Jim Pace not only is a clone of Scott Van Pelt from ESPN but he's also a pastor and lead navigator at [nlcf] in Blacksburg, VA and author of Should We Fire God? released April 8, 2010
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 Adam Frank, an astrophysicist from the University of Rochester invoked it in a . 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 all to often in discussions with those who would consider themselves commited scientists and atheists. The issue that  is seemingly not even noticed is the baseline belief that those with religious belief are more opposed to this 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.
Yes, I liked how Frank mentioned Einstein’s concern about fanatical atheists who were as intolerant as their religious counterparts. And yes I liked how he talked about our need to approach a discussion that can often be conducted on one axis (only my side has value) more orthogonally. Not just shoot for a middle position, but take a right angle on the axis and create something different. Adam, I was with you.
Remember, this isn’t about what the conclusion is, Â Frank and I would clearly disagree on that, but rather how we can engage in this discussion seeking to be listeners and not just winners.
But, then it happened. And it was going so well.
Of course the point must always be made that in domains of politics and policy strident atheists are infinitely more tolerent and less damaging than the gang hanging out at other end of the spectrum.
It isn’t even that I am bothered by his opinion on the matter. It is the “Of course” that starts that opinion off. That “of course” approach is what is so frustrating for me.
Much more often than not, when I enter into a discussion with a scientifically oriented atheist, the presumption is that I am likely a knuckle-dragging holdover from an earlier evolutionary stage. Â My experience is that in the significant majority of conversations, Â rarely is time taken to investigate whether their hypotheses about me are true.
I recognize the look of disbelief mixed with frustration, disdain and occasionally even pity.
I am not saying that there aren’t many from among those that follow Jesus that haven’t been equally offensive. I remember a Christian I knew that had a bumper sticker that read “April 1st – National Atheists’ Day” and I remember those that cheered his “bravery” in proudly driving around with it on his bumper.
So I am not saying the faith community has handled itself well all the time. And I am not asking people to feel sorry for me as I know very well that many followers of Jesus around the world suffer much more than disparaging looks.
My issue is that it must at least be acknowledged that, for at least a portion of the atheist/scientific community; this thought is so automatic that it could even find its way into a posting urging its readers to not do that very thing.
Sometimes it would seem we have a very long way to go.
Peace, Jim
I have to say this may be the best one. Â To Mike (for flawlessly mixing a song that I bet you find an affront to music), Robbie (for the awesome videography and syncing), Adriana (for being willing to express such raw emotion on camera), Kristal (for the great choreography and taking an info card hit to the face), and of course Karin (for rocking the nasal tone and for likely pulling a smile muscle). – Â So well done! Â Funny, creative, and technically so well done.
To those who haven’t seen it yet. Â Enjoy. Â And Happy Labor Day!
Ahh….
“MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.â€
These last two nights of talking about NLCF’s Campus Engage Groups with new and old people has been so much fun!
I am blessed to even be able to be a part of this church and in leadership with SO many gifted and loving people. Â The fact that I am privileged to help pastor within this community is a blessing that I don’t deserve in myself, but that I gratefully receive.
Just drink this musical amazingness in!
and I have a complicated relationship. Â There are things about them that I respect and appreciate, and things that I wish they 
would do differently. Â I have no doubt that many in the Gospel Coalition would say the same about me. Â Also, the Gospel Coalition is just that, a coalition. Â A group of pastors, theologians and writers that are attempting to communicate a certain perspective about God, faith and our world. Â So there is a range of thought that needs to be implicitly understood.
What I appreciate is their commitment to teaching the scriptures and training people in them. Â This is a scripture focused coalition. Â That is a very good thing. Â I also appreciate their commitment to explaining the truth about what the death and resurrection of Jesus meant when it happened, and what it means for us today. Â I mean, Jesus is at the center of God the Father and God the Spirit’s plan for our world. That focus is a good thing. Â Had that not occurred, there would be no hope for us.
