Crabb “Spiritual community = the presence of conflicted relationships met by spiritual friendship, spiritual direction and characterized by the dependence upon the Spirit of God” – M. Scott Peck When I was young in the faith, I got a taste of community. There were three young men who poured themselves in me as a brother, friend, and someone with whom they shared life. For two years, those relationships gave me hope, healing, comfort, accountability and, most important, a constant glance at Jesus and the reality of the Kingdom. Over a period of months, that little “band of brothers” became infectious and grew…other people wanted “in” because they saw something that they wanted and weren’t experiencing in their own life. I’m confident enough to call a spade a spade…they saw Jesus and saw the Kingdom of God. To say the least, I’ve been searching for a way to quench my deep desire for community ever since. Throughout numerous experiences, I have gotten close only to be sidetracked by ecclesiastical agendas, superficiality, and a host of other relational elements that caused community to break down. I’m tired of empty feelings when it comes to community – it has been my dream for a long, long time to enter anew into redemptive and Kingdom community before I reach the end of my earthly journey. I want to take the vision of scripture for a “ride” and find any way I can to experience the sense of awe, power, and satisfaction that comes in living in the flow of what Jesus created for us to experience. I promised the Lord that I would pursue that dream in my family’s most recent move and transition in life. We were created to experience oneness with God and each other. It is only when we enter into that oneness do we experience the fullness of life that God intended for us. I also realize as someone who takes the scripture seriously that we need to have the quality of community that incarnates Jesus and gives people an opportunity to see something that can only happen because of God. Relationships are difficult because of the essential brokenness of humanity. That’s why Christ-followers cannot tolerate having community that is anything else than a glimpse of the Kingdom. We need to be inviting people into an experience in relationships that actually transcends anything that can happen without the presence of the Holy Spirit. To have relationships like “everyone else has” does not give witness to the lives that Jesus calls us into. I'm working on a statement for our community that will be the set of values that are non-negotiable for our lives together. Community is transformational. We need to single-mindedly pursue the unity of love and the missional and incarnational witness of community in the context of our lives... More to come...

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:4:52 AM COMMENT-BODY:Ever read "Life Together" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer? His thoughts on community.

I like yours too. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:9:49 AM COMMENT-BODY:Preach it brotha! -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 12:59:00 PM ----- BODY:

Hey - you may not have clicked here to see inside of my head...that's a sight that merits a horror film. But occassionally, I simply have to 'write out" what I'm thinking about. I know I might have something to say about it in a few days...I might "recant"...I might rant some more...I might claim insanity. But, you know, mental regurgitations are good for the soul...so here goes! I was just thinking about revelation - how God has revealed Himself in the world. God is all about "incarnating" Himself...giving us an opportunity to see and experience Him through a variety of means. Paul says in Romans 1 that creation is an unmistakable manner by which God speaks to us and reveals Himself. John 1 says that God's Word became flesh and "moved into the neighborhood" (Message translation is tasty in this regard). Historically, Christianity has seen revelation as that which occurs by God's direct action in our world. In other words, God reveals Himself through not only creation and "the heavens" (the Psalms consistently expound on the revelation of God through the stars and heavens), but God also reveals Himself: * through the Word of God - the Bible has been consistently seen throughout faith history as a means of revelation * through God's people - relationships are where people see the action and love of God contemporarily incarnated. WAsn't it jesus who said that people will know of the love of God as they witness the love that we share in redemptive, Kingdom community? * through the "sacraments" - I know I'm walkiing into a minefield here because of the various traditions of Christendom. I wish we could all just get along with these matters...but entire denominations have been birthed over something that has been instituted as a snapshot into the love and nature of God. Whether you are just a "two sacrament" person or a "seven sacrament" person or a "whatever" person, no one truly and seriously debates the revelation of Jesus in and through sacred acts like baptism and Holy Communion (although don't get me started on the grape juice issue) I know that there are numerous ways that God reveals Himself that I'm not even going to attempt to comment on...or else I'd be attempting to author a theological treatise which, truthfully, I have no interest in penning. Rather my point in this...my thoughts lately have focused around the question, "why is it that so many people are so defensive about the scriptures?" Why is it that we have "fundamentalists" who will go to the mat over the inerrancy question...or proving the historicity of the bible...or pounding away at the infallability question (despite how important those topics may be)? Why is it that some people "worship" the Bible and get threatened by having even the most simple discussion about its content and/or origins? Well...this is what I've been thinking...we have to argue about revelation through scripture because we cannot depend or trust or enter into on any significant level God's revelation through people and community. In other words, we have to fight for the integrity of scripture because we can't or, better yet, won't fight for the integrity of community. We have to trust in the revelation of God in the bible because we CANNOT trust in God's revelation through people or community. I think if YOU think about it, you may agree. Community is a mess...it is full of tension, unresolved conflict, superficiality, fallness, brokenness and sin. Very few Christ-followers have ever experienced community and relationships the way God intended. To quote the verse, "they'll know we are Christians by our love" is really a joke. If we didn't have the bible and ALL we had were relationships and community as we experience it now, the world is lost. There would be NO significant voice of revelation because for most of us, we don't take community seriously. When I talk to married couples about how Ephesians 5 tells us how marriage is supposed to be a "snapshot" for the world on the love of God for people, they sometimes say, "woa, that's heavy...I don't know if I can do that". I wonder...if we all saw community and relationships as THE most significant revelation to the world on what the Kingdom is all about and who God really is...what would happen? What if that was the ONLY way God revealed Himself? We'd be in trouble huh? Maybe that's why we pound the bible...we can pound community or the other Christ-honoring relationships we have because so many of them are bankrupt of any divine design. Maybe you should think about that too...email me your thoughts. If we didn't have the bible and ALL we had was Christian community...if we were calling people to enter into authentic community in which we all experienced the Kingdom and the "nearness" of the revelation of who Jesus is...would it make a difference? Or would the world have lost the revelation of God because we just can't do it? Mmmmm...I wonder!

-------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 7:19:00 AM ----- BODY:

Sometimes the Living Word speaks someone into your life miraculously. It comes as dramatically as when the first words were uttered over the cosmos, "let there be light". In the past few months, Chris Yambar has entered the "Dugall Zone". I don't get it but I know that God is up to no good as usual. He is bringing someone into my life and journey who is bound to make life more of the messy and revolutionary party that He intends it to be. Well...as you probably know if you check this blog, I have a passion for commenting on "ekklesia"...that gathering of saints within the Kingdom for subversive, incarnational living. Unfortunately, Christendom has held "ekklesia" captive for centuries. Good for us though...a new Breath of God is occuring in the hearts and lives of many Christ-followers who are taking risks in living missionally and communally in such a way that the journey of faith is taking on dynamic meaning again. My new compadre, Yambar, added his two cents worth in on the discussion about "ekklesia" the other day. Hey, any two cents from this guy is something to take note of...cause the guy is a stinkin artist...probably doesn't have a couple of cents to his name. Oops, I forgot...I'm sending him a "BIG CHECK" soon for some of his off-the-wall comic pontifications on life and culture...so he will soon have more than a couple of cents to throw into the pot. So...without further ado, here are his comments on "ekklesia"...tasty to say the least! Oh, that we would all live "without a net"! "Personally I look forward to a time when todays mega-churches are reworked and used as secular Rollercades and Flea Markets instead of begging cash coffers and better-than-you social circles. Sounds a bit bitter but I'm really not. I have just grown weary of watching a God ordained community opportunity downgrade into some kind of Wes Craven movie plot in which people are continually 'utilized' for what they can give and are cast off when they become the new needy. The great harvest should mean something more than just a time to give your tithes and offerings. The three posted students give this whole ugly topic a ray of hope and return a simple joy that is sorely missing in this bad western rendition of a precious eastern standard....of family. As a sorta related aside, I'm currently working on developing a once a month 'Outlaw Sunday' service in our towns biggest pool hall. The owner (who is not yet a professing Christian)has given me use of his building and his blessing to 'do the right thing for the people who need it'. When I told him that it was for those who don't fit into the traditional church model he smiled. When I told him that I will never ask anyone for money to build another church he was sold and threw me the keys. After being involved for decades with the denominational church scene and the home church community it will be refreshing to work again with no need of a net...and no fear of falling. Simplicity is the highest form of sophistication. I'm glad to hear of young people with a heart bent toward the basics. May God richly bless them with His power, His integrity, and His Holy Ghost bravery. Rock on Christian soldiers!"

-------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 7:03:00 AM ----- BODY:

Jesus told me that the Kingdom is such that we are called to love our enemies. I understand that challenge. In fact, the Lord has wired me up in such a way that I find that I am pretty patient with people I don't understand. Truth is, I get uncomfortable around conflict...always have! I don't purposely try to find or cause problems with others. I pray that I can enter into some aspect of what the other person is experiencing so that I can share some of the love that Jesus has given me. My problem with "loving my enemies" is loving ME. I'm juggling too much now...and NOT loving it, me or what it is doing to me. Maybe I'm overstating the case right now...but I don't think so. I'm trying to lead the Youth Leadership Institute (www.yliapu.org) to the "goal line" of the grant period. I want to say "yeah God" with the staff of YLI, the community of students and leaders we have built as well as those who have a vested interest in what we have been able to accomplish over 5 years. We have another year and a half left...I want to finish the race well. Add that to the fact that I do some teaching...online courses that I enjoy, that challenge my thinking, that keep me in contact with what college students are thinking and how they are navigating Kingdom living in their context...in addition, I need the salary that comes via those classes. Add that to the "ball" I just picked up of a new Community that I absolutely am passionate about...I love dreaming about what God can do in authentic community...I want to lead well and be a co-creator with Holy Spirit in bringing about another "pod" of Kingdom reality into our new home in Eagle Idaho. Along with that, comes thinking about Sunday gatherings, worship music, teaching, community activities and the stuff that goes along with building and enabling something that God really wants to see in terms of depth relationships and Kingdom effectiveness. We also have taken on a project as a Community group of reaching out to our city's Junior High kids...so we are partnering with Young Life and another missional community, The Landing (www.allelon.org), in brainstorming the beginning of this work as soon as possible. Add to that the launching of new resources for a website that we are creating to respond to the cultural phenomenon of The Da Vinci Code...I'm writing the website's content. Add the "ball" of devotionals that I write for HomeWord (www.homeword.com)...Add to that the "ball" that I'm trying to juggle with finishing up my Doctor of Ministry project/dissertation. Add to that the deep desire I have to write more and create...add to that the "'ball" of speaking, teaching and leading worship for conferences and retreats (invitations that I have been turning down more these days than accepting simply because the other "balls" demand attention). Add to that the "concern" that I need to have a "salary" come the middle or end of 2007...when the grant period ends for YLI, what is God going to open then? So, as you can see, balls are being juggled. At first, it's fun to juggle. I do it pretty well..then after a while, I keep searching for someone to juggle with...or at least someone who is going to help me keep the balls in the air. My enemy? Myself. I need saving from me! As you can probably see, I love every one of the "balls" in one way or another. But you see, when you get proficient at juggling, you can always tell yourself that you can throw another ball into the mix. So, I'm going to sit back in my chair right now..look at the beautiful mountains in Idaho out my office window...listen to Rita Springer sing, "You are still holy even when circumstances don't change"...I'm going to look a bit closer at all the balls in the air. I don't know how long I can continue to juggle...mmm, I'm confused but I have to keep juggling.

