pinakidion.*

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January - International Sunday attendance exceeded 100,000

July - goal of having disciples in all 50 states reached with the plantings in Fargo, North Dakota; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Burlington, Vermont

Church Growth Today names LA Church the fastest growing church in North America (2nd year in a row)

Nelson Mandela receives first HOPE Unity Award

HOPE worldwide registered with USAID

Baghdad planted

Morocco, Turkey and Iraq plantings

LA Church breaks 10,000 Sunday attendance

200th church planted: Pakistan

World Missions Leadership Conference – Johannesburg

In 1995, just as the Internet was beginning to explode, people in a number of Christian discussion groups on the Usenet, the Internet’s bulletin board system, started complaining that people discussing and arguing about the International Churches of Christ were drowning out other conversation. At the request of a former member, Chris Lee, the Usenet newsgroup alt.religion.christian.boston-church was created.

This year also saw the appearance of the first WWW pages by former members. The ICC itself didn’t get on the WWW for another year, which may explain the ambivalent attitude its leaders have towards the Internet. It was a source of information about the ICC which the leaders could not control, and access to which they could not block. Increasingly, current members who were having doubts about the group would search the Internet for information, find the WWW sites of former members, and end up leaving.

In 1995, at a leadership conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, Al Baird, one of the ICC’s “World Sector Leaders”, referred to the “shepherding crisis” in the ICC. In this same speech, he estimated that there were two former members for each current member in the group. The ICC leaders resolved to change how the church operated to prevent this — again.

There’s a big conference nearby occuring over Labor Day weekend. This is not to be confused with a similarly titled conference with an entirely different purpose.

It appears that only about 20 are going from here. This means, of course, that we’ll have regular service over the holiday. I decided to ask why folks are not going. I also asked a few that are going the reasons they are attending.

The number one stated reason for not going was expense. Most of that expense being gasoline, but also eating out with the family for a few meals, and the conference fee. One person remarked how they could easily spend $500 for the entire weekend.

The second stated reason for not attending was that it was not a ‘kid-friendly’ experience. Husbands and wives do not get to attend much of the conference together and one of them is always with their children. One person expressed a desire to have conference organized more like this one in Dallas.

A friend and I talked for a bit about having our own conference and having it be kid-friendly. I think it would be great. Would anyone attend? It’s still expensive to travel for gasoline.

The number one reason that people expressed a desire to go was fellowship. This was either personal fellowship with folks they know, or fellowship for the sake of their children. Teen camp occurred recently and many teen parents are attending, in part, so that their teen children can see their friends.

The number two reason for attending was to find out about other ICoC churches. There was an expressed interest in how others handle specific issues.

Note
This is not a scientific survey. It is entirely possible that what me and others discussed is not reflective of the entire church I attend. I just thought it was interesting.

My letter of concerns in regards to the UP will be upgraded to something larger. The church I attend is now seeking to send along a note about its concerns with the UP.

I been asked to draft it.

Yes, I literally danced when telling someone else about the news. Immature, I know.

Now, however, a member of the board and someone I consider a friend, is having the same feelings I have been having for a while. Whereas I am estatic that we are saying something publically concerning the UP, he appears to be concerned that we are pulling away from a good thing. It makes me sad, for his sake. It also confirms my primary objection to the UP - it is inherently divisive. Now it threatens to divide me and my friend.

I know, it’s not the document that divides us, but how we look at it differently that does. There should be room for us to look at quite a few things differently, especially matters of dispute that have nothing to do with primary theology. In a way, it appears that the UP has demonstrated how different members of the ICoC subculture really are from each other. I can deal with someone I know being very different from me, especially a person that helps the church I attend manage its money well. Had majority opinion ruled, we might be burdened with a building payment we cannot really afford at this moment. I see him as a kindred spirit that can do what he believes is right, even in the face of many that wish to do otherwise.

I’ve gotten the various things others have written about the UP. By various things, I mean ‘official’ church responses. I’ll post my draft here when it is done. I assume the final draft will be on the church’s website.

What a long strange trip it’s been.

but only because of other activities. Really.

