NYC: Three Last Reasons why New York is a crucial investment

The Pic is Manhattan in 1782 -- before Sydney Town was settled by Europeans...

OK -- It’s been 3 weeks since I have posted.

A couple of reasons for this are:

• My boss has been away, so I've been pastoring this church without the rector. (More work... )
• Family takes precedence over a Blog. (More family...)
• And I have wondered how to process these next three reasons. (More thinking...)

Here are, according to Redeemer, the next 3 reasons why New York is a crucial investment for evangelicals:

2. The pluralism factor
"Most analysts foresee an America in which the European/Anglo population becomes a smaller and less influential factor in the country, while Latinos and Asians and others become greater in numbers and power. History should teach us a lesson. America was a Protestant nation until 1880-1920, when a massive wave of immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe came, mainly through NYC. It was mainly Catholic and Jewish. WASPs in New York neither welcomed these newcomers nor sought to win them into new churches. Instead they fled the city. The newcomers eventually took power in the cultural institutions within the city. Now a third wave of immigration is coming, and NYC is again a focal point for it. Will evangelical Protestants fail the challenge again?"

3. The minority factor
"Though smaller, only LA can rival New York as a way for the Christian church to get control of America’s cultural and social future. But the Evangelical church in LA is far stronger than in New York City. While Los Angeles has several major evangelical seminaries, many organizations and institutions, and scores of mega-churches, New York City does not. Also the great majority of NYC evangelicalism is black and Hispanic. These vital churches are this largely cut off from the power and resources (financial, political, and educational) enjoyed by Anglo churches; New York Christianity is fragmented, immature and weak theologically, corporately and spiritually."

4. The spiritual revival factor
"For people who recognize the importance of sound theology for long-term viability and spiritual health, the surprising growth of Redeemer must be seen as a once in a life-time opportunity for spiritual harvesting in NYC. In less than 6 years it grew to roughly 1500 people, and it has the opportunity to grow far larger over the next 20 years. If it does, there is a possibility of planting 30 or 40 daughter churches (churches made up of Redeemer members/attendants) and 50-60 sponsored churches. That would create a permanent, widespread movement that could change the face of the city.

But Redeemer has already unearthed far more opportunities to plant new churches and ministries than it can meet. If it seeks to meet them alone, without help, it will weaken the development of our own leadership resources. That, in turn, could mean fewer new churches in the future. Therefore, we need partners."

--- Redeemer Church Planting Manual

A couple of initial thoughts:

All of this comes out of a paradigm that a lot of Sydney people may not feel the weight of. It comes from a view that God's people ought to engage with culture in a way that effects culture for the common good. The regular question asked is this: "How can followers of Christ be a counterculture for the common good?" It comes out of – amongst other places -- Jeremiah 29:7. It’s Augustine. It’s Bruce Winter’s Seek the welfare of the City. And the things you’ve just read, I believe, has been most immediately influences by James Montgomery Boice’s, Two Cities, Two Loves: Christian Responsibility in a Crumbling Culture.

I’ll be honest: I’m still trying to process the whole approach. I'm looking forward to understanding the position. And I'm in the right place to do that. I certainly do believe in 'seeking the welfare of the city' -- Christians are to be good citizens. Although I'm not sure if this means that our mission is changing the culture. I do get nervous with ideas like finding “a way for the Christian church to get control of America’s cultural and social future.” Hmmm.

I know that they are not, repeat not, advocating moral majority stuff.

Help me to understand...

Re Redeemer partners. Our Church was was initiated by Redeemer. We are proud to be a Redeemer affiliate. In many ways, we are the Redeemer vision. And, with partners, our dream is to be a church planting church here in Manhattan. There is a lot more to say about Redeemer’s place in New York. Redeemer’s leadership has a large vision. My prayer is that the leadership’s vision is shared more and more by its actual members and attendees. That’s surely the only way that 30-40 Churches can be planted!

What do you think?

Love, Justin.

NYC: Four Reasons why New York is a crucial investment [Monday]

I'm reading the Redeemer Presbyterian Church Planter's manual. It cites 5 facts about New York City, which I quoted last week. And then it cites 4 reasons NYC is such a crucial investment for the broader evangelical church.

