Installment #2 was just posted over at the There’s The Steeple… Here’s The Church podcast. It is available through iTunes, so that might be the best way to follow along if you’d like. There’s a link to subscribe under “feeds” in the right-hand column on that site.
This week’s chapter (chapter one) is called, “Redefining Church”. I probably won’t advertise too much more on this blog, so hop on over and bookmark, or subscribe, or whatever you need to do if you’re interested. 🙂
I finally have posted the first chapter of the audio version of the book I published last year, There’s The Steeple… Here’s The Church! I may have mentioned this here before, but if I did not, I’m sure I explain it on the page I just linked you to. The plan is to record and release each chapter as a podcast, and encourage discussion and perhaps just encourage people to live in the greatness that is life with God and his Church.
If you haven’t heard of my book, published last July, you can purchase it through my bookstore (click the links at the top of this site) or you can even download a free PDF of the book there as well.
I am in the process of adding the podcast to iTunes, and hope to be able to get ahead on the recordings so that I can post a chapter at least weekly. Perhaps ambitious, but we’ll see.
Thankfully, I don’t need much sleep! 🙂
If you know anyone who is wanting more than sitting in the pew on Sundays, or going through the motions of “church life”… perhaps God is calling them to a life that is infused with more of him? We have found that to be true, and I hope that this, another version of the text collected over the past couple years, will be an encouragement to people to follow Him in that.
So check it out, and please do spread the word. I’ll have the iTunes link up as soon as they send me the link!
(I think you can drag that link to your browser bar (in Safari, at least) and it will automatically generate a bookmark!)
I think I have mentioned a few times the book I was reading (and finished last night) The Shack? I know I did at least once. Well I finally finished it and though it came extremely highly recommended, it did not disappoint! I was impressed. 🙂 Usually such high praise as it received can only lead to the actual experience not measuring up to expectations.
But The Shack does.
I think what I most enjoyed about this very well-written story was the unexpectedness. There were times when I felt it was just what I was expecting, but more often what I thought was, “That’s a cool way to look at it…” The premise is that a man who has faced unbelievable tragedy, and feels far from God – really on purpose – is called to the location of a focal point of his pain to meet with God. And this is not the big shiny booming voice old guy you might expect. It’s a very cool look at God in his infinite – and personal – uniqueness.
The book even had a surprise ending! (At least to me!) I kept reading and reading last night as I couldn’t put it down. It’s a great story of redemption, how God brings life from death, and forgiveness, healing… just all the stuff God works in us. And as I said, very well written, so an easy read.
I want to get a copy to give to our library, so people can find it that way. And we may buy a copy or two to hand out to friends. Jen is reading our copy now, and Laura is in the queue.
Anyone else want to get in line? 🙂
I may continue to reference the book as I continue to process it. Till then, check it out for yourself at the links above.
I read a few chapters of this book last night. It has come VERY highly recommended. I got a copy from the folks who are publishing it, for helping with their website. Actually, I have been worried it couldn’t possibly live up to all of the accolades it has received!
But, so far… it has.
Last night I finished chapter four (just starting really) and even though it was 2am, I couldn’t stop reading… it is definitely well written, and a sad but compelling story. (And I don’t think I’ve gotten to the good part yet!)
I know the book is about who God is even in horrible tragedy. I got to read what the tragedy was last night, and let me tell you… without giving too much away, it involves a little girl, and as a Dad… those are the worst kind. I definitely get very emotionally involved in stories about parents and kids, especially Dads and kids who are the same age as mine. 🙁
So, hoping I don’t have to face that sort of tragedy in person… I will read on and hope to catch a glimpse of God – perhaps a side I haven’t known, or yet needed to know – via the experiences of another believer. Should defintely be a good read.
Click through the links above (click the book if you like) and order your own copy. You can read chapter one on their site, too. I think it’s as good as advertised.
