Ryan Weaver

storyteller//gospelplanter

.: immigration is theological…

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Immigration is both global and local, and it must be engaged at the most fundamental human level:: in our own neighborhoods.

There is no country in the world untouched by the impact of immigration. According to Daniel Groody, roughly 214 million people throughout the world are now living away from their homeland.

This number translates to about 1 out of every 33 people who are impacted by immigration.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, displaced with his family to Egypt at a young age, raised in the sheep-herding pastures of Nazareth, and then he lived a migrant life in adulthood.

If the local church desires to fulfill her mission to carry the Gospel to the nations, we must be willing to overcome cultural differences to befriend the migrant in our local context. Americans understand immigration as a social issue. And immigration as an economic issue. And immigration as a political issue. But immigration is more than that…

Immigration is a theological issue.

The time has arrived for Remedy Church to act on this conviction through church planting. Tomorrow we gather for worship in two locations in #DowntownSBY. Remedy HQ at 10am and Iglesia Remedy at 10:30am.

.: Remedy is Multiplying…

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Iglesia Remedy Remedy Church is excited to announce that we are multiplying to plant Iglesia Remedy in Downtown Salisbury on April 3rd of 2016!

Iglesia Remedy is launching with a blended model as a multi-site church campus, and a new church plant. Iglesia Remedy is a multi-site work as an extension of the Go.Be.Do. mission of Remedy Church, retaining the DNA and oversight of the Remedy elders, and sharing resources as a network. Iglesia Remedy will also be a new church plant work, with the strategic vision to reach second-generation Latinos in our surrounding city and region.

Salisbury has never seen a census when our population has decreased.

And through the past two decades, we have become a strong regional center for migrants, who are moving to Salisbury to work and raise their families. We are planting Iglesia Remedy to help meet this need! In fact, we like to think of Iglesia Remedy as an intentionally “Spanglish Church Plant” that will serve Latinos and promote greater diversity in Downtown Salisbury.

We desire to see local expressions of the local church planted to meet the needs of our local context.

Our strategy for this church planting adventure is really two-fold:: we are planting Iglesia in the CC and re-planting Remedy in HQ. Our current 10am worship gathering is relocating into a music venue in DowntownSBY called HeadQuarters Live. We will essentially be re-planting ourselves in this mobile-site only two blocks away from our present location. The goal of this relocation is to shift our present congregational worship gatherings on Sunday mornings so we can create space for Iglesia Remedy to launch in the City Center building with an already established location.

It is no secret that we consider ourselves willing experimentalists at Remedy Church… and this is the next step in the adventure!

.: the Bridges to Engagement…

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I was recently invited to share my thoughts in an article regarding the tension-turned-violence last month in Baltimore, and the local impact upon the City of Salisbury. I am grateful for the opportunity afforded me in writing this companion article alongside Salisbury City Council President, Jacob Day. The writing prompt given was inspiring, and the parameters were just wide enough to allow me to roam a bit into a territory in which I am deeply passionate.

I believe that it is the responsibility of every citizen to carry the burden of humanity and awareness among our neighbors. This is especially important for those who are marginalized within the context of our cities by cultural presumption and language barriers in our local migrant communities.

If we desire to build bridges to engagement in our homes and communities and neighborhoods, we must be brave enough to seek out our neighbors whose stories are rarely engaged and whose voices deserve the dignity of being heard.

Here is the link to my article as published by the Salisbury Daily Times.

.: the weight of TWTGNJ…

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The paperback version of There was this Guy named Jesus is NOW AVAILABLE for purchase in the Amazon.com marketplace!

The physical weight of the words is what captivated me most when I first held the advance copy from my publisher for final approval. The weightless words (is there such a thing truly?) have been contained within my mind and my electronic writing device for months. This being my first published book, I tried not to imagine holding the words, but rather to simply focus on writing and editing and (finally) sharing them. 

When printed on paper and bound in a jacket, the inked words of TWTGNJ weigh in at 14.4 ounces.

It is quite exciting to actually hold the words… but also quite unnerving to fully realize that these words cannot be edited again. In the physical, analog, paperback form that now sits on my desk in front of me… the words have been shipped. The words are published. They have been written. And this adds more incalculable weight than the tangible ounces.

The pages are now available for you to write upon. I have already written, and now you can add your journey in the wide margins with a highlighter and pen.

The pages are now available for you to mark and fold and tear and spill your coffee upon.

The pages are now yours if you would like to consume them.

In regard to where you can buy the paperback, the publisher has made TWTGNJ available exclusively through the Amazon.com marketplace for the next few weeks. But eventually, we hope that you will begin finding the paperback for sale in other markets as well. 

Locally, we have decided to host a public book signing in Downtown Salisbury in conjunction with our monthly 1st Saturday downtown music festival in the month of June. We will be set up near the corner of North Division St. and East Main St during the music festival event from 5-6pm. And we will have paperback copies of TWTGNJ for sale at a discounted rate. I hope you are able to hold the weight of these words in your hands soon.