So, you’ll be offered one reason a day this week. Ponder these and pray for us.

REASON 1. The Cultural Influence Factor

“There is a lot of bemoaning the fact that, while there are millions of born again Christians, they seem to be having no impact on the culture. The reasons given are usually complex and unconvincing. Nobody notices that evangelicals are totally non-urban. Homosexuals, while only 2% of the population, are nonetheless highly influential. Why? One answer is that they live predominantly in the largest urban areas, where they work in places that control social discourse. But evangelicals, who are 15-20% or more of the population, have fled the cities. This is a recipe for complete cultural irrelevance.”

An interesting possibility. To explore more: Read this article from Christianity Today.

I always believed that NYC is an important city in the world. But I hadn’t thought about the idea that Christians moving to the suburbs might possibly impact the influence of the gospel. [I'm wondering if it as true for Australia as it is for the US?] Still, it makes me think again that for a Christian, the only factor in choosing where to live ought not to be simply ‘where I’d like to live’. I reflected on that tension on a previous post HERE.

By the way, have I ever said ‘church shopping’ are two words that should never be placed together? Click here for a video of "Maybe we should try the new Mega church".

Disturbingly funny.

Love, Justin.

NYC: Five Facts, Five Reasons (Friday)

FACT 5. The Spiritual Need of NYC
“With the exception of Boston, NYC is perhaps the least protestant in the country. Of its 7.5 million people, just 1 to 1.5 million identify themselves as protestant, and a mid-80s survey of New Yorkers indicates that no more than 500,000 people (roughly 7% of the city) are actual Protestant churchgoers. The great majority of these are African-American. The leading Protestant Church of the city is generally considered the Episcopal church, yet it now has a combined Sunday attendance of fewer than 25,000 people, out of a city of 7.5 million (0.3%). No wonder, to the average Manhattanite, Protestant religion is invisible!”

re Anglican: 25,000 people in this huge city? 0.3%? Laurel and I are here in Manhattan, working with Christ Church NYC because we do not just perceive the need. We know it.

Next week: From my 'Church Planting in NYC' manual: 5 Reasons why NYC is such a crucial investment for the broader evangelical and orthodox Church…And the week after that, I’ll begin telling you a bit about our church and its vision and mission and our experience of both.

Love, Justin.

PS The pic of the First REC Church, where our church meets in the evenings.

NYC: Five Facts, Five Reasons (Thursday)

FACT 4. Influence of NYC:
“It competes with Los Angeles as media capital, with Paris as fashion and art capital, with London as theater and literature capital, with Tokyo as financial and corporate capital, and with Washington DC as power capital. It is second only to Boston in number of College students. But no other city excels in all of these areas. (The Pope once greeted Cardinal O’Conner as “The Archbishop of the capital of the world”!) It is certainly the communications center of the globe. Millions of the next wave of US immigration -- Latino and Asian -- are coming to New York for a generation before assimilating out into mainstream society, as did their predecessors, the Jews and Italian. In summary, New York is the single most formative influence on US culture and society.”

When I read something like this, I always think of the Apostle Paul, and how he was eager to preach in Rome.

If you have been to NYC, take a go at describing it briefly in the comments!

Love, Justin.

PS Photo by a good friend at my church. And, in the spirit of Bryon (see HERE and HERE), can you pick the building? Pick it, then descibe your experience on the city.

NYC: Five Facts, Five Reasons (Wednesday)

FACT 3. Diversity of NYC
New York City is really an interlocking network of major cites. In it lies a Dominican City of 500,000 in Upper Manhattan, a West Indian City of 800,000 in Brooklyn, a Haitian city of 200,000, a Columbian city of 200,000 in Queens, two Chinatowns of over 100,000 each in lower Manhattan and Flushing, and centers of 80,000 Greeks in Astoria, 50,000 Russians in Brighton Beach, 40,000 Hindus in Eastern Queens, 150,000 Arabs and Middle Easterners in northern Brooklyn. While some US cities are filled with Hispanics (LA, Houston), others West Indians (Miami) and others Asian (SF, LA), New York is home to masses of each. It is more diverse than any other US City.

David Miles, an old friend and mentor, used to call Byron Bay (in NSW, Australia), a ‘global corridor’. New York City is a global superhighway. Imagine where the gospel could travel.

