Monday and Tuesday I was in the mountains. In my life that has usually entailed either a plane flight or a road trip of monumental proportions. Now that I live in Rapid City, it was simply a 4 hour cruise to the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming!

Nate & Maria Lail, friends of mine from IWU, joined me for a late-in-the-season attempt on Cloud Peak. They proved to be solid hikers and wonderful company. At over 13,100 ft Cloud Peak is the highest mountain in the Bighorn Range. The summit sits 13 miles and over 4,000 ft higher than where we left our car. It was frigid; under 10 degrees at night and cold enough during the day that I was usually wearing several layers, gloves, and a hat even though I was steadily climbing. The final four miles to the summit (aka the really steep part) was all boulders! Not a trail walking amidst the boulders; rather a route taking you over seemingly a million boulders. It was grueling on the way up and down.

I know I'm odd, but somehow the freezing temperatures, the rugged terrain, the grueling climbs, long miles, and high altitudes all add up to an unforgettable adventure!

My favorite moments were actually on the way down. It had snowed off and on the second day out. Mostly just the little flurries that slightly tickle the end of your nose but otherwise don't really matter. But about an hour before sundown on Tuesday it really started to come down. Not the tickly flakes. These were the massive, wet flakes that stick to your nose, cheeks, and eyelashes until the next blink. The snowflakes fell straight to the ground as if God had measured each one with a level or maybe a plumb-line. Everything turned white save the backdrop of stately, forest green pine trees. Each one straining heavenwards as though trying to be the first one to catch the flakes. All the while giving off that fine smell that a Christmas tree simulates but only a mountain-side of pines does well. And I walked on with my hood down, so that I could catch every flake that the pines missed. Such beauty - seen, felt, and smelled - cannot be related in words.

To see a short slideshow of pictures click HERE.

An author I was recently reading put it this way, "The trouble with deep belief is that it costs something." I wrote "Wow!" in the sidebar.

In April I was sitting next to an atheist in a movie theater in Brisbane, Australia. We were watching Hotel Rwanda together. I couldn't believe the atrocities I was seeing. I mean, I could believe it but I couldn't. I didn't want to believe it. In the months leading up to this moment I had spent chunks of time in Azerbaijan, Bosnia, and Sri Lanka -- all places having experienced brutal civil war in the previous decade. I had walked through the genocide museums in Cambodia and seen the piles of skulls of those brutally beaten to death. So as we watched the movie, I just couldn't take it anymore. I had seen too much of humanity's hate and violence against fellow humanity. Usually I can just blink the tears away, but this time they were rolling down my face. I wanted to be an atheist.

A-theist. Without God. Godless. It seemed like the easiest answer. No God, no truth, no right and wrong, no reason to get all worked up about the senseless killing of innocent people. That's what I wanted. But I wanted it for selfish reasons, not because I thought it was true. I wanted a godless world in that moment because I didn't want the responsibility. I was at a crossroads. Either become an atheist like my buddy here, or else live a life that gives a rip about the fact that this stuff happens in our world.

I'm not an atheist. But then again, I don't know if I'm doing a great job of 'living a life that gives a rip.' What am I sacrificing? What am I laying on the line for greater good?

Many writers are heralding our generation as a time of significant shifts in Christian thinking and living. Have you run into this yet? Everyone has their own label for it too: Emergent thinking, post-evangelical, neo-Reformation, postmodern, re-Orienting, missional, etc.

Here’s what I’ve done. For better or worse I’ve compiled a number of themes that I have run across. These are intended to be themes that capture the essence of this aforementioned shift in Christian thinking and living. (On the other hand, there's a chance I've completely botched up the wise words of others by condensing them into a list.) I’d be tickled if you read through them and even grapple with them a bit.

Right thinking ---> Right living (healing, doing, restoring)
Cognitive belief ---> Holistic living out of beliefs
Reason ---> Room for mystery
Propositional truth ---> Engaging the narrative
Truth objectified ---> Truth must be lived & contextualized
Doctrine based ---> Relationship based
Rational apologetic ---> Embodied apologetic
Evangelism as a sub-category ---> Misisonal to the core
Institutional ---> Missional community of believers
Emphasis on purity ---> Incarnational living
Attractional/Extractional ("Come") ---> Incarnational/Missional ("Go")
Separatist/Interdenominational ---> Intentionally Ecumenical
Big communities ---> Small communities
Value excellence ---> Value genuineness
CEO model of leadership ---> Servant ministry of ALL God’s people
Laity as consumers ---> ALL are ministers
Clergy as providers of goods ---> Clergy as equippers of the community of ministers
Individual interpretation of Scripture ---> Scripture interpreted within community of church throughout history
Communicate through words ---> Communicate through every medium life offers
Worship via presentation or show ---> Worship via gathering
People viewed via in- and out-groups ---> People viewed in relation to movement toward God
Salvation of individual ---> Cosmic salvation encompassing entire created order
Personal, individual faith ---> Faith as harmony of community of believers
Salvation as event ---> Salvation as journey (events along the way)
Emphasis on knowing God ---> Becoming redeemed person in community
“Believe” before “Belong ---> “Belong” before “Believe”
Committed to saving/maintaining the Church ---> Committed to saving the world (especially the marginalized)
Preparation for death and after-life ---> Prepare for life - now & later
And for kicks:
Republican politics ---> ??????


