Some of you very, very clever people out there noticed that “buts” is misspelled.
Others of you who are very, very, very clever already know why. For the rest of you very, very clever people, allow me to explain.
Starting in three weeks, [nlcf] is going to start a series called, “Show Us Your Buts.” Think of it like this. I have coversations with people all the time about issues regarding their walks with Jesus, what they allow God to guide and speak into, where they trust him, and where they don’t. In coffee shops, at 130 Jackson, before an [nlcf] gathering, after, at the gym, in my front yard, in stores. You get the idea. It comes up all the time. And I am certainly not the only one that has conversations like this.
Many times in those conversations the following phrase is either stated or implied. ”I would be closer to God/ trust Jesus more… but this keeps me away / but this makes it tough / but I cannot figure this out.”
So, this is your chance to show us your but. I guess more technically it would be comment with your but, tell us your but, text us your but. But 
those just sound too confusing. Hence, Show Us Your Buts.
So… it’s pretty simple. Comment back with what you and God stuggle with. What you don’t understand. What you would like to have covered. What confuses you. It might be a question of how to take something that is in the bible, it might be an experience you have had. Then we will navigate through the responses and pick ones to deal with. We will overall try to pick the ones that get the most votes, but we will see how it goes.
If you aren’t comfortable commenting back, then email or text me. You do not have to go to [nlcf] to comment in and vote! You don’t even have to follow Jesus. You just have to have a but. I will try to let everyone know if we pick your “but” and you can also feel free to follow the series on our website. Also, and I am very excited about this, we are going to try to make sure we have time to take questions during each gathering that deal with the issue we covered that day.
This has all the earmarks of something awesome. So, now the ball is in your court.
We all have our questions, our doubts, or concerns.
What’s yours?
As promised, the second post to walk us through the process of truly choosing to walk in covenant with God. It is the best deal we could ever be offered. If you are in the New River Valley area this weekend (and aren’t a member of another church ) you won’t want to miss this week as we look at how we can specifically overcome common obstacles that we can encounter as we try to walk closer with God. If you would like to listen in to the series so far,
First of all, just to be clear, the ! was for the new site. While I am excited about my posting, not sure I would give it a !.
I haven’t been posting as much over the past month as things have been insane at . I do have several that are close to ready to go, and now that my schedule has died down, they will be coming soon. Everything from how I learned that I don’t ever have to attend another rave, to discussions of some of the most difficult topics that Christians face in our culture today. Impressive, eh?
Probably not.
Well, at any rate, if you were at any of our three gatherings on Sunday I said I would post a couple of times to help continue the discussion about how we reclaim an identity that has been stolen. If this makes no sense to you, my suggestion is that you take a look , once you are on board, take a look . And if that really piques your curiosity, the first talk in the series is . (We are a bit behind on posting the talks as we are shifting servers and that can mean that our blah blah blah… all the computers that connect to the internet need to change where they are pointing blah blah… so that our site won’t crash… blah. All that to say, please be patient with us as we shift our servers.
If none of that really interests you, then you might want to just look at this video of a kitten being cute.
So, it is upon us. For those of us who are connected to non-quarter colleges and universities, the beginning of Fall Semester is here!
For me, being in Blacksburg Va and co-pastoring a church that works to empower both local residents and college students to see more clearly the picture God is trying to show them; fall is an exciting time. Just this morning I was walking into my office and heard the Marching Virginians drum corps practicing. You could here the reverberating drum beats all over town! That is one of my favorite indicators that fall kick-off is about to commence.
As is our custom, this past week our campus staff team met for the entire day to plan, pray, reflect, dream a bit and discuss our mission for the year. I always look forward to that time to hear what God is saying to those I serve with, and to see how they reflect on what I sense God is saying to me. One section of that day is where we discussed the events that we undertake in those first two or three weeks. Overall [nlcf] isn’t a church that puts on a ton of events. In fact, we typically try to pull back our meetings to as few as possible so that people can we out living the gospel and not just meeting to talk about it.
But the first couple of weeks is different. What we have seen over the years is that the majority of the literally thousands of people who will be arriving at Tech (many for the first time) are helped by having certain events available to them. So, we have our list.
During that time, I was asked a question by one of our newer staff people, Sarah. She asked how an introvert was expected to navigate the numerous events that we host, almost all of which are built around meeting new people and trying to help them feel at home and get involved in whatever groups they prefer. IE NOT optimized for introverts.
I thought it was a great question and as I have reflected on it, I have a few thoughts. So, I will list our events that we are hosting, the goal of the event, and how different personality types might manage those times. Away we go… (more…)
So… If you are a master of context clues, you have probably gathered that I do have an ipad.
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I have learned to provide that extra long pause so that anyone that hears that I have an ipad can make whatever joke they feel they would like to make about the fact that I have an ipad. They are inevitable. So, now I just give time to let them happen.
Which leads to this equally inevitable posting about why I have one. So, without further ado…
Why Jim Pace Has An Ipad
First and foremost, (Tracy) my wife bought it for me. She set aside money, and for Father’s Day, she wanted to get me something very special. She nailed it. The past five or six months prior to Father’s Day had been incredibly intense, and Tracy said she just wanted to do something really nice for me. So, when we recieved some unexpected money, she put it some aside and we got it with that.