 

.: cul-de-sacs…

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Someone recently asked me how I deal with writer’s block.

I have written only one book… but I write constantly. And beyond the structuring of words into semi-intelligible sentences and paragraphs… I work on many creative projects which require a level of undistracted and undivided focus. Distractions can divide the mind. Distractions move artists away from creative centering and dedicated focus.

Focus is vital for any creative endeavor.

When it comes to describing the distractions which war at the mind, I prefer to describe “writer’s block” in terms of a word picture with a WAY OUT. For me, “writer’s block” is a senseless and hopeless description of distractedness which leads to wordlessness. I don’t have a rubric for understanding a “block”. And, more importantly, I don’t naturally see the way through or a way around a “block”. 

What type of block is clogging my creative flow? How tall is the block? And how long? And how wide? And how deep is the block entrenched? I have no idea. I have no way of beginning to gain an understanding of the block. And now that I’m thinking about the block, and my assessment of the block, I have lost my creative focus altogether. 

The ambiguous image of “the block” has brought its own distraction.

I should state this very clearly… Distractions are not blocks.

  Distractions have meaning. Distractions are not shapeless and beyond description. The ambiguous “block” to creativity is not a terrible and frightening enemy to be feared. Distractions have a name. Distractions are typically very good… and sometimes very human. It has often been said that the enemy of great is the good, the normal, the everyday, the mundane, the necessary, the ordinary. And there is much truth in this.

When it comes to distractedness in creativity, I prefer the image of a “cul-de-sac“. In the suburban landscape, cul-de-sacs are designed to give a friendly face to finality. There is one way into the cul-de-sac… and only one way out. The cul-de-sac is a charming touch to terminality. The cul-de-sac is a kindly reminder that my adventuring has ceased to advance. Regardless to its friendliness, kindliness, and charm… a cul-de-sac is a dead end.

Cul-de-sacs are designed to put an end to adventurous wandering and creative flow. 

My family lived in a home placed on a suburban cul-de-sac a few years ago. The number of cars which wandered into our cul-de-sac by accident was rather surprising. And the number of these wanderers who used the cul-de-sac to the fullest of its design potential was impressive, now that I think about it. I never saw a car pull to the middle of the cul-de-sac and then reverse back from whence it came. The wanderers circled. Often, they joyfully circled once… thankful to be propelled back onto the way toward their destination. Occasionally, the wanderers circled twice… but I do not ever recall seeing a wandering driver confused and circling endlessly. I never had to walk into the cul-de-sac to remind the wanderers the way out of our little cul-de-sac.

A distraction can be anything that leads my mind into a mental (and spiritual) cul-de-sac. And a distraction isn’t bad… but it is much less helpful than creative focus which leads me closer to my destination. A cul-de-sac is a reminder that I’ve reached an end, and it’s about time I move forward by another way.

A creative cul-de-sac has purpose… and a WAY OUT.

When writing, I am ruthless about placing myself in a position of greatest focus. This is a vital component of completing a creative endeavor. If I want the words to flow… I need rhythm and cadence of undistractedness… I need the space to wander… and I need to see cul-de-sacs as the charming dead ends that they truly are.

However, it must be said, I am my own greatest source of distraction (but that’s surely another subject… for another time).

.: holy kisses…

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On several occasions in my adolescence, I can remember my youth pastor, Tommy, threatening that he would “greet me with a holy kiss” if I didn’t stop interrupting him. Somehow this didn’t seem as brotherly and loving as what Paul intended in his letters to the Thessalonians, the Romans, and the Corinthians.
  For the second time in our Acts sermon series at Remedy Church, I declined to engage the sacred greeting of the “holy kiss” in my teaching. This first instance occurred in our narrative arc through Thessalonica. The second instance of holy kissing occurred today as we were wrapping up Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. And, with a bit of foreshadowing in mind, it will happen again at the end of 2nd Corinthians as well. There really isn’t a viable reason why I have avoided breaking down the language behind this greeting when it has come up in context within our teaching. So, for the sake of common edification, here’s a quick breakdown…

The Greek phrase employed by Paul is philemati hagio which is literally translated “kiss of holiness” or “holy kiss“. It’s very straight forward. There isn’t much scholarly debate about whether Paul meant something else altogether, or whether these instructions were inserted into the text (repeatedly and sporadically) by a lonely monk in the Middle Ages.

Additionally, Peter closes his first letter with a similar instruction for the early church to “greet one another with a kiss of love“. And Jesus is recorded in Luke’s gospel narrative, totally ripping the Jewish leaders at a feast for forgetting to give him a “kiss of greeting“.

Essentially, there is no reason (beyond our own cultural boundaries of personal space) why American followers of Jesus aren’t still employing the sacred greeting of the holy kiss. Except that it’s a bit awkward for everyone.

Have I employed the rare greeting of the holy kiss? Yes. I must confess.

NEVER with a female (except my lady). And NEVER on the lips.

Next time I see you… I’m still all good with a holy handshake… and the occasional holy hug.

You can save up your holy kisses for another person.

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