The Inbetween Journey

Back to Work

jeffreydavis — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 21:37:09 +0000

Back to work… That is right, I have a new job that starts August 1st. I am pretty excited about it and grateful for the opportunity to return to work serving the homeless. It will be a major transition for our family as Lily will be going to a friends house for three days a week. Necia has been able to trim her hours down to 30 a week and consolidate those to three ten hour days. All in all it should be a good thing, but we will be a much busier family for this next chapter in our lives.

My job will be a case manager at the Everett Gospel Mission. It is a temporary job that will last around six months. It may lead to a full time job or it may just be good 6 month experience. It will be a trial period to see if I am a good fit for the organization and to see if this is where I want to invest the next several years of my life. I will continue to look for jobs and explore other job opportunities over the next 6 months. At first I was a little put off by the temporary offer, but now I am seeing it as a gift. I am continuing to be on the job hunt, but now I get to do that as someone who is employed, which is a lot a better vantage point then from the unemployed position.

I am also working part time at Operation Nightwatch in Seattle. It is a homeless resource center and I work the desk at night. I will only work one night a week, so it should not interfere with my other job. From not working to one and quarter jobs, it will be an adjust, but really looking forward to.

It is bittersweet, of course. For the last 7 months, I have been taking care of Lily while Necia is at work. There are so many things about staying home with her that I will miss (and one or two things I won’t miss). I wouldn’t have traded these last 7 months for anything, but it is time to get my myself back to work. I will reflect on being a stay-at-home dad soon, but for now just wanted to give an update and get back to blogging.

The Passage of Scripture

jeffreydavis — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 23:11:53 +0000

So there I was sitting in an interview for a chaplaincy position at the local Christian organization, when I was asked the dreaded question, “Do you believe in eternal security?” “Uh, um, well,” I said, as I shifted a bit in my chair. I knew what the appropriate answer was. I knew what they were looking for. This was an evangelical Christian institution after all. One that was decidedly on the Calvinist (not the comic strip, but the theologian) side of life as well. But I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t say what I didn’t believe. I looked at the inquisition board, I mean the three guys interviewing me, and said, “No, I don’t.” Then the objection came from one of the interviewers, “What do you tell a guy who has come to faith in Christ, but has a relapse or a moral failing?” I said some things about God’s love, God never giving up on us if we continue to come back to him, and something about God pursuing us. At the idea of God pursuing us one of the interviewers asked, “Do you have a verse for that?” I didn’t, but as I started thinking (a little frantically) this conversation between Peter and Jesus came to my mind.

John 21: 15-19

¹⁵When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

¹⁶Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

¹⁷ The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸ I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

What I love about this passage is that the question that Peter needed to hear was not, “Can a person lose their faith/salvation?” Which is completely the wrong question, btw. The better question and the one Jesus asks Peter is, “Do you love me?” Our salvation is not something that we possess like a prize or a trophy. It is not something that we can win or lose. Our salvation is loving Jesus enough to live like him. Therefore the question should be, “Do you love Jesus?” And if you do, if the answer is yes, I love Jesus. Then we must follow him, because living in his life is our salvation.

This conversation between Jesus and Peter may seem like a strange passage to use as a focal point for one’s ministry. However, it is great to know that no matter how big my screw ups are (seeing that Peter’s were pretty big) God will continue to call me to follow him. My tendency after denying Jesus as Peter did would be to give up and go back to the old way of things, but I think God calls us all to follow him into the future. And somehow the screw-ups, the loses, and other humbling experiences in life make us better equipped to do the work God has called us to do.

The Paragraph from a Book

jeffreydavis — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 00:16:37 +0000

“You need a song, a passage from a book, and a scripture to sustain your ministry.”

The book is titled, In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership by Henri Nouwen. Nouwen is one of my favorite writers on the Christian life. This book is one of his best in my opinion, although I haven’t read all of his stuff and it is all really good.

PASSAGE FROM A BOOK: “The great message that we have to carry, as minister’s of God’s word and followers of Jesus, is that God loves us not because of what we do or accomplish, but because God has created and redeemed us in love and has chosen us to proclaim that love as the true source of all human life.” pg.30

It really is all about God’s love and letting the world know about God’s love. It is so easy for ministry to be something other than that. We make it into rules, doctrines, strategies, etc. We so easily lose the focus of proclaiming God’s love and being God’s love in action. The world could believe in a God whose followers actually loved them rather than tried to condemn, convert, or coarse them into a religion.

The Song

jeffreydavis — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 23:54:56 +0000

“You need a song, a passage from a book, and a scripture to sustain your ministry.”