She will tell you that I almost hyperventilated when she first told me that was what she was doing. Mostly because of the cost. She will also tell you that I initially said no, but I was told it wasn’t up to me, and so that was that.
Second, yes, I am an apple fan.
Yes, I like that their products look cool, but I know something about myself. It applies to apple products and couch material patterns.
I get used to anything after about two weeks. Truly. Anything.
While I like the look of Apple products, what I like most about them is that they work. So, I am a committed Apple guy, but only after trying an HP, two Dells, and a Viao and having them all crash repeatedly on me. Now,I have an Apple laptop that has made it longer than any other one I have ever had. It has been stolen and then mailed back to me. Dropped by an unknown dropper, leaving a big dent in the back, but it kept on ticking. But, now its age is starting to show and it really isn’t working very well. So, I need to replace it, and the ipad (with the exception of two things) does what I need a computer to do. With only those two things left, I only use my laptop sparingly and I suspect I will get more time out of it.
Third, and this one is the kicker… I do use my ipad when I am teaching, but NEVER when I am on my Segway, I’m too afriad it will fall off and break. If that makes no sense, take a look …
I have been a wandering teacher for as long as I have been teaching. I go up around the stage, up the aisles sometimes… wherever I can. One of my questions whenever I guest speak is “How far can I go?” The lighting team at one of our venues has a wide setting just for me.
One of the hardest parts about moving is that I have preferred for years to carry my notes with me. Not a big notebook, but a small piece of paper. I also like to make changes right up to the time I get up to speak, so I would often have arrows and lines, things scratched out and things added in… What made that especially hard was that when I would wander up the aisles, it would get dark. So I would be reading my chicken scratched, marked up outline in the dark. Not easy to do.
So, I could either wander and try to close the gap of space in some of the big rooms I speak in and have a hard time reading what I had written, or I could stay up front in the light.
Heh… until now.
Now, I can arrange my notes, on the fly, underline, make bold, whatever I need, right up until the start of my teaching. I love that! It is easy to carry and is very simple to use in that environment. It has a light so I can read it… ahhh… perfection.
The only thought I have ever given using it in public is that I am going to get razzed for it.
Ready for another? Fourth, I cannot count how many times I have been running around the room looking for my notes, asking people if they have seen that little piece of paper, asking from the front when I walk up if people can look around… I have even had to give talks without my notes on at least five separate occasions. Not lying. Five.
Let me just say that I will not lose the ipad. Won’t happen. And if it does, then I just about guarantee you that Tracy will kill me. Doubt me? Those of you who know her say she won’t? Just ask Seth how mad she gets when he can’t find his soccer shin guards. I’m just saying, if I happen to disappear unexpectedly after losing the ipad, or my brakes freakishly don’t work…. Check her minivan for a pair of pliers…
Fifth… Here is the last reason. For me, one of the toughest things I do is manage my time so that I can live a life of balance. Beyond my other talk preparation times during the week, on the Sundays I teach, I get up at 4.15am to do my final prayer, reflection and preparation. So, anything that lets me save a few minutes of time, that helps me avoid recopying notes that I will just mark up again, is great in my book.
So, I use it, I like it, and will continue to use it. Unless someone will volunteer to get up at 4.30 on the Sundays I teach to re-write my notes for me and follow me around with a flashlight.
Take that… you haters…
I am a fan of something that is loosely referred to as an “orthogonal
approach” applied to intensely debated social and religious issues.
So I was excited when I saw that , an astrophysicist from
the University of Rochester invoked it in a of the ongoing
debate between science and religion. And while Frank, who would
consider himself a “strident atheist” and myself, a convinced follower
of Jesus, have a number of key points of disagreement, I liked the
overall trajectory of his article.
At least at first. His take was that we need to try to not fall into
the same “us versus them” pattern that can so often derail the
discussion. That by thinking “orthogonally” we can put a right angle
in the discussion and come up with something that is entirely new.
Then I ran across what I run across almost without fail in discussions
with those who would consider themselves commited scientists and
atheists. The issue that comes out and is seemingly not even noticed
is the baseline belief that those with religious belief are more
against the discussion than those without religious belief. That the
religious, with my experience being obviously as a follower of Jesus,
have behaved more poorly in the discussion than our counterparts. Essentially, this is more of the same thing. Pointing the finger across the aisle. (more…)
Ten years ago, Anne Rice said that Christ was her Messiah. The news shocked much of the world (at least the literary
world.)
This is because Anne Rice was the best selling author of The Vampire Chronicles among many other titles. With so much of her writing leaning towards the darker corners of our existence, hearing that she accepted the light of Christ was surprising to say the least. To date she has sold over 100 million books. As a new author myself, that’s quite a feat.
Here is an extended quote from Timothy Keller’s book, .