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:9:34 AM COMMENT-BODY:Wow! Dad, I thought of two things as I read this post. One: I felt inspired to see someone who truely uses the giftedness that God has given him to impact this world for Christ! Two: Oh my gosh.....something's got to give! It must be a really conflicting place to be especially in your own heart and mind. I will be praying that something miraculous will happen so that you will be able to focus your giftedness and get all the roles you are juggling under control. I will be praying for God to open doors financially so that some of that pressure will be taken away. Know that you are loved for just who you are as a leader of our family and a loving man of God. To us, having you happy and healthy in your heart, mind and spirit are the most important things! Miss you & love you! Megan -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:12:20 PM COMMENT-BODY:The harvest is plenty but the laborers are few. Only the captain of a ship knows all the knots that must be tied in order to set a ship to sea. I join you in prayer for a strength and an inner peace that passes all understanding ...and human limitations. Consider at least one of your arms as lifted. -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 7:42:00 AM ----- BODY:

One of the things that I do is teach online courses at APU. You know that...so I probably don’t need to restate the obvious. But today as I was reading the responses to this week’s assignment, I saw one bit of input that I thought I would share with you. This week’s assignment was to read Romans 12 and then reflect on the text and created the ideal “ekklesia”...that is, what the traditional translations of the text regard as “church”. Remember, the english translations of the greek word (ekklesia) have really set the intellectual context for how we interpret and apply the text in our lives. In other words, when we think of “church”, we think of what the church has become...an institution, with buildings, staff, budgets, programs, etc. The original greek word, ekklesia, was really highjacked from the greek culture...any gathering of people, small or large was regarded as a ekklesia. The greek word has that flavor MINUS the cultural baggage that we bring to it. So, in this week’s assignment for my students, I asked them to deconstruct the word and INVENT or brainstorm what in their hearts would be the most faithful “ekklesia”. Here are a few of “fine” ideas from some bright students...read them and think about this...out of 22 students, these are the TYPICAL answers. This is what a new generation is looking for in “ekklesia”. Then think and pray, “what are we calling each other into?”. Boy does this provoke some interesting thoughts. If I had to create my own church from scratch, I would hope that it would be very different from the impressions that i feel are created by churches today. First of all, i would not broadcast on tv in hopes that people would prefer to gather as a community. i would also not have a flashy building. Now, i would want a huge building or gathering area (so more people could fit!), but not flashy...if that makes sense. if i were to lead a church, loving people would be the main priority. Why try to raise thousands of dollars to upgrade your sanctuary when there are churches in many foreign lands who do not even have sanctuaries? The message would be love love love..Love the Lord your God with all of your heart mind and soul, then love your neighbor as yourself. Kevin, 20 years old If I were going to make an Ekklesia the first thing I would do is do away with the physical church building. I feel like that would take care of so many problems. None of the tithing money would have to be spent on building materials or workers and there would never have to be any up keeping. The money saved could go directly to serving the poor and the widowed, the important things that the gospel stresses which the churches always seem to spend very little money on. The people of the Ekklesia would meet at houses, in parks, perhaps a school now and then. It would make the community so much more personal, and it would keep people from seeing the church on Sunday as the only place they worship. It would be in their home. People are in their home everyday and it would help them to realize that worship is part of everyday life, not just on Sundays. There would be no pastoral staff either. Everybody would have to take part in the community gatherings. If would cause everybody to be included and prevent there from being just a group of people responsible for everybody’s walk of faith. That is a lot of pressure for a select few and it forces everybody to be responsible for their own faith as well as taking a much more active role in the faiths of others. What would also be nice, is if all the people in the community were completely vulnerable with each other. No fake “how ya doin?” to your neighbor as you don’t even stop your quick pace out the door to listen for an answer. People would only ask if they cared and the people that answered would have no problem listing off a prayer list. Now we are all imperfectly human so it is really unrealistic but wouldn’t it be fabulous? Nicole 21 years old My idea of an ekklesia would be the picture of a church that sees itself as a place of community and fellowship. A place where everyone is accepting and understanding, while keeping the accountability of others. Essentially a place where we can build each other up, sharpen one another’s pencils, and renew us for the week. Even the pastor would be seen as an equal and a messenger of God’s word. The more we can trust one another and build each other up, the stronger we will grow together as a community. It would be a church who invites and accepts all people for who they are and confront them with love and friendship rather than judgment. Ryan 22 years old

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:2:20 PM COMMENT-BODY:Wow, those are some pretty encouragingly profound thoughts. If nothing else we are rethinking how we're doing this "church" thing and that really encourages me. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:7:00 AM COMMENT-BODY:One thought for those of us "older" folks is that these visions of church may occur in our lifetime or in our kids' lifetime. We need to be ready to accept this change when it occurs because if it is of God (and I think it is), won't we want to join him? -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:12:09 PM COMMENT-BODY:Personally I look forward to a time when todays mega-churches are reworked and used as secular Rollercades and Flea Markets instead of begging cash coffers and better-than-you social circles. Sounds a bit bitter but I'm really not. I have just grown weary of watching a God ordained community opportunity downgrade into some kind of Wes Craven movie plot in which people are continually 'utilized' for what they can give and are cast off when they become the new needy. The great harvest should mean something more than just a time to give your tithes and offerings. The three posted students give this whole ugly topic a ray of hope and return a simple joy that is sorely missing in this bad western rendition of a precious eastern standard....of family. As a sorta related aside, I'm currently working on developing a once a month 'Outlaw Sunday' service in our towns biggest pool hall. The owner (who is not yet a professing Christian)has given me use of his building and his blessing to 'do the right thing for the people who need it'. When I told him that it was for those who don't fit into the traditional church model he smiled. When I told him that I will never ask anyone for money to build another church he was sold and threw me the keys. After being involved for decades with the denominational church scene and the home church community it will be refreshing to work again with no need of a net...and no fear of falling. Simplicity is the highest form of sophistication. I'm glad to hear of young people with a heart bent toward the basics. May God richly bless them with His power, His integrity, and His Holy Ghost bravery. Rock on Christian soldiers! -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 10:37:00 AM ----- BODY:

-------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 10:32:00 AM ----- BODY:

"You're either a Purple Cow are you're not. You're either remarkable or invisible. Make your choice. Cows, after you've seen one or two or ten, get boring. A purple cow though...now that would be something. Purple Cow describes something phenomenal, something counterintuitive, and exciting and flat out unbelievable". Seth Godin I'm going to read Seth's book...not because I want to be a marketing wiz...but rather because I believe that this description should fit Christ-followers. Why don't you give it some thought?

-------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 7:30:00 AM ----- BODY:

All I can say is, "Edgar, I miss you already". "I was watching you weekly hoping and praying for you to have a full life. I knew you had the "hots" for that sassy and saucey Chloe but, alas, she never gave you a chance. You were smart and confident despite having that edge that made you likeable. Edgar, I'm sorry you got the gas...that's horrible. It was that rotten Jack again, wasn't it? He's constantly upping the body count with his deeds and reputation. Oh well. I knew you were about to die when more and more people that I know were starting to pull for you. I knew that as your popularity was rising, so was your expendibility. As the show's producer told you, 'the good news is you're one of the best characters on the show; the bad news is that unfortunately we have to kill you now'. Maybe they can resurrect you sometime Edgar? Remember, you will be missed."

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:10:44 AM COMMENT-BODY:Dude, I was so sad to see Edger go. Maybe he'll come back to life. I mean it is T.V. -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 7:26:00 AM ----- BODY:

For those of you in the cultural "know", you have knowledge of last night's Oscar winner for the best original song..."It's hard out here for a pimp". This ditty joins the ranks of those musical classics that have gone down in history as the "Best Original Song". Here's a short list of songs that have previously won the coveted movie award: Days of Wine and Roses Raindrops keep falling on my head The Way we Were You light up my life Under the Sea Beauty and the Beast Can you feel the Love tonight? Somewhere over the rainbow Born Free Fame A whole new world My heart will go on Zip-a-dee-do-dah Mona Lisa Now, I admit...many of you may not know some of these songs. But trust me, these are musical classics that will be recorded time and again as the decades come and go. When I heard the three songs up for the award, I wasn't caught up in any of them. I thought that the song from "Crash" would probably come closest to capturing the award just because it was "deep" lyrically. Even Dolly Parton's song was worth a run just because Dolly wrote it (she might be a caricature of herself in some way but NO ONE would deny her incredible talent especially in the bluegrass genre). But "It's hard out here for a pimp"? Come on! Hip Hop culture IS NOW mainstream. Kids wanna be gangsters...everybody wants the bling...and urban culture rules the day. Even Jon Stewart was laughing on that one...for those of us who find ourselves living in and for the Kingdom, this continues to be a wake up call. The phone's ringing off the hook...are we listening? If you can't be anything but Politically Correct on your views regarding any subculture or perceived ethnic group, could it be that now we have to be sensitive NOT to offend pimps? I mean, it is hard to be a pimp these days. I don't know. YOU THINK ABOUT IT. A new friend of mine wrote these words, "This decline in civilization must make older Americans simply scratch their heads in wonder and dismay. I still can't figure out where the idea came from to not wear a belt and walk around so that your sponge bob's can wave to strangers at the mall. Puzzled by stupidity. At least hippies have someone to laugh at for a change. Besides Baptists. Real life just gets weirder and weirder. The older I get the more concerned i find that I become. I joke but I'm also as serious about it all as a heart attack". By the way, for those of you who want some good cultural analysis, check out Walt Mueller's website, www.cpyu.org.

