Rob Bell explains why this time of year is all about the waiting.

Christmas is coming. It may seem like it’s way too soon to be talking about trees and lights and presents and eggnog and all that. But Christmas is the culmination of Advent, and Advent is about the church calendar and the church calendar is something we never stop talking about.

So that’s what I’m writing on here: Advent. But to talk about Advent, we need to talk about sound, and then time and then Spirit.

First, then, a bit about sound.

If you are quiet enough in your kitchen, you will hear a noise. It is a continuous sound, a long, droning noise with no particular beginning or ending. It has very little, if any, dynamic range. It may go up and down in volume, but those changes are rarely perceptible. It is the same flat noise, and it goes on and on and on, hour after hour, day after day. If it’s loud enough, it can grate on the nerves, but otherwise it’s simply there.

Making that sound, mostly unnoticed, there in the corner of your kitchen.

It is the buzzing of your refrigerator.

Now for another noise. I’m currently listening to the new Jónsi album (he of Sigur Rós fame), which I’ve had on repeat for a number of weeks now. From the first bleeps, squawks and chirps of the first song, the album is full of noises. Drums, voices, piano—the noises stop and start, come and go, they’re loud and quiet. Some notes sustain for a measure or two, others come and go within the second. The kick drum rumbles, the cymbals clang, the strings flutter. All those sounds work together to make something compelling, inspiring, beautiful, evocative, confrontative, urgent, hopeful, honest or peaceful—something that sounds stunning.

Read the Rest on Relevant.com

Radical by David Platt (Chapter One)

This past Tuesday, Donald Miller discussed on his blog the problem in Christianity with leaders creating and then suffering from a graceless culture. It seems Christians claim to believe in the grace of God, but then in their own judgment of one another and of others they create a system that does not acknowledge that grace–Miller uses as an example Ted Haggard, who crusaded against homosexuality before being caught in a drugs and homosexual sex scandal, not to condemn Haggard, but to point out how a leader can create the very system he or she will be subject to.

Down in the comments section is the following:

Tom says:

September 29, 2010 at 1:59 pm

Hannah,

I understand. I am a youth pastor and have always valued authenticity. I try to be open with my students and parents so that they understand that I am a real person with real problems just like them. The best relationships I have had with both students and parents are ones where we can share each others burdens together.

Pleas understand that when I say Youth Pastor I am not just an immature kid fresh out of college, I am a 33 year father who has been married for 9 years. Recently I was “talked to” by my senior leader about making a post on Facebook where I simply opened up that I felt lost sometimes and wished I had more formal education. I was told to be careful what I post because it didn’t inspire confidence in me to our parents.

Sorry, but I as a postmodern who grew up in church, I am tired of being confident in my leadership. I am tired of buying into the idea that the elders and pastors had it together and I am just the weak one who needed to step it up if I wanted to be used by Christ.

There was no greater influence on my faith then when I was able to find Christian leaders who where willing to admit that they don’t have it all together. These are people I could “do Life with”. These where the people that I actually learned from and helped me see Christ and learn to lean on him through my struggles, not to try and hide my struggles in a vain attempt to appear holy.

I don’t have a problem with “ministry”. I have a problem with the “Office” of ministry. We are all called to be ministers not necessarily to peruse a career in it.

I am not sure how much longer I will remain in “the ministry”. My wife and I are looking at opening a coffee house and starting a small gathering of believers who want to lean on each other and help our community. So in essence we are looking at leaving “the ministry” for “ministry.”

Tom’s story sounds very familiar to me. How many times have we all witnessed human frailty claimed by our Christian leaders only when claiming it served them? Why do we all persist in creating facades in our church communities–shitty facades, at that–when those are the places wherein we should be the most honest? Looking in from the outside, I wonder if Christians (especially church leadership) really believe in grace at all.

I want to strive to be a person of grace, who can, then, rely on the grace of my community when I need love and support.