Love, Justin.

NYC: Five Facts, Five Reasons (Tuesday)

5 facts about New York City. And then 5 reasons NYC is such a crucial investment for the broader evangelical church.

FACT 2. Density of NYC:
“A comparison: While newer cities (Atlanta, Dallas, Denver) have 3,000-6,000 residents per square mile, and older (Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago) have 12,000-13,000 per square mile, Manhattan has 60000 residents per square mile (1.5 million people), and it is estimated that this number quadruples to over 200,000 (7 million people) on weekdays thorough commuters. Midtown Manhattan is the most densely populated place on earth during a typical workday."

For the record: We live on Manhattan. 7 million people? (Which I believe is a conservative estimate-- Take a look HERE.) Can you imagine the infrastructural headache that this can be??

Love, Justin.

PS Pic is me walking across the Brooklyn Bridge with Kiddoes. (Taken by James Woodhams from St Ives. Good man.)

NYC: Five Facts, Five Reasons (Monday)

I'm reading a Church Planter's manual for New York City. It cites 5 facts about New York City. And then it cites 5 reasons NYC is such a crucial investment for the broader evangelical church. So, my Blog is covered for 2 weeks.

You’ll be fed one fact a day this week. And one reason each day next week.

Ponder these. Compare them to your own city. Pray for us.

FACT 1. Size of NYC:
“19 Million People (SMSA) and 7.5 million within the city limits. New York City will be the only US city to remain one of the world’s ten largest by mid-21st century. It is currently the third largest city in the world, behind Mexico City and Tokyo. (But, as we will see tomorrow that measures sprawl rather than density). You could comfortably fit into NYC’s metro area all of metro Atlanta, Washington DC, Miami, Orlando, Nashville, Richmond, New Orleans, and still have plenty of room left over.”

The continent of Australia has about the same population as New York City!

Tomorrow: Density.

Love, Justin.

PS You get a family pic a day for interest.

Photographers of the world: Help me.

Heavy post, that last one. Lots of comments. Thanks for letting me fly a kite.

OK. Photography. I'm no good at it. I'm the guy who thinks its 'creative' to simply tilt the camera when taking a portrait. But that is as creative as I get.

But all you budding, amateur and even professional photographers: What would I need to do to make these photos better?

Love, Justin.

PS If you click on the picture, you get a full pic.

Acts 2 community: There is no going back.

Let me run an idea up the Flagpole ... Please feel free to shoot it down.

I’ve been pondering the widely-held belief that the “Acts 2 Community” is the ideal Christian community: the one to which we should aspire. Here is what that community was like:

• They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching; fellowship; to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
• Everyone was filled with awe.
• Many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.
• All the believers were together and had everything in common, and they gave to anyone as he had need. etc.

George Barna in his latest [odd] book Revolution basically uses Acts 2 by which to measure all other churches, past and present, saying: "Who wouldn't want to be a part of this?"

And the challenge, of course is that if the Church could get herself back to that, we’d be better off: we’d be more God honouring; less institutional etc. We need real community. And the 'Acts 2 community' is real community we need.

There is no doubt that the text here is describing a situation that is wonderful. That is clear. It’s also clear in Acts 4:32-35. The truth is -- I do want this kind of community. And I think that Acts 2 functions as a wake up call for our often lazy-consumer-driven church experiences.

But I'm not sure that God wants us to go back to this.

I am wondering whether the 'Acts 2 community' is an adequate model for us. It’s not enough. Here are my three reasons why we need to go beyond the Acts 2 Community.

1. They have yet to include a single non-Jewish person.

The Gentile question doesn’t get hammered out properly until Acts 15. God has to give Peter a bizarre dream to get him to move beyond racial boundaries. The Acts 2 community is a racially Jewish community only. It is yet to be inclusive.

Don’t we want the Jew-Gentile community that gets hammered out after Act 15? With all the difficulties that come with reaching out beyond racial comfort zones? I'm glad, as a Gentile, that the community did not remain the way they were.

