birthdays + ireland = longwindedness

A few weeks ago (December 4th) we celebrated two birthdays. The first was my 26th. We went to a local Peruvian restaraunt called "Machu Pichu" for an intimate dinner with some close friends, and then headed to a little Psuedo-Irish pub called "The Cladagh" for a less intimate, but equally enjoyable time with more folks from our little church. The second was the anniversary of our return from Northern Ireland. (Some of you may remember my birthday party last year--we were still pretty jet-lagged) I thought maybe this would be a good time to give a little update.

We are going back. We're not sure if it will six months from now or six years, but when it's time we believe that God will make a way. As we've prayed about it, one of the things that we began to ask for was for a group of local people who would already wanting to do what we want to do, and who would want us to come over and help them in a pastoral role. Well that bit seems like it might be falling into place.

There was a Northern Irish guy named Cambell Miller who just spent six months at Muncie Alliance Church (our "parent church") and really loved it. He and his friends are mostly from Catholic or mixed-marriage backgrounds, but don't feel accepted or at home in any church there. For one, they've come to believe in Jesus in a more "evangelical" way that makes them uncomfortable in the Catholic church, but their heritage and political views make it difficult to be accepted in most protestant churches.

We want to start a Bible study that would be a "non-church." We would meet on any day but Sunday, probably in a coffee shop or neutral venue. We wouldn't try to get anyone to quit going to mass or church and join our group, but just worship Jesus, study the Bible together, and try to live out Christian community in practical ways. Ideally, Ange and I could get jobs or run a business or something normal people do and be as "un-missionary-like" as possible. Ideally, we could believe in people and help them step into their gifts and God's mission and "work ourselves out of a job," so to speak. At some point, this might involve starting an intensive ministry training program like the Internship at MAC. Who knows?

Or it's possible that we have the whole thing wrong and we'll fall on our face. You never know. Our plan is to go for a week or two in March to meet Cambell's friends. If that goes well, we'll look to move as soon as we can get visa/job/living arrangements worked out (which could be a while, realistically). We don't need any financial support right now, but we *really* need people to pray with us. If you'd be willing to commit to regularly praying for this endevour, please shoot us an e-mail, phone call, or just post a comment.

In other news, I never got around to finishing my theological treatise of last month. I should know by now that saying things like "I'll post more in a few days..." is setting myself up for a bold-faced lie. We love you guys.

Mark + Ange = Guinns

some thoughts on the life of faith

I've been thinking a lot recently about the different approaches we take to the problems of life. Specifically, as a Christian I've been thinking about three angles from which I can come at an issue, and I think the same holds true for churches and groups I've been a part of. For example, if we take the issue of a missionary struggling to raise money for some venture he might think:

1. I need to call more people and be more convincing. I need to make a website, promotional videos, and a big thermometer poster to keep people informed and aware of the need. Ultimately, I have to feed my family, so we might need to go home or call this thing off.
2. Jesus was poor so we can be poor. Jesus has called us to this, so we'll do it even if we have to dumpster dive and fast a lot. Maybe God is trying to teach me something.
   
3. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He will provide. He is seldom early but never late. Let's call a prayer meeting.

My tendency is often to assign various grades of spirituality to each approach and judge others accordingly, but I think maybe all three are Biblical, good, and even necessary as we try to live well, not leaving our calling and also not leaving a bunch of human wreckage.

Just for the sake of discussion, I've associated these approaches with three moments in Jesus' life. Unfortunately, I don't have time to write all at once, so I'll do several posts over the next few days.

funny quote

"There's no way God could have called the creation 'very good' if there had been poodles."
-Ken Hamm

I couldn't agree more.

what have we got ourselves into

Please pray for us tomorrow night. We're having a few of our neighbors over for a "Bible discussion group." We're going to read a chapter or two of the gospel of John and talk about it. My goal is to say as little as possible, but we still really need the Lord's wisdom. Right about now we're wondering what we got ourselves into. I reckon that's about where we should be though. :)

Peace,
Mark

sufjan stevens

Sufjan Stevens is possibly my favorite musician in the world right now. It's a pretty close race up there with such contenders as Wovenhand/Daved Eugene Edwards, Arcade Fire, and occasionally Derek Webb. Last night we went to a Sufjan concert here in Indianapolis, though, and it pushed him into the lead for a bit.

