reader’s guide to futuristguy

Introduction

When I started my “futuristguy” WordPress blog in October 2007, it was primarily to post feedback on the Missional Order summit I’d attended a few weeks before, and to keep in touch with other participants. And then I started posting about culture issues and the ideas underneath that I was engaging with on an everyday basis. And then, well, somewhere along the line, it became something else … a place to download a larger-scale summary of what I’ve been grappling my way through for nearly 15 years now . (Sidenote: Okay, laugh if you want that these posts represent a “summary,” since my posts tend to be a few thousand words. But actually, “summary” is pretty accurate. In 1995, I switched my focus in research and development to culture, and am now over the 1,000,000 word mark, what with hundreds of files of think-pieces and essays, assessment tools and inventories, case studies and even some poems.) (And that doesn’t mean all million-plus words are worth reading … or re-reading, at least, I don’t think so … just represents a lot of thinking, and hopefully at least some quality amidst the quantity!)

Not that this change in blog emphasis was bad, but it was an unexpected answer to the long-time urgings of several friends to get some of my ideas out there. They felt I had been “flying under the radar” for far too long, and had something worthwhile to contribute in the ongoing conversations on what has been called “emerging” and beyond. The reasons for staying on the sidelines had been myriad, and they are too much blah-blah-blah to even get into at the moment.

Anyway, late in 2007, I made a commitment to get something published, even if it was self-published. So, here this blog is – a sort of time capsule that distills key perspectives I’ve been processing since the mid-1990s. I know a regular book where the material has logical flow to it would probably have been nicer to read and easier to absorb. However, that’s just not something I can do right now, nor am I likely to any time in the foreseeable future. I work in freelance writing, and that already expends most of the energy available to put words to paper. So, I’ve done what I can to work within the situations I cannot change. Given the choice between a blog or nothing, I chose to blog. Also, because I deal with the written word so much in my everyday work, that limits the energy I have left to write blog material. So, I try not to stress over it, and just let posts happen when they happen. If I can plug along to producing 5,000 pages of original material on my Cultural Curriculum Project in a nearly 15 year period, I guess I can handle plugging along on this blog …

My futuristguy blog posts have emerged in relatively random order of what key components would have been in a book, had I gone that route (and which I still may someday). So, I thought it would help to produce a “reader’s guide” for those interested in having a more linear presentation of my postings. These post summaries use the same order as the CATEGORIES list in the homepage sidebar. Posts and series are summarized under the category the most closely captures the essence of their material.

Some final notes … Browse about a bit, and yup, you’ll soon notice that this is definitely designed as a research-oriented blog. I write about a lot of advanced concepts about paradigms, cultures, futures trends, organizational systems, and such like. Plus, a lot of this is in technical language.

I know that most Christians – even those with theological training – have little or no background in this kind of material. And yet, the questions that are most being asked by those dissatisfied with church-as-it-has-been could use a good dose of culturology and futurology to go with the theology that can lead toward better questions and more satisfying answers.

So, I’m doing what I can to make the material as accessible as possible – at least to get across the “big picture” ideas – by providing such resource features as summaries, a glossary, and overviews. Note that there’s sometimes a bit of lag between blogging a post and getting a related summary in the Readers Guide or a definition into the Glossary. It’s a work in progress … and who knows, maybe someday I’ll have the opportunity to produce and add in original media, or the time to edit myself to be less technical – wouldn’t that be cool, as well as fun! (Okay, at least I think it would be …)

For accessibility resources, check these out:

About page for my superhero aliases and bits about this blog.
Categories sidebar for brief summaries (average of 30 words) of the kinds of posts you’ll typically find in each category and subcategory. The same summaries that appear there can also be found right after each Category and Subcategory headline in this Reader’s Guide.
Cultural Curriculum Project page for an index and descriptions to sections in my 15-year “Cultural Interpretation and Ministry Contextualization Curriculum Project.” This also includes background information; components in the project; historical milestones; current status and recent updates; and forthcoming studies, projects, and presentations.
Films in Futuristguy page for background on my use of films in culturology, reference links to the Internet Movie Database for some key movies, and listings of my posts that mention films.
Glossary page for terms I frequently use.
Interpolators page for exposition of a key concept I have developed: the intercultural, interdisciplinary, integrative person who uses a high level of paradoxical thinking, and also typically displays strong cultural fluidity as demonstrated through their culturally wide-ranging kinds of relationships. As “people of peace,” interpolators may hold a key to bridging difficult differences among cultures in conflict – giving them a unique role in such times of drastic cultural changes as these.
Readers Guide to Futuristguy page for help in navigating the concepts of this entire blog, and a one-paragraph summary foreach post. Posts are listed chronologically by date, within their main category section.

Hope you both enjoy this material and are challenged by it, and I trust my blog will help you explore topics of your interest!

Brad “futuristguy” Sargent

Section Listing

CULTUROLOGY

Concrete Media Systems
Culturology
Futures Studies
Missional and Missional Orders / Allelon
Paradox
Research and Critical Thinking Tools
Theological Reconstruction

CULTUROLOGY CASE STUDIES

The Golden Compass
Kingdom Leadership After Lakeland
Taxonomies of Emergence
(Launching the) Tessera “Learning Trail”
Willow Creek REVEAL

PERSONAL FORMATION

Authentic Hope and Wholeness
Learning Styles
Polymathology
Recovery from Spiritual Abuse

RESOURCES

WHATEVER ELSE

Because Friends Asked – Memes, Films, Interviews, Series
Just for Kicks

Culturology

CATEGORY SUMMARY: General material related to the interdisciplinary study of cultures; most posts appear in subcategories to note their more specific focus.

CONCRETE MEDIA SYSTEMS

SUBCATEGORY SUMMARY: Principles for examining and evaluating concrete media systems (e.g., film, games, trading cards, toys) and their potential influences on people’s values, worldview, and behaviors. Early posts use The Golden Compass as a major case study to illustrate these principles.

See the series on The Golden Compass in the CULTUROLOGY CASE STUDIES Section.

FUTURES STUDIES

SUBCATEGORY SUMMARY: Descriptions and applications for three main strategic foresight tools used by futurists: cultural trend analysis, non-linear extrapolation of trends into the future, and production of scenarios for plausible futures (note the plural).

(A blog page or series of posts is tentatively forthcoming on the three primary skills of futurists.)