Anne Rice was one person who was startled to discover how weak the case for a merely human “historical Jesus” really is. Rice became famous as the author of Interview with the Vampire and other works… Raised a Catholic, she lost her faith at a secular college, married an atheist, and became wealthy writing novels about Lestat, who is both a vampire and a rock star…
Why did she do it? In the afterword to her new novel, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, she explained that she had begun doing extensive research about the historical Jesus by reading the work of Jesus scholars at the most respected academic institutions. Their main thesis was that the Biblical documents we have aren’t historically reliable. She was amazed at how weak their arguments were.
Some books were no more than assumptions piled on assumptions… Conclusions were reached on the basis of little or no data at all… The whole case for the non-divine Jesus who stumbled into Jerusalem and somehow got crucified… that whole picture which had floated around the liberal circles I frequented as an atheist for thirty years — that case was not made. Not only was it not made, I discovered in this field some of the worst and most biased scholarship I’d ever read.
On Wednesday, she let the Facebook world know that she is calling it quits. She has had enough. Let me let her say it her way.
As I said below, I quit being a Christian. I’m out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.
Clearly this is not something she did quickly, it seems she has made a reflected decision and has acted based upon it. She provides some clarification here.
For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being “Christian” or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.
On her , she quotes several scripture from Matthew, John and 1 Corinthians and then her most recent posting (as of my posting) is this…
My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn’t understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me. But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been, or might become.
What do you think about what she is saying and how she is saying it? Would love to get your thoughts!
I will start off with this. I am a fan of Tim Keller.
I don’t always agree with him. But then I cannot think of anyone I always agree with. But I love several things about him more than I disagree with him in a few theological and practical areas.
1) I love that he wrote “T” while he was a pastor in a church. I think that writers who are having to walk out the realities of their views in a local church context benefit greatly from those experiences. What you are thinking about and writing about has to connect with the daily lives of those you are sharing life with. There are certainly a number of very powerful writers that I truly enjoy that I stepped out of pastoral ministry. So, my appreciation for Keller’s path isn’t a condemnation of anyone else’s.
2) I love that Keller’s church, is so heavily focused on serving New York City. literally mobilizes thousands of people to serve each year. I love that.
3) I love that Redeemer Pres. has managed to reach a very diverse group of ages and races. Personally, I don’t think I have done as good a job of that as Keller has.
Here, Keller speaks as a part of the series. He was there soon after the release of his book, The Reason for God, and is speaking to the main reasons why people would find reason to believe in God, and why others would not. I really enjoyed it.
Hope you do to! Please let me know if you have any comments/thoughts about what he was speaking about. I always love to hear what you are thinking!
Peace.
One of the things many people that I speak with strugle with is how to describe the good news, the gospel, of Jesus as our Messiah. One one hand you can make it very simple. He came, he died, he rose again. We are forgiven when we accept those truths. Quick, clear and to the point.
On the other hand you can easily make it so etherial that it feels almost impossible for someone who is not a seminarian to ever figure any of it out.
Honestly, I have been to both of those extremes.
What is left is a simple question that is not very simple at all. What is the good news? What is this hope that we who follow Jesus claim to have access to?
asked 50 people to try to describe what they thought the good news was. This group has activists, philosophers, artists, blue and white collar workers, authors, and yes, pastors and seminarians. We are from different walks of life, we are of different ethnicities, and we have different backgrounds. His question to all of us was the same; could we describe what the good news, the hope of Christ, is like? But he threw in two caveats; we had to address it as if it were being written up in our local newspaper, and we couldn’t go over 700 words.
Many months later it was thrilling to see the fruits of those descriptions bound up in the first release of , ViralHope: Good News from the Urbs to the Burbs (And Everything in Between). Take a look at the trailer, produced by the Brothers Nee.
Hello everybody.
I realize that I am not only being cliche, but redundant as I express my shock that so much of the summer has gone by already! So, there it is. Again.
I doubt it will be the last time either.
This season of the year is always a bit of a unique one. A key group that [nlcf] reaches out to are college students, so the start of the fall semester is always a very busy one for us. But busyness isn’t the issue.
The start of fall signals the start of a season where we have very specific goals. Goals that we need God to step into and enable, or we simply won’t hit them. This fall is no different. And that is why this time of the year feels so unique.
This time of the year begs the question, “What if God doesn’t do his part in the way we are expecting him to?” Yes, we have a part to do in all this, but unless God shows up and does the heavy lifting, then we are stuck.
That question then leads to others, “Why didn’t he do his part? Did we misunderstand? Is he trying to show us that we are on the wrong track? Are our hearts wrong?” And a litany of questions like them.
What do we do when God doesn’t do what we thought he was going to do?
This question, like so many we have reflected on this summer, have so many levels to them, so many nuances, that we simply cannot reflect on them all. So, let’s try to go after what we can. There is one that I hear lurking underneath so many of the others in my own heart, but also in the hearts of those that ask similar questions. What does it say about God’s love for me when he doesn’t show up and do what I ask him to?
Not surprisingly, this one runs very deep, so let’s take a look. And let’s start in the chapter that many people — and commentaries — call the Hall of Faith, Hebrews 11.
I would strongly encourage you to read the whole chapter, as I am going to pick it up in verse thirty-two. And away we go…
32 “And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again.” Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37 They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated– 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. 39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”