That concert was so fantastic - literally. The evening began with the eerily beautiful My Brightest Diamond, who I'd never heard before, but really enjoyed. She has a stunning voice which, though quirky is superbly controlled. After that, Sufjan and his Butterfly Brigade came out - complete with butterfly wings and marching band uniforms. On top of that, the music was so well crafted and well performed. The string and brass arrangements were wonderfully put together and each song had such a calculated dramatic sweep. It made me giddy. Favorite moments: definitely the crazy chaotic build at the end of The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades, Seven Swans (including the story behind the song), and Sufjan's quirky stories and childish humility. Really, there weren't any bad moments though. Each song was a treat in itself. It was an evening to remember and it reminded me again why live music is fun. Thank, Sufjan.

Mark

i don't want to be comforted

A few months ago I was listening to this sermon by A.W. Tozer and was really struck by something he said. The sermon is on "The Holiness of God" and it's the one from which that chapter in his book "The Attributes of God" was transcribed. He describes how we will all stand naked before "the uncreated beam" of God's gaze and in that hour no one will be able to help us. He talks about how we are so quick to throw Bible verses and trite, easy answers at people who are struggling with God or are under conviction from him. "I DON'T WANT TO BE COMFORTED!" he says, "I want to know that I will be accepted when I stand before the Holy God."

That phrase has stuck in my mind and I've thought of it often. I thought of it again two Sunday's ago as we looked at Romans 9 and the labyrinth of God's sovereignty together. Any time we are talking to someone and they are feeling troubled about something, our first impulse is to make things ok. To try to say something that will make them feel better. What if God isn't concerned about us feeling better? What if we are actually robbed of something great and eternal (namely, an experiential knowledge of the Holy One) by not pressing into and through the discomfort?

I don't want to be comforted anymore. I want to hear God speak. I want to walk with people through stuff, but not by trying to make everything "ok" until God makes it ok.

Just a thought. Here is that sermon (in three parts):

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
  

In the beautiful name of Jesus,

Mark

it's been too long, i know

Man, where does the time go? I'm finally sitting down to write a little update for the four people that will ever read our blog, only because Ange is out of town at a women's retreat (cry for me, it's painful--I don't know what to do with myself). How did another month go by since I last wrote?

We're doing well. We've started a Wednesday night Bible study at church. I have been at least a little bit faithful about posting my notes here and here. We eat dinner together in someone's home and then study the Bible for a bit. We're going through the book of Genesis a couple of chapters at a time and it's great fun. It just so happens that we're also going through Romans on Sunday's and it has been quite enlightening to do both at once -- it's amazing how much interplay there is between the two books.

I've been reading A.W. Tozer's The Attributes of God and loving it too. That man is one of my heros.

My parents were up for a little visit two weeks ago and I loved that. Last weekend we went to Michigan to visit Ange's grandma. In two weeks we'll be in Muncie leading worship at MAC. The grass in our backyard is shamefully tall. Work is still going well for the most part. Ange and I love each other a lot. Our good friends Jay and Jess Kirkpatrick moved into the house next door. I've been playing my guitar a lot. God is good to us. Amen.

Mark

i love charles wesley.

From the hymn "Jesus, lover of my soul" (not the cheesy praise chorus):

Thou, O Christ, art all I want,
More than all in Thee I find;
Raise the fallen, cheer the fain,
Heal the sick and lead the blind.
Just and holy is Thy name--
I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am,
Thou art full of truth and grace.

