Scot McKnight Quiz in Leadership Journal

Scot McKnight hinted at this on our recent podcast with him, but he's got a fascinating quiz that's part of the the most recent issue of Leadership Journal, and is generating a lot of conversation over at Out of Ur.

Basically, his quiz is aimed at helping pastors and leaders discover some of their biases and blind spots in their approach to interpreting the Bible.

Fellow Shift speaker Dan Kimball and former Willow Creek pastor John Ortberg have both taken the test and share their thoughts on the blog.

What is Postmodernism?

by Brian McLaren

The first thing to say about postmodernism is that the term is highly contested. For some people, it means compromise, nihilism (which means a belief in nothing), an abandonment of truth, atheism, relativism, and just about every other bad thing possible. Others, I imagine, are equally naive about its dangers.

My best understanding of the term is embedded in the story of Europe after World War II. European intellectuals were stunned at the way the most advanced, "Enlightened," and scientific nations of the world could descend into two world wars, not to mention the holocaust. They became disillusioned with the dream of secularism and rationalism, the dream that reason alone could lead us beyond war and violence.

In the decades after the war, they looked back on the history of colonialism (these were the years England let go of its last colonies) and began to realize how much damage had been caused. Something similar happened with the civil rights movement in the US - Americans looked back on our history of racism and slavery and genocide of Native Peoples. Meanwhile, the environmental movement was being born, and we all looked back on how much we had destroyed the planet in the pursuit of wealth, and the women's movement looked at how badly women had been treated.

Put all of these together, and I think Western Civilization was struck with a kind of crisis of conscience, and a crisis of confidence. It was as if we lost our naive modern belief that reason, science, government, economics, and other societal institutions could solve all our problems.

So I would define postmodern as living in the aftermath of modern confidence. That shift in consciousness has huge implications for the way we who are committed Christians see and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[Brian McLaren is the author of the recent book, Everything Must Change, and will be a main session speaker at Shift 2008. He discusses this and other related topics in our November 2007 podcast.]

Running A Race or Fit for a Pew?

by Jeff Vanderstelt

A few years back a friend of my challenged me to run with him in the Chicago Marathon. I had never run a race before, but my competitive edge led me to take on the challenge. I have never been so intent on getting in shape in my life. I heard that some people die during marathons (some figuratively and some literally). I wanted to get in shape not so I could just run the race – I wanted to do it and live.

As I have pondered the results of the REVEAL research and thought through the implications for student ministry, I have harkened back several times to my experience with the Marathon training. I got into shape because I HAD TO – it was a matter of necessity and survival.

It seems to me that we could address the matter of spiritually unfit Christians from one of two approaches. We could address it like we address our problem with physically unfit Americans – build more health clubs, sell more fitness products, host more seminars and work hard to make sure everyone has a personal trainer. No one would argue that we are lacking any of this in America and all of us would agree – we are not much healthier as a result.

Or, we could look at it from another angle – what if we called every student to get ready to run a marathon? (Maybe the apostle Paul was on to something here.)

Is it possible that the reason that the church is not spiritually fit is really due to the fact that many of us are merely calling people, students and adults, to sit around and observe other spiritually fit missionaries perform in front of them? Let’s ask ourselves: “What are we calling students to that requires them to be spiritually fit?”

What if we called students to run the race of the mission of the gospel? What if every student in our care believed they were called to full-time ministry in their schools, jobs and neighborhoods and that every moment was a gospel ministry moment? What if we helped them see that the small group they were involved in was really a potential core group of a new church to be started in their community and eventually they were going to be the pastors?

What if the church once again called her people, especially her teenagers, to get ready to be sent out to start new churches everywhere and they knew they had only a couple of years to get ready? I wonder - would they take their spiritual fitness and training a little more seriously? Would we?

The race has already started. Let the training begin...


[Jeff Vanderstelt is the lead elder of Soma Communities in Tacoma, Washington, and a breakout speaker at Shift 2008. He was also a contributor to the book, Impact: Student Ministry That Will Transform a Generation.]

Justice Hits Close to Home (Part Two)

by Kara Powell

In 2006, MTV conducted a nationwide survey in order to understand how and why youth in America are already active in social causes. Here’s what that study found:

Of the kids they surveyed, 70 percent say it’s important to help others in need. Only 19 percent are “very involved” in doing so.

62 percent say the issues that matter most to them are those that have touched them or someone they know.

70 percent of kids involved in activism report that their parents’ encouragement played a major factor in their choice to get involved.

(This research can be accessed for free at mtv.com/thinkmtv/research)

In the midst of these findings, one theme emerges: Justice needs to hit kids close to home. It needs to hit close to home thematically as we help kids understand how particular injustices relate to their lives. But it also needs to hit home literally as we invite parents both to exemplify and to encourage their own kids to right wrongs around them.

[This blog post is the second in a series provided by Fuller Seminary's Center for Youth and Family Ministry. CYFM recently invited a handful of youth pastors and short-term missions experts to wrestle with some tough questions about parenting and justice . Excerpts from this discussion will be shared in upcoming weeks on this blog. Kara Powell is the co-author of Deep Justice in a Broken World, and a main session speaker at Shift 2008. Other free resources and articles like this are available at www.cyfm.net]

Dan Kimball Video

by Kelly Dolan

I loved talking to Dan Kimball back in our October podcast. I'm excited he's going to be at the Shift conference because I feel like he brings clarity and honesty to what's not working right in the Church, while still presenting hope for what the Church can be when its at its best, and the opportunity it has with a generation of young people who are really interested in Jesus.