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:12:16 PM COMMENT-BODY:Always feel free to quote me by name (and correct my spelling errors). It is continually amazing to me how cheap the value(s) of life have become. I'm not just talking about the way we value someone else's life but rather the way that we view our own. I'm not talking about being sacrificial with our lives (which are a priceless gift from God that will lead us to spiritual adoption if we seek for His real creative purpose in this moment that we call life) - I'm talking about being of the mindset that allows us to see and treat our own lives as cheap and disposable. The only non-Christian opposite to this is the attitude of delusional greatness and importance without the actual creds that so many exhibit. Now here's the craziest thing: Both trains are usually found heading right for each other on the same internal track of the same person. Only destruction of the self can follow. It seems that people will kill for creature comforts and literally go out of their way to kill themselves in the process. The desire for a healthy self-love is drowned in an ocean of self-hatred and futility. Why pull oneself up? Why push to go beyond our present state? Why pay any real price for personal progress? Why not just blame someone else and take the easy way out: Let's just all become pimps and sell the bodies of defeated souls to the highest bidder and profit for the moment? It doesn't cost US anything. Just everything that matters... as if it did. Sorry, Oscar but I'm a content man. Yeah, I'm puzzled as to why we've allowed our society to come to this base-pimp mentality. I'm puzzled but sadly not shocked. ....Still, it's nice to see lime green suits and bootsy goggles back in the fly mode. Let us pray and continue to live a life that goes beyond fashion. It matters. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:2:09 PM COMMENT-BODY:I couldn't believe it sitting there with the Beckster and Jazzy watching the acedemy awards. I came in late from upstairs hearing this rap song and I said, this is the acedemy awards? What happened? Are we back to the stone age? I thought I was behind the times. Duuh. Pimps? How could the academy allow a song about a pimp in that gig? I have zero desire to go to any movie if any pimp stuff is gonna be in it. They don't even have pimps in Sweden...believe I have experience from Sweden...nada pimps there. Maybe just maybe they will change their mind next year and pick a classy song like Days of Wine and Roses...not Days of Pimps and ......?? -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 6:36:00 PM ----- BODY:

Ash Wednesday – Many of you know that I spent a considerable amount of time in a traditional, mainline church. Many of you know that “mainlines” are those churches that have a historical foundation…one that is often steeped in liturgical tradition and practice. Because of that, I’m acutely aware of some practices of faith that have been vital in the lives of Christ-followers for centuries. One of these practices focuses on the “season of Lent”…a season for 40 days in which people who follow Jesus meditate on the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. This is a time not too unlike that of entering the wilderness…it is a season that is meant for self-reflection, self-denial and concentration on those acts of God in the incarnate Word (Jesus) that has and continues to transform our lives. Now Ash Wednesday originated centuries ago as the annual “kickoff” to the Lenten season. Some of the largest crowds in the year will show up to receive ashes on Ash Wednesday at many church around the world. Though this is not a holy day of obligation (as described by the catholic tradition), many people would not think of letting Ash Wednesday go by without a trip to a church to be marked with an ashen cross on their foreheads. Even people who seldom come to Church for the rest of the year may make a concerted effort to come for ashes. How did this practice become such an important part of the lives of so many believers? Who came up with the idea for this rather odd ritual? How do we explain the popularity of smudging our foreheads with ashes and then walking around all day with dirty faces? Those who do not share the customs often make a point of telling people that they have something on our foreheads, assuming they would want to wash it off, but many Catholics and “mainlines” who celebrate Ash Wednesday wear that smudge faithfully all day. Ashes in the Bible The origin of the custom of using ashes in religious ritual is a bit obscure, but we find references to the practice in the Old Testament. The prophet Jeremiah, for example, calls for repentance this way: "O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, roll in the ashes" (Jeremiah 6:26). The prophet Isaiah, on the other hand, critiques the use of sackcloth and ashes as inadequate to please God, but in the process he indicates that this practice was well-known in Israel: "Is this the manner of fasting I wish, of keeping a day of penance: that a man bow his head like a reed, and lie in sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?" (Isaiah 58:5). The prophet Daniel pleaded for God to rescue Israel with sackcloth and ashes as a sign of Israel's repentance: "I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes" (Daniel 9:3). In the New Testament, Jesus refers to the use of sackcloth and ashes as signs of repentance: "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes" (Mt 11:21, Luke 10:13). Ashes in the History of the Church Despite all these references in Scripture, the use of ashes in the Church left only a few records in the first millennium of Church history. Thomas Talley, an expert on the history of the liturgical year, says that the first clearly datable liturgy for Ash Wednesday that provides for sprinkling ashes is in 960 AD. Before that time, ashes had been used as a sign of admission to something called, “the Order of Penitents” (penitents meaning those living a lifestyle of humility and spiritual brokenness). As early as the sixth century, a worship rite from Spain called for signing the forehead with ashes when admitting a gravely ill person to the Order of Penitents. At the beginning of the 11th century, it was customary for all the faithful to take part in a ceremony on the Wednesday before Lent that included the imposition of ashes. Near the end of that century, Pope Urban II called for the general use of ashes on that day. Only later did this day come to be called Ash Wednesday. At first, it was only the priests, clerics and men who had ashes sprinkled on their heads, while women had the sign of the cross made with ashes on their foreheads. Eventually, of course, the ritual used with women came to be used for men as well. In the 12th century the rule developed that the ashes were to be created by burning palm branches from the previous year’s Palm Sunday. A call to “join” The Order of Penitents The use of ashes at the beginning of Lent is an extension of the use of ashes with those entering the Order of Penitents. This discipline was the way the Sacrament of Penance was celebrated through most of the first millennium of Christian history. Those who had committed serious sins confessed their sins to the bishop or his representative and were assigned a penance that was to be carried out over a period of time. After completing their penance, they were reconciled by the bishop with a prayer of absolution offered in the midst of the community. During the time they worked out their penances, the penitents often had special places in church and wore special garments to indicate their status. This whole process was supposed to remind those who took this journey of conversion and discipleship. At that time, the Church saw falling into serious sin as an indication that a person had not really been converted. Penance was a second attempt to foster that conversion. Early Church fathers even called Penance a "second Baptism." I find that extremely interesting and challenging. So here’s what I’m going to do: 1 – Encourage you to read this description again. It is helpful to know why literally millions of other Christ-followers around the world will be celebrating this season in preparation for the celebration of Easter. 2 – Encourage you this year to join “the order of penitents”. In other words, why not set aside the next 40 days to do that which brings you daily into the knowledge of your own brokenness, yearning for healing, desire for transformation, and humility/dependence upon Jesus. As a part of being in this order, you might want to: Read the Psalms during the next forty days. Read 4 Psalms a day and you’ll have time to spare! Read a book on the Sabbath – the new one by Mark Buchanan, The Rest of God is a good one. Keep a journal that gets specific in the areas of confession and your need for forgiveness. Not that you want to hammer yourself…but picking up on the A.C.T.S. method, Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication will keep your heart and mind focused in your prayer time. Fast at least one day per week up until Easter. Daily take 10 to 15 minutes simply to reflect on the areas of your life that need transformation. In other words, what will make you a more faithful Christ-follower? What are those areas in your life that “get in the way” of you being who Jesus wants you to be? Start the habit of reading the One Year Bible – yes, you can start now. No problem! For those really wanting to dive in, read Dallas Willard’s book, The Spirit of the Disciplines or Richard Foster’s book, The Celebration of Discipline and start living a new discipline or two this season. Last but not least, take some time each week to confess to another person. That is powerful! James 5:16 says, “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed”. Take a risk!

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Rick Ellis COMMENT-DATE:10:35 PM COMMENT-BODY:Thanks Robin for taking the time to thoroughly explain Lent and Ash Wednesday. I love your heart! Miss seeing you around, we must connect. -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 7:59:00 AM ----- BODY:

Yes, it was 15 below zero over the weekend...as I mentioned to some people I know, hell WOULD freeze over if it were located near Thunder Bay! But I had an awesome time with the students of "The Plunge" ministry at Redwood Park Church in Ontario. If you don't know where Thunder Bay is, this is the best way to find it...go to the North Pole and turn south for a few miles. Seriously, it is WAY up north...you get a nose bleed just thinking about traveling there. I loved the weekend...we took a retreat with around 30 students to a small, frozen lake and a camp called, "Round Lake Bible Camp". It was fascinating to me...hanging out in the great, snowy north and taking about "Subversive Followership". But hey, the students were focused and seem to appreciate having the chance to think creatively about their ability to follow Jesus in a revolutionary manner. Then, back to the Plunge service on Sunday night...besides just being there, the highlight was playing guitar with my son, Aaron, leading the worship team. I was proud of his growing maturity and leadership as well as humbled by having the opportunity to witness and join the Kingdom journey with the rest of the Plunge community. I have said this before too...God is active in T-Bay...I love my brother, Nate Barnes and I love what God is bringing about in that community. They are doing their best to incarnate the Kingdom in a very complex and unique setting. So, the picture above is dedicated to Nate. This picture was taken at a screen test that Nate had for the "Conan the Barbarian" movie. Unfortunately, Arnold got the part. Nate told me after Plunge, "Robin, how did you get my picture?". I told him that I knew he looked like that normally...just that I had the great luck of finding a picture of him all oiled up and posing proudly with his bulging physique. Hey, if I wasn't happy living in a place where it is too cold when it goes below freezing, I might consider some extended time in T-Bay. What did I just say? Am I crazy? A challenge to all my homies in T-Bay - "live the revolution brothers and sisters...God so wants you to be a part of the most powerful and grand narrative in the history of the cosmos - HIS-story!". Thanks for having me Plunge and thank you Lord that I don't have to be embarrassed anymore standing next to the prototype of masculinity - Nate Barnesie! Love - Out!

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: wellis68 COMMENT-DATE:5:51 PM COMMENT-BODY:Something about that picture of nathan seems differet. I can't put my finger on it... -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:7:43 AM COMMENT-BODY:clearly great to be aroung the "healthy" leader, doing shakes and protein... and wraps and all the right kind of food, or ... not?
It is something my kids don't get to appreciate ... yet, as my leaness is hidden deep under :) -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:6:45 AM COMMENT-BODY:It was good to have you up here, dude. Even if you... DID wuss out on walking across the lake, I guess it was fun having you. :D Peace and love, Robin -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:1:16 PM COMMENT-BODY:Nice having you up here Robbin...last weekend was great. Thanks for your encouragement and enthusiasm. Keep going strong.
Katie Harwood -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 10:03:00 AM ----- BODY:

Rom. 7:15 "For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate...But if I do the very thing I do not want to do..." I have been abismal at this blogging task, haven't I? I sit down daily at my faithful Powerbook and get to work...I have the highest of aspirations. I want to expound daily on the text of holy writ; theologize on cultural realities and peculiarities; give feedback to my trusted companions and fellow journey-ers in the Kingdom; rant on that which tweeks my fancy; affirm that which brings delight and sparks the imagination. Yet, I fail. Who will save me from this futility? I pray for your patience. I am doing my best to get in the flow of blogging daily...one day! One day! Until then, you'll have to deal! You can also enjoy some of the stuff that one of my new best friends created...Chris Yambar. Dude, this guy is nuts and a revolutionary! That's why I want to be like him when I grow up! Check out his stuff on www.yambar.com. Hey, he's also going to be one of our speakers at the YLI conference this summer (www.yliapu.org).

