Notes From Saturday's Meeting

Aaron posted this as a comment, I've transfered it to a post, thanks for the notes Aaron!

Here are some of the thoughts and discussions from Saturday for those who were there as well as those who couldn't make it:
-Sam opened up with a word on how God has worked throughout church history and reflected on the big picture of what we are participating in.
-We briefly discussed what the project may look like in the present form, whether a thinktank, web zine, etc.
-Integrity of leaders is key to preparedness
-Identify the need for us to do something: There is a vacancy that is filled by identities, we must fill this with the hope of Christ.
-We discussed the need for underlying values that would underly all that TJP does. Discussed what we value as individuals in hopes of finding key values for TJP.
Here is a list:
proclaiming truth of Christ to people
valuing the worth of individuals
seeing the gospel fill voids,
impact people
articulate expression of the faith/accessibility
community
honesty
relationships
grace, because the constant need for it
weakness
sincerity
vulnerability
breed the infusion of grace
passion
willingness to suffer
growth
enterprise
opportunity
diligence
action to do something
courage, fortitude
love
failure leading to growth
We discussed in greater detail the value of the following, thinking they were worth further conversation and thought, but by no means the only worth more contemplation or discussion:-community is a common string-value what is real, truth, honesty, virtue-action-grace. We discussed that we are in no rush, but we need to meditate on these things and pursue one another. The hope was that the first meeting would be a catalyst to conversation through emails and on this site.

Calling All Cars, Calling All Cars!!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have officially scheduled our first meeting for this Saturday, May 5th from 1pm until whenever you have to leave. It is going to be a barbecue so BYOM, and it is going to be at my (sam) parents house, if you don't know where that is then too bad. I have sent out an evite with all other pertinent info. Pray that God would bless this time and lead us wherever His Spirit blows. I am ecstatic about the opportunity to have all our heads together to talk about what we can do to participate in the growth of the kingdom of God!

Reveling in vagueness

So I've read the gist and I think I understand what were all saying,maybe. If an outsider read these posts they would be thinking, "Cool, but what the hell are they talking about?"

Personally, I don't think setting up consumer industry based companies is the best way to accomplish "Liberty, Justice and Reconciliation"- (insert Nate's old-fashioned manner of thinking). I think a ZINE is a good idea because it allows for freedom of thought, expression, and sharing without all the scrutiny that being a church ministry calls for - basically, Jed, based on our conversations recently, a ZINE will allow for us to say what we feel isn't being said or say what needs to be said while allowing ourselves to mature into godly men. With a ZINE, people are examining ideas and thoughts, not lifestyles and behaviors. Who knows, i just like writing and I think a ZINE would be fun and a good way to get our thoughts on Life out there.

I guess my main question that I want to ask is:

What in the world do we mean by "Liberty, Justice and Reconciliation" - It's vague

Assemble Your Crew

I know TJP has been on a brief hiatus as we celebrate the birth of Manoah... who is the most amazing little creature. But I think it is time to start contemplating a time for all of us to get together and have a face to face dialogue of what TJP will look like and what some next steps are going to be. Let's start throwing some times out to meet within the next month or so. We can meet over at the Paschall Mechanical office in the conference room as a possible site. I know that Saturday's and Sunday afternoons work well for me, but I am flexible let me know what your schedules look like.

Some Kindred Spirits

I was doing what I love to do this evening and I found a few groups that are doing some of the stuff we are contemplating. I definitely think we have a lot to learn from these groups and it would be awesome to establish some sort of dialogue with them. Check them out:

Brewing Culture

Gideon Strauss

There's another one I want to run down but it's on my work computer, I'll add it later...

Edit: Here's that other Site:

Culture.ish

Liberty, Justice, and Reconciliation

"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." If the proclamation of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and its effects is the sun of the gospel of the kingdom, then the radiance of the glory of the gospel is good works. Enter our key words of liberty, justice, and reconciliation. If this is the center of our function we must seek to do works that promote liberty, justice, and reconciliation. The issue... "is this the best way to accomplish our function?" This is what I will say on this matter... I am not sure. I am not convinced that whatever we do will be the most effecient means to divert funds to works of liberty, justice, and reconciliation. Here is what I am convinced of, that we are doing something. Instead of wasting our lives, we are talking about, thinking deeply about "what can we do to fulfill our calling as believers?" I am convinced that we are a fellowship of burning hearts who care deeply about the message that has saved us and given us life. I am convinced that, despite our unbelievable capacity to be complete and total fools, God desires His Spirit to energize our bodies to accomplish His will here "on earth as it is in heaven." And with that in mind I am less concerned about what is "best" or "most effecient," because I am nearly convinced that it is not. I do not at all want to demean thinking about efficiency, because efficiency is a very important issue. But here is what I am excited about and what I believe excites all of us... That we are doing something. Doing something in faith is far better than doing nothing. With this being said I wonder what everyone's thoughts are, considering who we are (our gifts, talents, and passions), what then can we do that is consistent with who we are as a "fellowship of burning hearts." What kinds of works can we do that are consistent with our hearts and that can be "exercised in proportion to our faith (Romans 12:3)." I think here is where we might discover what is "best" or "most effecient" because we can do it with passion and joy, believing in what we are doing. And we all know we do things best and most efficiently when we believe in them, are convinced of their intrinsic goodness, and are passionate about how it is accomplished. These are my thoughts, what about you....