Blessings,
Mark

i looked in the meerkat's eyes

Yesterday, Ange and I celebrated our year-and-a-half anniversary by going to the zoo and then spending the night at a bed and breakfast. It was really a blast. We had to go see the lions (of course) and also the meerkats at the zoo, because we had watched this show called Meerkat Manor in Ireland and loved it. We watched them for a long time because they're really entertaining and eerily human in their mannerisms. At one point, one of them looked me in the eyes and I was struck by the tragic absurdity of zoos (though I love them and I'm deeply thankful that I have the opportunity to see all these amazing animals).

Here is an animal that is made to be roaming the wild places, watching out for birds of prey and the only thing flying above it is a fat quail. These animals have such fantastic immune systems that they can often live through a serious scorpion or cobra bite, but the most serious thing they have to live through is a vet's needle and some ugly kids looking through the glass. They are incredible hunters, travelers, and survivors, but this one in front of me didn't have to hunt, didn't have the option of travel, and had a full-time staff of professionals to see that he survived. And when I looked into his eyes, this meerkat looked nothing but bored.

Driving to work in the morning I often look around me in some traffic clog or stop light and see faces with pretty much the same expressions. Sometimes I wear it myself. Oh the things we were made to do, you and I, but it's safer to think about web sites and new outfits and whether or not Danika Patrick will win the Indy 500 (sorry guys, but what's the big deal?). And we think we're bored because we're not "living our dreams" so we change jobs and relationships and locations and never think about getting on our faces before the Maker of Heaven and Earth. And so we are meerkats or gazelle or lions laying in the shade getting fat and nothing but bored.

Mark

weddings and things

Wow. How does a month go by so fast? I tell you, this forty hour work week thing is killer. I think it ranks up there between thumb screws and those nasty "plaque picks" that the dentist uses on the horrible inventions scale.

Ange and I are well. We've been spending a lot of our weekend time getting ready for an event which has just occured: a wedding between Ange's brother Nate and former roommate Becca. It was a cool wedding on a warm Saturday afternoon. We did a lot of the music for and before the ceremony. Good times.

What else? Oh yeah, did I mention I've been working forty hours out of every week? Ek.

Mark

P.S. I actually love my job by the way, and I actually wouldn't mind doing it more than forty hours a week if there were twice as many hours in a day or I didn't need to sleep or I could be in two places at once. But alas....

Another week

Is it sad that I'm so often tempted to title my posts things like "Another week"? Surely something important has happened that would set this most recent seven days apart from all others? Well it has. I suspect that is often more of an indication that too much has happened rather than too little.

I think the same is often true of our face to face communication. Ange and I led worship at the Big MAC (that's the Muncie church for the uninitiated) yesterday. It was truly a pleasure, but I was overwhelmed at the number of people I wanted to catch up with and who wanted to catch up with us. Lots of people with whom there is so much to say that there is nothing to say. We love you though. We'll have time to catch up in that sweet by and by, eh?

Peace,
Mark

who descended into hail and on the third day...

It's been a busy week in the Guinn household. Last Thursday Ange and I were in an Easter program at Ange's parents' church. I was Jesus and she was part of the crowd that crucified me (sounds like everyday life...;) ) It was actually really moving for both of us. To enter in to that scene and imagine what it felt like to be rejected and to serve those who would shortly be hurting you so much. To look at those coming up for communion and think of the potential of each one, the love of the Father for each one. To try to envisage the garden and the cross. It was pretty awesome. (and it was fun to be singing again)

We've also had some crazy weather, including falling ice, howling wind, torrential rain, and a tornado watch or two. Our cars both got dinged up a bit and you can see why...

On the whole we're in good spirits. Enjoying our jobs (oh yeah, Ange is working part time for a public relations firm now). Keeping the faith. Eating pizza. Playing music. Good stuff.