Golden Compass Part 4-Differentiation of Cultural Trends. I study extensive culture crud systems of related products on the same topic to differentiate between aspects that are fly-by-night fads, versus short-term trends, versus long-term drivers of social change. This differentiation of trends is a basic tool that futurists use to surmise the emerging directions of anything from businesses to social groups to civilizations. This post also gives a futurist’s perspective on cultural trends resident in The Golden Compass, with its shifts toward: imaginative genres, epic-length stories and experience-related identity groups, and movies motivated by spiritualities and philosophies.

Paradigm Transition-Do We Have Just 25 Years to Do This? In my view, a paradigm shift and cultural systems transformation are both needed and possible. With the last wave of Boomers due to retire in 2031, if a church has not yet transitioned to younger generations of leaders by then, they will be in deep trouble. (If a church is missional, its paradigm will inherently lead toward intergenerational mentoring and leadership development, so this is not likely to be such a problem as in conventional/institutional models of church.) The post addresses preparing for our futures (plural), and offers a case study from The City of Ember series to explore what next generations will take as givens, culturally,

Thoughts on Brother Maynard’s Post on “Institutions vs. Collaboration.” A riff on a portion of Brother Maynard’s post about “Institutions vs. Collaboration,” in which he refers to the five stages (or layers) of grief identified by Dr. Elizabeth Kübler-Ross: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. I apply this framework to my observations of different types of leaders, especially in conventional/institutional models of church, who are in different frames of being in relation to facing the realities of organizational transition and the grieving that goes with it. I also suggest specific ways to help church leaders move toward acceptance of the death of the Traditional (Builder generation) and Pragmatic (Boomer) paradigms, and the transference of church legacy to those of Holistic (Buster and beyond) paradigms. The final section of the post offers a litmus test question to help leaders consider whether they truly are in acceptance mode about working on transition, or just enamored of the “idea” of transition. It ends with some powerful quotes on risk and relinquishment, from two cultural creative leaders in each of Western and tribal perspectives.

Predictions from 2007 on Church, Ministry, and Emergence. Gives a one-paragraph description of nine “predictions” of unfolding cultural trends. I wrote this article in July 2007 to share with a doctoral cohort in their course on Emerging Cultural Trends. I served at that seminar as their culturologist “practitioner in residence.” My extrapolations of underlying trends address issues on: collaborative governance in churches, team-based ministry, the limited overlap period with both conventional and holistic paradigms, eco-stewardship, how conflict clarifies paradigms and theologies, theological “defragging” and changing “platforms,” emerging ministry roles, how whole-person perspectives will become indigenous, and mentoring innovators.

Glocal Christianity and “Christian Cybernauts.” A response to Matt Stone’s post on Tom Sine’s perspective of four streams of emergence: Emerging, Missional, Mosaic (multicultural), and Monastic. Matt focuses on the Mosaic approach for where he lives, Australia, which is not a “de-churched” nation because it never ever was a “churched” nation. Also, Matt’s particular neighborhood is highly multicultural, with representatives from numerous people groups worldwide. I pick up on the concept of “global + local = glocal” as I have seen it developed over the past 10 years, and share one of the scenarios I produced in 1998 on what I thought seminary students could look like in the year 2010. (This was part of my final assignment in a one-week intensive training on strategic foresight/futurist skills.) Ten years ago, I didn’t have the words to identify what these “Christian cybernauts” would look like. Now I would describe them as holistic paradigm, missional, everyday disciples who are learner-leaders in Kingdom enterprises. I also share three resources that would be of interest to those exploring the meaning and practices of “glocal” Christianity.

MISSIONAL AND MISSIONAL ORDERS/ ALLELON

SUBCATEGORY SUMMARY: Profiles and critiques of the missional paradigm and its various layers, explorations of missional orders as a way of pursuing spiritual formation within that paradigm, and roles discipleship plays in this paradigm.

Seabeck Summit: Diversity and Dynamic Tensions. If you have seen me quoted in various books, you’ll know that I’m generally a “cautionary critic.” I just seem “wired” to analyze things at a comprehensive level, discern current patterns, and extrapolate trends out into future possibilities. So, I am not trying to be negative, rather, to be as realistic and constructive as possible by reporting on what I’m wrestling with in this or that situation. In this extensive first post on the Allelon Missional Order meeting held in mid-October 2007, I offered my comments as evidence of what could be important concerns for the future direction of the Missional Order. At the least, they are issues to consider, in my opinion. I explore three issues of dynamic tension which made me uneasy:

Letting the Holy Spirit unfold situations AND being intentional in our shaping of things. The advertising and structuring seemed too far on the Holy-Spirit-unfolding side of the paradox. I had to wonder if the cultural composition of the gathering would have been different, had there been more intentional invitations to increase the diversity.
Self AND other, as in exclusivity or inclusivity. This issue was seen in what I interpret as a significant lack of diversity (and I do not seek that simply to be “politically correct”). Of the 40 official participants, all were Caucasian, there were 35 men and 5 women, and of the 35 men only 5 were age 40 or under. Although there was a broad range of denominational affiliations and theological perspectives represented, it seemed there was a substantially Celtic influence in spiritual practices presented.
Creating a new culture AND transforming an existing culture. I have a background in working on teams to plant churches and pioneer new ministries and networks. So, I am used to considering what is implanted at the outset of something new. I was uneasy about the “spiritual DNA” being planted in this first set of Missional Order meetings, and what difficulties that could mean for the future if some of the gaps were not filled in soon.

Missional Order Reflections, Two Weeks Out. This post rebalances some of the previous concerns, and raises a few additional issues to consider:

The role blogging has played in cementing many participants together … but also, 15 of the 40 participants were blogging, and to that date, it appeared that only 2 of the 15 were women and none of the 15 were men under the age of 40, which limits the possibilities of developing continued relational connection.
Though almost everyone at the Missional Order meetings were paid clergy or high-level volunteer ministers, there was a diversity at a different level that I didn’t realize. We included those whose giftings/roles were: theologians, practitioners, culturologists, and ministry strategists. That’s important because those roles typically represent very different information processing styles, and a broad composite of ways to think about things helps make sure you cover issues more comprehensively.
It is not clear yet whether the Allelon Missional Order has anything distinct to offer from the Northumbria Order – other than perhaps being based in North America instead of the UK. This could become a critical stewardship issue: If there are few distinctives between the two orders, why invest in something new instead of joining in with what already exists?
The process of “dwelling in the Word” seems fine to me, but I do find the practice problematic if we only use Luke 10, and use it repeatedly. That makes it almost like some “missional mantra,” and we should expect that this would lead to a theological and praxological overfocus. For instance, by using this or any other a passage from the Gospels exclusively to encapsulate a missional-incarnational paradigm, then “dwelling in the Word” may not take into account some of the post-resurrection realities of following Christ and actually skew our practices.
I’m not a fan of the typical (mis)translation or misuse of misseo dei as THE (singular) mission of God. I believe that perspective comes from too small an integration point for our theology. (And to understand that statement, you’ll need to read the culturology tutorial about paradigm systems.) In my opinion, theodicy and narrative theology make for a larger and therefore better overall perspective that includes multiple missions that God has.