2. They have yet to be tested under the fire of persecution.

That doesn’t happen until Acts 4 [a 'nibble'], Acts 5 [a flogging], Acts 6 [Stephen arrested], Acts 7 [Stephen murdered], Acts 8 [A full-scale persecution breaks out]. Up until that point, everyone loves ’em.

Don’t we want a Church refined by the fire? One where ‘convenient faith’ is shown for what it really is? Isn’t the persecution and the testing [post Acts 2] one of the most powerful aspects of Acts?

3. They have yet to feel - and work through - disillusionment.

The first ‘problem’ with the community doesn’t happen until Acts 5:1-11. And a major shock to the system it was.

Don’t we want a community that can deal with disappointment in a gospel way? The Acts 2 community had yet to experience the disappointment. Don't we want to be able to cope, without replacing the gospel with inappropriate idealism? I want a Church that reflects Bonhoeffer’s words:

• "Thus, the very hour of disillusionment with my brother becomes incomparably productive, because it so thoroughly teaches me that neither of us can ever live by our own words and deeds, but only by the one Word and Deed which really binds us together--the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. When the morning mists of dreams vanish, then dawns the bright day of Christian fellowship."

I think that I’d prefer the Acts 2 community together with what God does in that community after the ideal is described. God had more blessing for them. And we are the inheritors of that blessing.

There is no going back. Only forward.

Fire away.

Love, Justin.

At 2, he don't quite know what’s going on.

We haven't had any family news for a while. So for your viewing pleasure, I post pictures of the Boy's second birthday party. It wasn't a fanfare affair [Can those two words be placed together?]. Laurel had been down in Atlanta visiting her parents. I flew from NYC to Atlanta on Saturday morning. We had a little, but lovely, birthday party [maybe the words 'Birthday Moment' is a better description.] Then we all flewback to NYC in the evening.

We know that from the 3rd birthday on, it’s gotta have more Oomph to it. At 2, he don't quite know what’s going on.

But -- for the record -- he adores his Thomas the Tank Engine gift. Playing with it as I type.

Why do some kid's stories and books and toys become universally liked by every child?

Love, Justin.

Making me nervous

Hey. Great to see an Australian win. No longer holding my breath.

But this pic above makes me nervous. :)

Love, Justin.

PS Lunch on Guus

Holding One's Breath...

Socceroos are playing as I type.

Australia V Croatia.

I wish I was at Christchurch St Ives "Joe Burrow's Hall" Upper Level right now.

But I shall be holding my breath here in NYC.

Love, Justin.

"I cast one look at the field, Then set my face to the town".

This is going to be one of those posts where friends send us private emails: “Are you doing OK? Really?” For the record, we are doing great. But Laurel and I both heard a sermon the other day which resonated.

We have loved NYC. There are lots of great things about being here. And at the same time, we have found it difficult living in the Gothom City. Laurel especially has to spend most of her day with 2 kids in a city without a car for escape. We cannot believe how much people spit on the sidewalk here. And the subway is not friendly to anyone who relies on wheels.

We were praying at a Prayer Breakfast for our Church last week, and the speaker recited the following poem by George MacDonald. It convicted us both.

As I quote this poem, I also think of my father, who is assisting with the running of a hospital in a part of Pakistan that must feel like the end of the earth.

NYC and Tank, Pakistan -- Two places where there are "no flowers" [or not many at least].

George MacDonald -- "What Christ Said":

I said, "Let me walk in the fields,
He said, "Nay, walk in the town;
I said, "There are no flowers there,
He said, "No flowers, but a crown."

I said, "But the sky is black,
There is nothing but noise and din.
But He wept as He sent me back;
There is more," He said, "there is sin."

I said, "But the air is thick,
And fogs are veiling the sun.
He answered, "Yet hearts are sick,
And souls in the dark undone."

I said, "I shall miss the light,
And friends will miss me, they say.
He answered me, "Choose tonight
If I am to miss you, or they."

I pleaded for time to be given;
He said, "Is it hard to decide
It will not seem hard in heaven
To have followed the steps of your guide."

I cast one look at the field,
Then set my face to the town;
He said, "My child, do you yield?
Will you leave the flowers for the crown?"

Then into His hand went mine,
And into my heart came He,
And I walk in a light divine
The path I had feared to see!

Love, Justin.

How is this possible?

Socceroos win!

