NateSchlomann.Com

http://www.villagemidlothian.org

Village Church at Midlothian is committed to reaching the greater Richmond area with the mission of Jesus.

Posted on September 15th, 2009 by nateschlomann
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Alright, so a follow-up from my last post…

I don’t have a lot of interest in getting into what is or isn’t postmodernism. I do think it’s more than simply a rejection of any standard of truth. It’s a pervasive system of thought that, like every other system of thought the earth has known, is meaningless outside of Jesus. Jesus is the answer to the post-modern dilemma. There is no truth without Jesus. There is no meaning without Jesus.

I do believe strongly that only persons have meaning. Words and language are the tools we use to express those meanings, and because we are imperfect people, our words are imperfect. Humans have a deep desire to be understood, and this is only possible in Jesus. So I try to remember to give a lot of grace and seek to understand, accepting the limitations of language. Sometimes I forget this and expect everyone to mean the same thing I do with my words, and this isn’t fair.

Thoughts, comments? Do you think about language very much?

Posted on October 12th, 2008 by nateschlomann
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This is going to be a really random post. You see, I don’t take words too seriously. Perhaps in some sense words have meaning, but people don’t know what they mean when they say them. Nor do people understand what is meant when they hear them.

Someone recently asked me if I thought philosophy was a vein pursuit.  Of course I said no, because I don’t think it is. We must have some Christians studying it, provided it is undergirded with theology. However, what I’ve come to realize since then is what I do think is vein is trying to nail down language or words. I didn’t say trying to understand or clarify words, but simply trying to nail them down, as if some final verdict can be reached. This is a vein pursuit for humans. Words have meaning, but only to the person who speaks them and it can never be the same meaning to any other person, even that same person at a different time. So in reality, a word can never mean the same thing more than once.

This is why I also do not care about grammar or spelling, since there is no legitimate final authority to determine what is “right” or “wrong”. Notice I put the period after the parenthesis, because I think it looks better that way. You can’t stop me or tell me I’m wrong.  I can’t wait to teach this to my elementary school kids; I’m sure their teachers will love me.

Of course, meaning can be understood enough for us to have communication, even if it’s never perfect. That is our hope of knowing anything. The only perfect communication we will ever have before glory is our prayers to God. Our perfect picture of communication is in the Trinity of God.

But because I know that language is always in flux and always changing, I just don’t take it too seriously. I do want to be understood, and that requires… contextualization. Is it more valuable to see the world as it is, or as it should be? Or is it most valuable to learn to keep both in mind at the same time?

Posted on October 9th, 2008 by nateschlomann
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Several more abilities have manifested themselves. Yesterday I developed the ability to detect real estate for sale nearby, wherever I happen to be. Additionally, I can now check all my e-mail accounts from anywhere and reply from each of them. I am also able to play a surprisingly crisp version of solitaire wherever I go. I will keep you updated as new and exciting powers emerge. It is a brave new world.

Posted on September 24th, 2008 by nateschlomann
Filed under: Humor | No Comments »

I really do pity you mere mortals now. I have developed the ability to process and consume information from any location, wherever I am. My skillz have been upgraded to such a degree as to make your pathetically limited connectivity seem infantile. Facebook, twitter, email, google – all are at my immediate disposal. Need to know what time movies are playing? I have adapted to have that information with me at all times. Need to know where the nearest restaurants are? I have absorbed the ability to detect such things within a limitless radius. I truly am now a higher form of human life, and I would rather die than go back to the way I was. You have been forewarned.

Posted on September 22nd, 2008 by nateschlomann
Filed under: Humor | 3 Comments »

The main idea behind conVerge is that you have a mission and then you have a plan. For the most part, people agree on the mission. The mission is pretty simple, more people worshiping and following Jesus. That’s it. We can phrase it a lot of different ways, and the term mission has become popular because it’s helpful to not forget that this goal is a mission, but there is nothing new here. It’s what most Christians, nominal or not, have always claimed to be about.

Once you get past basic theological issues, I think disagreements always come down to the plan. What is the best way to get to more people worshipping and following Jesus? The answer to that question is what causes people to part ways. No one is ever going to be able to answer that question perfectly, but conVerge is going to make its best attempt. So far this has meant:

1)     Being the church. For whatever reason, people being the church causes more people to worship and follow Jesus. We’ve seen this so clearly in Ephesians this past summer. People want to follow Jesus because he is Truth. The best evidence of that is the changed lives of his followers, and that should be most evident through our community. Thus, we have to be the church without being detached from the world we are trying to reach. This makes some people uncomfortable out of fear that in caring for ourselves we will not care for the outside world. But that’s a tension we have to live in, because if we remove ourselves from community then we’re attempting to show Jesus to people on our own, and that’s not how he intended it. We can’t give people Jesus without also giving people his Body, which is the very fullness of Jesus. This is all in Ephesians.