Culturologists versus Philosophists? Culturology versus Philosophy? A culturologist perspective is that cultural change drives the production of new philosophies. This is based on finding systems patterns in a dataset of concrete experiences. A philosophist perspective is that philosophical changes drive the production of new cultures or cultural changes. This is based on assuming the primacy of the abstract world of thought over the concrete world of experience. The culturologist’s approach to cultural interpretation and social transformation is more in tune with the ascending world culture and global Christianity. The philosophist’s approach is more in tune with the declining Western culture and Christendom. This critical difference helps explain some of the conflict between the missional-incarnational-contextual paradigm and the conventional-attractional-universal pardigm as to what constitutes appropriate strategies and structures for churches in our era.

More Thoughts on Culturologists versus Philosophists. This post picks up a relevant quote on the inherent paradigm clash between culturologists and philosophists. It expands on other issues of church structures and functions that definitely seem to suggest a manifestation of this conflict, such as attempts at church “paradigm shifts,” and the problematic church-within-a-church phenomenon of the past 10 years. The questions in the Do-It-Yourself Section imply other areas where this issue may be at work.

Missional Synchroblog. This post links to the original call for a Missional SynchroBlog by Rick Meigs of The Blind Beggar and Friends of Missional blogs. It copies Rick’s original post, and lists links for the 50 official synchrobloggers.

Paradigm Profiling in The Missional Zone Part 1-Missional SynchroBlog Post. The overall topic of the Missional SynchroBlog was, “What is missional?” The SynchroBlog came about in part in response to misapplication of the term missional, perhaps because it is a new buzzword, or genuine misunderstanding of how a missional paradigm and perspective differs from conventional approaches to evangelism, discipleship, and missions. My post gives a very extensive introduction to how to profile a paradigm. I chose this topic to help explain how the missional perspective inherently arises from a holistic set of assumptions. So, perspectives and methodological models that are not from a holistic paradigm cannot be missional … although it is possible to mimic missional at least for a while, thought that won’t be sustainable unless there is movement toward adopting an underlying holistic paradigm. I offer a seven-layer model of paradigm analysis, numerous techniques for interpreting the results, and a case study in the Tessera Learning Trail as a representative of a holistic paradigm and missional methodological model. I conclude with a do-it-yourself section for readers to discern what kinds of models that may be CLAIMED as missional but in fact ARE NOT, what models are NOT NECESSARILY missional, and how could missional models BECOME MORE HOLISTIC. The do-it-yourself section provided the basis for a series of follow-up posts on Paradigm Profiling in The Missional Zone.

Forthcoming Post on September 22: Leadership in This Current Era. In his post of August 27, 2008, Brother Maynard addressed how to reinterpret the leadership and theological fallout after the Lakeland Outpouring crumbled. He encouraged bloggers to take time to reflect on what leadership could/should look like in this post-Lakeland era, and to post their thoughts in September. Although I am not Charismatic/Pentecostal in my background or theology, I had become deeply concerned about what I discerned as imbalances and lack of integrity with leaders involved at and around Lakeland. I felt it was important to do something constructive to show support for my post-Charismatic/Pentecostal friends and see what lessons could apply to larger Kingdom purposes. So, I gave some initial thoughts about the lack of “spiritual fathering” that I had discerned in the difficulties of events surrounding Lakeland, and mentioned my plans to post more on September 22nd – a date chosen because it is the birthday of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins from The Lord of the Rings, an apt date for addressing concepts in spiritual fathering like self-sacrifice and perseverance and advocacy.

Spontaneous Synchroblog on “Is Interfaith Interfaith enough?” I posted this article on “Quakers Crack the Caricatures” in support of Virtual Abbey member Matt Stone’s post on issues of interfaith dialogue (read his post for the singular meaning of the double wording). I was involved in an “Interreligion Discussion Group” (the group’s actual title) in the mid-1990s. So, the concept of interfaith dialogue is not new to me, though it’s still got way more nuance than I have yet perceived or practiced. Perhaps this article, which I wrote in 1995, will shed a little missional light on the realities of living in a pluralistic place where Christianity has not been or is no longer the dominant paradigm.

PARADIGM PROFILING

SUBCATEGORY SUMMARY: Descriptions and applications for using a paradigm approach to profiling a culture, ecclesiological model for being/doing church, or lifestyle. These are based on analyzing and interpreting a paradigm’s underlying information processing mode, critical values, guiding theological principles, operating systems (strategies, structures, and methodological model), and lifestyle practices.

Paradigm Profiling in The Missional Zone Part 2-What Makes “Mission” and “Missional” Different? This post shares my response to the request of my friend Dave for a one-sentence definition of missional. The best I could do was reduce the essence of missional down to a three-sentence version: “What makes mission and missional different? Mission requires ‘incursion’ – people commute into the community, and then return to their home turf when they are finished. Missional requires ‘incarnation’ – people root into the community, because that is their home and they never finish.”

Paradigm Profiling in The Missional Zone Part 3-Paradigm Parallax and Measuring Missional. Here I describe the culturology process I used to draw my conclusions on what is and is not “missional,” and what to do about the theoretical distance between them. I give some technical background first on some relevant mathematical modeling, then share a real-world apologetics story of “parallax” to illustrate the process. The post ends with a do-it-yourself section for evaluating what is missional and what is non-missional.

The following series focuses on paradigm analysis as applied to methodological models for being/doing church and how they relate (or don’t) to the holistic paradigm that supports missional models.

Paradigm Profiling in The Missional Zone Part 4A-Methodological Models That are NOT Missional. Gives an overview of my processes for constructing and for deconstructing paradigms. It then summarizes a seven-layer paradigm analysis for my claims that the Chaplain Pastor Model and the CEO/Manager Model of church leadership are inherently NOT missional. I conclude by reiterating that it’s about critiquing the methodological models, not about condemning the people involved, and by giving some technical background on information processing mode combinations – an essential feature in holistic collaborations or developing intercultural communities from multicultural representatives.