More when I am done, I’m sure…
I mentioned earlier that I would be sharing some quotes from the book I have been reading. The Starfish and the Spider is about two different ways to approach organzing people. One way is to have a structured organization with centralized leadership, like a spider whose functions are all tied into its head. When the head is destroyed, so is the spider. The other option presented is the decentralized organization, where every member is a leader – much like the starfish, who when any part is severed not only continues to exist, but the severed part can even become a new starfish!
In giving examples of recent virtual “starfish” like Skype, Craigslist, file-sharing software called eMule, Apache web server software and Wikipedia, the recurring theme is that when the users or members of an organization are not only allowed to almost required to contribute (in order for it to continue its existence), the organization – along with its members – thrives.
As I read story after story in the book of members taking on various responsibilities to the group and just to individuals within the group I couldn’t help but think of my occasional posts about life in a “Star Trek world”. (The book referenced a strange gathering in the Nevada desert called Burning Man where there is a policy of a “gift economy”. Each person may contribute any goods or services, but may not sell. Nor buy. Everything is done/offered for the good of the community.) Jen is convinced this can not work, but, at least the way it was presented in “Starfish”, it already isworking.
The strength of Skype is that it has very low costs, using its users computers to store directory information for other users, for example. The strength of CraigsList is that the focus is on the people. What the users want is what CraigsList does. Each user contributes, and there is a sense of trust and community that has been built and makes the site what it is. Similarly, Wikipedia was first begun as Nupedia – an online encyclopedia written by experts, but free to the public. It found its success when instead of traditional editors and contributors, it opened up the content creation and management to the users. Instead of 24 articles generated somewhere around a year’s time, Wikipedia users have contributed well over a million articles to the English section alone in its five years of existence. And the articles are “suprisingly accurate” says the “Starfish” author.
The other interesting thing about Wikipedia is that, although every user has an equal ability to add to, edit, or even delete content, there is virtually no vandalism. There are even self-appointed Wikipedia “custodians” who go around either cleaning up code to make a page look better, or catching any juvenile vandalism that mars otherwise excellently presented articles.
”Wikipedia proves that people are basically good.”
I can’t find the source again (sorry!) but that quote stood out to me. The problem that my wife has with decentralized organizations is that she basically doesn’t trust people. She would probably say the opposite. That people are basically bad, and Jesus helps them change… a bit. 🙂 And I know I tend toward the positive, but how can you argue with a site that has articles in 200 languages, and over a million articles in English alone with so little vandalism – though it’s so easy to do? And generally, it’s “policed” by the users.
Concluding a story from the Burning Man festival – where 30,000 people congregate in a dry lake bed in the middle of Nowhere, Nevada, the authors say:
But that demonstrated something important – open systems can’t rely on a police force. On the one hand, there’s freedom to do what you want, on the other hand, there’s added responsibility: because there are no police walking around maintaining law and order, everyone becomes a guardian of sorts. You become responsible for your own welfare and that of those around you. In open systems, the concept of “neighbor” takes on more meaning than just the person next door.
I loved this. Just loved it. This is what I want the church to be. Without a doubt. When he mentioned police, I immediately thought of the pastor, or the elders, or whoever is “responsible” for the people’s “well-being”. That level of responsiblity and oversight is not only unfair and restrictive to members, but really equally so to the leaders/pastors.
And it’s just not as good. It might be better in a way for “controlling”, but in my mind, the system where everyone is equally responsible for themselves and for others works better for everyone. And is a much more inclusive, participatory, open system. Which is what I believe the church to be. We have one head. Beyond that, we are all equal. (No slave nor free, male nor female, etc. The lines are gone.)
I think overall the coolest thing about open systems to me is that they are entrusted to each member. No one is trying to “steer the ship”. The “steering” is done together, or just not done at all. Members are free to contribute equally, and really, without their contributions to each other… the group does not exist.
I love the ideas we can learn here for the church. To live together as a family, a unit, an organization where there is no central office, no heirarchy of leadership, no CEO… everyone contributes and receives equally. Everyone is responsible for everyone else. Obviously that does not apply to a group of 10,000 people. In fact the book said it seems like somewhere around 14 people is the max for a decentralized group to function best. Beyond that you begin to have too much anonymity. I love that idea too, and am trying currently to live that. We have a small circle of people with whom we do life the most, and that is who we learn from and share with and perhaps that is our “church”.
