American Cities and White Flight

I'm readng Cities right now by Roger Greenway and Timothy Monsma. It's a pretty good read.
Greenway on the "white flight" phenomenon of the last half of the 20th American century says: " Insofar as suburbia rose as a reaction to the city and its people, suburbia is an attitude, a mind-set, as much as it is a geographical entity."

That is a keen observation. Suburbia is an "attitude". This is not to say that all suburban "attitudes" are wrong. It's just that white people were so "in"secure in their skin that when the urban ethnics and American blacks came into town, they fled. And so did the churches.

It Takes a City to Raise a Child

Recently, I have been thinking about education and raising my children in a metropolis. If left to myself, I would probably home school my children and keep a very tight "grip" on the leash of influence. I have by no means thought this out completely. Furthermore, I know that several people feel strongly about how their children should be educated.

Thankfully, I have a wife who balances me out. She keeps me real. She's wise. So, one of things that has crossed my mind is that we can't raise my kids by ourselves. We need other people. We need the church. We need my parents and my brother. We need my in-laws; we need friends. We need the city. This is not to say that God has not resourced us with everything we need in the Scriptures to be the main influencers of our children. But, I'm beginning to wonder if it's really arrogant to think that I could do it by myself. I have thought and remain fully convinced that God has given these children to me, and that I am the main one to influence and teach them. I am totally committed to the idea and institution of family in the Bible. But I guess I'm confessing that living in this particular God-ordained institution should not be done independently from the context of other institutions he's given; and not just those institutions but creation as well.

While I'm rambling, it occurs to me that my own upbringing was a "group project". While my parents were cautious of what influences they let into the home, they exposed my brother and me to a vast and diverse body of knowledge and experiences that they themselves could not offer. They attentively resourced opportunities for us. For that (amongst many reasons) I am most grateful to my Dad and Mom.

I'll have more to say on this subject at another time, but for now, I leave you with a wonderful talk given by Timothy Keller, pastor in Manhattan, on the subject of raising kids in the city. I'm still trying to figure out how to get the direct link, Owen Strachan has the talk posted at his blog.

"How to Be a Stranger and a Pilgrim on Earth"

My good buddy in the gospel, AJ Gibson, recently gave the commencement address at the university he's taught at for the last 5 years (where I also ministered at for 2 years). He addressed the subject of "How to Be a Stranger and a Pilgrim on Earth" from 1 Corinthians 7:29-31. Of note in his address:

"Christians have wives and husbands and children and parents, etc., but should never have and hold them as if they were everything. My wife is the “wife of my sojournings” and my children are “the children of my sojournings.”
Therefore if any of these people whom I love and hold dear fails or disappoints me, my life will not end because God is my portion. 'Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever' (Psalm 73:25-26).
If God in his providence should choose to take any of them from me, I should be able to say 'The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.'"

I really appreciate this perspective from AJ because the last year and a half of his life has put this "creed" of his to the test.

Read more at A.J.'s blog here (and put it on your blogroll).

On the Lordship of Jesus Christ

About 2 months after President Obama had been elected to office, I had the opportunity to give the Sunday Sermon at Holy Trinity Church in downtown Chicago. I had been encouraged by one of the pastors to preach from the Messianic Psalms if I ever had a "one-off" opportunity. Well, here is the link.

Living for Another Time

Jonathan Leeman who is the communications guy at 9Marks Ministries in D.C., recently posted on the 9Marks blog about preaching that leaves people longing for eternity. In the study I have been teaching through Hebrews 11, I have been struck with how 'other-worldly' great men and women of the faith lived. Leeman says:

"Christianity is not all about learning to live the Christian life as an American (or South African or Brazilian) in the 21st century. Rather, it's about being an alien wherever he places us, and we're going to find being an alien sort of looks similar no matter where he places us in time and space. Not only that, Christianity is about God's plan of bringing glory to himself through all of his people. "

Anthrodudes

I had the opportunity the last 5 weeks to teach a men's class at my church called "Anthropos" (Greek for man). We kind of kidded around about the modern equivalent to 'anthropos' being "dude." So, we struck a happy medium of "anthrodudes."
Anyway, we looked at men of faith in the New Testament book of Hebrews; particularly the 11th chapter. Here are some questions I posed at the beginning:

• Where does God call us as men to grab hold of ‘nothing’?
• What does it mean to “grow in faith”?
• How does faith affect our leadership?
• Do you lead your family in faith? Or is your wife always the one driving the direction of your family?
• Are you living in a state of extended adolescence?
• What are the areas of your life that are “unturned stones” that need redemption?

Here is the class outline:

a) Intro to Faith & Faith from the First Dudes (Hebrews 11:1-7)
b) Abraham: Man of ‘Other-Worldly’ Faith (Hebrews 11:8-22)
c) Moses: Man of ‘Non-Conformist’ Faith (Heb 11:23-31)
d) Women Warriors, Wussies & Cavemen: From Judges through Intertestamental History (Heb 11:32-40)
e) God’s Gym: Faith & Discipline (Hebrews 12:1-17)

The last one we didn't even get to. We barely touched on the 'wussies' section (yes, too pithy, I know even for my taste). I will tease out briefly some of the major points we covered in that class.

I'm grateful for Wesley, Jon, Andrew, Eric, Brandon, Joshua, Scott, and Kevin-- all who 'persevered' the class at some point perhaps 'not realizing the promise' the class was supposed to deliver.=+)

One List Chicago Didn't Make it on...

Apparently, according to Richard Florida, Chicago didn't make it onto the list of America's Most Literate Cities.

However, according to GQ, Chicago is the best restaurant city of the US. Shouldn't Zagat or some other service like it determine that? Really, what weight does GQ hold in determining this?