Paradigm Profiling in The Missional Zone Part 4B-The Staff-Led Church is Inherently NOT Missional. This post picks up on a few more ideas about the Chaplain and CEO/Manager models, mentions a computer metaphor that could help understand paradigm shifting, and then offers an analysis for why the Staff-Led Church is inherently not missional. This critique also presents an overview on two major educational models that should be kept in dynamic tension for holistic discipleship: andragogy and pedagogy.

Paradigm Profiling in The Missional Zone Part 4C-The Program-Based Church is Inherently NOT Missional. This post critiques the Program-Based Church as inherently not missional. The Program-Based model relies on the equivalent of imported “plug-and-play” projects, curricula, sermons, resources, etc., that are obtained from outsourced providers – and does not develop local/indigenous leaders or producers.

Forthcoming posts in “The Missional Zone” series will address reasons why the following methodological models are:

Inherently NOT missional: mega-church or multi-campus church; seeker model.
NOT NECESSARILY missional: church planting movements; relying solely on the leading of the Holy Spirit; a Gospel/New Testament church that does everything like Jesus and His disciples did.
MIGHT BE missional even if the leaders wouldn’t label it that: inner-city churches and ministries.

Why I Repudiate Marketing Models for Church and Mission, and Look for Cultural Production Instead. “Repudiate” sounds pretty harsh, yet I wouldn’t use such strong language unless I felt it was warranted. Here’s why I did it: I think one of the most important conclusions I’ve reached in the past five years is this: The culture we create reflects the image of a creative God who is our Creator. That’s not particularly surprising or stunning, but I do think this related question is: What quality in God’s image – His personhood or character – do consumerism and therefore marketing reflect? I cannot find a basis in God’s person or character for marketing models of church and mission – can you? – and this is one of those cases where “an argument from silence speaks loudly.” If it didn’t really matter, I wouldn’t bring it up. However, it does, so I did. And it’s not like I haven’t “been there, done that” myself, because I have. I’ve watched the implications inherent in such models play out in seeker-sensitive churches, church plants, churches in transition, evangelism programs, etc. etc. And it simply seemed like I was supposed to say something about it, and this is it – just one of many results from years of reflecting on why these models consistently seem to lead to lack of discipleship and spiritual immaturity …

PARADIGM SHIFTING

SUBCATEGORY SUMMARY: Principles for understanding human and organizational aspects in a current paradigm system. Key tasks and roles required for dramatic shifts of paradigm and culture (such as becoming contextual and countercultural).

Parallel Culture becoming Counterculture: The Transformative Art of “Making Do.” Gives a sparse introduction to the concept of “parallel culture,” typical of life under communism and other systems where one must obey the authorities in public (or risk imprisonment or worse) but you can live your own parallel life in private. Refers to the wonderful book Grey is the Color of Hope by Irina Ratushinskaya, which is the diary of her first year spent in a Soviet political prisoner camp for human rights activism.

Key Transitions in Church Systems in the Next 10-15 Years. In September 2007, I was asked for input on what I thought will emerge as key transitions in the next 10-15 years for church systems in the areas of worship, membership, stewardship, and communications. This post is the essay I wrote in response to that invitation. Since the time I blogged it, it has remained the most frequently viewed post. It includes what I consider to be a critically important statement on paradigm differences and the development of trust:

With these paradigm assumptions in mind [i.e., of Robert Webber's distinctives between Traditional, Pragmatic, and Younger (Holistic) Evangelicals] if I were required to boil down the ongoing paradigm shift to just one critical issue, here is what I would choose: The locus and the focus of trust. I realize that seems like two or three things, but it is ultimately one issue: TRUST. The locus of leadership is shifting from professionals to participants, and the focus is shifting from authority to authorization. Power has traditionally been in the hands of the paid church leaders, and their decisions needed to be implemented loyally in deference to their positions of authority. Power is now in the hands of participants, who authorize influence to institutional leaders based on maintaining a relationship of trust. This means participants may well not continue their involvement if trust is not established after a reasonable period of relating, or if it is broken and not mended. Thus, I would urge leaders to review all “systems issues” and “church service styles” in light of TRUST. If mutual trust is not the core of bridging generations and paradigms, then the legacy of the Traditionals and Pragmatics will not be sustained, even with well-intentioned “tweaks” of programs and structures in order to seem more Holistic-friendly.

Paradigm Shifting in The Dual Cultures/Dueling Cultures Zone Part 1-Introduction. I wrote this post in response to a review by Tony Sundermeier of The Missional Leader. The overall question addressed is how to conduct a paradigm shift successfully. How do we change our underlying assumptions, not just our surface functions, in order to poise our church or ministry or agency for a more culturally-sustainable future? First I respond to some of the questions and concepts that Tony talks about – like a five-step Missional Change Model – and then present my own understandings of trajectories for change, a five-part process for transition and contextualization, and four paradoxes in accomplishing a paradigm shift. This post introduce an eventual series on how to conduct a paradigm shift in the midst of two conflicting paradigms with their radically different cultural manifestations in both church and society. If we cannot resolve the problem of “dual cultures,” we can be assured of the ongoing presence of “dueling cultures.” I have witnessed this dilemma in church transitions over a number of years, and have some idea of how difficult it is to resolve …

PARADOX

SUBCATEGORY SUMMARY: Dimensions of keeping polarities in a both/and dynamic tension with each other instead of splitting them and picking either one or the other.

Living with Both/And Tensions in an Either/Or World: Quotes from Klyne Snodgrass. I have yet to find anyone who has given a more vivid word picture of the difference between either/or reductionistic thinking and both/and paradoxical thinking. If you ever find a copy of his book, Between Two Truths: Living with Biblical Tensions, nab it quick!

Interview: My Ministry, Cultural Issues, and Relevance. Insights into my paradigm/cultural background, what kinds of cultural issues I face personally and the churches/ministries I’m associated with face corporately, disconnects between my experience of Jesus and general church culture, reasons for cultural irrelevance that are typical of American churches, challenges and changes for living out faith in our culture, and bright spots of hope.

THEOLOGICAL RECONSTRUCTION

SUBCATEGORY SUMMARY: Ways of conducting a complete “defrag” and “platform upgrade” of our theological systems from a revised paradigm, instead of just continuing to treat new theological propositions as add-on patches and temporary fixes for leaks in our current theological wineskin.

