the drum|rob fairbanks

Death: A Confused Friend

A confused friend you are...  

 

You are cold and separate,

yet bold and inviting

 

I've never wanted you as a friend, we are an uneasy couple.

 

You come both with tears and reuniting,

You come creating distance and promise,

You come with both sting and freedom.

 

A confused friend you are.

I just had to... Tina Fey is Hilarious!

"I'm pretty sure we're going to meet at some point. I've sent him over 100 letters saying that I'm pretty sure we're going to meet. And100 chunks of my hair. If that's not a great gift, then one of us is crazy." – Tina Fey, who has yet to meet her Megamind animated film costar Brad Pitt 

 

Planting Churches

 "To fulfill the Great Commission, we need to stop doing ministry by addition and start doing ministry by multiplication...planting churches that plant churches that plant churches the plant churches." from "Be fruitful and Multiply," by Bob Logan

Is It Possible to Have a Win-Win on Same-Sex Marriage?

From the archives (written in 2008)

via bobhyatt.typepad.com

I think Bob's line on this highly charged topic makes a good deal of sense.  Dealing with this topic in a Biblical and gracious way is going to be one the biggest challenges for the church as we attempt to represent Jesus in the world.

BTW - Bob is a friend of mine and an awesome church planter in Portland.

 

A Movement Takes Shape!

Welcome to the Christian Associates International website!

 

via www.christianassociates.org

Okay, here it is! The new Christian Associates website is up and running! Please stop by and take a look. Many people have been working long hours to get this up and running today. I hope you like it!

Pray-as-you-go . . . daily prayer for your MP3 player

Thevia www.pray-as-you-go.org

I posted this a few months ago, but I thought I'd put it on here again because it's been such a helpful tool for me. I use it several times a week to settle my heart, to hear Scripture read, and to pray. I hope you find it useful. Try it, you'll like it!

The De-Churching of Ann Rice

 I’d be interested in getting your feedback on the following quotes. It’s from famous novelist Ann Rice. She wrote the novel, “Interview with a Vampire.” A few years back she famously came out with her conversion to Christianity. Yesterday on Facebook she wrote:

For those who care, and I understand if you don't: Today I quit being a Christian. I'm out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being "Christian" or to being part of Christianity. It's simply impossible for me to "belong" to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.

My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn't understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me. But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been, or might become.

I cannot even count how many times I’ve heard something like this in the last several years. These questions comes to my mind: 

1) What should our response be to something like this? 

2) Is it a fair assessment? 

3) How can we, as communities represent the real Jesus best in the world so that assessments like these come less frequently?

PS - Sounds a little different than Ray's quote below - huh?

 

Redemption and Re-Creation

"Remember, you are never more like God than when you are living in relationships with God's people and working in partnerships for the re-creation and redemption of God's world." 
 

From the book, A Theology as Big as the City, by my friend and former professor, Ray Bakke

Disconnected Revival

I haven’t had a good rant on my blog in a while and in an effort to write more of what’s on my mind, this is what gets published for the world to see.

via urbanidealist.com

Justin is church planter in Barcelona with CA. He is a passionate follower of Jesus and a great worship leader. The topic of revival and "movement" is something I will be both speaking and blogging about at our upcoming CONNECT Conf. in Germany. Justin hits on some very concerns.

Refugee Journeys

via vimeo.com

I got this for my friend Eric Blauer's blog. The church that I'm a part of (www.new-community.com), like Eric's (http://jacobswellspokane.org/) is deeply involved in helping refugees resettle in our cities. The ministry that I'm associated with is called Global Neighborhoods run by Brent Hendricks. If you are interested in helping with refugees you can get a hold of Brent at this website: http://www.global-neighborhood.org/  BTW - Brent is one of my heros.