On p.40 of David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, Mario keeps his older brother from sleep attempting to circle the conversation towards his real goal: the question of “do you believe in God?”
Hal complains, “You ask me this once a week.”
Read moreKiss of death: Judas, Joab, Michael Corleone, and Romeo and Juliet
When I say “kiss of death” the first popular image that comes to mind is the scene from The Godfather Part II when mob-boss Michael Corleone kisses his traitorous brother Fredo, marking him-out for slaughter. “I know it was you Fredo! You broke my heart!” Michael’s kiss brings death.
Read moreAdvent judgments and the Christmas film
…what makes a good Christmas film good is the degree to which the film levies an apocalyptic judgement on the world and redeems it…
Read moreThe Planter Sows in Death: Our Plan to Plant in Lent
“For Christians, death is not end but beginning. Lent is an extended meditation on that good news.”
– Peter Leithart [from ‘4o Reasons to Observe Lent: A Murder of Tweets’ on the Theopolis Blog]
All Saints Honolulu will hold its first gathering in the evening of Ash Wednesday (March 6th , location TBD). This, for those who may not know, is the beginning of the Christian season of Lent; a time of corporate fasting and repentance which draws us into the drama of Holy Week and the victory of Easter.
After this inaugural gathering on Ash Wednesday, we will continue to meet throughout Lent, holding small midweek eucharist services (always followed by a Lenten potluck) at a time and place to be determined (we’ll keep you posted as things keep developing).
And while there is very much which could be said explaining and expounding upon Lent (some of which I may say later in other future posts), my goal here is only to give some rationale for why we are planting with intentionality in Lent.
Firstly, we believe that, normatively, how you begin is how you continue. Lent offers us a season to begin the process of mission and community formation with a focus on the Christian practices of prayer, confession, hope, repentance, and accountability. These things are central to the communal life of the church and we want to continue in them; and to have them be things that mark us as a people.
We also recognize that the life of a church plant is a messy affair. And that, life together with other Christians is sometimes vicious, sometimes brutal, and beset with misunderstanding. At times the hypocrisy of others in the church drives us to madness, making us question the goodness of the God who (according to our reckoning) has not been as judicious as we think He ought to have been with His welcome of others. Lent declares (much to our chagrin and yet much more to our everlasting good) that we too are costly, sometimes vicious, often brutal; that skipping that sandwich or hoppy IPA or Makai Savings Poke Bowl makes us irate, noisome, and messy. Lent reveals to us our own hypocrisy and madness. Lent sheds light upon the fact (little countenanced by many of us Americans) that, in fact, our own inclusion into the people of God has been the cause of other people’s questioning the goodness of the God who (according to their reckoning) has not been judicious in His welcome of us.
Lent also declares that our hope rests not in what we can achieve or scheme or market or network, but that, rather, our hope rests upon God alone who is strong enough to work in us. Lent is a good time for church plants to be reminded that our hope does not rest in what we can produce, or in the amazing goodness of the people on the team, but rather in the fact that the God who called us, will be faithful to his call.
Lastly, as we prepare to plant in Lent we are intentionally planting in a call to die; to give ourselves away; to lay ourselves down for the life of others. As a church-plant we are like a seed cast-off of the mother-church. In Lent we observe the truth that “unless a seed falls to the ground and dies it bears no fruit.” And this is good news for us because, as Leithart states (above), “For Christians, death is not end but beginning.”