It was Henri Nouwen who saw in Jesus' wilderness temptation (Matt. 4:1-11), three "compulsions" the world persuades us to go after in place of solitude with God.

Solitude is the furnace of transformation.  Without solitude we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self.  Jesus himself entered into this furnace.  There he was tempted with the three compulsions of the world: to be relevant (“turn stones into loaves”), to be spectacular (“throw yourself down”), and to be powerful (“I will give you all these kingdoms”).  There he affirmed God as the only source of his identity (“You must worship the Lord you God and serve him alone”).  Solitude is the place of the great struggle and the great encounter – the struggle against the compulsions of the false self, and the encounter with the loving God who offers himself as the substance of the new self…

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Solitude is not a private therapeutic place.  Rather, it is the place of conversion, the place where the old self dies and the new self is born, the place where the emergence of the new man and the new woman occurs.

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- Henri Nouwen, The Way of the Heart (emphasis mine)

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To be relevant.  To be spectacular.  To be powerful.

These ideas have stirred up a few questions -- especially for those of us who are part of contemporary, seeker, or emerging churches.  They are questions, I believe, which must be grappled with -- not in isolation -- but while listening to the voices of those outside our tribe and those outside our place in time:

• Are we willing to take an honest inventory of ourselves and our ministries, and admit where our pursuit of the relevant, the spectacular, and the powerful has hindered our pursuit of God himself?
• How much influence should we afford the popular culture in defining our priorities?
• In what way is our pursuit of success theologically justifiable or... damnable?

I invite your thoughts.

...what my day's been like. Arrgh!

The MOTHER of all blogger gatherings for Christians?

October 13,14,15 at Biola University. Preliminary info here.

via Charlie at anotherthink.com

Still got mine. How 'bout you?

Yep. I will be there!  And really looking forward to the conversation (and hopefully, a little "down time"). If you've never thought about attending Soularize before, here's the scoop:

Soularize 05, will be held in sunny Southern California, March 9-11, three full days for $99.

Always on the cutting/bleeding edge of the postmodern/ALT/emerging church, Soularize 05 is filled with innovation (free high speed wifi access, webcasting, simulations regional gatherings), grass roots leaders (voices you may already know and so many surprising friends you won't hear anywhere else), proactive daily themes (fleshing out the issues the church will be addressing in the next 5 years - Kingdom, Community, Rhythm, AIDS...), and multiple learning styles (Large gatherings, interactive labs, hands-on/in-the-field small groups, collaborative web postings and parties - 2nd annual Ooze booze cruise - celebrating what we have discovered).

Anyone who has attended a Soularize will tell you it is a one-of-a-kind event, never to be repeated, full of unexpected moments that have become legendary in the emerging church story... where you become the event and you leave with life long friendships.

For more information, visit the Soularize website.