Pushback and Pushforward on Ortho-Vennography. In a response to a post by Alan Hirsch, I argue that his view of biblical epistemology would be more comprehensive if he expanded his set of three concepts (orthodoxy/right beliefs, orthopraxy/right actions, and orthopathy/right feelings) to five (adding imagination and aesthetic feeling). My framework of five is based on an important quote from a now-mostly-forgotten preacher-theologian-author, A.J. Gossip (1873-1954). Gossip stated, “A basic trouble is that most Churches limit themselves unnecessarily by addressing their message almost exclusively to those who are open to religious impression through the intellect, whereas … there are at least four other gateways – the emotions, the imagination, the aesthetic feeling, and the will – through which they can be reached.” If we are to connect with people in the ways that God has providentially “wired” them to process information, we MUST consider the full range of learning styles He has created us with.

Update: Ortho-Anything?! This post links to a comment I made on Peggy’s [The Virtual Abbess] blog. In that comment, I express my queasiness at the whole use of “ortho-” as a prefix, and my wonderings about the potential traps of talking about things like “right feelings.”

The Core Strength of Emergence. My responses to two questions posted on Scot McNight’s Jesus Creed blog, seeking input on what you consider to be the strengths of the emerging/emergent movement, and what you would want to share with other pastors about this movement. Basically, its strength lies in systems thinking at the deepest level, which constructs the entire character of its paradigm in ways that conflict significantly with the convention/traditional Christendom paradigm – which is part of what makes it difficult to dialog across the divide.

TOXICITY VERSUS SUSTAINABILITY

SUBCATEGORY SUMMARY: Studies from a systems/organic approach into potentially poisonous aspects inherent in theologies, cultures, methodological models for being/doing church, and lifestyles that stunt growth or otherwise decrease the long-term viability of ourselves and/or our social groups.

See the section on Recovery from Spiritual Abuse in the PERSONAL FORMATION Category. Also see the Section on Paradigm Shifting and the series on Paradigm Profiling in The Missional Zone Part 4, for insights on methodological models that are claimed to be missional but are NOT, and why their paradigm will not sustain them.

Culturology Case Studies

CATEGORY SUMMARY: Observations, interdisciplinary analysis, and interpretations of specific cultures, media, or methods and their underlying paradigm.

THE GOLDEN COMPASS

SUBCATEGORY SUMMARY: Analysis and interpretation of concepts from Philip Pullman’s *His Dark Materials* book trilogy, focusing on *The Golden Compass* and its film adaptation, along with such related secondary sources as theatre and film memorabilia and works of literary criticism.

Summary: This series blends principles for examining and evaluating concrete media systems (e.g., film, games, trading cards, toys) with a case study on The Golden Compass, which demonstrates the potential influences of media on people’s values, worldview, and behaviors. Most posts contain a do-it-yourself section so readers can consider practical how-to’s of applying the principles given.

Golden Compass Part 1-Personal Introduction gives the background story behind my interest in Philip Pullman’s trilogy, His Dark Materials, and what was then the forthcoming first film, The Golden Compass. It also includes a number of preliminary study questions I devised from my initial research into the book trilogy and the film.

Golden Compass Part 2-Covert Assumption Absorption (Hidden Curriculum). I study individual “culture crud” items to find case studies in “hidden curriculum.” Every consumable these days has a built-in agenda and unavoidable consequences. Even if these are buried within the product and ingested unknowingly, they still have an influence.

Golden Compass Part 3-Learning Style Accommodations. I study clusters of related culture crud items to find diverse ways of appealing to people from different learning styles and/or cultural backgrounds. The more diverse ways that anyone uses to seek to capture the hearts and minds of others, the more hearts and minds are likely to be captured.

Golden Compass Part 5-How to Conduct a Cultural Case Study, including collecting and examining primary materials (i.e., those directly produced by the originator of the concept or the music or the story or whatever), and secondary sources (i.e., adapted products such as “spin-off” and “tie-in” products, interviews and media articles, and different critical and popular responses to the original product).

Golden Compass Part 6 (forthcoming). Tentatively, I will give a culturological review of The Golden Compass film, plus provide do-it-yourself project guides for examining several of the most controversial aspects of Philip Pullman’s trilogy, including how he in the original book and his concrete media adaptors in their film, book, game, and toy versions frame such important issues as: truth, deception, destiny, fate, and auguring with the Alethiometer; power, the soul, and “familiars” with daemons, and abuse of power, fundamentalism, and authoritarianism with The Magisterium.

KINGDOM LEADERSHIP AFTER LAKELAND

SUBCATEGORY SUMMARY: Series seeking to: (1) Make sense of the public lapses in leadership and discernment in the 2008 “Lakeland Outpouring.” (2) Interpret the implications of Lakeland for constructive movement forward, which includes taking responsibility for past failures and working toward prevention of failure in the future. (3) Profile what healthy/sustainable leadership should look like in emerging cultures.

Here are links to posts in the series on Kingdom Leadership After Lakeland. In general, I will not provide summaries for each post … this is a case where I don’t want to give “spoilers.” If you are viewing this series as a case study, it is more appropriate to immerse yourself in the text as it appears rather than get too much of an overview first from looking at summaries. Also, for maximum benefit in sifting through the evidence and conclusions, I would recommend going through the posts in Taxonomies of Emergence Parts 1-5 so you see my perspective on research observation, analysis, and interpretation.

Kingdom Leadership After Lakeland Part 1-Discernment and the Costly Descent into Darkness.

Kingdom Leadership After Lakeland Part 2-Considering Various Sources …

Kingdom Leadership After Lakeland Part 3-Seven Critical Lapses in Leadership and an Appeal to Own Our Responsibilities.

Kingdom Leadership After Lakeland Part 3-Addendum #1: Notes, Quotes, and Questions on Reconstructing Authority.

Kingdom Leadership After Lakeland Part 3-Addendum #2: Reconstructing Ministry Systems-Six Trends toward Systems Solutions.

Kingdom Leadership After Lakeland Part 3-Addendum #3: Reconstructing Ministry Systems-When Churches are Like Leaky Ships, How Do We Fix the Boat?

Kingdom Leadership After Lakeland Part 3-Addendum #4: Reconstructing Ministry Systems-How Do We Fix a Leaky Boat, and Who Can Best Lead in Doing So?