Mark

Brother Andrew

Yesterday I was listening to a sermon by one of my favorite people, a Dutch guy named Brother Andrew. He started a ministry called Open Doors and has been involved in smuggling Bibles into closed countries for probably fifty years. He's written a couple of books. The only one I've read is called God's Smuggler (recently re-published as The Narrow Road) and it was a big part of God moving us towards Ireland. We would read it before going to bed and on long car trips and it often amazed us, challenged us, and built up our faith. In short, he's a crazy dude. One of those down-to-earth types--not hyper-spiritual, but radically faithful. I want to be like that.

Here's a link to the sermon. I was listening to it at work and I wanted to stand up at my desk at the end when he gives the invitation.

• The kind of people God can use - part 1
• The kind of people God can use - part 2
• Brother Andrew sermons at SermonIndex.net (a great site by the way)

Blessings,
Mark

idols

I was sitting in a meeting a couple weeks ago with some clients of our company and before the meeting actually started they were talking about the movie Brokeback Mountain (which I haven't seen, but would like to). One lady told how she couldn't get any of her friends to go with her because of their "religious beliefs" (which could be a whole discussion in itself - will skipping out on a movie change anything, except maybe deepening our own lack of compassion?). The guy on my left sympathised and proceeded to recite and espouse one of the great creeds of modern American religion: "You know, you have to be yourself. That's the great tragedy of the movie--that they couldn't live the lives they wanted to live." Followed by a pseudo-responsive reading with the refrain "Yeah, you just have to do for yourself and be what you are." Followed by a closing hymn (not really).

I didn't really enter the conversation--out of fear or lack of a quick, glib one-liner--but it's been on my mind a lot. I think of how Paul and his friends would go into a city and sometimes within a few days would have people riled up enough to kill them. What did they say? Who did they challenge?

When Paul went to Ephesus (Acts 19), they nearly killed him because the spread of the gospel so threatened the demonic values and social conventions and patterns of thought upon which their city was based. "Of course, Artemis is a real god. Everyone knows she's worshipped throughout Asia. (plus it will really hurt business if people don't buy our idols) How dare you..." Or maybe "Of course my life is about me. Everyone knows that the greatest tragedy is if I don't get to do everything I want, say everything I want, consume everything I want. How dare you..."

I wonder what would happen the Lordship of Jesus began to challenge our American idols (no pun intended). I wonder if we might not get a few stones ourselves. I pray that we--that I will have the courage to speak the truth.

Mark

after a long break

So, I think we're going to starting using this thing again, I think. A lot has changed for us in the last few months. Maybe I'll just list it all off:

• Got home from Ireland. We're still not sure what to make of that experience. But we're pretty sure God will send us back before too long.
  
• Went to Arkansas for Christmas. So good to see my parents again. You don't realize when you're 18 what going to a college that's 700 miles away will mean. It's meant a lot of good things for me, but I wish I could see my parents more.
  
• Ange's car got hit on the street (at 4:00am) and we had to buy a new one. Fortunately the guy's insurance paid for the whole thing. She got a great little blue Honda Accord.
• I got a new job in Indianapolis. I'm doing web design and programming for a company called Firm 57. It's actually been really fun, though it's quite a different world working 40 hours a week. But I look forward to going to work most days, and that's more than many people can say.
• A month ago we moved to Indianapolis. We are renting a really great two story house. It's nice to finally have room to have guests stay with us, friends over for dinner, etc. Our church started a church-plant down here a few years ago, so that was our main reason for coming down. We'll be helping out in any way we can.
  
• I've been teaching through Isaiah on Wednesday nights at church. It's really been a blast. We're getting close to the end now (which is good because it's now quite a drive back to Muncie).
  
• We got cell phones. We resisted for a long time, but it just made more sense when we moved. Plus we secretly wanted them in our hearts all along. We'd love to give you our numbers, but maybe not on the public internet like this. Shoot us an e-mail or something.

Well that's us. As I said, we'll try to post more often in the future.

Mark (and Ange)