-------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 7:53:00 AM ----- BODY:

I was innocently indulging in my addiction last night (24 on television, get over it!)...I needed a bit of a "break" in between the parts of the episode that were being interrupted by mindless commercials. So, I took time to read over the entire text of the sermon that Bono gave to the National Prayer Breakfast. There is so much that is note-worthy in the message. Besides saying the obvious, that messages like this need to be preached in every church in America (for obvious reasons), the one quote that took my breath away was this: "A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless way, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord's blessing. I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it. I have a family, please look after them. I have this crazy idea...and this wise man said: stop. He said, stop asking God to bless what you are doing. Get involved in what God is doing - because it's already blessed". For the rest of the message, check this site out: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/bononationalprayerbreakfast.htm I can't even begin to fully wrap my heart around that type of profundity and forthrightness and truth. It is definitely worth sincere contemplation...it is definitely calling us to do more than comprehend something that is deep but to have truth set us free to act. As I'm listening to Reliant K sing, "never underestimate my Jesus", I'm mindful of the fact that I need to be looking for God more intently. I want "in" on what He is blessing! I've gotta go now...I'm on the lookout for the rest of the day!

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:8:33 AM COMMENT-BODY:Some have heard the message, but I'm not sure how many have "gotten" it. Henry Blackaby makes that message "see where God is at work and join in that work- because it is blessed" a primary theme of the Experiencing God message. The problem always seems to be, people go after "teaching" but they don't "apply" it. -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 2:14:00 PM ----- BODY:

It's that time again - "My name is Robin, I'm a 24-oholic!" I had my first fix of 24 about 6 months ago. Now, after a grueling four seasons of dvds...one episode after the next...one 24 high after another...I have to restrain myself and be satisfied with small quanties of my favorite drug. You might be thinking, "get over it"...be satisfied and content. Learn how to live with plenty and few...buck up! Be a man! Well, excuse me! So I'm a hapless and helpless addict! Have some compassion! Bring on the next episode! Fire up the DVR! Don't withhold Jack from me another minute!

-------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 12:11:00 PM ----- BODY:

I have always thought that a vast majority of Christ-followers and "church goers" use religious sounding language with NO IDEA what the words actually mean. People say "I want to be holy"...but they don't know what they are really asking for...it sounds like the right thing to say but they don't "get" that it has to do primarily with personal and complete sacrifice, humility, and living counter-cultural. I hear people talk about righteousness and they don't get that is has to do not only with our relationship with Jesus but a lifestyle that is consistent with that relationship. Now, on to "the Gospel". Many of you know that I teach bible courses at a Christian University. I passed on an article that I put together using many of the posts that Scot McKnight (www.jesuscreed.org) wrote on his blog regarding the Gospel. Well, here are some of the remarks that the students made...these are just a few comments...these words were consistently echoed throughout the group: "I found this article to be interesting because I have never really sat down and thought about what I think the gospel is." "I personally have not thought what the gospel is about, and I am ashamed to admit that when I read Dr. McKnight's article, I realized how a lot of the times I see the gospel in the hyper-individualism perspective." "To be honest, I've never thought that hard about what exactly the gospel is" "Dr. McKnight wrote, 'Conversion is seen as a birth certificate instead of a driver's license.'...when I read this, it clicked! It gave me an analogy that made perfect sense to something I couldn't put my finger on. Back in Arizona, I was involved in a small group church where we did “birth certificate evangelizing”. We told the people we talked to that all they had to do is just “pray the prayer”, and then we peaced out and let God do His work and radically change their lives." "I just have to say that that article was a beast!" Maybe we do need to encourage the people in our journey to re-think the Gospel. So much of what people walk around with are based upon assumptions and misunderstandings and meanings that have NEVER been discussed, thought through, or even contemplated in a serious manner. By the way, here are a few snippets from Scot's blog for you to feast on: From Scot McKnight's blog, Jesus Creed: "I’ve been asked this enough times that I’ll turn it into a post on its own — if the gospel is what I am claiming it is, then how does one evangelize? And I’ve been asked this one several times already, and Embracing Grace isn’t even out of the chute, what are the down-in-the-dirt type things you would say to people? Well, here goes: the question itself that I’m being asked emerges out of a different understanding of the gospel. And this is no small claim, but I’m making it: the question of “what do you say to someone and ask them to do?” is a question that comes from a gospel that is something you can respond to all at once and be done with it. But, here’s the problem and you won’t be surprised to hear this from me. The gospel is about God’s embracing grace that unleashes our embrace of God and our capacity to embrace others. You don’t respond to grace all at once, any more than you fall in love all at once. For far too many, conversion is seen as a Birth Certificate instead of a Driver’s License. (I said this in Jesus Creed, I think.) Conversion is a marriage rather than the Marriage Certificate. That question I’m being asked, and I don’t mean to be hard on anyone who is asking it, is a question that is asking how you get a Birth or Marriage Certificate, and I think the point is a Driver’s License and a Marriage. The question the gospel of embracing grace asks is not “what can I do to get in?” but “will I be a part of God’s work?” Once this is understood, and that the gospel is designed to regenerate our hearts to love God and to love others, then what we are asked to do is as simple as that: we are asked to love God and to love others. That, my friends, ain’t sumfin’ that happens all at once. I don’t say I love Kris because one time I told her that, and I don’t love God because one time I “asked Jesus into my heart.” Now, don’t get me wrong here: there are beginnings and there are decisive moments, though not all know when they are (and I went to great efforts to make this clear in Turning to Jesus), but the issue is not the beginning but the relationship. So, how do you do that? Very simple. We summon others to become friends with Jesus and to join us in the work God is doing in this world, in the work God is embodying in a community of faith, and to join us at the Table where God comes to us in the form of bread and wine. (Some will think that last comment is too high-church, but I’ll stick with it because I think it is biblical and historic for the Church. I don’t mean by that one bit that it is not personal; I just want us to see that this is about what God is doing in this world right now.)"

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:1:18 PM COMMENT-BODY:Very interesting thoughts. I sometimes think a lot of Christians treat the "assurance" of salvation in terms of the "insurance" of salvation. Like, "I have the certificate that says I am getting "in" so it really doesn't matter what I do or say or how I live my life. Kind of like Jesus is a big insurance policy or something. The Good News is not that we are going to heaven, but rather, that we are given the priviledge to help bring the kingdom of heaven here to earth into those places where we have influence. We are to let our light so shine before others (in those dark places) that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father in heaven. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: wellis68 COMMENT-DATE:5:09 PM COMMENT-BODY:Great post. So often we put all the salvational weight on the initial conversion. Thanks for re-focusing us on the relationship. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:8:42 AM COMMENT-BODY:AMDUGALL: I think the question regarding Holy Communion would have to be prefaced with some questions about what the person believes about Scripture, the authority of Scripture and the person of Jesus. Holy Communion can hardly be "explained" in a short amount of time unless one understands some other stuff first. It would also depend on how open the person is toward understanding any part of it anyway. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: H. West COMMENT-DATE:4:18 PM COMMENT-BODY:I think this is a great post. It definately is so true that it is so easy as christians to completely disregard what the gospel actually means, but go on living our lives under this empty label. This past week, someone was talking about how important it is to tell ourselves the gospel everyday, but how sometimes we get bored of it. I think we get bored of it when we forget that it is the whole point, when the idea of God's grace doesn't encompas our whole lives. good post. -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 8:38:00 AM ----- BODY:

A very interesting article appeared in the news today that is further clarifying the changing winds of culture and the impact of postmodernity on the missiology and ecclesiology of the "Church". More and more students are looking for meaning but avoiding anything that has to do with "institution". I know that many, many leaders are arguing this point especially if they have (what some might consider) "huge and successful" youth groups. What numbers might demonstrate in one setting has nothing to do with the preponderance of students who are finding what they are looking for spiritually in divergent means. This article continues to point the finger at contemporary church that we are simply not getting it. A vast majority of my students (both in the Youth Leadership Institute www.yliapu.org AND my class at APU) want community and depth of relationships with people in a common journey of faith but are not getting involved in local church fellowships. Yes, we cannot discount what God has done with those who have been steeped in modernity and in "modern" church...but a new day is here and the future of the Body of Christ is changing. Read on for some good food for thought... Teens put faith in online religious sites By Toni Coleman Gannett News Service WASHINGTON - Two in three teenagers say religion is important to them, but they don't want only to go to church, synagogue or mosque to express their spirituality, according to a study of teens' attitudes toward religion released Wednesday. A clear majority of those teenagers - 92 percent - want a better connection with their religion, but almost half say they aren't sure how to achieve that, according to the study commissioned by the Jewish group B'nai Brith Youth Organization. Among those teenagers who find it difficult to connect with religion, 68 percent said they'd prefer a less conventional way to do so. The study, conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited, a market-research firm, suggests one thing: Teenagers do just about everything else online, why not religion? "When you're a teenager, you're not thinking about religion that much," said Reem Nasr, a high school junior from Monmouth Junction, N.J., who participates at a Web site where young Muslims talk about everything from religion to school to politics. "You're wrapped up in school and extracurricular activities," Nasr said. But going online is a "good way to understand your religion. I meet a lot of other Muslims. I have a better awareness of what's going on in the Muslim community in America." Matthew Grossman, executive director of the B'nai Brith Youth Organization, said religious groups that want to reach teens have to do things differently from in the past. "Teens aren't going to be spoon-fed information. They want to define meaning for themselves and not have it defined for them." On the youth-oriented Catholic site, phatmass.com, there's a video podcast of a speech given by Francis Cardinal Arinze, and products including Catholic hip-hop CDs and T-shirts for teens who want to "rep the pope," as in represent the pope. The shirt, with a hip, vintage look, displays a photo of Pope Benedict and says "B16," which stands for Benedict the 16th. The study also found that religion loses significance among boys as they age. Among boys ages 13 to 15, 74 percent said religion was important to them, but that dropped to 55 percent for male teens 16 to 18 years old. About 1,150 youths, ages 10 to 18, were randomly selected from the firm's database of 300,000 U.S. teenagers who signed up to participate in surveys when they visited various youth-oriented Web sites. Through an e-mail, they were directed to a Web site where they took the survey Oct. 19-24. The study has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:10:18 AM COMMENT-BODY:I think that's why we have to get children reading and interacting with scripture, in worship and prayer, and understanding what the kingdom is all about at the youngest ages possible. I think it is all the more powerful when they can do these things in their own style/language/culture....Kidz Church...if you know what I mean. It is amazing how close to Jesus the young ones are and how well they can know his heart. It's not a guarantee, but it helps them stay more rooted in the faith as they become teens. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: H. West COMMENT-DATE:2:52 PM COMMENT-BODY:When I first started reading your post, it reminded me quite a bit of myself. I'm sort of in that gap between being a teen as I am only in my second semester of college, but, as I have talked to you a bit about, as I began this part of my journey as a college studnet, one of the most prevalent (and challenging/frustrating) issues I have had to face has been, "what does church look like for me?" As well as questions about what my focus should be in finding this place and what church really means. I agree with this finding that my generation is seeking relationships and self-defined meaning and it does pose certain quiestions about how that fits with how we have done church in the past. However, as for the content of the article, something seems a little disconcerting about students looking to the internet for this kind of community in order to replace what some see as an "outdated institution." I agree the that internet does offer a plethera of spiritual resources and connection (i mean, its one of the only ways I am able to stay connected to YLI), but I think it is harmful to rely on the internet for your only source of Christian community. First of all, its artificial, and it also allows you to avoid important aspects of relationships that you cannot control. Instead of practicing grace and forgiveness, if someone in your "e-church" does something hurtful or uncomfortable, all you have to do is unsubcribe or choose not to reply. It allows you to hide parts of your life from those who are supposed to really be in your life, and so on.

