Dan Kimball: Vintage Faith

Catalyst is not a "conference" - it is about lives changing

I just got back from a vacation break at the beautiful Donner Lake and a week of study and speaking at Zephyr Point Conference Center. Was studying the book of Jonah while there as we are teaching it through in September and October at Vintage Faith Church.

I am writing this week as I turned in my latest book to Zondervan and it was so long, they are turning it into 2 books. So I am working on retweaking the first one now. It is basically an apologetic for the church. There has been a lot of understandable negativity about the church from both Christians and non-Christians. But hopefully we learn our lessons and now move onward in mission. I stress why I believe the "organized" church is a good thing (and I define what I mean by "organized") and the potential of what happens when the church organizes itself towards others-focused mission. I was quite wounded and burned by the church once by a leader in the church I served on staff on. It made me question church, want to bag it all, made me suspicious of "pastors" in general quite honestly (and I was one). But I came out of that realizing we are all messy and my expectations of what church even was, wasn't correct. It was no excuse for the dysfunction of what happened there - but then I realized I am messy, we all are messy. Yet despite the mess, Jesus wants us to be the church on mission and the church is His bride and beautiful. It can be very weird too. And some leaders quite honestly, shouldn't be leading until they get over their serious dysfunctions as it hurts people. But the church is beautiful and I want to and need to belong to an organized church on mission.

Psalm 27 - Fear and Anxiety - Lake Tahoe at Zephyr Point

It's funny as a teacher you are in the Bible and learning and communicating Scripture to people. But we can never forget that we aren't simply learning to teach Scripture. But learning for the Scriptures to transform ourselves and direct our lives and know God, not just for those we teach. 

I just finished teaching at the Sunday morning worship gathering up at Zephyr Point Conference Center which is right on Lake Tahoe. This is an incredibly beautiful place and the beach here is wonderful and the staff  is great. I taught through Psalm 27 this morning which was about David addressing his fears.

My primary points were observing how David started the Psalm worshiping and remembering who God is. He is our light, our salvation and our stronghold. Then David poured out his fears and concerns. Then he waited on the Lord. But putting our fears and anxieties in perspective with the truth of who God is is so important. Our minds can take us to crazy places when we allow our fears and anxieties to shape our emotions and how we view things and respond. So we have to have truth from Scripture guiding us, not our emotions.

 I used these slides with the hearts and lightning bolts to show how perspective does change things. It doesn't mean what we are facing which causes fear or anxiety goes away. But when we put it in perspective with biblical truth, it changes how we face them. I showed the first slide being how large our anxiety or fear is. But then we get perspective of how vast, and big and incredible the God of creation who created the universe is. Then our fears and anxieties get in perspective when we focus on God's greatness.

Origins - Day 2: the gathering at Club Nokia

Day 2 of our first event happened in Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles. Please note that Day 2 fits in the context of what happened on Day 1 which I blogged about here and the banquet for the homeless which kicked things off. Day 1 had several options for people to participate in (here is the list of what happened). 

Club Nokia was quite a fantastic space and was fitting that we launched Origins with a banquet to the homeless and then the first event-meeting was smack in the epicenter of downtown Los Angeles. Had some interesting things at Club Nokia happen, as the Nokia staff still did security and all and treated it like a normal band event. So this was the first event I have ever been where you had to go through a security check and scan. But it was an incredibly cool space to be in.

Go here to Renee Johnson's blog to see photos of Day 2 that she took. Renee is an author and has a blog that I regularly read.

We had three themes on Day 2 - based out of our statement of "serving on the mission of Jesus through creativity, activism and equipping others". Erwin McManus led the "Create" part. Dave Gibbons led the "Activate" part. And I led off the "Equip" part. It was a mix of ways things were presented from film, to panels with people sharing to somewhat quick presentations. We had 2 break out times where people met in groups of 4 with all the various speakers as well as other leaders. I had wonderful discussions with people, which I wish could have gone on a long time and really wish we had more of that on Day 2. Josh Fox led a band combined of people from 3 different churches which was cool seeing the multi-church band.

Renee wrote a pretty great summary of the various sections and what happened you can read here.

Here's another review from Tim Morey at Fuller Seminary.

There were such great moments, Amena Brown was incredible. Erwin interviewed Blake Mycoskie from Tom's Shoe's. The panel Dave Gibbons had and the stories shared were so inspiring with Tara Varga Russell and others doing incredible things. Rick McKinley had great insight on never forgetting all we are doing is as worshipers. I could have listened to Alan and Debra Hirsch for 3 hours. Eric Bryant's new book "Not Like Me" was released.  It is hard to list everyone here without leaving others out, as it was a blitz of so many ideas and encouragements. Very difficult to get it all in a single day like this and glad next year will be a 3 day event with evenings as part of it too.