So, while I might follow those same scriptures out and draw different conclusions in some instances than they would; and might articulate some of my views differently than they would, I appreciate their presence at the table. Â If you are interested in more specifics about where I would differ, just ask…
And I love this . Â It is simple, straightforward, and needed. Â Often it is easier to condemn the whole church thing than to see the beauty that is mixed up in the mess. Â Certainly our highly cynical culture can lean that way. Â I am encouraged by the bible’s honest account of the mess that the early church was as well! Â God in his sovereignty has chosen to allow us freedom to sort out many pieces of of how the Spirit interacts with different cultures over time. Â Sometimes we take more freedom than we are granted and other times we hold on to a way of doing life with God that is just that… a way. It makes me appreciate Mark Galli’s book about the church even more. Â He titled it . Â How true, no?
Many thanks to n for reminding us of the beauty!
We are very excited to have started up a new series on the Campus Side called Covenant and Kingdom… Â Take a look…
from on .
I get a lot of questions in my role here at NLCF. Â So, from time to time I will take a few minutes and answer one here. Â One that I have been getting recently is fun to answer, so we will start there.
I have noticed that the downtown congregation is now going by the name New Life and has its own website, what’s up with that. Â Are we still one church?
First of all, great question. Â Ready for a great answer? 🙂 Â The answer is Yes we are. Â So why the different name and website?
It will help to remember that NLCF (not unusually) has done things a bit differently than other churches might. Â Typically a church would be planted and after it stabilized, it would develop a ministry to youth, or university students from there. Â That is much more of a normal progression, and it is what people tend to expect.
We did it differently.
NLCF was planted in 1985 by Great Commission Ministries (now The Collegiate Church Network). Â Four years later, the leaders sensed God calling them to leave and was asked to raise his salary and step in to lead what was at that time a church of around 10-20 students.
God breathed on the work that JR and many others of us were doing and over the next number of years NLCF grew to over one thousand. Â To date, NLCF has planted or was heavily involved in planting churches in , , at Radford Univeristy, Â e and . Â Also we have helped to see and get going.
And we started what was originally called the Downtown Congregation of NLCF. Â It was started to be a place that would allow people in the New River Valley that wanted to worship with us, but didn’t necessarily want to do it in a room full of students do so. Â It began developing and got to the point that it needed more than those of us that were working with it could give.
Enter the Racek family (again).
Joe, the second elder that was ordained to work with NLCF in the late 90’s,and his wife Lisa, had gone with the LA plant team to, well, LA; sensed God was calling them back to the east coast. Â Through a lot of talking, prayer, and planning, they decided to return to Blacksburg to work with the Downtown Congregation! Â From there, Joe worked to set up an Equipper Leadership Team that would share the responsibility of leading the Downtown Congregation with him. Â As they were seeking God for the vision they would pursue, they kept running into a problem.
When people heard of NLCF, they thought about the campus work. Â Also, as they were talking about vision, the New Life part of New Life Christian Fellowship started to really stick out to them. Â They felt it captured what God was trying to say and they made the decision, along with me, to adopt that as their name.
From there, it became quickly clear that having a separate website would be important. Â It would be more clear to anyone checking us out. Â Also it would help with the growing confusion that members of both congregations were running into in trying to see what congregation was doing what and when. It would give New Life the best opportunity it express it’s vision. Â It is also what almost every other church that has multiple congregations or sites does. Â For those exact reasons.
So, if you go to‘s side of NLCF’s website, you will see that it has a very different vibe about it. Â You will notice the same if you swing by their 10am gathering. Â Praise God for that! Â At NLCF we have always said that we didn’t want to do anything a particular way just because it was done that way by someone else. Â We have always been about living out and expressing God’s vision for our community, our way. Â Certainly we look deeply at the traditions of the church,and those impact us greatly, but then we apply those traditions in a way that makes sense for the mission that God has given us.
So, we have different vibes, different looking Sunday gatherings, different articulations of the mission that God has given us and some different methods for doing it. Â But we are still one family. Â One church. Â Doing some things together and others separately.
Perhaps we would be described at two trees growing from the same root.
Or siblings if you will, but very very close ones.
So, let’s pray for and celebrate what New Life is doing as they celebrate and pray for our impact as well!