God can always change that. And it seems he does. There are seasons when the people in that circle of 14 or so change. Where we are part of a “different church”. But it does seem that there is generally a small group of folks whom we share life with Jesus with.
It’s certainly not perfect. And I feel like we’re still actually looking for that. But perhaps we have more than I sometimes think we have. 🙂
I do encourage you to get the book if you get a chance. I would love to talk some more about it, but I have already taken enough of my family’s time here on vacation. 🙂 The kids have all awoken from their naps… time to start dinner!
If you have any thoughts on these quotes, or open systems in general, post a comment or two below!
I read a bunch more of The Starfish and the Spider on vacation, and it has so reinforced my love for open systems. The book details a bunch of successful up-start businesses and organizations that rely on a decentralized, “user-driven” organizational structure to function. And it’s just fantastic! I have mentioned before that I lean toward “Libertarian” politcally/idealogically. This certainly fits that. Open systems thrive on trust of each individual member. Trust promotes equal ownership and equal participation, and each member contributes to the advancement of the organization. Fascinating stuff.
Check and see if your local library has this book. It’s been worth the read for me. I would recommend it. (Though I was told to only read the first half, as in the second half they pretty much negate what they learned in the first half of the book… and they start trying to make a centralized system of a decentralized, open system. Ha! We’re so funny…) 🙂
I will post some quotes from the book here in a bit… there are some great applications to The Church, to be sure. I think the church thrives as a decentralized, open system. But too often we lock it up in a controlled, centralized system… and take all the life out of it. Or at least hinder it.
So… I will post quotes when we get back from vacation!
(PS… I posted this on my laptop from the indoor pool at our resort! Awesome!) 🙂
I mentioned not long ago the extensive list of books I am currently reading. One of those was the book you see to the right. I’ve been focusing on that one lately, and it’s amazing how much what this fellow is saying about the business world (really, so far it’s just an observation of various historical events, including those in the business world) so closely mirrors what the church can (or should?) be.
The chapter I am currently reading is explaining the difference between a spider and a starfish. The spider is as we would expect it. A central head, that controls everything. If you lop off a leg or two, the spider will survive, but if you destroy the head, nothing else will survive. The starfish is different. Any part can survive on its own. “If you cut a starfish in half…” says the author, “you’ll have two starfish to deal with.” The starfish can “regenerate” from any part of its body since there is no central brain or other center of operations. The creature is a sort of neural network.
Instead of having a head, like a spider, the starfish functions as a decentralized network… The starfish doesn’t have a brain. There is no central command. Biologists are still scratching their heads over how the creature operates…”
Indeed, at first glance, that seems chaotic, but somehow in God’s design, this creature works just fine as a decentralized unit.
The first case study was all of the peer to peer music/file sharing businesses. The more decentralized they got, the better they “worked” and the harder they were to kill. Record companies could shut down Napster because everything was in one place under one business name. But as it continues to decentralize, it’s harder to stop… can thrive without a “head”.
And last night, I was reading about the found of Alcoholics Anonymous. Pretty neat how it started out. The guy who started it (an alcoholic) was at the very end of his rope, and figured the only folks who could help him were the people in the same boat as him. So he created a structure that had no leaders, or heirarchy. Just people helping people.
The organization functions just like a starfish. You automatically become part of the leadership-an arm of the starfish, if you will-the moment you join…
Because there is no one in charge, everyone is responsible for keeping themselves—and everyone else—on track. … You have a sponsor, but the sponsor doesn’t lead by coercion; that person leads by example. And if you mess up and relapse or stop attending for a while, you’re always welcome to come back.
(emphasis mine)
That seems so close to what I see being the best model of life as the church. The living body of Christ. We are all equal parts of the greater whole—Christ’s body. I’m not sure how his being the “Head” fits that picture, when thinking of starfish, but as the rest of his body… it’s right on. Everyone is responsible for themselves, and cares for each other. Because they are all “in it together”.