I have no cable and it’s a work day here. So I had no access to media that may help me grasp how big this is in Australia.

So, two questions:

• What is the mood in Australia on Tuesday morning?
• Can someone describe any highlights for me?

Love, Justin.

The Cause of this Fire.

Thanks for all who commented in the previous Blog. Good thoughts, all. I shall let you know what happens in the next few weeks.

But in the meantime, I know that some here in the US were asking about the Barnies building that I wrote about in “My Faith was Nurtured in this Building” and “To whom, then, should I return this Bulletin”.

It would appear that arson was not the reason it burnt down. Just electrics.

You can read about it in the Sydney Morning Herald HERE.

I turned those old lights on and off a few times. But , for the record, I wasn’t in Australia at the time of the incident….

Praying for Barnies.

See more of the Photos HERE.

Love, Justin.

PS Go the Socceroos…

Do I publicly apologise in Church this week?

OK. I’m looking for your thoughts here.

I said two things on Sunday in the Pentecost sermon that was just a little sloppy. I’m not proud of it. I was just two quick, trying to get to my main point.

I claimed that it was only the twelve who spoke in other languages. But I spoke with too much certainty. The ‘they’ in Verse 1 could have been the twelve together with all or some of the 120 believers mentioned in Acts 1. Secondly, I said that it was a wind that came upon the room, rather than a ‘sound like a wind’.

OK -- for some of you, it doesn’t look that bad. But one person in church wondered if I had a doctrinal axe to grind. And for the record, my point was simply that not everyone spoke in tongues that day -- a still valid point even if it was 120 speaking in other languages.

Either way, I’m not particularly looking for advice on Acts 1. [Another post if you want.]

Here is what I want: I want to know if you appreciate it when ministers apologise the following week if they were wrong about the text [or claimed too much].

• Would you appreciate that?
• Or would a clarification or apology detract something from the following week?
• Would you put a note in the Bulletin? Like ‘Corrections’ in a newspaper?
• Does an apology communicate something good [i.e. all of us have a ways to go when reading our Bible]?
• Or does it destroy trust?
• When is a blunder big enough to say something?
• What was the worst blunder you’ve heard? [Not a bad sermon, but an error in fact] But please don’t name names...
• Have you heard a preacher apologise?
• Have you apologised the next week [in a Bible study etc] for something similar?

I have shared my blunder. Please share your thoughts... but be gentle!

Love, Justin.

Pentecost and the Power of Explanation

A reflection after Sunday’s sermon on Acts 2.

I read last week of one particular man's spiritual experience. The encounter did not happen too long ago. It could be the experience of many at dozens of Christian meetings in any city and all over the world. I quote the man:

• “[At the meeting], I felt as if some active energy were pouring heat, like a warm current into my whole being. I fell into inertia, and my body grew numb; I tried to speak, but my tongue no longer obeyed me and I gradually slipped into a drowsy state as though a powerful narcotic had been administered to me...”

Extraordinary, and powerful, right? Wait until you hear its explanation!

But first, let me make a reflection on Acts 2:

I realised when reading the story of Pentecost in Acts 2 that those present also had an extraordinary and powerful Spiritual encounter. They clearly had a wonderful experience.

The experience itself [without the explanation] left the crowd "amazed and perplexed" [V12]. To tell you the truth, on my first reading [and not having been present that day], it left me more perplexed than amazed!

There were two responses after their amazement. Some were curious: "What does this mean?" Others went down the more cynical path: "They should be at AA if they are going to start this early."

Here is the thing I noticed: The explanation of the spiritual experience was as powerful [maybe more powerful?] than the experience itself.

The amazing experience [quiet rightly] produced curiosity and cynicism. The biblical explanation [quiet rightly] produced repentance and 3000 people becoming Christians that day.

The experience produces an appropriate ‘wow’, but the gospel produces a saving ‘faith’.

When it comes to spiritual experience, is the explanation as powerful [or even more powerful] than the experience? Or ought experiences like this simply be enjoyed, without the cumbersome weight of too many words?

You tell me your thoughts.

Oh, and that spiritual experience I read last week? It was a book on the Russian Revolution. The next words in the account where:

• “...All I could see was Rasputin’s glittering eyes, like two beams of light drawing me near.”