I know from experience that really finding a place of genunine community and faith is hard, and it would be a lot easier to just choose something online, but there is something empty in that; there is something beautiful and passionate about being with real, living, flesh and blood people, even if it means really wrestling through the muck-- i think this is the real, eternal life Jesus was talking about. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:5:29 PM COMMENT-BODY:Thanks for linking this article.

Peace,
Jamie Arpin-Ricci
www.emergentvoyageurs.blog.com -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 1:10:00 PM ----- BODY:

My name is Robin, and I'm a 24-oholic. I had my fix hit of 24 about 6 months ago. A friend of mine challenged me to watch one disk of season one...just four, little episodes. I strolled up to the "bar", switched on my dvd player and spun season one. Within minutes, I hated Jack and loved him all at the same time. I must admit, that first "taste" was refreshing...here's a man who is not in any way like me but in many ways, exactly like me. At first, I could handle just an episode or two. Then I started to slam back three or four a night...then it was a "six-pack" a night. Before you know it, I was an addict. I had to have as many episodes as I could handle. I hit the "bar" hard. Episode after Episode..season one, then season two...then season three...oooooooooo, then season four. I couldn't put the remote down. "One more episode" was the mantra of our home. We knew more about the characters than we did about the Abrahamic covenant. Soon, I cared more about Jack solving his latest crisis more than I cared about whether the world would know Jesus. Faithfully, I would kneel at the glow of the television screen waiting for the next escape; the next asassination; the next plot twist. It was out of control...what was worse though was when it ended. Within moments, I had the shakes and signs of withdrawal. I tried watching other shows but they didn't give me the buzz I had with 24. Then, it started. Season Five...the only trouble is that I can only have it in small doses. I can't believe it. I have to wait an entire week for my next hit. Would you pray for me? I need help!

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:11:43 AM COMMENT-BODY:Yes! A fellow addict! This made me laugh so hard because I'm right there with you. I used to say that 4 was way too many in one night...but 4 is EASY, too easy! The characters of 24 are affectionately referred to by first names around this house. -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 10:17:00 AM ----- BODY:

Good thoughts for today: “The bombing of the helpless and unprotected civilians is a strategy which has aroused the horror of all mankind. I recall with pride that the United States consistently has taken the lead in urging that this inhumane practice be prohibited.” [President Roosevelt] Since Roosevelt said these words, there have been bombings in Japan, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, but it isn’t the bombings that caused me to write this today. It isn’t the act of war that puts my fingers to work. It isn’t even the violence that has set me before this blank document. It is repentance. It is repentance that brings tears to my eyes. It is the thought of billions of people who have suffered because we have decided to ignore who God wants us to be. It is the thought of the many who continue to suffer because we…because I fail to follow Jesus. It is here that I must begin to repent and ask God to forgive me for watching it all just happen. As a child, growing up, I always thought of repentance as something you do when you, yourself, does something wrong. I would eat the candy canes off the Christmas tree and feel bad, so I would pray and ask God to forgive me. Eventually, my crimes became larger and I would ask God to forgive me for lying to my parents or failing classes. I would feel guilty about making out with boys and feel even guiltier about attending church afterwards, so I asked God for forgiveness and that was repentance. Then, I would turn around and see all that was wrong with the world, but took no responsibility for any of it. I simply focused a great deal on my guilt and my mistakes. Today, I am hit with the realization that maybe…maybe repentance has to do with more. Maybe repentance has to do with justice. We often ask, “What the Kingdom of God looks like,” or, “What would things be like in heaven?” What if the answer to both these questions has more to do with justice than a world of clouds? What if the answer to these questions has more to do with us…more to do with what our role is, then what God can do for us individually? What if, the words that David wrote in Psalm 10, “You will bring justice to the orphans and oppressed, so people can no longer terrify them,” has to do with our actions? Maybe justice comes with us. I had gotten to hear the CEO of International Justice Mission this weekend. He talked about how there are so many wrongs in the world and how all these wrongs can get so overwhelming, but then he reminded us of the little boy as Jesus fed the five thousand people. In the story, there were thousands of people and Jesus asked the disciples to feed them. They reminded Jesus that they did not have enough to feed everyone, so Jesus should send them home. Somewhere in the crowd, a little boy brought his lunch: 5 loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus took this meal and fed 5,000 people. We read that story and think, “Well, of course. That’s Jesus. He can do that,” but we forget that in the story is a little boy who could have given up and sat in a corner to eat his meal alone. Often times, that’s what I end up doing. It all gets so overwhelming that I end up sitting in the corner, with my own lunch. I forget that God requires all we can give…even the littlest bit…maybe this bit begins with repentance. It begins with repentance. Maybe this little bit begins with repentance, not just repentance for the things we do, but repentance for the hurt and pain that existed and continues to exist today. Maybe it’s about asking God to forgive us for the bombings, the killings, the torture, the hunger, the disease, the neglect… God…forgive us… Forgive me…

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: wellis68 COMMENT-DATE:12:46 PM COMMENT-BODY:Wow! amazing post... did you write this (I ask because it's titled a post "from a friend")? -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: bruced COMMENT-DATE:5:00 PM COMMENT-BODY:I come from a different school... I don't think it's about "us asking God to forgive us", I think it's about us KNOWING that God forgives us. Grace of that extreme, changes us. -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 1:26:00 PM ----- BODY:

I was breezing through some of my new favorite websites on alternative worship...that's another story for another blog entry...for now let's just say I took a look at this picture. There it was, "this place not for sale". Immediately it was almost like I had an experience not too unlike what I imagine John the Revelator had when he exclaimed that, "he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day". Now understand, I'm not putting myself in that camp...that's not the point. All I know is that as soon as I saw the picture, I was taken back in my mind and heart to the numerous years where I had this inkling that THAT was what I was doing when I was "doing" the local church. In other words, I had to sell the church week by week; I had to market the place in order to get the people to respond the way that I expected them to...I had to hang a figurative sign around my neck, like a consumeristic pied piper that essentially said, "this space FOR sale"...in other words, "you buy in and you have it made". I saw that picture and I came to the firm resolution, "NOT again"..."NEVER again". Never again will I sell the Kingdom short for temporary trophies of church attendance, big programs, balanced budgets or ever-expanding staffs. NEVER again will I sell the Kingdom short by simply being satisfied when people have their butts in seats on a given week...never again will I sell the Kingdom short by assuming that just because I'm doing "my ministry" that the life of the church is relatively healthy...never again will I sell the Kingdom short by expecting anything else but a complete and total revolution to occur in every heart and life in the community. Until we understand that nothing that we are or do as followers of Jesus has anything to do with marketing our church culture and all to do with Jesus and His Kingdom, then we are nothing but salespeople and not disciples. Think on that one..I know I am!

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: wellis68 COMMENT-DATE:1:48 PM COMMENT-BODY:Great stuff Rob,
I'll be thinking about this one for awhile. -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 7:59:00 AM ----- BODY:

I'm journeying through a doctoral class this week. In fact, it is my last one before I launch into my dissertation writing. Lord willing, July 06 will see the completion of the degree. Anyway, yesterday in class, I wrote down this quote. The professor didn't know the source...which is unfortunate. But it is worth some thought...more importantly, it deserves to be put into practice today. “The impact of being listened to is so close to being loved that we can’t tell the difference”.

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:9:28 PM COMMENT-BODY:I LOVE THAT!!! I definately need to work on that one. Thanks for the food for thought and for dinner with the family tonight. :) Love you! Megan -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: wellis68 COMMENT-DATE:11:38 AM COMMENT-BODY:great quote. -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 7:57:00 AM ----- BODY:

If you want to drop in on a great wave and check out the vibe of what Holy Spirit is doing across the world, check out Gibbs and Bolger's book. As surfers would say, this is one "narly ride". It is one of the best thumbnails of what has been affectionally called the "emergent movement". I encourage you to take the "movement" part of that sentence seriously. As soon as those who are feeling the tug and leadership of Holy Spirit to birth these revolutionary paradigms want to "institutionalize" their discoveries and praxis, the movement is dead. It will be just a matter of time when you will see the emergent movement go the way of most churches who are stilll steeped in modernity. So, I encourage you to read up on the movement. I like this book because Gibbs and Bolger do us a HUGE favor - they actually TALK to leaders and architects and thinkers in the movement. This is not some cold-hearted academic take on what's happening...it is a thoughtful reflection on what makes the movement tick by echoing the voices of those who are in its trenches. Good words, thoughtful theology, and practices that are still rambling around my brain. As someone who is dropping in on this wave and attempting to pick up on its energy, I found this book very challenging and inspirational!