After AA took off and became a huge success, the author says:
Bill (the founder) had a crucial decision to make. He could go with the spider option and control what the chapters could and couldn’t do. Under this scenario, he’d have to manage the brand and train applicants in the AA methodology. Or, he could go with the starfish approach and get out of the way. He chose the latter. He let go.
He trusted each chapter to do what it thought was right. And so today, whether you’re in Ancorage, Alaska or Santiago, Chile you can find an AA meeting. And if you feel like it, you can start your own. Members have always been able to directly help each other without asking permission or getting approval from Bill W. or anyone else. This quality enables open systems to quickly adapt and respond.
(emphasis mine)
Christianity could certainly learn from this model. Instead of fighting to protect and preserve, a more open system would encourage the body of Christ to be “known by our love for one another”. Not our big buildings, flashy presentations, big events, wonderfully entertaining programs, etc, etc, etc. And, the body of Christ could function so much better if our only direction came from The Head (not the pretend “heads” we have set up). Rather than chaos, wouldn’t it be much more perfect, and more quick to respond.
See, Jesus is a weird head. The starfish can regenerate and fix itself because the head is located everywhere. The brain is in every cell of the body (I guess?). Isn’t that kind of like Jesus. He’s not in a fixed location, in the Home Office at 1 Golden Street Drive. He’s here, with me right now, as much as he is with you. (“I will be with you always…”) So, he can quickly help me know that I need to go over and see my neighbor… and I might find out that she needs help with something… or maybe she’s just feeling down. Or maybe even, she has some good news she needs to share with someone? As the head of a body that has no heirarchichal leadership, he can quickly move and “regenerate” his body as he needs to. No waiting for staff or deacons meetings. 🙂
I’m enjoying the book. I’m sure I’ll post more here later. Just wanted to share a couple of quotes that stood out to me last night.
We have been noticing lately that there is just WAY TOO MUCH good stuff to do in your free time. So, I have a bunch of books that I have started, and am currently “working on”, but that’s when I’m not watching the stuff we’ve TiVoed, or catching up on podcasts, or playing some vintage Sega or Nintendo (usually a season game with the current Sabres in NHL ’96, or the 1991 Buffalo Bills in Tecmo Super Bowl!!!)
OR, posting stuff to my blog. 🙂 (Or reading other blogs and news sites!)
WOW. There is a lot.
So, just for fun, I thought I’d post here the books that I (wish I could say I) am reading. 🙂
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iWoz An auto-biography by the tech guy who launched the computer revolution by making the first Apple computer way back in 1976. Steve Jobs gets the credit, but he was mainly the business guy. Woz was the creative, techy guy. So far, it’s a good read. |
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The Starfish and The Spider The subtitle is “The unstoppable power of leaderless organizations.” It was discussed on a recent edition of the God Journey podcast, and sounded interesting. So far it is. They’re talking about Napster and the like so far. Several parallels to the Church, I am told. I do look forward to reading this one. |
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Marv Levy: Where Else Would You Rather Be? Great stories from a great coach of my favorite team! What could be better??!? |
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The Game of My Life This book features stories of games of tons of former Buffalo Bills. It’s a great read. The boys love it too! We’re nearly done with this one, but it’s still in the “to read” place…. 🙂 |
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Bulletproof Web Design These two books are things I would like to read to help with my web design business… recommended by a friend, and a podcast respectively. |
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CSS: The Missing Manual |
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The Story of The Bible Per another conversation on the God Journey, I thought it would be neat to read this old bible we have. It’s not verse and chapters… it’s just a story. Taken from the text of the Bible. I would love to read through the whole story again that way. Haven’t actually picked this one up yet… just… got it off the shelf. 😉 |
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Hidden Treasures in an Urban Jungle A friend of mine wrote this one, and it has been on the top of my pile of books to read for quite a while. I’m sure they are great stories from his time in Ecuador. (Over a decade, so… probably lots of great stories of stuff God is doing.) 🙂 |
So… you can click on any of those books and check them out for yourself. Maybe you can let me know how they are… as you might get to them before me!!! 🙂
Hey folks…
There has not been much time for blogging of late, which is actually very good. Business is “booming”… I am getting lots of repeat business, and perhaps even cooler, referrals from current clients. That’s neat. I’m very glad God is providing for us through this. I do mostly enjoy what I do.