Reintroducing Prospectorium-Four Kinds of Kingdom Workers in the Emerging Cultural Era (2000). The original version of this article was a 400-500 word comment I wrote in January 1999 on the essence of postmodern leadership for book by church consultant Bill Easum. Bill’s book was eventually published by Abingdon in August 2000: Leadership on the Other Side: No Rules, Just Clues. From there, I expanded it, add an introduction in 2001, and a reintroduction commentary in 2005. That was the year I posted it on Prospectorium, one of my previous futuristguy clusterblogs on INKNOISE (which, sadly, has disappeared from the techorizon). Prospectorium was for posting articles that contained seed ideas that I continue to revisit. So, instead of just re-editing an article, why not add commentary over time to “externalize” my thinking process and show how the ideas became discarded, developed, or delighted in over time. Prospectorium articles now appear on my RADOXODAR blog. The four kinds of workers are (1) moderns, who have to work in the postmodern world crossculturally, (2) postmoderns, who function in indigenous ministry mode, (3) biculturals, who bridge the paradigms of the other two, and (4) “platformers,” who are more biblically holistic in paradigm and culture. (These days, I would call platformers “interpolators.”) For each kind of worker, I list what I see as their biggest challenges and best opportunities. The commentary addresses the analogy of computer platforms, intercultural disciples, multiplied ministry, and trajectory.

TAXONOMIES OF EMERGENCE

SUBCATEGORY SUMMARY: Exploration into the range of paradigms, cultures, and movements on the growing edges of Western/global civilizations, and how groups in both Christendom and post-Christendom paradigm respond to these radical changes.

Summary: We use taxonomies or typologies – systems of categorizing – in order to organize information in meaningful ways. If we did not create taxonomies, we would go into information overload. Creating a taxonomy of categories is tough work. To find an elegant solution to sorting out all relevant data for a question requires sufficient familiarity with the particular field. Plus you have to ensure that you have a representative pool of cases to work with. Then you have to detail the case studies, analyze them, and interpret them from multiple perspectives. So I don’t take it lightly when I feel the need to present a critique of the process, and here is the essence of it: Those of us who have put together a taxonomy for the emergence phenomena don’t always unveil the assumptions we used to do our research, or make clear the questions we asked to catalyze our categories.

Also, here are several relevant questions I’ve been pondering lately: Have we oversimplified our taxonomies for talking about the “emerging church” movement, and need more categories in order to be both accurate and comprehensive? And even if the current typologies are relatively accurate, are they close enough to the actual edges of emerging culture to predict and/or explain whatever emerges next? I suppose I wouldn’t be asking the questions in these ways if I didn’t already sense the answers were “yes” to the first question and “no” to the second. Which raises a third question: Is there a system that can correct both of these problems I’ve perceived? (And actually, the third answer fuels the passion that energizes me to bother blogging about stuff like this in the first place!)

Taxonomies Part 1-Where Do We Fit? suggests two main problems that we intercultural people (and perhaps other groups) likely find in attempting to fit ourselves into any proposed taxonomy system of “emerging.” First, we may not really find our own situation in ANY of the proposed categories. Second, we may not really fit into any one of the proposed categories alone, because we actually fit into MANY (or all) categories simultaneously. (For more about “intercultural people,” see my page on Interpolators.)

Taxonomies Part 2-Key Problems, Important Possibilities goes another layer or two deeper into detail on a system of “Observe, Analyze, and Interpret” that can be used for do-it-yourselfers who feel ready to give it a try on their own home turf. It also suggests the kinds of issues we need to research in order to create categories.

Taxonomies Part 3-Tutorial and D-I-Y on Observation gives a tutorial on how to observe, as part of the process of creating your own taxonomy of emergence. It also considers the use of taxonomies in “predicting” future observations and experiences, based on extrapolation of evidence observed in the past.

Taxonomies Part 4-Tutorial on Analysis gives some general guidelines for how to conduct analysis and interpretation, once you’ve done enough observation. Its tutorial isn’t meant to be all encompassing, just to give some key concepts for research, especially dealing with the process of catalyzing categories.

Taxonomies Part 5 – Tutorial on Interpretation. This post concludes a series of research tutorials on observation, analysis, and interpretation. It addresses the flow among these three dimensions of research, and explores interpretation as a requiring constant recalibration. In other words, we should hold our theories lightly because if we are independent thinkers, we will continue to question our conclusions and develop our discernment. The post also describes three community-oriented practices for discerning directions that are plausible and making decisions that are preferable and sustainable.

Is There An Emerging Systematic Theology? A Response to Brother Maynard. Brother Maynard asks, “Is There An Emerging Systematic Theology? Or is that an oxymoron?” This post is my response – a sardonic look at “Emerging systematic theology” and exploration of it as ironic, but NOT as an oxymoron. That is because “emerging” basically takes only incremental steps away from conventional systematic approaches to doing theology. Which means it’s not really a new paradigm, it’s a tweak-off from the old. “I know many people are super-serious about it all, but sometimes I just find myself chuckling at the mishmash mess of it all, but less than at my own terrible attempts at malaprops and mixed metaphors in this commentary!”

(LAUNCHING THE) TESSERA “LEARNING TRAIL”

SUBCATEGORY SUMMARY: Story of a decentralized network for creative missional start-up of holistic Kingdom enterprises – contextual ministries, micro-businesses, entrepreneurial talent training, and social transformation movements.

Quote: If you’re looking for a decentralized network model for creative missional start-up of holistic Kingdom enterprises – contextual ministries, micro-businesses, social transformation movements – the Tessera Learning Trail has one of the best track records I’m aware of.

Tessera Part 1 gives background on the missional DNA and relational network of what eventually became the Tessera Learning Trail; a snapshot of the Trail’s development, taken from the [in]famous post-WabiSabi hot story; and background from Doxa-Qeren on the eventual Values and Vision statement.

Tessera Part 2 fast-forwards from the WabiSabi story of 2003 through the history leading up to a summit held in Houston in the autumn of 2006. It was here that nearly 30 people focused on discerning whether to formalize the Training Trail, and if so, what it could look like and how to do it. This post also demonstrates from both network demographics and its Values and Vision statement how this group was already distinct culturally from others within the “emerging” framework.

Tessera Part 3 (forthcoming). The intention for the next post in the series is to bring things up to the present, and offer some analysis on how the cultural backgrounds, infrastructures of this network, and multiplication strategies tend to differ from the usual approaches to emerging/missional matters.

WILLOW CREEK REVEAL

SUBCATEGORY SUMMARY: Case study in paradigm profiling, using the “seeker-sensitive model” for being/doing church. Includes a review of the Pragmatic Paradigm (marketing-based) research methodologies used in Willow Creek’s *Reveal* self-study, and offers responses from a Holistic Paradigm (culture-creating) research approach.

Quote: “Brad Sargent is “Preparing my own self-study on Willow Creek and Reveal.” I look forward to seeing it – his announcement of intent to study is more thorough than many people’s entire consideration of the subject.” – Brother Maynard, Random Acts of Linkage #40, December 22, 2007.