-------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 6:00:00 AM ----- BODY:

This is the latest of the Barna Group's assessments on the state of the contemporary church in America. As usual, it shows that pastors don't always have the most accurate "take" on the health of the Body of Christ. I don't know why so many clergy live in denial...I don't know if it is just naivete or simply wishful thinking. Since congregant's "spiritual depth" is often tied to their self-esteem and sense of "success", maybe it reflects something that is deep seeded in most leaders...a stronger desire to find significance in their position and not in their own faithfulness and community. If Barna's research would be taken seriously, a wave of desperation might overtake the collective clergy of our country...who knows where that would lead? Maybe, just maybe, pastoral leaders would open their eyes to reality and start to assess their ministry style, theology, and ecclesiology and join the 21st century. The world is different pastors! It's time to wake up and begin to see that what many people have been telling the "church" in America about its fascination with consumerism, pragmatism, egocentricity, and modernity. I don't know about you, but if Barna is right, things have got to change. Here's a snippet of what Barna shares...you can check it out for yourself @ www.barna.org. Pastors Believe That All Is Well Spiritually Based on interviews with a representative national sample of 627 Protestant pastors, the Barna study discovered that pastors believe a large majority of their congregants deem their faith in God to be the highest priority in their life. On average, pastors contend that 70% of the adults in their church consider their personal faith in God to transcend all other priorities. Amazingly, as many as one out of every six pastors (16%) contends that 90% or more of the adults in their church hold their relationship with God as their top life priority! Adults Are Lukewarm About God In contrast to the upbeat pastoral view of people’s faith, a nationally representative sample of 1002 adults was asked the same question – i.e., to identify their top priority in life – and a very different perspective emerged. Only one out of every seven adults (15%) placed their faith in God at the top of their priority list. To make an apples-to-apples comparison, the survey isolated those who attend Protestant churches and found that even among that segment of adults, not quite one out of every four (23%) named their faith in God as their top priority in life. Some population niches were more likely than others to make God their number one focus. Among those were evangelicals (51% of whom said their faith in God was their highest priority), African-Americans (38%) and adults who attend a house church (34%). The people groups least likely to put God first were adults under 30 years of age, residents of the Northeast and West, and those who describe themselves as “mostly liberal” on political and social matters. Regardless of how the population was evaluated, though, there was no segment of the adult population that came close to the level of commitment that Protestant pastors claimed for churchgoers.

-------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 4:50:00 PM ----- BODY:

Welcome to a new year faithful blogsphere! For those of you who are joining me in my journey, I'm glad you dropped in. I'm going to make a new promise for a new year...regular posts! You read that right...regular posts. Truthfully, more than one a week or a month...may I even dare say "daily"? We'll see...that's my intention...now for the proof.
What will the new year bring? That's what walking by faith is all about...we are in a new place in our lives with new dreams and hopes for what God is doing and about to do. We're simply going to try to plug in with His-story...jump on His bandwagon and find our place in the grand narrative of faith. From a speculative perspective, here are the types of things that I'm seeking...the reason I'm knocking loudly on the door of my King:
1. The realization of new community for our lives in Eagle, Idaho. We're trying out some new dynamics of the Revolution...attempting to realize the dynamics we have always prayed that we would experience. Here's to the new community and new adventures!
2. A renewed vision for the Youth Leadership Institute...I'm getting the feeling that God isn't finished with our vision of enabling and equipping a new generation of difference makers for the Kingdom. As we embark on a new year, we are looking to Philippians 1:6 to inspire our conferences and ministry this year...God isn't through with YLI yet!
3. Exploration into what some of us in our new community are calling "Transfer Ministries". In providing resources for an emerging generation of those who desire to make an impact on this world for the Kingdom, "Transfer" will be exploring video and creative resources, training events, local realization of ministry and profound personal impact. More to come here...
4. New babies (for Mark and Tiff), new healing (for Abby), first steps (for Mya), first words (for our special K), new decisions for Aaron, new lives in Idaho for the LeFevres and Martinis...wow, a year of newness!
5. In July, I'll finally make it through the doctoral program...don't even begin to think that you'll be addressing me as "Dr. Dugall"...not what I envision unless it is going to net me some cash! Sorry, I had one moment of greed!
6. My wonderful wife, Vicky and I will celebrate our 14th anniversary this year...I'm praying for even more fulfillment than we have already experienced in spades. There is nothing that will bring God glory more than us experiencing the most dynamic marriage possible. Not only is it good for us but it is God's way of showing His love to be real and powerful...I don't know, Jesus said something about people knowing about His love through our love for each other...didn't He?
So, join me, will ya? I'll be looking forward to your comments, questions, and observations.
By the way, books that are inspiring me this new year:
Emerging Churches - Gibbs and Bolger (maybe the best overview on the market of what some call, "the Emergent Movement"
NT Wright - Paul - nothing more needs to be said about this powerful summary of some of the key themes in pauline studies
David Fitch - The Great Giveaway - this book and the Shaping of Things to Come are powerful paradigm shifters
Embracing Grace - Scot McKnight - I want to be this guy's best friend - in fact, he's coming to our YLI TEAM 1 conference @ APU this summer (July 7-15)
Take a listen to Derek Webb's "Mockingbird" as well as some of Sufjan Stevens stuff (thanks to Pistol Pete for that recommendation)
Oh and don't forget Christ the Lord by Anne Rice and Walt Brueggeman's book on the Spirituality of the Psalms
Watch the movie "Crash", "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", "To End all Wars", and of course, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe".
I'm going to stop there, lucky for you!

-------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 2:54:00 PM ----- BODY:

Unto us a child is born. If only we had a clue about what the incarnation was really all about. I think we get this Christmas thing in our heads and we really don't get how powerful it is to say that the God of the Universe was born into our world. Flesh and bone...God "moving into the neighborhood" (The Message translation). For most of human history prior to Jesus, God was always thought of as "out there"...but now, Jesus brings God extremely near. Nearer than your next breath...nearer than the next beat of your heart...nearer than the next thought you have. God has invaded our world...our lives...our pains...our joys...our families...our communities. No place is safe anymore. No place is a place where you can avoid God...you can't avoid the love that God has for you. You can't run from a God who makes such a heroic effort to run to you. Come and listen to this Word made flesh. Come and listen and worship! Merry Christmas to you from my wife, Vicky and my entire family.

-------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 9:15:00 AM ----- BODY:

I love this graphic! In fact, I've spent a few minutes contemplating what I'm going to do next...trust me, I've done a number of these over the past. I will severely harm any and all family members who post photos of my past experimentations. All I know for now is that the Jedi looks cool! I wonder if Vicky will like it? mmmmm...oh well!

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Unknown COMMENT-DATE:10:42 AM COMMENT-BODY:so...baptist = 70's porn star? -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:12:32 AM COMMENT-BODY:aaron, if the next time I see you, you have hairy legs and horns too, that would be pretty crazy. And we would need to warn people bout what happens when you go to canada! especially the women... just kidding. sort of. so I guess i'm evangelical... they will know us by our facial hair. so sayeth the blog -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 9:25:00 AM ----- BODY:

My new friend Scot recently posted a link to a list of the "Seven Deadly Sins of Blogging" (see below). Now, when I see the words, "seven deadly sins", I automatically go in my head to a confessional booth or some altar rail for a time of confession. I've done messages and teachings on the deadly sins...I know them well. And before you get all high and mighty, you know them well...don't you? We all know them well...in fact, the seven deadlies used to summarize my seven main goals in life (at least it looked that way if you watched me day by day). So, to make a long story short, I clicked on the link and took a tour of the article on the seven deadly sins of blogging. I must admit, I'm guilty of every one. Now, that put me into a crisis. Was blogging going to become my life's ambition? Was I going to drop my passion for being a missional Christ-follower in order to be someone who could prove myself worthy of getting a good grade from the people who wrote the "seven sins" post? Was this to become the new Law of my life? Just one more thing to hammer my tender conscience? Before another word goes on this post, here is the list: The Seven Deadly Sins of Blogging 1. Using Free Blog Hosting Services - um, guilty! This is blogspot you know. Hey, I'm not a rich dude! 2. Ignoring the Basic Principles of Good Web Site Design and Usability - guilty again...I just clicked on one palette...looked good to me...so I went with it. Nothing intentional, just a lucky first shot. 3. Being the Jack Of All Trades - so I've written a little about everything! I'm a complex guy. I have a lot of interests...so sue me! 4. Not Posting Regularly - well, reading blogs is a regular discipline in my life...I go to Bloglines daily and peruse my favs just like the next person. Posting? Well, excuse me! 5. Publishing Badly Written Posts - didn't someone say, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"? No one has complained yet about my posts...maybe I should ask somebody. 6. Spamming and Stealing - I don't steal too much unless the post that I drag onto my blog is something that gets me thinking. I think I'm ok on this one. 7. Failing to Establish a Personality - what the h*** does that mean? I've never wanted to be known for just having a "nice personality". So you can see, 6 out of 7 I'm choking on. It appears to me that I have alot of spiritual and blogging work to do. Trust me, I've thought quite a bit about grace and the blogsphere lately. Too bad I can't get these seven deadlies out of my head. Remember how the Apostle Paul had to go after to Judaizers who tried to mess up his ministry with the ekkesias of Galatia? I think I'm going to read Galatians today and see if I can find some freedom from the tyranny of the Law of Blog. I have to remember that I have been Blogged by Grace. So, pray for me. Here's one blogger that is honest enough to admit that I am deeply entrenched in the Seven Deadly Sins of blogging. Maybe you will continue to read my blog even though I am a worthless sinner...maybe you won't. All I know is that I am guilty as charged... Rom. 7:24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: wellis68 COMMENT-DATE:10:11 AM COMMENT-BODY:that cracks me up... I guilty too. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Mark Schreiber COMMENT-DATE:8:39 AM COMMENT-BODY:May I recommend a good book to help you with your blogging problems....