Origins - Los Angeles Day 1.....launched with a banquet with the homeless

Today started the inaugural first Origins gathering... It first began with the team meeting up at "McManus Studios" which is Erwin's new base for his film and fashion projects. Erwin is an incredibly inspiring person to be around and I am so excited to see what is going to happen with the new adventures he is on. I grow in my passion for Jesus and mission every time I get to spend with him. The offices are right in the heart of the Creative Arts district of LA and was an amazing, amazing space. It was still under construction, but we met there and did a video filming of a discussion with a bunch of us about church, mission and Origins. We are trying to capture the heart of what Origins is going to be about to then put online and be sharing with others. It was great hearing and hanging again with Jeanne Stevens, April Diaz, Dave Gibbons, Eric Bryant, Margaret Feinberg, Amena Brown, Rick McKinley, Marlon Hall, Josh Fox, J.R. Kerr and the others who were there in the studios.

After that we headed off to "The Banquet on The Row" - which was part of the pre-Saturday part of Origins for people to go to and be part of. Newsong Church in both LA and Irvine who are part of Origins partnered with the Fred Jordan Mission and Rolling Hills Covenant Church. Dave Gibbons and his team (I wish I could remember all the names as there were many involved), launched Origins with a huge outdoor banquet for the homeless of what is considered "skid row" in Los Angeles. It was a collaborative effort put on with the Fred Jordan Mission.  It was an honor to meet Willie Jordan(Fred Jordan's wife) and also his son and learn about what this mission has been doing in Los Angeles for the poor and needy for so many years. They had blocked off about 2 city blocks and set up outdoor tables and served a meal, had music, worship, some sharing and I don't know the exact numbers but it had to be 1,000 people at this banquet.

   For a few hours earlier, people from the churches and also those who came for Origins went around the neighborhood and invited people to the banquet. One pastor who is here for Origins, said he never has come to a conference to have it start by serving the homeless. So that was an interesting perspective to hear from him. The way they arranged this also was that instead of just serving meals to the homeless, the people serving sat at the tables and ate together with them. It was quite an incredible sight. 

 It was also a joy to see Ian and Johnna who both became Christians in the youth and young adult ministry I was part of, that they were there at this performing with their band during the dinner part. I am so thankful to Dave and the Newsong churches and all those who coordinated this banquet tonight. And what a story about the Fred Jordan Mission as his son explained some of their history and how God has incredibly  used this place through the years.

Origins first event this Saturday in Los Angeles - I don't feel alone anymore

We are holding our very first Origins event this Saturday, July 24 in Los Angeles right downtown in the Nokia Club night club. There is also a day of activism learning and serving on Friday, July 23. There is so much to say about it that I am so thrilled about..... the team that is part of Origins committed to the mission of Jesus together... Alan Hirsch, Erwin McManus, Margaret Feinberg, Dave Gibbons, Rick McKinley, Jeanne Stevens, Amena Brown... we have Brad Lomenick from Catalyst, Blake Mykoskie founder of Tom's Shoes, Eric Bryant, April Diaz, Charles Lee....  you can see the list of various people who will be there this Saturday. I will also reading a greeting from Scot McKnight who can't make this one, but will be there at next summer's 3 day event.

What is joyous to me in all this is that these are friends. I feel like I am gathering with friends who are passionate about Jesus, humanity and innovation for the sake of the gospel. I so look forward to being together with this group and meeting those who are gathering together this Saturday. What is so life-giving to me about Origins is that I don't feel alone. Sometimes it can feel like you are alone, if you are passionate about mission, and evangelism, not afraid of making change while holding strong to  historical faith and doctrines. There are certain events I feel such a kindred spirit with those there such as Catalyst and the Outreach Convention. I know I need these gatherings in my life.

I need others in my life who inspire me, I learn from, encourage me when things are tough and spur me on to keep going on the mission of Jesus. We are diverse in the types of churches we are part of, but we are still bound by a common core theology which then shapes our mission and values. I need this group as I don't feel alone anymore. I feel like I am with peers and like-minded and like-hearted people.

So, we start Origins formally this weekend with this event. We have Erwin leading the "creativity" aspect of it, Dave Gibbons leading the "activism" section and I will be starting off the "equipping" part. To not only talk about things, but to actually do something on Friday , July 23 there is a whole day devoted to experiential serving in the city of Los Angeles. You can read about what is happening Friday here.  We also have designed this kick-off event to develop relationships by having a bunch of smaller group discussions and lunches.