2)     Building the church. If we just wanted people worshiping and following Jesus, then we wouldn’t have to build the church. We could just be the church and be happy that we’re saved and live a nice comfortable life however we please. This is where most Christians are. But the mission is more people worshiping and following Jesus. It’s that pesky word ‘more’ that causes us to disagree on what it is we are supposed to be doing. Some people don’t even believe that we should be concerned about more people (isn’t God Sovereign, they say), but again they need to read Ephesians. Time and time again Paul tells us to actively work to build the church and if you read the context he’s talking mostly about adding more people, not the personal growth of the people already there – not to say that’s unimportant. This should be Great Commission basic, but we keep having to defend it. Anyway, if you accept that the mission is about more people, then we’re caught in another tension of how do we hold fast to the truth while continually attempting to contextualize it to our culture. If you pretend like this tension doesn’t exist as people like Mark Dever do, I don’t think you’re taking building the church seriously. That’s why we’re missional-attractional. But at the same time, the whole counsel of Scripture much be preached, which will necessarily offend some.

3)     Give up your life to be and build the church. This is where we step on toes and it’s at this point that many people check out or leave all together. If being the church and building the church is what the mission of Jesus is all about, and if our whole reason for being here is the mission of Jesus, then we have to give our whole lives to that mission. Jesus himself said we would have to give up our own lives for the sake of the gospel. Being and building the church is who we are all day, every day. We can’t turn it on and off. It invades all of who we are and what we do. All our relationships are about the church. All our time and energy is spent being and building the church. It’s what drives our decisions about things big and small. Some people don’t like this. I think the biggest reason is they don’t want to lose control of their lives by submitting to the church, despite the fact that we’re clearly called to that in Scripture. Because of past sins and human imperfections people view the church as a flawed human organization and not the body of Jesus – an organized movement of Jesus followers. The local church especially is downplayed in favor of the universal church, without understanding that you can’t have one without the other. Others who don’t want to give up their whole lives for the church haven’t actually been changed by the gospel. They are just looking for an activity or two to check off their list and make them feel as if they’ve fulfilled some spiritual obligation. So many are trapped by this and do not realize it. But it’s not until the church invades your entire life that you’re beginning to live the life that Christ intends for his followers – you can’t do it outside the church. But once you submit to that idea and allow Jesus to start using you as a part of his Body, you’ll never be the same.

Posted on August 23rd, 2008 by nateschlomann
Filed under: Church | 1 Comment »

A chat transcript recorded earlier today:

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:17 AM]:
well, i have a pretty funny story from last night

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:17 AM]:
so i finally got rid of the stove that’s been on craigslist

Gentry, Stephen Murphy Jr. [8:17 AM]:
yeah?

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:17 AM]:
the Reverend King showed up about 5pm apparently from the absolute sticks

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:18 AM]:
he pulls up in this, like 1970s station wagon pulling a trailer behind it, with his old as dirt wife in the passenger seat

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:18 AM]:
he’s short and fat and apparently has a bad ankle as he waddles in

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:18 AM]:
well, he gets in and first i tell him it’s down the stairs, so that’s an ordeal

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:19 AM]:
but finally we get down there and he wants to buy it; he asks me how much and i just say $10

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:19 AM]:
so we have a deal, but of course also a problem

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:19 AM]:
dave and I barely got this stove inside with the both of us

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:19 AM]:
now it’s just me and Reverend King with a bad ankle who barely could get himself down the stairs

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:19 AM]:
so, he has a dolly with him, and I think

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:20 AM]:
hmm, I’m pretty sure I could get the stove out the back on the dolly just by lowering it down the stairs

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:20 AM]:
so I get it all loaded up and get to the top of my back stairs in the basement

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:21 AM]:
and then, well, about as I was going down the first stair I have what I would like to call an “oh crap this was a terrible idea” moment

Gentry, Stephen Murphy Jr. [8:21 AM]:
lololol

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:21 AM]:
and, essentially, the story is

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:21 AM]:
me and the stove fell down the flight of stairs

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:21 AM]:
and the stove broke into about, 5 pieces

Gentry, Stephen Murphy Jr. [8:21 AM]:
hahahahahahahahaha

Gentry, Stephen Murphy Jr. [8:21 AM]:
i’m laughing out loud

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:21 AM]:
so there I am, on my lawn with the stove and the dolly all in a big pile

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:22 AM]:
and my stove is literally now a pile of metal

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:22 AM]:
but, the good part is the pieces aren’t really broken so much as come apart

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:22 AM]:
so I hand the Reverend King his $10 back

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:22 AM]:
and he says he’ll still take it to see if he can get it to work

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:23 AM]:
well, it being in several pieces made it much easier to load onto his trailer

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:23 AM]:
so that’s the story of how I got rid of the stove

Gentry, Stephen Murphy Jr. [8:23 AM]:
lolololol

Gentry, Stephen Murphy Jr. [8:23 AM]:
why didn’t you call me?