In mid-July my family and I went to Ukraine. Â I had been there before, but that was 18 years ago. Â At the time, I had just graduated from Va. Tech and was fully expecting that my career path of getting my PhD in Child Clinical Psychology was the right one. Â While I was walking down a street in front of some of the non-descript apartments in Kiev, God starting showing me a different path.
So Kiev has always been close to my heart.
But this time, I was nervous about the trip. Â How would we as a family respond? Â Noah is 15, Seth is 13 and Emma is 12. Â There are truly great kids, but I was worried that they might not respond well. Â The lack of hot water, A/C, internet and normalcy. Â Honestly I was pretty worried that we would take this very expensive trip and nothing would happen in their souls.
As I have been reflecting on our two weeks in Vorzel, working with some wonderful Ukrainian orphans, I am once again reminded how weak pockets of my faith in God can be.
While we were there, we had the chance to do some very hard physical work. Â One of our jobs was to dig out a bike path for the kids. Â This isn’t just so they can have something fun to do, although that would be enough. Â In Ukraine, a healthy kid has a better shot at being adopted. Â And if they aren’t adopted by age 16, they are released from the system. Â If they don’t have anywhere to go, the mortality rate for these kids runs at about 80%. Â Alcohol, drugs, street violence, starvation and trafficking take a horrific toll on them.
So a bike track can actually turn around their life.
We took shovels and dug out a square that was about 30 yards on each leg and was four feet wide. Â Then we took gravel (more on that later) and filled in part of our track, built forms and then poured who knows how many tons of cememt.
There were clusters of days that I never stopped sweating. Â There were times when I didn’t think that we would get everything done. Â It has honestly been a long time since I worked that physically hard.
What I learned, or perhaps more accurately, a small part of what I learned, was that our kids are even more amazing than I gave them credit for, and that God is much more prepared to work in their souls than I gave him credit for.
They worked so hard, they played with the orphans when they were allowed to, they fully participated. Â They saw how much harder life in Ukraine is than what we face. Â God started doing something just like he said he would.
And I realized that he did  all that in the face of my nervousness.  He is so much more willing to honor his word than I am to sometimes believe it.
I won’t forget that soon.
No need to add any thoughts.
from a man I have had the privilege of seeing live those words out. Â The fact that he is so well known and so widely read seems to have not caused him to love the acclaim. Â Thanks to for the post.
A wonderful example… Â Peace, Jim
So, here you are! Â You are about to begin what will likely prove to be one of the most defining seasons of your life.
I very clearly remember my first days at Va. Tech. Â My dad and I arrived at Pritchard Hall with all the stuff I was bringing in the back of our Honda Accord. Â My clothes, a radio (I know, I know, I am old), some milk crates to store things in and a blue steamers truck for a “coffee table”.
I guess, being an alum of Tech, and now having been on staff with New Life Christian Fellowship for the past 16 years, I might like to offer a few words from one who has been there.
First, make good friends. Â Friends that will help you to be the person you want to be. Â Not ones that will make it harder.
Second, make good decisions. Â You now have access to a level of freedom you likely have never experienced before. Â I let that freedom blow me up for a while. Â Don’t make my mistakes. Â I generated an illustrious GPA of 1.75 my first semester. Â I fought that for the rest of my time here at Tech. Â Even making a 3.96 my last semester didn’t fully correct it.
Third, find a group quickly that will help you walk closely with God. Â This is one of the most centrally important things you will do. Â There is a big debate about whether secular universiteis like Tech are out to crush your faith. Â I don’t think they are. Â Now I did have some professors who were very outspoken in their disdain for a lively faith in Jesus…
But you are mistaken if you think you won’t have your faith strongly challenged while you are here. Â That challenge will at times seem like it is coming from everywhere. Â Having a group that will allow you to process those questions you are getting honestly, that will help you to hear the voice of God, that will help you to really live out your faith… Â Well, it is a necessity.
Fourth, but certainly not least, let God be close to you. Â Talk with him, listen to him, worship him, learn more about him, and follow him.
We would love to walk through this time with you. Â Again, check us out on the web and feel free to stop by our 11am or our 7.07pm services!
Peace, Jim
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