Josh Fox - new worship music "Radiant"

Josh Fox who I have served together for 15 years in youth ministry, young adult ministry and then planted Vintage Faith Church together. Josh has just released a new CD/digital collection of worship songs.

The album is called "Radiant". 

Some great musicians on this album with Stu G from Delirious playing guitar on it. Jason Ingram who has won a couple of Dove Awards for songwriting, co-wrote a lot of the songs with Josh. Jason was in the high school group when I was youth pastor and is friends with Josh from way back.

 iTunes has done something more unusual for an independent artist and is featuring Josh's music in their exclusive releases in the Christian category. So forthe next  2 weeks on iTunes you can get the album for $5.99  Go here to listen and get it.

"Pancakes From Pastors" in The Abbey

Jenny is the manager of The Abbey, our coffee-shop/art gallery that we opened full time a little over a year ago in our church building. The Abbey is in existence to serve the community, college students and break stereotypes of what church and Christianity are like. It's finals week for UCSC (University of California Santa Cruz) and Jenny had the idea for our staff to serve students free pancakes from 10 PM until 1 AM while they study. She called it "Pancakes from Pastors".  

It's after midnight right now, and I just left there after seeing the place so packed that we had to set up tables in the sanctuary for students to go study in there.

Organically Grown: Artificial Fruit vs. Spirit Fruit

Kicked off our summer series today at all three gatherings at Vintage Faith Church. We will be in this series all summer and be teaching through Galatians 5 and each fruit of the Spirit.

Started today by playing a "Guess the real fruit vs. artificial fruit"  game. I went and got some very real looking fake fruit and then matched them with real fruit from the grocery store. In the morning gatherings our daughters came up and played the Vanna White role and held up each fruit and then I had votes on which fruit was the real one and which one human-made one.

   

 

    It was fascinating when one of them would fool a great percentage of people. And my point was that humans can produce very real looking artificial fruit but they are not real ones - and we can produce works of action, go through motions of Christianity, try to produce "fruit" on our own - but we really can't. If the Christian life is simply a matter of doing our best, there was no need for God to send the Holy Spirit to help us. The fruit of the Spirit wasn't intended to be a list of goals for us to produce - it is the Holy Spirit through us who produces fruit. But how often we can produce things through human-effort which looks good perhaps for a season, but is not true fruit of the Spirit. How easy it is to get caught in the routine of that. And also the discouragement of failure on our own efforts. Or not breaking free from a sin pattern because we attempt on our own strength and not the Spirit's strength.

Avoiding Scary Mary: The importance of the whole Bible and knowing context

I am in the last stages of going through my next Zondervan book (tentatively titled "Adventures in Churchland") - which is quite late (Sorry Paul and Ryan!). But finally getting it done. It is my first non-church leaders book, so quite excited and nervous about it. I am directly addressing a couple of controversial and very sensitive issues such as homosexuality and the Bible along with fundamentalism and the Bible, pluralism and world religions. I am  showing how so many of the arguments we have about certain theological views are focused on isolated verses from the Bible pulled from context. Now every sentence and word of the Bible is inspired and incredibly important of course. But we have to be looking at things in context and in the whole story of the Bible.

I have spent a lot of time reading the commonly seen on the internet arguments for both sides of the discussion and arguments about homosexuality and the Bible. What is interesting is that so often both sides focus mainly on single and isolated verses.One says "look how crazy this verse sounds!" but then defends it or dismisses it by using another crazy-sounding isolated verse or two. Rather than the focusing on the whole narrative of the Bible and how these strange-sounding verses fit in the whole. It is so critical to be reading and looking at anything throughthe entire Bible story from Genesis through Revelation. To be looking more at themes, patterns, repeated truths, moral threads throughout, cultural threads and where they end etc. So I have written a couple of chapters on this very thing around these subjects.

Writing these chapters reminded me of the video "Scary Mary" that came out a couple years ago. Someone took the movie Mary Poppins and gave it a new narrative and defined a new "Scary Mary" instead of the real Mary. They took small isolated clips (like isolated verses from the Bible) and pieced them together to turn Mary into a very different Mary than we know and love (like we can piece Bible verses together to turn the Bible into back what we are trying to prove or disprove and revise the narrative). They then added a soundtrack of music that matches the way they want to portray Mary (like we add our soundtrack of how the vocal tone and attitude in which we communicate, and the manner of how we write about and frame what we are trying to prove is the correct theology).