I spend a lot of time on my hobbies these days. I haven’t had a hobby since high school, but my hobby back then is too much like work right now. Sure it was great to input 3000 lines of BASIC for a science fair project, but I do too much SQL to enjoy coding these days.

As mentioned earlier, one of my hobbies is games of all kinds, mainly board games and card games. I also do role-playing games, but mostly for content, not for actual playing. Lately I have been parsing out the various rules for a game that resembles L’Attaque (Stratego) and creating the gameboards for it.

I am able to see a counselor again. It’s funny, I remember the sermons talking about discipling as a service provided freely for which others spend hundreds a month. $35 a month to talk to someone that is completely removed from ICC history is well worth it. Besides, we end up talking about the important things in life more often than anything else. Important as in family, our son, employment, handling disappointment, etc. Talking about God and theological issues - that I can do for free.

Things at work have become really busy thanks to a software upgrade. As such, I have a ton of semithoughts, but nothing very well thought out. Oh well. BTW communion will show up sometime next week.

Anywho, that’s me recently.

I was able to give thoughts for Communion today. I’ll post the file when it can be uploaded. It was cathartic, to say the least, to simple focus on God and not a lot of other things church and not church.

If a minister you know made this film, what would you think?

It’s dark and disturbing, kind of like the Cask of Amantilado by Poe. In fact, that gives away some of the plot.

Part of me things nothing of it. I’ve written stuff that many would consider inappropriate for a Christian author. Being creative sometimes requires exploration of dark things.

A part of it, I guess, is that I know the minister and that this exploration of his dark side is shocking to me because I cannot reconcile it with his sermons and personal interactions.

So I’m asking, not telling. Without using his name or location, what do you think? I really don’t want this to get sidetracked into a discussion about his church or associates. (I believe the elders of his church are in the production credits somewhere.)

Today was one of those special days that happens all too rarely in day to day life. I get busy or I get distracted with money, ministry, politics, or some combination of the three. Today was about what is truly important and one of the greatest blessings in my life.

All of us started off today planning to go to a half-off kidz sale at a Lutheran church in a small town outside of here. They had converted their gym to a thrift store. We hoped to find a stroller for our son, who is now too big for the baby carriers we have. I was surprised to find a very rugged stroller for $20. We used another $15 to get two sets of clothes and new toys for him. He loves the toys, yet still prefers to wear as little as possible.

Coming home, we talked for a bit before lunch. Afterwards, my wife feeling ill, went upstairs for a nap. Our son and I played for two hours. He laughed as naturally as breathing and other things to say besides. I think he out-talked both of us today, and that is a Herculean task!

When she awoke, I went to spend my usual Saturday time writing. This week was finishing up a chapter of my cousin’s book and writing more polished rules to Tactique, a game my friend and I playtested last night. I had some notion to write about other things, but I only got a few fragments jotted down. Otherwise, I posted a comment or two around the Internet and left it at that.

After writing, my wife and I just talked. I mean the kind of talks that two people in love have about matters of the heart. We love each other and it needed to be said with poetical and emphatic force. We talked about growing up and why we love the things we love (besides each other). Moving outside to a mild day, we listened to the radio and watched the Blue Jay dart across the sky. We danced to the radio with our son and laughed at Garrison Kellior (and the rest of A Prairie Home Companion).

Moving back inside, our son and I played for another three hours. He rolled around the floor and laughed and explored and smiled at me. We talked about the usual things, you know, politics, the price of gas, some diaper scandal in the Midwest, who’s running for President amongst other things. He made some pretty strong points about teeth being worth the pain as well as poignant editorials about music. To do him justice, you have to hear it from him, but he tends to favor melodic songs that tell a story. He likes that kind of music so much, he shakes from head to toe upon hearing it.

My wife prepared the menu for the coming week and wrote to a mutual friend in Texas in the Air Force. We pray for her a lot - she wants to learn medicine and help people and we are afraid she may do the exact opposite. She was there for my wife when she moved here to see if our relationship would lead anywhere. She was in our wedding and visited us in the hospital shortly after our son was born. An amazing 18 year old - she does her parents proud by who she is.