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:23 AM]:
i mean, i thought I could do it

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:23 AM]:
lolololol

Gentry, Stephen Murphy Jr. [8:23 AM]:
that is one of the funniest stories ever

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:25 AM]:
yeah

Schlomann, Nathanael Tod [8:25 AM]:
oh, and i’m not hurt somehow by the way

Gentry, Stephen Murphy Jr. [8:25 AM]:
that’s good

Posted on August 6th, 2008 by nateschlomann
Filed under: Humor | 1 Comment »

In an attempt to be a better blogger, I’m going to try to post more without fleshing things out. I hate leaving things unsaid or not answering objections, which means I’m left with 25 unposted blogs over the last couple months (seriously). So here goes.

The idea of a specific calling to church planting is insulting to the Holy Spirit. Every Christian has God in them. Try to wrap your mind around that idea. So now God’s not powerful enough to help someone plant a church? Yeah, I want my biggest, baddest dudes out there on the front lines. Some people, because they are unwilling to change and equip themselves, are just obviously not ready to put the necessary work into planting a church. But I don’t believe for one second it’s due to some kind of supernatural deficiency in Holy Spirit power – I think it’s due to human laziness. We need to be really careful when we start attributing human diligence to God because we make our own work irreproducible, which is inherently anti-missional. We think we’re doing God a favor, but really we just have a weak view of the Holy Spirit if we think he can’t work through anyone the way he works through us – on top of the fact that we’re letting a lot of Christians off the hook.

Thoughts?

Posted on July 8th, 2008 by nateschlomann
Filed under: Church | 2 Comments »

This week we’re studying the importance of prayer and connecting with God from the last section of Ephesians 3. This is something our community must start doing if we’re going to be about the mission of Jesus like we want to be. Right now we’ve got a lot of people saying and thinking “we need to pray more” or “we need to reach out to people more” or “we need to _____.”  I’m one of those people, as these things are all true. But what we really need is more people to say “I will ____ .” For each of us, it’s got to start with “I will,” and we can’t be distracted by what everyone else is not doing. I will connect with God every day.

Posted on June 17th, 2008 by nateschlomann
Filed under: Church | 1 Comment »

Being missional involves both intent and intensity. It involves both sincerity and scope. I have discovered over the past few months that people have a relatively easy time understanding the intent and sincerity involved with living missionally, but a much harder time grasping the intensity and scope that is required to truly be missional. Without intensity and scope we’re just another nice, dying church.

The mission of Jesus compels us to love others and live a life that is a good witness. In other words, we learn to always have the intent of showing Jesus to others, and we are sincere about it. This is not an easy task, but it also does not require much sacrifice on our part. Once we understand what Christ has done for us,  who doesn’t want to live a life so that others can also know this?

People are much more reluctant to acknowledge the intensity and scope of the mission of Jesus, because these things require much of us. I believe our English translations get Matthew 28 right – Jesus did not say “while you are going, make disciples,” he said “go and make disciples of all nations.” See here for a defense of this view. In this command we have both the intensity and scope of our mission.

First, we have to go actively and intentionally. It is not “missional” to reflect the love of Jesus to the people we come into contact with in our day-to-day lives – that is simply what a good person who knows Jesus would do, and certainly we must do this. But we become “missional” when we are intentional about going to other people, and if we are not doing this then we are not following Jesus’ command. As we always make clear, intentionally going to other people that we do not naturally come into contact with does not mean that we have fake relationships with people to tell them about Jesus, or that we go door to door. It is a tough, life-long commitment to intentionally form new meaningful relationships with people. You have to be intense about the mission in order to be willing to do this.

Second, the scope of our mission is everyone – all nations. From this we derive the command that we are to meaningfully reach as many people for Jesus in our lifetime as possible. It means the scope of the mission is unlimited, so there is never a point at which we can say, “we’re doing our part, we’re doing enough.” Christianity doesn’t work like that. We can rest confident in God’s sovereignty, knowing that we are being obedient and striving to reach as many as possible. But I don’t think that a Christian who knows his or her own sin will ever feel that they have arrived when it comes to the mission of Jesus. Realize that following Jesus involves a life-long commitment to a mission that will never be finished until Jesus returns. I’m just telling you the way it is. But as always, it’s worth it.

Posted on April 26th, 2008 by nateschlomann
Filed under: Church | 3 Comments »