Form Follows Function

I definitely can't take credit for the axiom of "form follows function". In fact, the concept was reiterated when my wife and I were attending the pastor's class at North Coast Church. Larry Osbourne (head pastor at NCC) explained to those of us who wanted to find out more about North Coast why North Coast looks the way it does. He broke it down simply, explaining that the reason why North Coast places such and emphasis on multiple worship venues and small groups (forms) is to create disciples in a healthy church environment (function). All of the forms that NCC has taken on follows that simple function.

How TJP looks should simply follow its function or its purpose. For example the purpose of the Starship Enterprise is "to boldly go where no man has gone before." It can accomplish this purpose beautifully with a spaceship (form) and disastrously with a race car (form). I like the idea of a Zine and I think it is valid. But I need to see what function it's going to serve. We haven't quite come to a defined purpose which is fine, but it think it is important before we go off and say we're starting a Zine or anything of the sort. When we ask "what is the Jubilee project?" We should be able to say, "TJP is ____________." We need to get to that point, and then decide if a Zine is an efficient means to accomplish our purpose.

Here's a quick example:

Shaun has a website - Ruler of Nations.
Q: What is the Ruler of Nations function?
A: The Ruler of Nations function is to afflicts the comfortable.
Q: What is the Ruler of Nations form?
A: The Ruler of Nations form is a website of collected writings that challenge prevailing thought, expose stupidity, and scrutinize reality in ways that can make the reader uncomfortable with their current way of thinking.
For example: I could think that I am really grown-up and mature now and that my single buddies are a bunch of lawless wild bandits, but Shaun has pointed out in his "drunken memoirs" that I was a wild, lawless bandit not very long ago. This might be uncomfortable for me to admit, but it serves a good purpose of remembering that even though some circumstances in my life have forced me to grow-up, I have a sordid past that requires me to remember how merciful God is and that I have no place for arrogance. Shaun's form - a website accomplished his function - afflicting the comfortable (in this case me) very efficiently. The outcome of afflicting the comfortable had a marvelous effect in helping to reinforce my need for humility (check out the relation between afflict and humble in Hebrew, they're the same word), so kudos to Shaun for doing what he does well.

Sam had alluded to the TJP in an earlier post as "an idea centered around liberty, justice, and reconciliation as functions of the Kingdom." Let's play with this idea as it pertains to form and function for a little while:

Q: What is The Jubilee Project's function?
A: The Jubilee Project promotes liberty, justice, and reconciliation as integral components of the Kingdom of God.
Q: What is The Jubilee Project's form? (Lets throw out a few examples here valid & absurd)
A1: TJP makes Christian T-Shirts
A2: TJP is a board that diverts funds to ministries that exemplify the promotion of liberty, justice, and reconciliation in the Kingdom
A3: TJP is an e-Zine that publishes content (aesthetic and written) that addresses issues of justice, liberty, and reconciliation within the Kingdom.
A4: TJP is a group of friends who are committed to carrying out the purpose of TJP through the normal course of their lives.
A5: TJP is a church
A6: TJP produces & promotes music that embodies our purpose
A7: TJP sits around drinking beer and criticizing the Church and Christians for all their downfalls and resolves to do nothing meaningful about it
A8: TJP is a winery
A9: TJP designs really cool stickers to meet the high demand of the SoCal driver that promotes our purposes
A10: TJP is surfboard manufacturer


There are certainly lots of good and bad forms to carry out TJP's function. In the function I stated above I don't intend to communicate that it should definitely be our function, it was stated for the sake of the illustration. With that said, does a Zine fit within the gist of what TJP is? I think so, but let's be sure before we dive headlong into this without contemplating the purpose and being able to articulate it clearly. So I propose a two step inquiry -

1) What is the purpose/function of The Jubilee Project?

2) What form should the Jubilee Project take?

Lets nail down 1 and then we can sufficiently answer 2.


By all means feel free to disagree with anything I have posted, I think it is important that we don't all just nod our heads in approval if there are any reservations or issues that surface during this initial dialogue.