Hooley Dooley.

Here endth the lesson.

Love, Justin.

PS Don't know Rasputin? Wiki Him. Scary dude.

The Boy Dancing in Central Park [Video Included]

If you look at this 90 Second VIDEO [Let the video download fully before viewing], you may see 5 things of value:

1. The Boy has all the necessary rhythm and moves to Dance.
2. The Boy likes to point to dogs. More than anything, he wants to simply share the experience.
3. The Boy uses the word 'Dai' to ask a question or draw your attention to something he likes.
4. The Boy has no fear when it comes to welcoming strangers [at the end of the video]. I think that he is already a member of the welcoming team at our church.
5. The Boy likes our friends Dirk and Heike.

Anyone with any sense of care about Scripture will know that quoting Job 21:11 out of context is both a bad use of text, and, in fact, damnable to me.

Hmmm...

But click on that one verse and you’ll agree that using it out of context is irresistible right now.

:)

Love, Justin.

A Post Dedicated to Connie Coulianos of NYC

Connie Coulianos is the Children’s Ministry Director of Christ Church NYC.

The only thing that gets The Boy out of bed on a Sunday Morning to get to Church is the possibility of seeing Connie.

Connie is great. A real saint. She serves is a lovely gracious way. I heard her say this morning that her reward is that she gets to spend time with the children. That works for me. Mark 10:13-16 .

I haven't got a pic of Connie. I could find one on Google Images. But she'd probably be embarrassed to have one up hear anyways.

So, dedicated to Connie Coulianos, I submit the following exchange --

From the Letters pages of The Australian Newspaper:

“Tim Saclier (Letters, 23/5) has summed up beautifully the old cliché that religion is a triumph of superstition and blind faith over reason and logic. My own epiphany came at the age of 12, when my Sunday school teacher, in reply to my asking who created God, informed me with a straight face that God had always existed. I refused to attend further religious instruction on the grounds that I was being taught by idiots. My Sundays were then spent happily playing in the local swamp, where I observed many of the creatures from which I had actually evolved."
- Peter West, The Vines, WA

To which came the following riposte:

“Peter West (Letters, 24/5) reminded me of my old science teacher, to whom, at the age of 12, I posed the question, “Who caused the big bang?” He answered me, with a straight face, that nothing caused it, to which I promptly replied that something must have because it obviously happened. It was at that point that I had an epiphany: my science teacher could not give me an answer that was either reasonable or logical. My Sundays were then happily spent attending Sunday school and learning about the God who created me.”
- Bruce Newberry, Mansfield, Qld.”

Love, Justin.

What I'm reading on the Subway #2.

I had my Home Fellowship Group last night ['Bible Study' for you Sydney guys]. We did the last of the Bible Studies in Mark's Gospel. I posted the studies up before: "Better for your Soul than a Bagel". The Studies can be downloaded from that page.

If you are for some random prayers, pray for some of the guys in our group: Sam, Caroline [and Baby Jimmy], Rich, Lynda, Eric, Sharon [who turned 50 yesterday], Clara, Rakesh and Amanda.

Anyways, we looked last night at Mark 15:40-16:8, and we talked about Joseph of Arimathea. He was the [secret] believer who asked Pilate for the body of Jesus.

And, interestingly, I read this Frederick Buechner comment on the Subway today:

“Joseph of Arimathea: As a prominent member of the Jewish establishment, Joseph of Arimathea needed guts to go to Pilate and ask for the dead body of Jesus so he could give it a decent burial. It is presumably no easier for a closet Christian to come out of the closest than it is for anybody else, and you can't help admiring him for it. In view of the events of Easter morning, however, you can't help noting that if he'd only waited a few days, he could have spared himself a thumping bill from the undertaker.

"It is important to give Joseph of Arimathea his due for his mortuary solicitude, but at the same time it is hard not to see him as the first of many Christians who spend so much time stewing about the blood of the lamb that they lose sight of the fact that the lamb has long since gone on to greener pastures where he's kicking up his heals in the sunshine and calling others to join in the dance.”

From: “Peculiar Treasures: A Biblical Who’s Who”, by Frederick Buechner.

Fair or not?

Love, Justin.