Wednesday, 14 May 2008

• Conference in Tacoma, WA - Day 6

  We'll split the day by events:
  
  Soma Church Gathering: Everything we had talked about during the week came together on Sunday morning. Even though there were some unique elements, for the most part it was a healthy evangelical worship service. I am trying as much as possible to use their language, so I have to mention that they would refer to it as an expression of their church, since the church is the people and not the building or a two hour service on Sunday Morning. The sermon was on giving/tithing. It was great to see the pastor announce the topic and then asking the audience where in the Story of God (i.e. Bible) they have seen God's faithfulness and provision. A few people made some good insights and they served as both the illustration and application for the preacher. He still had a text for the sermon but it was very interactive with the audience, stopping periodically to answer a question or listen to one's insights. You can listen to the sermon here. Contrary to my expectations the congregation took ownership of the message and engaged in the discussion. None of the comments were rabbit trails, heretical, or something of that kind. They were all in tune with the heart of the message. It was incredible to see the depth of insight the congregation can bring to the surface when the sermon is done wisely. This dialog is the product of three years of teaching people how to interact with the sermon. Anyways, their worship expression was the link that made the Soma chain make sense.
  Sightseeing in Seattle: Pictures would be worth much more than words in this section. I haven't had a chance to download them off my camera. However I have a few I copied from others that were on the trip. But before I show you a few pictures I need to say a few things:
  On our way into the city I was riding in a Subaru (which seems to be the official car of Washington) along with two other Romanians and an American Missionary to Romania (You'll see a picture of the four of us in a sec). As we were cruising down the highway we noticed this beat-up old Honda Accord with a bumper sticker, Hippie chicks rule or something like that. We all looked at the sticker and as we were passing the car on the left lane, we did what anybody else would normally do, stare at the driver to assess the truthfulness of the statement. As we were staring at the driver we noticed she was looking at us too. She had taken her eyes from the road and failed to notice her lane had stopped. So the next thing we heard (and saw) was the sound of brakes and a loud smashing into the truck in front of her. It was pretty brutal. I hope she was not hurt. I learned from that story that putting four studs in one car can cause serious accidents.
  
  
  
  
  
  The Seattle Needle. For $16 you can catch a pretty good view of the downtown skyline.
  
  
  
  Or, if you're unwilling to pay, you can the pictures from someone who went up. Pretty nice view, nothing compared to my windy city!
  
  
  
  The "accident causing" studs
  
  
  
  I have more pictures but we'll leave them for later...
  
  Mars Hill Church Service: The visit to Seattle ended with a visit to Mark Driscoll's (aka the Dude) church. They had one song, 50 minutes sermon, and three songs at the end. There was something about Mark's posture: He walked onto the scene took this serious posture, did not move to much around the stage. He was wearing an untucked shirt, sports coat and jeans. His non-verbal language said: "I am a dude! I will stand here for 50 minutes and tell you how it is! You will listen to me because I am right and I am a man!" I don't mean to dis the message because it was a healthy Exposition on the Incarnation of Christ. I just find it interesting (in a funny way) to observe his manly posture. I won't mention anything about the two bodyguards that flanked the stage...
  
  

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