Dan talks more about this in an update on his own blog about some recent projects he's been working on, and in this video clip from last summer's WCA Arts Conference.

Dan Kimball - More About Jesus

Dan Kimball

Dan Kimball at the 2007 Arts Conference talking about young people's desire to know more about Jesus

Super Early Bird Deadline

Just a quick reminder that there's only a few days left until the Super Early Bird Deadline.

If your register for Shift 2008 by next Tuesday, January 22, you'll automatically receive $40 off the regular registration price.

Register now.

Justice Hits Close to Home (Part One)

by Kara Powell

I was midway through my Wednesday night youth group clean up routine. Working with a team of student leaders and adult volunteers, we were stowing away our sound system, stacking up chairs, and scooping up the candy wrappers and smashed paper cups that littered our youth room floor.

But then came a not-so-routine conversation, one that forever altered the way I involve parents in justice and service. Two mothers walked up to me, both of whom were concerned about their fourteen year-old sons.

The mother who reached me first shared her anxiety: “Ever since the series that you taught on missions, my son keeps saying he wants to go to Guatemala on a short-term mission trip this summer. I lay awake at night, worried that something bad will happen to him. He’s only fourteen and I’m afraid he’ll get hurt.”

The second mother, having overheard the first mom, sighed and shared one of the more convicting statements I’ve ever heard one parent share with another. “I wish that was my problem. My son doesn’t want anything to do with church or God anymore, and I think his friends are into drugs. I’d give anything to have a son who wants to serve the Lord in Guatemala this summer.”

Was the first mother wrong to be concerned about her son’s safety? Of course not, but seeking to right wrongs through acts of justice and service are always risky on some level. Perhaps the deeper issue was her hesitation about justice work in the first place. God was inviting her son to participate in the kingdom through acts of justice, but allowing her son to RSVP to that invitation felt way too uncomfortable.

As youth workers, the justice invitation we extend doesn’t stop at the in-box of the fourteen year-old. Like pretty much everything else we do in youth ministry, our impact on both the fourteen year-old and our planet will be magnified when we do the hard work of adding parents’ names to our invitation list.

[Kara Powell is the co-author of Deep Justice in a Broken World, and a main session speaker at Shift 2008. This blog post is the first in a series provided by Fuller Seminary's Center for Youth and Family Ministry. Other free resources and articles like this are available at www.cyfm.net]

Switchfoot Coming to Shift 2008!

We're excited to announce that Switchfoot will be joining us this April at Shift 2008. The band will be part of our Thursday Night Experiences, playing an acoustic set of their music, followed by a Q&A session.

For more info this exciting addition to our event, click here.

Podcast with Scot McKnight

The first podcast of 2008 is now posted in the Podcasts section of the site. It features an interview with Scot McKnight, professor at North Park University, and writer of the popular blog, jesuscreed.org.

Check out the podcast by clicking here.

Podcast 04: Scot McKnight

The fourth Shift Experience podcast features an interview with Scot McKnight, professor at North Park University, and writer of the popular blog, jesuscreed.org

What is The Emerging Church (and Is It Safe)?

by Brian McLaren

"The Emerging Church" can be a defined in a few ways, but I think it's best to be broad and global and say it like this: the church around the world, in all its denominations and forms, is continually emerging. Some move faster and others slower, but all of us are continually adapting to changes in our world.

The early church emerged from a period of persecution into a period of acceptance and endorsement, for example, under Constantine. The church of the Middle Ages emerged into the modern era through the work of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others. And now, in many varied ways, the church of the modern, colonial, industrial, Enlightenment world is emerging into the postmodern, postcolonial, post-industrial, and post-Enlightenment world.

It's a complex process, and it looks different in Buenos Aires than in Boston or Berlin or Kuala Lumpur, but the similarity is that people are seeking to be faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ in a changing world.

Transitions like these are never safe: we can seek to retain things that should be let go, and we can let go things that should be retained. We can cling to the past in an unhealthy way, or we can lose connection with the past in an equally unhealthy way.

Those of us who are moving forward, seeking to live out Christ's ongoing incarnation and mission in the emerging context, will no doubt make a lot of mistakes. But then again, there are mistakes to be made by avoiding risk and playing it too safe and being excessively conservative.

That's why I hope that those of us who are moving off the map and into new territory will keep listening to and learning from our critics, and I hope that our critics will avoid seeing us as enemies but rather as colleagues in mission.

[Brian McLaren is the author of the recent book, Everything Must Change, and will be a main session speaker at Shift 2008.]

"Already" 2008

by Bo Boshers

Happy New Year! I pray you had a wonderful time with friends and family over the holidays and that you were encouraged and refreshed by God's amazing love and faithfulness.

It's hard to believe 2008 is here. I'm grateful for every moment I was able to spend with my family over the Christmas break, but am amazed how quickly the days passed!

On the other hand, I feel like 2008 has been on my mind for many, many months now as we've been preparing for Shift 2008.

Recently, a couple of really exciting things have happened. We'll be making an announcement this upcoming week about some surprise additional guests who we just found out will be joining us at the conference in April. Make sure you come back to the site next week to hear all about it.

Also next week: a podcast interview with Scot McKnight and guest blog post from Brian McLaren.

We're excited to be kicking off 2008 in a big way, and can't wait to see you in April!

Remember - we're only a little over 2 weeks away from the Super Early Bird registration deadline (1/22/08), which gives you $50 off the regular price of attending Shift 2008. If you haven't already, register now for the lowest prices available.

Stay strong and courageous!

[Bo Boshers is the Executive Director of Student Ministries for the Willow Creek Association.]