A London graffiti prayer answered

I am reading a fascinating book called "England's Dreaming: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock and Beyond". It is a really thick book (632 pages) which is going through the cultural conditions leading to the birth of punk rock. It traces the origins of punk not just musically, but what culturally was happening which led to the attitudes and openness that punk was birthed in. Quite fascinating. And as I hit page 111 last night,  I had a very emotional moment as I was reading it.

It was talking about the condition of England of youth's rebellion against extreme capitalism and consumerism. And about how so many youth were being conditioned into not being able to dream big dreams but conform and not be creative. And the book said there was a group who in reaction drew graffiti that was written on a wall between the Lambroke Grove and Westbourne tube stations that said:

"SAME THING DAY AFTER DAY - TUBE - WORK - DINNER - WORK - TUBE - ARMCHAIR - TV - SLEEP - TUBE - WORK - HOW MUCH MORE CAN YOU TAKE? - ONE IN TEN GO MAD - ONE IN FIVE CRACKS UP"

When I read that in the book, I had a major flashback to when I lived in London and I would see that very graffiti. I was playing in a rockabilly/punk band with my brother on guitar and my friend Mark on bass. We all worked a bunch of temp jobs and one of them had me take the tube (the tube = the subway or train) which passed that wall with the graffiti every day. It was written on quite a lengthy section of the sound-wall that was between the train and homes. So as the train would go by it, it would take several seconds to read it as it was a long sentence stretched out on the wall. The image I posted here below  is the wall, but they cut and pasted on top of each other. It was written in a sentence on a wall not like the way the image shows it below.

Vintage Faith Church summer series - "Organically Grown"

We will be launching a summer series for Vintage Faith Church called "Organically Grown: Living Out The Fruits of The Spirit".

It should be a fun teaching series as we will be teaching first a theology of the Holy Spirit. Then going into the actual passage in Galatians 5. Then walking through each fruit week by week. We are doing something different and instead of having our School Of Theology this summer, we will be doing all sorts of mid-sized groups on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights and going through a study book on the fruits of the Spirit to tie into the Sunday teaching.

We had our creative meeting on Monday and have some learning experiences planned and everyone hopefully memorizing the passage together. So it is a summer of fruit at Vintage Faith Church.

"Preaching and the Emerging Church" free e-book

  I got an email this morning that let me know on Mark Driscoll's web site a free e-book to download was posted called "Preaching and the Emerging Church". You can go here and download it as a pdf or transfer it to an e-reader. This is the page: 

http://theresurgence.com/preaching-and-the-emerging-church

I scanned the chapter he wrote on my view of preaching very quickly tonight - so I can't comment on it yet. I don't use the term "emerging church" too much more, as I have blogged about before.  But from my fast scan it looks like he did a good job writing about my personal view and practice of the role of preaching. I do need to read it through more carefully, but if this is helpful or anyone has interest - here where you can download it.  It has a bunch of charts and graphs at the back of the book.

It has a recommendation from Ed Stetzer on it, so should be interesting to read. The book used the categories about the emerging church that Ed created.

Origins event in Los Angeles - July 24

Origins is having our first formal event this summer - Saturday, July 24 as a kick-off vision day in downtown Los Angeles. You can register here for it and read more info.  

I love that our first formal event is being held not in a church building, but instead we are starting this at Club Nokiaright in downtown LA. I think the location of our inaugural kick-off event symbolically fits the missional vision of being in culture and in the epicenter of LA.

We will be announcing all the speakers and all those involved soon as soon as everyone is confirmed - but so far it will be myself, Erwin McManus, Margaret Feinberg, Dave Gibbons, Amena Brown, Rick McKinley, and also Scot McKnight via video.

We are designing this event to be as interactive as possible. Origins is not about speakers simply giving out information - but our hope and dream is that Origins will be  a community(not just church leaders) whom will be creating the dreams of this missional venture. This initial event will be framing what does it mean to be on mission - and how does creativity, activism and equipping/leadership all play into being on the mission of Jesus. So this event is for those interested in being part of the start-up and at the beginning of what is happening with Origins. It will hopefully will be a day of inspiration, hope, thinking together, connecting and dreaming of the future.

Hahahah! So uncomfortably true.....

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

Internships at Vintage Faith Church

We are thrilled about announcing that we will formally be offering internships at Vintage Faith Church starting Fall 2010. They are non-paid internships, but we are providing free housing in an intern house. They are based out of what we learned from Mosaic's Protege internships - and Steve Saccone has been helpful in teaching us about what they do there. Steve is coming up to spend two days with us and speak at our church later this month.

You can read more here on the VFC web site about the Protege internships  - and what steps to take if you are interested in this.