THE SONG: This was probably the hardest of the three to figure out, because I am not a big musical guy. “All to Jesus, I surrender” is the song I picked because it states well what I often have to do, which is let go and just surrender to Christ. There are other songs that I really like, some contemporary and some traditional, but this seems the best from the stand point of ministry. Ministry is all about Jesus and all about others, not about me and my opinions and hopes. It can be very hard to remember that when you are working toward a goal or purpose. All that to say, this song has and does help me to let all my stuff go and move forward in God’s grace in surrender.

All to Jesus, I surrender;
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.

I surrender all, I surrender all,
All to Thee, my blessèd Savior,
I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender;
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
Take me, Jesus, take me now.

All to Jesus, I surrender;
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.

All to Jesus, I surrender;
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power;
Let Thy blessing fall on me.

All to Jesus I surrender;
Now I feel the sacred flame.
O the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His Name!

“You need a song, a passage of scripture and a paragraph from a book to sustain your ministry.”

jeffreydavis — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:15:01 +0000

One of my previous professors from ACU, recently started blogging. He just finished three posts about having a song, a paragraph, and a passage of scripture to sustain a persons ministry. They are powerful posts for two reasons. One because I know him, his ministry, and how seriously he takes his commitments to Christ and to his students. Second, because I remember him telling us this in class (which was about ten years ago), and I never really took it all that seriously. I guess it was more of a school exercise then, because I really didn’t know what I wanted ministry to look like.

Therefore (ten years later and not much wiser), I am going to give it another try. The next three posts will be about a song, a passage of scripture, and a paragraph from a book that sustains and orients my ministry. In that order, because I have a good idea for the first two, but not the last one. By ministry, I mean how I serve God’s Kingdom or the ways in which God has gifted me to help usher in His Kingdom, this may or may not be what I am employed to do at any given time in life. At different times in life, I may have a “tent-making” job, be employed in professional ministry, be a stay at home dad with a supportive sugar-momma, win the lottery, and/or receive large inheritance from long lost relative. Also these next three posts aren’t about the totality of my life-in-Christ, but more about my work in this world for Christ and His Kingdom. Ok, I realize I over explained this, but you’re still reading, so ……..

Neo-Monasticism

jeffreydavis — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:19:06 +0000

So I have not been blogging like I have been meaning to. This blog is my first attempt to really post regularly and now I see first hand why so many people say it is difficult to post as often as they wish. It is not necessarily that I haven’t had time to blog, I have just allowed other things to take more time. Sometimes the holidays can bring about more chaos in one’s life, then the peace that is proclaimed at the birth of Jesus.

A few weeks ago, Necia and I were privileged to attend a conversation entitled Monastiscism Remix: Traditional and Neo-Monastic Spirituality in the 21st Century here in Seattle. Now I realize that some of us have little to no experience with monasticism and the images that come to our mind are extreme stories or Hollywood portraits of medieval life. Although Neo-Monasticism desires to stand in the line of the tradition of the monastics throughout the years, it is not exactly the same Monasticism. The first thing to realize is that it is a relatively recent movement that is still learning about how to be in the world. Also, it finds its roots in the free-church tradition, such as Mennonites, Quakers, Baptists, etc, as well as from the more historical and established churches such as Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox.

Early monasticism in the 3rd and 4th century was a desire for purity as they saw the church being corrupted by the state (aka Roman Empire legalizing Christianity as state religion). Today this new movement seems to have less of a single focus and rather has many elements and concerns such as simplicity, community, caring for the poor, working toward peace and reconciliation, and creation care to name a few. In a hundred years when historians look back at this movement I may be completely wrong, but those are my current observations.

Back to the conversation we attended. It was sponsored by the folks at Mustard Seed Associates. We talked about what monasticism and neo-monasticism looks like in our present situations. We learned that some people are living in community and some in solitude, but all are trying to live by a rule of life or better said a rhythm of daily spiritual practices. These practices range from sharing meals together to serving locally. There is also an emphasis in acquiring little so that we are free to give more, both regular giving and when the need arises. There is a lot more to say about Neo-Monasticism, but that will have to wait for another blog.

Thanks to the folks a Mustard Seed for an encouraging time of conversation and great soup!

The Great Emergence

jeffreydavis — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:10:26 +0000

Went to a great conference last weekend put on by off-the-map and Jim Henderson. Phyllis Tickle was there among others. Her stuff on “The Great Emergence” is awesome. Here is a link to a lecture she did at a local church the day after the conference. Her book The Great Emergence is a more thorough look at historic hinge that we are currently in. Her approach is looking at the different segments of Christian History. According to her every 500 years, there is a radical change in Christian history that revolves around authority. We have moved from apostolic/patriarch Fathers authority to Monastic authority to Papal authority to the Great Reformation which was scripture only and now we are moving again into a place where authority is not certain. Tickle explains it better in her lecture and particularly in her book. Her lecture is about 45 minutes and totally worth it.