As the evening drew to a close, we sang calming songs with our son and prayed together. All of us hope for a good night’s sleep. We also hope to get in touch with sacred space at service tomorrow. We hope for a lot of things, but more than anything, we are grateful for days like today. A day of blessings.

When we discovered we were pregnant with our son, I began a shift in thinking about the future instead of always thinking in the present moment. What will be best for our son in two years, five years, ten years? How can I save now in a Plan 125 to help with college? When will he eat solid food? How long will these cloth diapers last?

At one point in our morning playing time, I hugged him tightly and wept over him. I prayed that he would be happy. I prayed that he would be safe from evil men and well-intentioned complacent men that will do him harm. I prayed that he would not have my struggles with God and I told him again that God loves him, and Mommy, and Daddy. I confessed to God that I may only make it to Heaven as one escapes flames, if I make it at all, so I prayed that our son would not inherit the sins of his father. I prayed that I want our son to know that he can make a difference in the lives of others, and that doing the right thing is sometimes difficult, so there is always grace.

It struck me later, though, that there are times to think about the present moment. Tomorrow has enough evil of its own. Today, though, is where the opportunities are. And what opportunities came today! I will always remember spending so much of a day with our son and doing the verbal drills and rolling on the floor and the new (and now silent) telephone toy. I will remember the easy conversation between my wife and me. I will remember dancing in the backyard to great music and our son smiling with us. I’ll remember seeing him at the exact moment waking up and recognizing his dad.

So today is precious and wonderful and full of blessings. Days like today help me to understand a bit of what Heaven may be like.

We take this commercial break to bring you

Star Trek(R) Motivational Posters

Yes, everyone has already linked there. I figure it’s about time I get hip.

I like the one about Captain Kirk and the Mind Meld.

The International Astronomical Union votes on a new definition of a planet on August 24 of this year. If this definition is accepted, the list of planets grows from nine to at least twelve.

Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Ceres
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
Charon
2003 UB313 a.k.a. Xena

If accepted, though, other bodies would qualify. How about planet Sedna?

In case you think that astrologers will have to change, many of them already believe that there are twelve planets.

Bringing the total to 315, an additional 12 churches are the latest committing to the Plan for United Cooperation. This brings the total to 70% of the disciples listed in our Church Locator. New to the list are seven churches from the Middle East, one from London, one from the Philippines and three from the US. See the list of committed churches below. Several other churches have announced their agreement in principle with the Unity Proposal but not wishing to commit at this time.

Disciples Today Article - August 13,2006

There’s a few things to keep in mind about the 70% statistic:

• The Church Locator does not list all of our churches. The Chicago International Church of Christ is not listed, neither is Rancagua Church in Chile. The second church in Eqypt listed as signing the UP, for example, is not on the list. Neither is the Metro Languna church.
• Not all churches gave their membership, so at best we can only estimate. This estimate is probably as close as we can get if we talk about individual members.
• Some churches listed in the locator do not exist. For example, Des Moines does not exist and neither does Rapid City, SD. The three members there are military and attend church in Denver.
• The churches in India do not match those listed on the Indian Churches of Christ website.

Accounting for three of these four things, the estimated number of churches from our ‘historic’ movement is 558. This includes the various Portland churches, using the Indian churches as listed on the website, and removing churches that do not exist. The fourth, not knowing the membership amounts in various places, shall be compensated by counting number of churches that signed. This is done because that number, though still an estimate, is more likely to be accurate.

And for those that object, leaving out the Portland churches, not already on the church locator affects perecentages by half a percent overall, half a percentage point in the US, and much less everywhere else (0 in Africa).

Percentage of churches signing the UP per ‘region’ is:

Africa
70 churches 43 yes 27 undecided 61.43% approve the UP
Asia/Pacific
130 churches 108 yes 22 undecided 83.08% approve the UP
Canada/United States
163 churches 74 yes 80 undecided 9 no 45.40% approve the UP
Eurasia
46 churches 38 yes 8 undecided 82.61% approve the UP
Europe
60 churches 11 yes 49 undecided 18.33% approve the UP
Lat. America/Caribbean
75 churches 35 yes 40 undecided 46.67% approve the UP
Middle East
14 churches 9 yes 5 undecided 64.29% approve the UP

WORLD
558 churches 318 yes 231 undecided 9 no 56.99% approve the UP

No votes are counted only if I have word from a member or have publicly stated that they would not sign. I believe the number is slightly larger, but cannot confirm it.