"The Purpose Driven Blog" Great book! I think it will revolutionize your blog life:) -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Unknown COMMENT-DATE:9:40 AM COMMENT-BODY:oh SNAP mark. that was classic. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:12:27 AM COMMENT-BODY:That's why your phone keeps meowing all the time. It's crying out, for the poor cat you pulled a gun on. Poor thing... -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 7:37:00 AM ----- BODY:

I ran across this article in the newspaper in Boise, Idaho. Written by a local pastor I don't know, I thought it was interesting. I think he brings up some great points about NOT trying to push an agenda on a culture that is increasingly a-theistic...that is, desiring to be "God-less". Instead, play the Christmas game and take a real and potentially powerful celebration of the incarnation to another day. Mmmm...I've not given this complete and total thought...I mean, I am in the midst of writing papers, grading 75 midterms and final essays, moving, and leading the Youth Leadership Institute...to say the least, my mind is a bit "overbooked". But I'd love to discuss it with you...read it, make a comment...let's have a conversation! Maybe it's time to get Christ out of Christmas season by Loren Yadon It´s that time of year -- when the pressure mounts to exclude any reference to Jesus from the Christmas celebration. In fact, several retail chains have decided remove the word, "Christmas" from their advertising. The sales staff in some establishments has been instructed to wish the customers a "Happy Holiday" or some generic holiday greeting rather than the traditional "Merry Christmas." What used to be an undercurrent of complaint has now become an overt attempt to ban anything related to Jesus at Christmas time. The manger scene has been removed from public areas. Traditional carols that brought joy to so many in past generations have suddenly become offensive to a minority in the population. What are the "politically correct police" afraid of? It´s not like we have been so Christian in our celebration anyway! The idea of a boycott of "politically correct" retailers who do not want to celebrate Christmas might be a good idea. The Christmas shopping season amounts to about 25 percent of their annual retail sales. The only voice these corporations hear is the voice of their profit margins. More than 70 percent of Americans claim to be Christian, and their Christmas shopping fuels a major portion of retail sales. When Christians quit patronizing these corporations, then perhaps CEOs will re-examine their policies. We were told recently that retail sales preceding Halloween ranked second only to Christmas. Does that make sense? In one poll, 56 percent of Americans don´t even believe in the existence of such creatures as demons or Satan, but a celebration of the dark side is gaining in popularity, while Jesus is being shoved out of the Christmas celebration. How can the Thanksgiving holiday possibly survive in this atmosphere? Soon, it will be too religious to set aside a national day to sit down with friends and family and give thanks to God as did our pilgrim fathers. Frankly, the leaders of our culture are not actually removing Jesus out of Christmas, because he really never belonged there in the first place. Christians have been trying to crash someone else´s birthday party for more than 16 centuries! The Christian church started celebrating Christ´s birth on Dec. 25 in the 5th century because the Romans already had a feast celebrating the birth of one of their gods. Instead of letting pagans have all the fun, Christian leaders decided to hold a celebration (mass) for Christ, which eventually became dubbed, Christmas. The pagans have been trying to throw the Christians out of their party for centuries. It´s about time we left. Christ called his followers to peace not confrontation; to be leaders rather than reactionaries! If the pagans don´t want us crashing their party, why don´t we show good manners: apologize for the intrusion and leave? We can sit back and curse the darkness, or light the candle of a new idea. We are under no biblical obligation to celebrate Christ´s birth at all, let alone on Dec. 25! If we chose to commemorate, why not change the time and nature of the celebration of Jesus´ birth? Many historians believe Jesus was born sometime in the late spring to early fall. Although we have no exact date for his birth, there are several hints that lead us to a reasonable time frame. Knowing that John the Baptist was born six months before Jesus, historians have tried to calculate the festival at which Zacharias, John´s father, was officiating when his birth was announced. They also can calculate the time when the population was ordered to return to their native towns to register for a new taxation roll. Shepherds were living in the fields with their flocks at the time. Taking these and other factors into consideration, Jesus may have been born sometime in the summer or fall. So, wouldn´t it be dynamic if Christians became leaders in the culture and abandoned the secular celebration in December for one later in the year? Then Rudolph, Frosty and the boys would not have to worry about shoving Jesus around. If we celebrated in the summer, then school would be out and the educators would not feel the pressure of trying to accommodate the Christian holiday. Secondly, instead of celebrating Jesus´ birth with the greed of our present celebration, why not make it more consistent with his life? At present, Jesus is the only one who doesn´t get a present at his birthday celebration. Whoever heard of a birthday party where the guests brought presents for each other and nothing for the honored one? Instead of spending money we cannot afford to buy things we don´t need, why not think of gift giving in harmony with Christ´s life? We could hold community wide worship services where Christians come together to celebrate his birth. He would love to see the family of believers united, for that was one of his last prayer requests. In that atmosphere, we could feed the poor; give out clothing to the needy and collect offerings for missions. That type of a birthday party would really make Jesus laugh with delight. Come on, Christian. Aren´t you tired of carping about what´s wrong with Christmas? Let´s do something revolutionary, such as celebrate in a manner consistent with Jesus. If this idea would catch on, the boardrooms in America would tremble at Christ´s feet. Loren A. Yadon is pastor of New Life Fellowship of Boise.

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Angry CEO COMMENT-DATE:8:58 AM COMMENT-BODY:Ya, I have a bit of the overbooked feeling too with exams coming up, and other things popping up with work.

Brian. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: wellis68 COMMENT-DATE:12:13 PM COMMENT-BODY:That's a way of handeling this "christmas game" that I never thought about... good points -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Kristin COMMENT-DATE:12:53 PM COMMENT-BODY:Interesting. I must admit the vision of it is very appealing. Not quite sure about the execution though. Hmmmmmmm -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Unknown COMMENT-DATE:4:31 PM COMMENT-BODY:count me in.

it's a very "be in the world, but not of the world" idea. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Mark Schreiber COMMENT-DATE:1:43 PM COMMENT-BODY:Oh you know me.... don't get me going on the materialist society things and consumerism of the Christmas... I mean X-Mas, strike that... Holiday Season.... oh wait I just did it..

Anyway, I think he is right on. I may have to move to Boise now and go to his church. Right on.

I think he makes a great point about this holiday season and the reason for it. But I don't think his proposal would work, not enough people would be able to move Christmas to the sping or fall.

Well I better stop be for I "go off" on this subject. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:9:32 AM COMMENT-BODY:You are right on!! We should not let the world dictate how we celebrate or have them dictate when. How do we get something like this rolling? I'm on the band wagon as our son and daughter-in-law and my husband and I are doing exactly that - we're giving to a very needy orphanage in Swaziland, So. Africa. I can hardly wait to send the money.

CC :) -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 9:05:00 PM ----- BODY:

Yesterday, Dr. Gerald Wilson suddenly died of a heart attack at Azusa Pacific University. Gerald was our Old Testament and Hebrew scholar...I knew him as a soft-spoken man with a great sense of humor, warmth in his heart and an ability to relate well with just about everyone he met. I didn't know Gerry very well...but what I knew, I liked. I saw him just last Thursday as we were both walking between classes. I said to myself, "man, I haven't talked to Gerry in ages". I guess I'll have to wait a little while longer for that conversation. He was a husband, dad, friend, and fellow scholar with many in our school. Gerry was always hanging out with othe professors for laughs, good conversation and cultural critique. Besides getting his PhD at Yale, he taught in Oregon, wrote a commentary on the Psalms for Zondervan and was published in SBL journals and other scholarly publications. He was a hard working scholar and teacher...always working on articles...relating to students and being a helpful collegue. When I first was starting out at APU, teaching in the biblical studies department, he gave me some practical help and some resources that made a difference in my transition from the church to academia. I'll miss you Gerry...thanks for sharing the little you did with me. One day, we'll have to celebrate together...I was really looking forward to hearing what was on your mind and heart. Don't forget, OK? I really am looking forward to getting to know you better!

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: wellis68 COMMENT-DATE:9:07 AM COMMENT-BODY:I didn't know him but there's something different in the atmosphere since friday. I'll be praying for everyone who was close to him and all the people who worked with him including you. This will be on my heart for a while. -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 1:04:00 PM ----- BODY:

New survey - Where kids go for advice: Mom (93%), Dad (65%), Friend (48%), Teacher (46%) - Washington Post, 9/05. The implications for my children - "you have a problem? Call your mom!" Implications for my granddaughters (all four of them), "Papa is always here for you!". Enough said! Ha!

-------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 8:20:00 AM ----- BODY:

I know it must be a "God thing" but I have been emailing Scot McKnight and reading his blog and books over the past months. I was inspired by the first of his books I read, Jesus Creed. Then, after following his blog entries for months, Scot had his newest book published, Embracing Grace. Here are a few tasty morsels: "God designs the gospel for more than my goodness and my sin and my redemption and my liberation and my experience and my chance to go to heaven when I die. The gospel is about us before it is about me. My own I is in the Us, and a gospel of I without an US is a gospel about me. I’m glad the gospel is for me but it is about more than me!" "The Church is not a collection of random individuals who happen to believe in Jesus Christ, who happen to be working out “their own salvation”, who happen to be living in proximity to one another, who happen to enjoy the same preachers and musicians and liturgy, and who happen to affirm the same doctrinal convictions. The Church is a community of faith wherein humans are re-communioned” to one another." "There are four characteristics of such (Missional) communities of faith: these Christians look out and see people and the world, they listen to the pain of people and the groanings of the world, they learn what they can do, and they link themselves to those local needs for the good of others and the world. Missional communities incarnate a holistic gospel. Anything less is not the gospel." Now, I want to be honest about my first reading of this book, I am in the process of completing my LAST reading assignments for my doctorate...so I'm inundated right now with Barth, Brueggemann, Dale Patrick and a host of others. What I did was use Scot's new book as a means of cleansing paletteette" before I got back to my mandatory reading. I am going to pour over the book again during Thanksgiving...it is too good to pass up. For now though, know that Scot has just agreed to join our Youth Leadership Institute journey this next summer. He's going to join us for TEAM 06 at APU and will most likely be teaching on being missional in a postmodern context. That's my initial idea, at least for now. To say the least, I'm stoked. Can't wait for that interaction and to have someone of Scot's giftedness join our already "empowered" staff of teachers and leaders (including Mike DeVries, Sarah Sumner, Steve Gerali, Nate Barnes, Steve Peisner, as well as the "usual" suspects, Jessy, Sally, Chaya, Brian, Aaron, Shad, Dean, Roy, Markie, etc. etc.). So, if you are reading this and you are a youth pastor or you are passionate about students discovering how God has called them to be difference makers to His glory, then dial in with our YLI journey next summer. Check out our website (www.yliapu.org). Otherwise, go and pick up this book. I know you'll be challenged and inspired.

-------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 9:09:00 AM ----- BODY:

Ok, so I'm reading this book for the LAST class in my doctoral program and I come across the word, "Illocutionary". I ask myself within a microsecond, "what the h***?" does that mean? Well, feast your eyes on this - an illocutionary force is roughly a speaker's intention behind the production of an illocutionary act, including its communicative point, attitudes involved, and presuppositions. Some utterances' illocutionary force is less obvious: if someone says, "it sure is cold in here", the effect of the statement is contextual. It could be that the person is simply describing the room, in which case the illocutionary force would the description of the temperature of the room. If it is possible to change the environment, say by turning up the heat or closing a window, the person's intent may be to get someone else to do something about the cold, in which case the illocutionary force would be the other person's action. This is in contrast to perlocutionary force, which involves the effects that an utterance has upon others in the world. And people say that I'm dumb!

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: wellis68 COMMENT-DATE:10:35 AM COMMENT-BODY:That's funny, I did a post about perlocutionalry language a couple months ago. It's interesting stuff. -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 7:53:00 PM ----- BODY:

A guy I know, love, and pray for was complaining to me tonight that I never ever ever mention him in my blog. So, this is for you Mikey! Props to Mike Erre, teacher extraordinaire, profuse perspirer, delusional buckeye fan, and hard core subversive follower of Jesus. I am honored to say that I know him and am blessed to watch God use the giftedness that He has given Mike to bring and reveal truth, challenge, perspective, and the power of Ultimate Reality to bear on so many lives. The grin's for you, Mikey! If you haven't dialed in on what's going on through the ministry of Rock Harbor in the big SoCal, go to www.rockharbor.org. Especially, those of you in our YLI journey, give a listen to Mike's teaching on sexuality. He said to me tonight that he gave that series just for me! Let that buzz around in your head for a while!