REVEAL Part 1-Preparing My Own Self-Study on Willow Creek and REVEAL. This post offers my extensive series of questions for preparing to examine Willow Creek’s REVEAL self-study. For me, the key issue is not consumeristic Christian culture, it’s the clash of paradigm systems that underlying various methodological models of “being/doing church.” So, my analysis will be based on evaluating the paradigm and cultural systems that are both assumed and explicit in the REVEAL report. Because of radical changes globally in the dominant paradigm/cultural systems, we as Christians need to understand the times so we can contextualize our methodological model – without giving in (syncretizing) to anti-biblical principles and values in local cultures and while being countercultural without becoming isolated from local cultures. In these endeavors, we cannot leave the task of critical thinking to others; if we are leaders of churches, we are responsible to observe, analyze, and interpret our own cultural context and respond with appropriate contextualization. Leaving all the critical analysis to others and simply importing a model that apparently worked elsewhere is not just inappropriate, it may prove toxic. And so, the REVEAL study warrants a careful look, while acknowledging the courage of Willow Creek leaders to engage in a self-study in an attempt to evaluate the results of their strategies, structures, and methodological model.

REVEAL Part 2-Externalizing My Probable Willow Creek REVEAL Study Plan. This post represents a stream-of-consciousness approach to trying to “externalize” my thinking process on why I see certain things as of critical importance in what I examine during my own REVEAL study. It includes a list of issues that a thorough analysis should include, from my perspective as a paradigm/cultural systems analyst and futurist:

Content analysis and concrete analysis.
Concepts
Context
Consequences
Consistencies
Conduct

REVEAL Part 3 mini-series (in process as “Ambles through Willow Creek’s Reveal”). This mini-series goes through the Willow Creek REVEAL book chapter by chapter, using a “paradigm and cultural systems analysis” to address points about the deepest level information processing styles apparently used by its authors and advocates, as well as their critical values, theology/philosophy, strategies, structures, and methodological model for “being/doing church.” For these posts to make the most sense, I’d suggest reading the series on Taxonomies of Emergence, Parts 1-5, so you have a chance to go through tutorials on the processes of observation, analysis, and interpretation. Here are links to the “Ambles” posts, which are perhaps best read alongside or after you read the related portion of the REVEAL book. There are no summaries for these posts … this is a case where I don’t want to give “spoilers.”

Ambles through Willow Creek’s Reveal Part 1-Preamble.

Ambles through Willow Creek’s Reveal Part 2-Foreword, Preview, Back Cover.

Ambles through Willow Creek’s Reveal Part 3-Where Are You?

Ambles through Willow Creek’s Reveal Part 3 Addendum-Assessing Ministry in Emerging Cultures.

Ambles through Willow Creek’s Reveal Part 4-Are You Really Making a Difference?

Forthcoming posts will cover these parts of the REVEAL book:

What Happened When Willow Asked, “Where Are We?”
What Did We Discover?
So What Can You Do Now?
Afterword: Where Are You?
Appendices

Personal Formation

CATEGORY SUMMARY: Key conceptual frameworks for interpreting personal formation and principles for moving toward increasing Christlike transformation in character, relationships, and perspectives.

AUTHENTIC HOPE AND WHOLENESS

SUBCATEGORY SUMMARY: Descriptions and applications of Dr. Kathy Koch’s framework of five core needs for personal growth: security, identity, belonging, purpose, and competence.

Concrete Media Systems-The Golden Compass Part 3-Learning Style Accommodations. I study clusters of related culture crud items to find diverse ways of appealing to people from different learning styles and/or cultural backgrounds. The more diverse ways that anyone uses to seek to capture the hearts and minds of others, the more hearts and minds are likely to be captured.

Recovery from Spiritual Abuse Part 3A-Finding Authentic Hope and Wholeness. Summary forthcoming.

Recovery from Spiritual Abuse Part 3B-Content Overview and Film Studies. Summary forthcoming.

LEARNING STYLES

SUBCATEGORY SUMMARY: Different aspects of information processing modes that directly affect the ways we perceive the world around us by observing, analyzing, and interpreting – and how these can help or hinder us in the transformation process.

Preview: Interpret/Profile, Mentor, Transform. Some basic concepts behind “listening” to an individual or culture, in order to discern their current status, trajectory, and possibilities. This post also gives brief descriptions for moving toward full Kingdom culture by scraping off excesses (i.e., removing cultural syncretism that go against biblical principles) and filling in gaps (i.e., applying “spiritual spackle” of what God says we need that we don’t yet have on our radar or in our lives). It compares and contrasts teaching/learning approaches based in pedagogy versus andragogy, and suggests the need to hold these two in dynamic tension if we want to catalyze transformation.

Externalizing involves putting forth our thinking process intentionally. It includes – as best we can bring them to the surface – laying out our questions, our assumptions, and our changes in thinking as we go through the research process of observation, analysis, and interpretation (Willow Creek REVEAL Part 2).

Culturologists versus Philosophists? Culturology versus Philosophy? A culturologist perspective is that cultural change drives the production of new philosophies. This is based on finding systems patterns in a dataset of concrete experiences. A philosophist perspective is that philosophical changes drive the production of new cultures or cultural changes. This is based on assuming the primacy of the abstract world of thought over the concrete world of experience. The culturologist’s approach to cultural interpretation and social transformation is more in tune with the ascending world culture and global Christianity. The philosophist’s approach is more in tune with the declining Western culture and Christendom. This critical difference helps explain some of the conflict between the missional-incarnational-contextual paradigm and the conventional-attractional-universal paradigm as to what constitutes appropriate strategies and structures for churches in our era.

POLYMATHOLOGY

SUBCATEGORY SUMMARY: Profiles polymaths – those integrative, interdisciplinary, interpolator people who are culturally fluid and so can relate with almost anyone anywhere, which leads to feeling like they fit with no one and nowhere.

Polymathology – Welcome to my world … A definition and description for what polymaths are all about and what makes them far far different from how most people are “wired” to process information. Includes several quotes about polymaths and their interdisciplinary, philosophical (but not philosophist) nature.

RECOVERY FROM SPIRITUAL ABUSE

SUBCATEGORY SUMMARY: Profiles human and organizational aspects in systems of abuse, suggests their source problems, and leads survivors toward constructive personal and institutional responses.