In your opinion . . .
. . . which of these stand out as unique shifts taking place now?
. . . which of these stand out as shifts that happen every generation or two?
. . . is this less a list of cultural shifts and more a list of what it looks like to be a (global) community of disciples?
. . . how do you react to this “shift” thinking?

(Above ideas stolen or inspired from the writings of Frost, Hirsch, Tomlinson, Webber, McLaren, Sweet, and Pagitt among others.)

It seems clear that giving to devastated people in Sri Lanka, Niger, or New Orleans is a good idea. There still might be questions like, "What's the best way to go about giving?" or "I can't give to everyone in need, so who do I give to?" On the whole though, giving strategically and compassionately to those in desperate need seems to be a "no-brainer".

But what do we do when someone who doesn't work and has no intention of working is asking for help? Maybe this is the person milking the welfare program for all it's worth. Maybe it is a refugee family that is displaced and content to live off of the U.S. of A. for the foreseeable future. Possibly it's a 19 year old whose parents are in jail. Nobody aspires to be this person, but they're around us. I'd even say if you live in a populated area, they're all around you.

Read these two passages from our New Testament:

2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 - For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. (ESV; emphasis added)

Luke 6:30 - Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. (ESV; emphasis added)

Okay, one second the Scriptures seem pretty clear in saying that there are no handouts in this world. "No free lunch" as the economists say. No work, then no eat. The next second Jesus' very words tell us to give no matter what. Give to everyone! Especially the beggars. Even give to thieves! What!?

What's going on here?

Here's my hunch. I think it's both. I believe that as the people of God who follow in the way of Jesus, we are to be hard working folk who are ready and eager to be exorbitantly generous. Just as God's character is love and grace and charity and generosity to lavish degrees, we as His children are to reflect that in the way we live. With our time, skills, and finances we are to be lavish givers. But at the same time, I believe we do an injustice when we encourage people to live off of handouts. In being called to give, we are called to give much more than just resources. We are called to give life. Whatever it looks like to pass on purpose, joy, mission, direction, perseverance, and commitment . . . that too is what we give. And Jesus is our guide. So as we give to those in need, we are at the same time giving a taste of an abundant life where sweat and labor is fulfilling.

Maimonides, the great Jewish rabbi of the 12th century, put it this way, "Anticipate charity by preventing poverty; assist the reduced fellow man, either by a considerable gift or a sum of money or by teaching him a trade or by putting him in the way of business so that he may earn an honest livelihood and not be forced to the dreadful alternative of holding out his hand for charity."

Give generously, but with the intent of raising up another lady or fellow who will one day give generously to others.

One final thought, if the second half never kicks in, if the bloke still won't ever do anything on his own and is content to live off of others, I say err on the side of grace. Believe in the person in a way they don't even believe in themselves, and give towards that end. And in doing so, Jesus said that we are giving to Him.

Questions to ponder:
--- Am I giving strategically? Am I giving at all?
--- When was the last time I truly sacrificed for the good of others?
--- On a scale from 1 to 10, how generous of a person do I want to be? Realistically, where on the scale would I be right now?

As I pulled my car up, the unfinished parking lot and complete lack of signage declared the newness of this north side Rapid City cinema. The sign hanging just outside my theater said the occupancy limit was 197. Two tourists, a Native American, and I sat down to watch the opening night showing of The Constant Gardener. I was contemplating the 193 empty seats (was it the unfinished parking lot? the lack of signage? or maybe the fact that there’s already a huge theater house right across the street?) when the trailers kicked in.

It only took about thirty seconds to notice Fernando Meirelles’ stunning, ultramodern filmmaking style. Couple that with the vibrant sounds, landscapes, and colors of the African continent and you have a film that is immeasurably more gripping than its unfortunate title. Everything about the cinematography – camera angles, duration of shots, filters, and distortions – was engaging and helped to unfold the story better than words ever could. I dare not mislead, however, there was plenty of solid dialogue. One minute I was in the know (dramatic irony) and the next minute I was the one being surprised (surely there’s a great term for that too?). Furthermore, the screenplay toyed with time in a way that was subtle but far from flippant. I was loving it.

The content of The Constant Gardener rivals the filmmaking. Extreme poverty, corruption at the highest ranks, commerce over compassion, and of course sickness and death are a few of the real-to-life themes this movie explores. All the while it is entertaining and more so it is a call to action. Which side do you align with? The courageous and compassionate who stick their necks out for others or the conniving greed-mongers who kill in order to further their own agendas? (And we’re talking white, middle-class Westerners here not Somalian warlords.) In an emotional sequence early on in the film, the protagonist says, "They all need help!" It's as if those words are a fork in the road for all who hear them. Will you throw your hands in the air because there are too many to help . . . or will you determine to live love knowing that you are only one in a much larger movement of compassion and redemption?


This movie gets a 9 out of 10 in my book. This would be a great time to note that two of the best films this year – Hotel Rwanda and The Constant Gardener – deal with the themes of present day Africa. The former non-fiction and the latter fiction.

Questions worth pondering:
- What’s with the rise in publicity of the plight of the African continent?
- Will evangelical Christians keep from recommending a movie to others that has brief nudity, harsh language, and physical brutality even if the message is one of compassion and giving of one’s life for the marginalized?
- Will you sacrifice for the good of the 2 or 3 or 150 that you can help even though there are millions you can’t help?

I give a whole-hearted “Thank you” to the creators of this film; thanking them for bringing the harsh realities of a desperate continent into our lives and for crafting a story that is an impassioned call to align ourselves with the cause of good. To align ourselves with God’s story of redemption.