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:9:12 PM COMMENT-BODY:Thank you, Robin. I have now reached the big time:)

Mike -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 4:06:00 PM ----- BODY:

When I was a kid, I had a very powerful and vivid secret. Some may call it some type of spiritual sensitivity…others just a few fries short of a “Happy Meal”. I knew that God lived in my closet. Now, that may come as a surprise to you considering that God living in my closet means that He was not hanging around your life. But that’s not the point. This was not a kind of “exclusivity” that comes from me holding God captive as if He were in this world only for me. This is just the experience of a kid who wanted to keep God as close as I could without having Him constantly in my face. I didn’t know what God did with all of His time while He was in my closet and I wasn’t around. All I know is that when I needed Him, He was there! The truth is, if God got out and helped out other people and ran the world (stuff like that), I didn’t know about it. All I knew was that it was simply the best to have God around when I need Him. I could tell Him my problems and He would listen. I would tell Him what I wanted and how He should make me famous and rich and popular. And He would smile. I loved having God around when I needed Him. I can’t think of one reason why it wasn’t the best thing a boy could have in his life until…until God started doing something besides just listening to me and taking care of my problems. When God started poking His head into all the issues in life which I felt He had no business THEN God became a problem! Believe me, I still liked the convenience of having Him there. I have to admit, when I needed something, God was just a few short steps away. I could open the closet door, take a seat in there and talk away. At other times though, it was better keeping the door closed…in fact, locked! For some reason God kept getting out of the closet when I wanted Him to stay in there. And every time He got out, man, would He cause me problems. I would have an argument with my mom and dad and there was God, looking at me like I should be doing something that I was not doing. Then there was the time when I told my mom that I was someplace when I really wasn’t there…some of you might call that a lie…I call it just something that had to be said so that I wouldn’t get in trouble. As I was telling my mom what I knew would get me off the hook, there was God again. I thought I had locked the closet door when I left the house that morning…I must have forgotten. God was there again with a look that made my telling of that lie more painful than I imagined it was going to be. I tried to give God the “stink eye”; you know the look like, “get back in that closet or else”. But He kept popping up at all the wrong times. Sooner or later, I would need something, open the closet door and God would want to talk about a bunch of stuff that I would have rather ignored. He called them “sins”. He said that each broke His heart. He said that I could be forgiven and if I trusted Him and let Him out of the closet every day, that He would walk through my life with me and help change me into a boy that would be beyond my wildest dreams. I didn’t know about that. I kind of liked it when God was right where I wanted Him. Until that one day, I’ll never forget it, where God broke out of the closet for good. In fact, the closet door was completely and totally destroyed. I tried to fix it before my dad saw it but I couldn’t. That meant God was out…in fact, He was out for all to see. He was out and I couldn’t put Him back in. Since then, I’ve grown up. To tell you the truth, I like that God isn’t still in that closet. In fact, I love it that He is around all the time even when He makes me uncomfortable. But He is showing me stuff that I could have never imagined in my entire life. He is telling me dreams for my life and my world that still give me shivers thinking about. I’ll have to think about that…maybe it would have been better letting Him out of that closet a long time ago.

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Kristin COMMENT-DATE:12:08 PM COMMENT-BODY:Great post!!! Thanks!!!!!!! -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:11:29 PM COMMENT-BODY:Prof, you just described my entire existence up until basically yesterday. Thank you for this great visual to go along with my once nameless lifelong predicament. I have a closet too, and I keep God in it so he's close enough that he's there when I need him, but there's always been a door between us so I can shut him out at my convenience. How selfish am I? And how self-righteous to think I can do well enough on my own even for a second? Anyway, thanks again. God has really been using you and your class in my life this semester. -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 7:42:00 AM ----- BODY:

In reading Eugene Peterson's book, Subversive Spirituality, I came across his answer to the question, "if you knew you were giving your last sermon or message, what would be some of your themes?". This answer is food for thought and prayer today: "I guess I'd want to say, 'Go home and be good to your wife. Treat your children with respect. And do a good job at whatever you've been given to do" Kind of takes the wind out of our success-driven, compulsive oriented, mandatory performance based lifestyles, doesn't it?

-------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 12:55:00 PM ----- BODY:

Well...it is happening again...after 10 years in SoCal, the winds of the Spirit have been blowing new dreams and visions into my life. I'm not going to get into it in depth at this point in my blogging career...it is a long story and, frankly, I'm a bit beat and worn out from the work that has been demanded of me of late. So, let me at least let a bit of info out of the bag...Vicky and I are on the move to Boise, Idaho. Over the last two years, God has been slowly preparing us...from our children's frustration at trying to afford housing in one of the most expensive places in the world (the awesome O.C.)..to honest evaluation of the sustainability potential of the Youth Leadership Institute within the academic enviornment (the grant will be completed in summer of 07)...to praying for new vistas to be opened up within our lives that would give us the opportunity to explore Kingdom living in revolutionary ways. A dear friend of ours challenged us with pointed and prophetic questions this past summer...questions that culminated in prayer and seeking God with an intensity that actually surprised us. After a few weeks, it became very clear that God was in a relocation to Idaho. Then, in a stroke of miraculous power, the Lord opened up the hearts of the school to give me the permission to relocate NOW and take my job with me...running YLI from Boise and coming back to the university for periodic meetings and planning sessions. YLI will continue to do its work on developing paradigms for the development of spiritual revolutionaries...we will continue the TEAM conferences at APU and our other events and community building activities (www.yliapu.org, "The Colony", YLI's online community)...but I will lead the organization from a new home in Idaho WHILE building a new community with friends who are sharing with us a dream...the dream of being part of a community of faith that is faithful in the context of these interesting and challenging times. More on that later... So, new things are in store. If I lax in my blogging, I ask for your forgiveness and understanding. I'll be back to regular blogging as soon as possible. In the meantime, I will throw up a post now and then to keep you hooked in and knowledgable about my rantings and thoughts...in addition, pray for the transition for us. I would be honored if you would...plus, pray that God is about to do a new work in our lives as we pursue Him and the fulness of His Kingdom.

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:10:32 PM COMMENT-BODY:Robin,
when I heard you (and others) were moving, I had two simultanious reactions.
1. Oooh! I'm going to miss them!
2. Boy, God has so much in store for them!

Just a bit of encouragement for you and Vicky... you guys will be rocked by what God has for you. If you're in the Spirit, you can't go wrong!

*so much love*
Catherine Brandt
aka: Kat -------- AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 7:36:00 AM ----- BODY:

I think the title of my blog today says it all...judgmentalism has always been alive and well but there seems to be a growing presence of this insidious infection among those who profess Jesus as Lord. Many of you know that I do life within the sphere of a major Christian University...fact is, I teach three classes to students who are refreshingly blunt and transparent in how they view the world and the "Church" in their midst. Without an exception, students are speaking, writing, sharing, and lamenting on the atmosphere of judgmentalism that has permeated the DNA of their community. Living honestly and openly in the context of love and mercy is not the experience of the majority...most confess that they have personally experienced the cold fingers of judgment from people that they felt they could trust because they share a common life foundation in Jesus. Judgmentalism is one of the most deadly of cancers within the community of Jesus...discerning we are called to be...loving and accepting in the context of discernment and in the security of relationship is what Jesus modeled for us in lifestyle and action. Condemnation, rejection, legalism running rampant at the expense of community and God's desire for transformation is what many of us are actually living. A dear friend of mine who died several years ago often commented on the fact that we are all great theoretical theologians - we all have our minds in the same place - it is just our operational theology is screwed up. Our praxis is killing us and our ability to demonstrate the love of Jesus to world that so desperately needs to know in the fabric of their being that "love wins" (to quote Rabbi Bell). No one has the right to pick up the reins of God in judgment. Remember, those who were called by God to speak words of justice in the scriptures had to match the severity of their message with their lifestyles. I have always believed that if you or me want to jump on a "prophetic" bandwagon where we act as God's spokesperson for calling people to change then we better be willing to have our lives match up with our words in an uncompromising manner. The only way we are going to be allowed to be in any way and form to righteously "call other people out" for their behavior is if our lives are lived with such intense purity and austereness that the people we call out would not doubt that we had a shred of self-interest attached to our words. Try this exercise...look through the prophetic literature in the bible...you won't see people coming back at the prophets and saying, "who do you think you are?". People knew that these men were living out the message that God had given them...there wasn't even a small slice of self-righteousness or arrogance about them. The prophets incarnated their message. Put it this way, do you want to act as a prophet of justice in your sphere of influence? Then you better live the type of life that backs up your words. In addition, you better be reminding people of the love and acceptance of God for those who turn back to Him. To do anything less is to fall prey to the insidious infection of judgmentalism. To put it one more way..."everybody wants to live a life without judgmentalism but nobody wants to stop judging". It's time to pick up on a new lifestyle...it's time to stop the spread of infection within the Body...it's time to stop judgmentalism.

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: wellis68 COMMENT-DATE:2:30 PM COMMENT-BODY:Thanks so much Robin, you tell it so well. My question is anyone able to say they live with "such intense purity and austereness that the people we call out would not doubt that we had a shred of self-interest attached to our words?" -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: H. West COMMENT-DATE:3:03 PM COMMENT-BODY:I heard a quote once, probably from Rob Bell that says, "The things we judge in others are the things we fear the most to see in ourselves." I've also been reading through B Manning's Raggamuffin Gospel lately and just this morning i was reading the passage about what it means to be poor in spirit. He writes, "Her spiritual poverty enables her to enter the world of the other even when she cannot identify with that world: i.e., the drug culture, the gay wold. The poor in spirit are the most nonjudgemental of peoples; they get along well with sinners." Maybe the key to being less judgemental is not being better people but rather realizing we are not. Great thoughts, Robin. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:1:09 PM COMMENT-BODY:Robin,
this is Kat Brandt here. I was talking to my little sister yesterday about being judgmental. She said that I was, and I began my refutal, my justification. Because I have a tendency to be judgmental towards my family, but not towards friends, I would not consider myself judgmental. This is a strange phenomenon, one that I cannot fully understand and am really trying to work through.
I know that if I attack the problem directly, try not to be judgmental, that I will most likely be defeated. But if I press into God, more and more of my ill tendencies will peel away, and that which has permeated my own spiritual DNA will eventually fade.
Thanks for your insight. I need a good challenge every so often.
*love and joy*
~Catherine Brandt
www.suchthoughts.blogdrive.com --------