This says a few things:

• The undecideds appear to be in North America and Europe.
• The overall percentage of churches approving the UP is approx 57%.

This would also appear to support information from Andy Flemming’s Missions report that former World Sectors have changed less than churches in North America and Europe.

This is a for what it is worth. Statistics can show anything you like when there is a semi-informed public. You can count members and make it look like almost 3/4 of all ICoC members ratify the UP. You can count churches and make it look like slightly more than half. Either way this counting should be irrelevant. It should not be important who signed and who didn’t. My guess is that the Gang of Nine has figured out that the UP only works if everyone signs it. As long as there are non-signers, there are issues that could create more division, not less.

Last night we had a lesson about the Ordo - basically the order of worship and what worship means. I have to say that hearing someone that has theological training is refreshing to my heart. Last night, I really needed something to engage my mind and heart.

Early church worship had three parts - Word, Water, Bread/Cup. The Word is pretty obvious, it stands for preaching or reading from the Scriptures. Water, though, is not always baptism, it is also testimony. Testimony is sharing the story of our lives - it could be our conversion, it could be that critical turning point in our lives. It is whatever demonstrates to work of God in our lives. Bread/Cup is communion, of course.

Our minister suggested that we incorporate testimony into our worship so that we can hear each others’ stories. He knows some from his days in Denver, but so many have moved in from everywhere, he wants to know their story as well. When asked if we know the story of most of the members, no one felt that they did.

The main point, however, was not really liturgy. (Though the church I attend may move more towards a liturgical service.) The main point was about the sense of sacred space. For some, this sense is helped by a church building - the place to worship God doesn’t move and everytime a person comes here it is to worship God. For some, this sense if helped by a personal place with great meaning - for me it is the ballfields at night of my old church. For others, it is seeing other church members, no matter what the location and for still others, it is something completely different. The point was to claim that sacred space in our lives, individually and corporately. AFterwards, I commented that I have failed to do either as church on Sunday has become about conflict, needs, hurts, issues, and frustration. More importantly, there is no sacred space for me personally anywhere closeby. The nearest space is 1100+ miles away in Orange County, NC.

So I am in search of sacred space locally. You have any stories about sacred space?

I have an anti-spam device that closes comments after 21 days. So here is Round Two of Membership Has Its Privileges for anyone that still wishes to comment. If not, that’s totally fine. It’s not like we haven’t said plenty about the UP.

Douglas Jacoby has commented somewhat publicly about the UP. It took a bit to find, but here are his comments. 200 ICoC people against one CoC professor - this is balance?

If you start hearing about bugfog, the link is where it appeared first. I didn’t coin it, but it sounded cool.

BuGFoG stands for “By Geeks, For Geeks”

As to what the u and o stand for, your guess is as good as mine.

I’ve been working on other things as mentioned. Not much to write about otherwise.

God and I are going through a season of change. It’s not that I love him any less, but we are having difficulties that have to be worked out. It’s not life or a specific circumstance really. A large part of it is honestly not having much fun recently - something that is not His fault. No fun for me means very hard time focusing on a relationship that is not tangible in the sense that my relationship with my wife is tangible. Again, not His fault. I’ve always had a great weakness in only being able to focus on what is directly in front of me.

In times like this, I try not to make bad decisions, but I do. I’ve engaged the Delphites and that usually doesn’t end well for me. One delphite in particular belivies that there is some vast conspiracy afoot in the new ICoC. Another believes that Kip will reemerge as the World Leader in Charge. Peh. There is no conspiracy and no secret agenda - most folks are quite plain in wanting a nicer version of the old days back. See, not good for the kid to mess with the Delphites.

Financially, the situation is better, but still tight. We were fine this month until the car died. Turned out to be a dead cell in a battery. Still hope to get home, but that may be put off until November.

