Joshua Graves: Exploring the Collision of Culture & Faith » Otter Creek Church

Who Doesn’t Want to Dance?

josh — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:18:47 +0000

Randy Harris wrapped up our RHYTHM series at Otter Creek Church yesterday. It was a powerful morning. You can listen HERE. Enjoy the dance. (don’t get too hung up on title of video, apologies if it offends you)

Lessons from Luke

josh — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 23:29:35 +0000

I’ve been studying/teaching through the Jesus Story according to Luke for several months now. In fact, it’s inspired me to consider writing a second book. I’ve learned several surpsing things. In no particular order . . .

1. Luke’s calling was to tell the story of Jesus to a new generation. His vocation, according to church tradition and some internal evidence, was a type of doctor. No matter what my vocation might be, we all have the same calling.

2. The scandal of Christianity can be summed up: it isn’t that Jesus is like God, it’s that God is like Jesus. If it can’t be said of Jesus, it can’t possibly be true of God. If that makes you uncomfortable, welcome to the scandal (in part) of believing in Jesus in the first century.

3. The power of narrative can never be underestimated. This story and others have the power to capture the coldest of hearts and shallowest of imaginations. Luke is filled with brilliant stories (Prodigals, Good Samaritan, Emmaus Rd being three of my favorite).

4. Luke knows what he’s doing. It’s not so much that I have to figure out what to say as it is my journey to figure out what Luke is saying. For example, see the structure and movement of Luke 15–one of the most impressive ancient pieces of literature we have access to.

5. The gospel is bad news before it becomes good news. That is, Luke walks the dance of judgement and invitation in such a manner that should challenge the conservative Christian world for reductionistic morality and the liberal Christian world for shallow tolerance.

6. The story of Jesus is good news for the poor and the rich. If it isn’t liberating news for everyone, how can it ultimately be good news for anyone?

7. The central tenet of Jesus’ life, imagination, teaching, and purpose was the “kingdom of God”–we could do worse than to spend our entire lives trying to understand how to translate the language of “kingdom” (order, rule, way, intent, project) for our particular time and place.

Otter Creek Culture

josh — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:31:16 +0000

This article captures the culture/ethos of Otter Creek. When people ask me how I could move from Michigan (where I had a great job, near family) . . . I tell them, Otter Creek Church is that special.

This article is one glimpse into this community of faith.

Discernment

josh — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:26:36 +0000

In my new role at Otter Creek Church, I’m leading the preaching team, working with the elders on vision and mission, as well as developing new ways to teach/form people toward the Jesus Way (I’ll have more to say on that in coming posts). One of the more exciting elements of my job is working with David Rubio, youth minister extraordinaire who will be joining me on preaching/teaching team as well as overseeing pastoral care for the entire church as he transitions over the next twelve months.

David and I made a little video to help our church understand how we’ll work together in the coming months and years ahead. Check this out. I think you’ll like it.

Preaching Partnership – Dividing Up Duties from David Rubio on Vimeo.

MEET YOU FURTHER ON UP THE ROAD

josh — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:19:00 +0000

Sunday night, friends and family came together to “send the Graves family off Nashville style.” For Michigan folks, it was pretty convincing. It was quite a scene. I told Kara, on the way to the gathering, that “there’s little chance I’ll cry tonight.” When I walked into the room to see everyone who’d shown for the event, I made myself a liar almost instantly.

The room consisted of cowboy hats, boots, sweet tea, great country music from Mitch Washer and Paul Bobo . . . Ashley Harrison, childhood friend, brought out tears with his remarks and slideshow/video at the end . . . but the Barton family stole the show.

Not known for their musical abilities, the Barton Family caught us off guard.They took classic Motown music (Seger, Motown, Madonna) and turned them into country songs about Josh and Kara. The highlight for me was John Barton’s remake of a well-known Marvin Gaye song. The lyrics will give that song away.

When Josh gets to preaching, we get spiritual healing . . .
Makes us feel so right . . . eous
Helps us walk in the light
Spiritual healing in the body (that’s Christ’s Body),
it’s something that’s good for us
Get up . . . Get up . . . lets all go to church
Wake up . . . wake up . . . cause Josh’s preaching works.

A close second was Barton’s re-do of a Madonna song called, “Like a Theologian” . . . here’s an excerpt:

Like a theologian (oooohh), preaching for a really long time
Like a theologian, quoting Brueggemann and N.T. Wright,
quoting Henri Nouwen, Barbara Brown Taylor,
Did I mention Brueggemann?

We’re heading down the road in a few days for a new journey. We’re taking the friendships and memories from Rochester Church with us to cherish every day. Ministry is a job almost impossible to explain. Because, in most ways, it’s not a job, it’s your life. It’s people. Stories. Difficulty. Joy. Celebration. Disaster. And in the midst of all if it you forget that as you’ve been giving yourself away week after week after week, others have been doing the same for you and your family.