Thoughts on Emerging Pastors (my post off Ginkworld.net)

Hello everyone,
After just recently reading Dan Kimball's Emerging Worship and Eugene Peterson's new one, I have come to a couple of forward questions about pastors in the emerging culture. In the times of the megachurch and the consumerist culture, pastors were shepherds to the ministries. They were innovator's, developers, organizers and arrangers of the ministry to the building church. I wonder if there could be a new paradigm for the role of pastor, priest, minister, reverand or father. Dan Kimball suggested to allow the congregation to have more of an added role in the formation of the church. They could plan and lead the worship gatherings, outreach events, or any other modern pastor role. This was very exciting and unsettling at the same time and it wasn't because I knew I could be out of a job.
It was exciting because the fact the church could become a unified, communal and biblical church. The gathering could be led by numerous people at the same day all on their own. This would be any pastor's dream, but there is just something that kept on tugging at me. In this context there wouldn't be a need for any modern paid pastors, and that is accurate. What we need now is new kind of a pastor/a postmodern pastor. This is where I find the first snippets of this in Eugene Peterson's new book Subversive Spirituality. He explains that in the church he planted and pastored, he did not attend the elder meetings or anything along those lines. He hated doing this, and it gave freedom to members of the church to lead the church. He focused on what he was called to do, care for the spirituality of its members, providing the spiritual food for the people. He was not the head of the church, but just the one to help support the church. As I am writing this, I think wow what an exciting thought. Instead of being the head of the church, the pastor now has a role of being the spiritual servant to the church. I know throughout the 20th century the pastor being a servant was taught, but it was hardly practiced. Eugene Peterson showed an instance where the pastor's role is to really serve the church.
This is where I find a new beginning or paradigm for the pastor in the 21st century. The role is not necessary in the life of the church. Without the pastor, the church could still function and somewhat live. But the emerging church finds a pastor so that the pastor might be supported in his purpose from God.
The new pastor would be always in the thought of spiritual workings. He or she would study the history, methods, theology, and disciplines on spiritual matters. They would be like a professor at a college always working on the knowledge of their discipline. The professor would be continually learning, and growing in their given fields. In the same vein, the pastor will be always seeking to grow and learn in spiritual matters.
It is in this continual spiritual growth that pastors will be able to give back to the congregation that supports him or her. He can provide in the daily life spiritual counseling, leadership, and teaching. Also during the weekend gathering, he will be able to provide some spiritual guidance to the congregation.
This is where the old formula has changed. Before, churches paid pastors to lead the church in its walk. Now, churches will support the pastors in their pursuit in spiritual growth. Because of this, the pastor will be a servant to the church and will provide spiritual guidance to the church that supports him. He or she is now a servant guide...

Book Review "The Last Word and The Word After That"

I just finished reading McLaren's newest in the series. I am quite confused on where he comes out on the end about hell and eternality (new word if not allready), but other then that it was a great conclusion to a journey that has been one eye-opening experience for me. Whereas the other two books were thick with depth and loose on plot, this one became flipped around: thick on plot and little more loose in its theological depth.
Don't get me wrong here, it is still deep with insights, but done in a different fashion. The previous two were primarily based on the conversations, but the insights gained in this last one was through the lives of the characters and the plots throughout it all.
In the end, it is not as eye-opening as the first two books, but it gives a comforting conclusion. Through all of the deconstructing done in the first ones, I suppose it is important to end with one that could be a groundwork for future construction...
Whatever, it was an awesome read with a great story, I highly recommend it, now I have to go and re-read it..

The Darkness of God

Here is a song that I wrote. It is pretty self-explanatory: we are in a world where everything has been theoretically explained to the most minute detail. This is also including God, which must be above us. This was my plea to take me into the the darkness of life, where I cannot be sure of anything. I want to be in a place where I can only rest on having faith and hope in God, not knowing my surroundings. Of course, this will lead to extreme fears being unearthed...


Lord’s Darkness
Chorus
Lead me into your darkness
May I feel the night
Guide me to your mystery
that is beyond my sight

vs. 1
The city that I stay
lights up and all is seen
No shadows on the inside
florescent’s always beside

Gates surround the city
locks off any through
May I find an escape
from the lights masquerade

vs 2
Through a hole I crept outside
to an uncovered way of life
In this I walk with humility
but to the light I am now free

vs 3
In this newness that I stand
that lives inside Your ways
My knees become weak
this moment in your mystique

The routine background check

Well hello everyone and anyone who might accidently come across this brand knew blog. This is my first attempt at blogging, and I just have been getting into forums just recently. I suppose it is time to get the show on the road, and get started with my first post. It is pretty much the routine first blog so don't be expecting anything profound right now :).
What is the purpose of getting a blog for me? Well, I really don't know just yet. I suppose I just had to jump on the bandwagon with everyone else. There is no preconceived theme that is going to drive this blog, I will just let it evolve into what it will be. This is pretty much the reason why I decided to name it The freedom of Blues. I read in the book Blue like Jazz that the best and worst part about jazz music is that there is no resolve. Well I myself have always been a fan of Jazz and more specifically the roots of Blues, I had never stopped to realize that there really isn't any resolve in Jazz. Therefore, I decided to add the philosophy that I will live my life without worrying about the resolve at the end of the day. Oh boy, I can allready see the flames being thrown at me, how dare I call myself a Christian.
Anyway to get back on topic, originally what drew me to the Blues was the notion of improv. At any point in the song, the musician had the ability to add to the song wherever his heart and mind led him. There might be a prearranged flow, but it is the heart which leads the song. Because of this, the song will evolve into what it is supposed to be felt. This has always been the beauty of the Blues to me. I am just a white upperclass twenty-something year old from an old small town, so I might not know the pains that Robert Johnson felt, but I can enjoy the Blues for the fact it is driven by the moment and heart.
This is why I chose the title Freedom of Blues. I do not have any foundational thoughts on where it will end. Instead, I am giving it the opportunity to become what it will be through the heart of my posts. If you cannot stand chaos, clutter, or unorganized writing, then I would suggest finding another blog to read. The only thing I can tell you that will be consistent is that it will be a written representation of who I am. There will be weeks when I wont post, there will be oneline posts, there will be a essay worthy of a college paper, there will be poetry, there will be just mere questions and observations. This is the only thing I can say that it consistently will be, that it will be extremely inconsistent :)

And thats the end
Stephen