Contents: On commercial photography – An Eastertide sermon: “Seeing Jesus” – Blown away – Mountaineering – A fresh theology for mission – Divesting from fossil fuels? – A consultant for your church – Brian McLaren’s “mediatation” – An MM proverb
Dialog with Andreas, a commercial photographer
(4:00 min. video)
00:00 – Andreas Kuehn – what he photographs and what he likes
01:02 – Values he finds in his work 01:56 – He comments on the idea that values can’t be proved but we live by them 02:56 – Values he lives by and wants to pass on to his children 04.00 – Thanks, Andreas – let’s come again
“Seeing Jesus” – a sermon for Eastertide
by A. Wayne Schwab
From John 20:18 – Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “ I have seen the Lord.”
Seeing is one of the first ways we connect with the world around us. Seeing continues throughout our lives as central. We say “I see” when we mean we get it, we understand. What we see on television and in the movies has great impact. We have to be careful about what we look at and what our children and teens and we ourselves look at…
“I was looking up ‘missional church.’ I found your web site and was blown away by seven areas of daily life for mission. The information is so relevant that it has driven my desire to be more missional for the greater good of our church and those we are called to serve.” – Rev. Judy Johnson-Truitt, Roseboro, NC
A fresh theology for mission that might work for you
Is God on mission? If so, what for? And can we share in it? Can your church help? At www.membermission.org, see Basic Tool 1.
Kris and mountaineering – Dialog about a leisure-time mission
Starting when he was 20, Kris has been climbing as a hobby for four years. A recent climb was Mt. Shasta, 14,162 ft., in northern California, part of the Cascade Range. Its altitude called for time to become acclimated to it. Shasta was probably his most difficult climb. He did it in a day. Most do it in two days. Going up usually takes eight hours. He did it in four hours. While he had no partner there were a lot of people along his route who could help if needed. Reaching the top gave him a sense of freedom – the ability to do things, to break barriers. Raised a Catholic, he finds he is now growing psychologically and spiritually.
“I am doing it on my own and getting back into spirituality. I do believe in God – I just don’t quite know yet.”
mmn: “Is reaching the top a kind of spiritual experience?”
“I feel for it to be a spiritual experience you have to be spiritually connected.” “
mmn: “Is being spiritually connected being in touch with God?”
“Being connected with nature, the out of doors; being part of something that’s greater than yourself. Makes you feel insignificant and a moment of awe. What it’s like just can’t be comprehended.”
Time to Divest from the Fossil Fuel Industry?
Bill McKibben makes the case for divesting from industries based on fossil fuels in the The Christian Century of 1/2/13. Global warming is “the greatest problem human beings have ever faced. And if you had some sense that global warming was distant or abstract or safely in the future, 2012 should have convinced you otherwise,” he writes. Download the article for discussion groups and hand-outs.
A consultant for doing Member Mission
Churches need someone who will check in on them regularly as they put member mission resources to work. A regional consultant working with three to four churches could do it on a budget of about $10,000 per year. If you or someone you know could and might want to consider funding such consultation, let us know ASAP at 802-482-7743 or membermission@aol.com.
Brian McLaren’s Meditation
[During a Christian-Muslim dialog a few years ago] “. . . one Muslim scholar
came to the mike and he said, ‘We have heard brilliant lectures about the love of God and brilliant lectures about the justice of God, but no one has yet spoken of the beauty of God.’ Then he spoke for a few minutes about God and beauty and I can just tell you that, for those next few minutes, I forgot whether I was a Christian or a Muslim.” – Brian McLaren on Krista Tippett’s “On Being,”3/13/14
Building for the Future
Whom can you recommend for us to meet and begin to interest in member mission and consider a substantial gift of $5-10,000? Let us know at membermission@aol.com or 802-482-7743.
A Member Mission Proverb:
If you don’t teach it, they, probably, won’t reach it
Reach what?
Trying to live the mission everywhere Monday to Saturday.
Starting when he was 20, Kris has been climbing as a hobby for four years. A recent climb was Mt. Shasta, 14,162 ft., in northern California, part of the Cascade Range. Its altitude called for time to become acclimated to it. Shasta was probably his most difficult climb. He did it in a day. Most do it in two days. Going up usually takes eight hours. He did it in four hours. While he had no partner there were a lot of people along his route who could help if needed. Reaching the top gave him a sense of freedom – the ability to do things, to break barriers. Raised a Catholic, he finds he is now growing psychologically and spiritually.
[During a Christian-Muslim dialog a few years ago] “. . . one Muslim scholar