There will be time when things at least slow down (I’d imagine?) so I’ll post more thoughts here later, but for now, I have been re-reading the book I released last year, “Life In The Rearview Mirror” and there’s some good stuff in there. I’ve been encouraged to read some of the stuff God had taught me in the not too distant past, and to see how that could help me in the now to handle some of the things I (we) am (are) dealing with now. Some stuff about money… and a few chapters lately about just the way God made the world to work best.
I feel like I did not give LITRVM as much attention since the Here’s The Church book was so much more focused “topic-wise” and seemed more relevant to more people. And, it’s a great book, and I am glad so many people have purchased or downloaded it from the GregsHead.net Bookstore. That’s awesome.
I’d like to recommend again that you check out Life In The Rearview Mirror. If you’re able to purchase, that would be great. You can buy it at my bookstore (linked above) or using the button in this post. Or, you can get it at Kavanagh Books right here in Palmyra, or even better… you can purchase straight from Amazon, via my Amazon Store (and they will pay me a commission on the sale of my own book!) 🙂
If you really don’t want to buy the book… may I recommend you read the blog posts from whence the content of LITRVM came? (Well, at least, two of the chapters) 🙂 Here are the links to the two articles I spoke of before. If you can get the book, that would be grand, and I think you’d enjoy it. If not, enjoy these articles from 2005…
I haven’t ever landed on a firm position or any sort of “stance” on what I think of TV or movies or that sort of entertainment medium. I enjoy it. I don’t like current TV. Most any TV we watch is via Netflix DVDs of cool shows from the 80s and 90s. Lots of Star Trek for the wife and I. (That was awesome. Not sure I’ve ever used the phrase, but it just kind of flowed freely from my fingers there… “The wife and I”…) Movies? Jen could care less… I go in spurts, to be sure. We only see 1 or 2 in the theater per year.
Yes, he said year.
But for some reason, often times visual media (like TV and movies) and printed media (which is arguably still “visual”) are mutually exclusive for me. I’m either reading, and usually writing, or… I’m watching movies. Right now, it’s movies.
Last night I finished X-Men 2. At the recommendation of a friend who saw the third X-Men movie in the theater this year, I decided to watch the triology once the X3 movie was out on DVD. It is, so I got two from the library, and one from Netflix (the latest one) and watched the first on Monday night, the second last night, and will conclude the trilogy tonight. I like watching multi-part movies that way. I watched Lord of The Rings that way, and the Matrix. There’s definitely more apparent symmetry to the plot and everything if you watch it all at once. At least I think so…
Last week I watched Batman Begins. Saw it on the DVD shelf at the library and figured I’d give it a try. It was good. Liked seeing the “behind the scenes” look at Batman. 🙂
So.. I know it’s just a matter of a limited amount of time to do stuff, but I just find it odd that I’m either all TV related media and no books/print or… vice versa. I imagine it won’t be long before I’m back to books. Problem is, I’m really quite busy juggling a BUNCH of different little things at the moment… it’s hard to really give time to anything extra like that.
Recently though, there have been a few nice books I’ve been picking up. I have been reading a book about the Spanish-American War (late 19th century) called “Turning Point For America”. Fascinating. I think history is even more fascinating as an adult because I have seen history unfold (our “current events”) and so I can relate more to the stories of what happened in the past. It really is not all that different from what is going on today, with our current “war on terror”.
In addition to that book, I have enjoyed a series with my boys called “Stories to Solve”. They’re little two or three page stories involving clever riddles or tricksters, and the writer poses the question to the reader at the end of each one… “So how did [insert amazing outcome here] happen???” The boys love it, and I love reading with them. 🙂
So, the media consumption continues. As time allows I might post more thoughts one the specific shows/books as time goes on. Stay tuned for more… I’ve only just begun today….