I supposed if I could determine all things for myself, I would never have undergone the difficult series of encounters I did with spiritually abusive leaders, unsustainable ministry structures, and toxic church systems. Who in their right mind would want to earn the equivalent of a Ph.D. in experiencing church toxicology? And yet, this area of unwanted expertise does have a redemptive side, as I have been finding out since some processing of the big-picture lessons learned. My intentional exercise in externalizing has involved connecting the dots of periodic abusive situations during the last 35 years. These have all occurred in theologically conservative churches and ministries that are evangelical, non-denominational, Baptist, and/or mildly charismatic. I’d thought a lot about specific instances before, but focused on discerning the overall patterns when I completed a survey in January 2008 for doctoral student Barb Orlowski’s D.Min. project on recovery from spiritual abuse.

This series is designed to have four parts, dealing with a range of personal and systems issues in toxicity versus sustainability.

Spiritual Abuse Part 1 addresses the five main personal lessons that have distilled themselves out of my experiences: (1) Do not enter or exit church relationships lightly. (2) Listen to my gut intuitions, and consider them carefully. (3) Do not protect toxic leaders, organizations, or people, or I am adding to their body count of traumatized victims. (4) Steward my life experiences and giftings as well as possible, considering that I am a subject of Jesus Christ, not of church leaders. (5) Healthy context, forward trajectory, and transformational hope are critical to sustaining my personal involvement in a church or ministry, so look for those before committing to deeper involvement.

Spiritual Abuse Part 2 mini-series overviews the five main criteria I now use to choose a healthy fellowship (governance, dealing with difference, sustainability, biblical church discipline, and theological similarity), and goes into extensive consideration of these criteria, especially how they show up in ministry systems.

Spiritual Abuse Part 2A overviews the five criteria and what healthy leadership looks like.
Spiritual Abuse Part 2B looks at learning discernment – interpreting the realities between appearance versus substance among leaders – illustrated by Pride and Prejudice.
Spiritual Abuse Part 2C considers the framework of intervention when toxic patterns are entrenched, interception for those at risk but before their abusiveness is too far confirmed, and prevention so future leaders will act in healthy ways and avoid toxicity. It also gives a bit more detail on each of the five critieria.
Spiritual abuse seems to be pervasive in the North American church, and many wounded disciples seek for resources on the internet. The Interlude post allowed readers to comment on issues they would like to see explored.
Spiritual Abuse Part 2D adds material on organizational cultural dynamics and governance. It gives a framework on monocultural, multicultural, and intercultural approaches to structuring an organization, and then analyzes potential church governance models in several three generational paradigms – Traditional (Builder), Pragmatic (Boomer), and Holistic (younger generations).
Spiritual Abuse Part 2E completes this section with a portrait of a healthy church that is intergenerational and intercultural, and also looks at the redemptive role of suffering in building leaders who leave a legacy.

Spiritual Abuse Part 3 mini-series (now in progress). This mini-series of posts will focus on personal elements in spiritual abuse versus healthy leadership, such as what background issues make some people more susceptible to being misused by leaders and some to become abusive leaders, and what makes for respectable leaders.

Spiritual Abuse Part 3A overviews the conceptual framework for healthy discipleship and personal transformation in the book, Finding Authentic Hope and Wholeness: Five Questions That Will Change Your Life, by Kathy Koch, Ph.D., of Celebrate Kids, Inc. It also lists tentative topics related to spiritual abuse susceptibility and/or recovery for each of the five elements in her framework – security, identity, belonging, purpose, and competence.

Recovery from Spiritual Abuse Part 3B-Content Overview and Film Studies. Summary forthcoming.

Recovery from Spiritual Abuse Part 3C-Power Addiction is Like Porn. Summary forthcoming.

Barb Orlowski Gives “Oral Defense” on Doctoral Report, October 2nd. Summary forthcoming.

Spiritual Abuse Part 4 (forthcoming) will focus on moving forward – coping and hoping – as we attempt to regain our bearings, overcome spiritual deflation from the barbs of abuse, and find a redemptive edge to experiences that no one should ever have to endure.

Resources

CATEGORY SUMMARY: Contains “reader alerts” that note significant new features, pages, or updates designed to make materials on this *futuristguy* blog more accessible and understandable.

Uncategorized

CATEGORY SUMMARY (now this is certainly an oxymoron!): A category I do not use, but cannot get rid of because it is the default … oh well …

Whatever Else

CATEGORY SUMMARY: Miscellaneous posts – often of a fun and/or intriguing nature – sometimes inspired by the requests of friends, sometimes by the situation of the moment.

BECAUSE FRIENDS ASKED – MEMES, FILMS, INTERVIEWS, SERIES

SUBCATEGORY SUMMARY: Mostly “memes” (playing “blog tag”) where I’m participating because friends old and new asked. Includes responses, lists, and occasional transcripts of an interview. Also notes when an entire series of posts in another category was catalyzed by a friend asking a question.

The category consists primarily of “memes” (playing “blog tag”) where I’m participating because friends old and new asked. It includes general memes, film memes, and the occasional transcript of an interview, or notes when an entire series of posts in another category was catalyzed when a friend asked a question. (For series of posts, see listings elsewhere in this Reader’s Guide to Futuristguy.

General Memes

Tag! I’m it! #1: The 10-20-30 Game: The Photo Album and Three Snapshots. What was happening with you 10, 20, and 30 years ago?

Tag! I’m it! #2: Caring, Compassion, and Charity. List and write about the top one or two causes that simply make your palms sweat, your heart bleed, and send tears rolling down your cheeks. Make sure you tell everyone why this cause is so important to you as an individual.

1-2-3 Meme. Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. Find page 123. Find the first 5 sentences. Post the next 3 sentences. Tag 5 people.

Meme-morial Day #2 – My Favorite Bible Book. It is HEBREWS, of course …

Film Memes

Top 10 Best Lines and Truisms from Some Movies I Kind of Sort of Like [N through Z].

More Top 10 Best Lines and Truisms from Some Movies I Kind of Sort of Like. [This time, A through M.]

Meme-morial Day #1 – Top 10 Movies.

Interviews

Specific Posts and Series

Blogging Once Again … for the third time. This is my third blog. I started this one at the request of the Allelon Missional Order gathering in Seattle in October 2007 as a way to keep connected with one another. However, no surprise to those who know me, this became something far more dense and intense (and hopefully fun on occasion!) than initially anticipated!

See also the series on Taxonomies of Emergence (whole series was begun because a friend asked).

Missional Synchroblog. Summary forthcoming.

Is There An Emerging Systematic Theology? A Response to Brother Maynard. Summary forthcoming.

Forthcoming Post on September 22: Leadership in This Current Era. Summary forthcoming.

Thoughts on Brother Maynard’s Post on “Institutions vs. Collaboration.” Summary forthcoming.

Five Ways Blogging Has Changed My Life. Summary forthcoming.