We have a new minister and I enjoy talking to him. He is a great guy to talk to, I was happy to do what little I could to help him move in. He was really grateful for the help - I was glad that he didn’t take such help for granted.

I got a card from one of the parents. They thanked me for what my partner-in-crime and I are teaching in class and gave me a bottle of juice. This is a family that has much less than I have, plus a 1.5 hour drive each way to church. I was greatly humbled by their gift. I am also sad that they may not be able to continue the drive. Actually, few of the folks make the drive these days. I don’t blame them, it’s too expensive. I certainly don’t have the budget for an extra $40 in gas just to go to church.

Neccesity being the mother of invention, they are making friends with the mainline CoC down there. Maybe it will spark something, I certainly hope so.

Outside of that, no grand schemes here. Thanks to the kids, I get to enjoy the study of the Gospel of John. Last week we overturned tables. This week, we’re born again. Next week we get to draw water from a well. Not bad, really. Wish I had more than two children in the class, but they are fun.

My friend, tool, finally got a tech job. Woohoo!

Now if I can get a rich relative to float me $100K to open a Chik-Fil-A(R) in this city…

Anyway, don’t forget your Ivory(R) soap, Mentos(R) and Diet Coke(R) on the way home from work. It’s the best $5 entertainment show you can get.

pinakidion.*
The month began with the return of Homestar Runner and writing the board about the Unity Proposal. Along the way, discussion forums were added only because the plugin seemed neat. One big thing i may not have mentioned is that I had to change the permalink structure to get the forums to work. If you link to a specfic post here, that link will no longer work.

I made a huge gaff in an analogy about the ICoC and the Worldwide Church of God that sparked a look at the history of the WCG. Turns out that there are some similarities quite striking. More still needs to be done on that.

We also all learned how to expand Ivory(R) soap. Yep, this has been a good month.

Dev/Irregulars
The captain has been writing all the articles, but I managed to add one in July about Tesla Motors. They have made an electric car that runs lithium/ion batteries. You know, the batteries used to power a laptop. Check the link to see for yourself.

Sycarion Diversions
Work on Lenga progresses, to the detriment of the rest of the portal. The rules are completed, now the sections that deal with buying equipment and the spellbook are being created. Still, two posts escaped, one on the Kirmenians, the other about Everyday Magic. Everyday magic is pretty much what it says, pieces of magic that are a part of typical life. One of the examples given stretches that last little bit of spice a bit longer, another purifies a handful of water. Details on the link.

Come September, the rules for Lenga should be complete.

My Family
The website has been redone. At this point, it holds pictures of the fam, but will soon feature more day to day life stuff of my family. My wife wrote a poem for the site that is not published, yet.

Prairie Comber
The Power to the People serial started strong, but chapter 6 and 7 stalled on my computer. Damascus, a story about the redemption of a cruel man, has been lost to all time. I no longer have a copy of it. Other Outer Banks stories, like Fistful of Diamonds, should appear soon. Recent poetry should also appear.

The Advocate
Only the article about Phonemes appeared. The big news is that primary training for my son is now handled through Boys Town. We are also participating in a study led by the world renowned staff at the clinic. In many senses of the word, our son is getting some of the best care in the world.

Articles about Goldenhar’s Syndrome may not appear after all. Our son’s case appears to be mild by comparison. Our pediatrician said we were his first Goldenhar’s, now he has two. We have offered to speak to the family, but nothing has happened yet.

Busy, yes, but still working on things. A couple weeks ago, I had a personal retreat to write for several hours. Most of that work will benefit Sycarion more than here.

Plans for the future still include posting all my early writing and poetry on Prairiecomber. Finishing Lenga, of course, as well as finishing various semithoughts not appearing on this site. The investigation into the hermenutic history of the ICoC lead nowhere. The result of the research was that outside of Kip’s writings and sermons, there was no heremenutic. Our own writings about understanding the Bible boiled down to finding the command to obey or promise to claim. The only exception, in a sense, was Shining Like Stars by Douglas Jacoby. Otherwise, the future of the portal is not really known. I’ll write about something, I’m certain.

See you around!