Selling vs Networking

jeffreydavis — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:37:50 +0000

As most of you know, I am hunting for a job in ministry. I am struggling with the ideas of networking vs selling myself. As a minister of Christ, I don’t want to have a bag of skills or gifts to sell people (aka hire me, because I can preach really well, teach great classes, or evangelize the neighborhood). Hiring a minister should not be about what the minister can do for the church, but should be about what God is doing in a church or community.

Therefore, I have a allergic reaction to the commercialization (aka marketing, advertising, and selling) that goes on in churches today, especially around the event of hiring a minister. Although it makes me equally sick when churches use commercialization strategies and call it evangelism, but I digress. In our world of decentralization of power structures and authority, it is tough to find a way to let people know who you are.

In the hiring process, churches want the most bang for their buck, which is understandable to a degree. Ministers want to be attractive, so that they are hirable and the “healthy” churches hire them. Many times this relationship is metaphorically described as a courtship. Lets just be honest, “courtship” is a weird and disturbing metaphor. I am not Jesus and the church is not my bride. I already have a bride, her name is Necia. I am part of the church, whether employed by them or not. This metaphor needs to change.

Necia and I are just in the beginning stages of adoption, which means just doing a lot of paperwork. Adoption may be a far better metaphor of what should be happening when hiring a minister, but I still have a lot to learn about adoption, so we may have to wait several years before I can say if it is a fitting metaphor. One of the scary things about adoption is choosing. How do you choose one child over another? Other than prayer, I have no idea.

For people who are in my situation (not connected to any particular denominational structure that places ministers), the question becomes how can I effectively network without selling myself, as if I have a bunch of goods and services to offer. It really shouldn’t be about me. It should be about God’s work in a particular community and God’s work in a particular person and God’s Spirit bringing those particular’s together. Because honestly, I am not looking for a date or a courtship. I am looking for a community, a community where God’s Kingdom can come to earth.

Coming …

jeffreydavis — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:13:51 +0000

It is a little early to be talking about Advent (the coming of Christ into the world), but I have been reading some works by the author Henri Nouwen and this morning it was a comment on Mary’s response to the Angel, “You see before you the Lord’s servant; let it happen to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38). Nouwen simply mentions that this phrase captures his attention while other mysteries leave him distracted.

Necia and I are in a time of loss, but yet hopeful something better is coming. We had a miscarriage in April and today was the due date. We both experience this loss, but it is different for us individually. Necia bears the weight of the pain. It was her body that for eight weeks carried the baby. It is her that body that had to endure the surgery. We are also experience the loss of vocation. I have been out of work for three months. This is not just my loss and struggle, but a loss Necia shares as well. Things don’t usually go as I plan them. I want God to answer me and change everything for my good. None of that though is trusting in God. It is not letting God be God and it is certainly not being God’s servant as I promised to be long ago in baptism.

The thing about Mary’s response is that she does not complain, runaway, or test God (all these things and more the OT prophets and judges did). She doesn’t try to get all the details and every answer. She simple trusts God. This news should have brought great fear and stress to her life, but because of her trust in God, it seemed to bring only joy.

We named our baby Joy (Necia’s suggestion), because for a short time Joy brought us a lot of happiness and hope. Actually the hope has not faded, even if sadness invaded our joy for a time. We may be in a time of loss now, but we believe that life is coming. As is the mantra of this blog: Jesus says, “those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

Wounded Healer

jeffreydavis — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:33:33 +0000

I am in the midst of reading and re-reading a few of Henri Nouwen‘s books these days. Nouwen was a Catholic Priest, who gave up a life of teaching at Harvard to be the Priest at Daybreak: a L’Arche community for mentally and physically handicapped adults in Toronto. I just finished Wounded Healer: Ministry in the Contemporary Society, just started In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership and am slowly going through Road to Daybreak, which is his journal about the choice to leave Harvard for Daybreak and spending the rest of his life in service rather than in scholarship. Nouwen is one of those writers that it doesn’t matter what faith background you come from, I imagine non-Christians would enjoy him, he has a way of bringing out how God speaks to the human condition.

The book I just finished Wounded Healer was written in the early 70′s and is still amazingly relevant for today. It is not relevant because of his astute cultural analysis, but his analysis of the human heart. The great thing about Nouwen’s description of a minister as a “wounded healer” is that it is a ministry that comes alongside or a ministry of presence, not a ministry of power or position. We have too many ministers in our world who desire power and prestige.

This is one of the main things I am learning right now. How does a person minister or reach out to a broken world, when one has no position or title from which to begin and in a place of brokenness himself. Positional authority is one of the weakest forms of influence or leadership, but without a position is it possible to lead? The answer is yes, but how and where to start. I think it has a lot to do with a person’s passion, their work (not job necessarily, but what s/he spends time doing), and what they value. There is a lot more I need to say about this. All I know is we need more people like Nouwen, even though it took him awhile, he walked away from the power and prestige of Harvard to be about the needs of the “poor in spirit.”