Missional Trax

dfwchris.wordpress.com

2011-12-31T14:45:00.001-06:00

Thank you for stopping by "Missional Trax." Please join me at http://dfwchris.wordpress.com.

Go Rangers! Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

2011-11-10T20:31:00.004-06:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

It's Good Enough

2011-11-09T20:40:00.000-06:00

I attended a training seminar in my "tent-making" field of business a few weeks ago. During the training, the presenter challenged the attendees in regards to what I'll call "perfection anxiety." Basically, sometimes, we are slow to complete something (if we complete it at all), because we are afraid it will not be good enough or consistent with our own (unrealistic) expectations of ourselves. Ouch.

Here's a little (trivial) honesty about me, I'm slow to blog (i.e. put my personal reflections, questions, aspirations, etc); primarily because, I'm afraid that what I post will not be "good enough." In other words, if I can't post an all-encompassing, well-developed graduate school thesis, then I'd rather not post at all. Consequently, I've started many a post that was never finished, or I haven't started many a post that really could have been helpful to me and others if I would've actually put it into print (or on a screen). Nevertheless, I've forgotten how much I enjoy writing, and how helpful it can be for me.

On the surface, such a phobia seems inconsequential. However, what hit me during the training was the possibility that my writing fears are symptoms of deeper issues and forces going on inside me. In other words, what am I really afraid of? ...and the answer is...

Well, in reality, it's more complex than simple, and there are probably (at least) two facets to it. First, as I mentioned above, I've created a standard that, when it comes down to it, cannot be achieved. As the piercing Smashing Pumpkins chorus screams, "In spite of my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage." For me, I've created the cage (complete with a cute ferris wheel to nowhere), and zapped myself of the exploration possibilities in the wide open spaces in the process.

Second, and of course along with the first, I allow myself to be held hostage by my (unfounded) perceptions of how others may receive my reflections. In the end, honestly, it's selfish. It's rooting my worth, identity, and abilities in the subjectivity of performance. Wait a second: it's not (only) selfish. It's idolatry. Why am I like this? Good question.

*Are you like this with or about anything?

*How do you deal with it?

*What changes still need to occur?

*Who is helping?

Peace,
Chris
about.me/chrischappotin
twitter.com/dfwchris

"A Church Planter's Response"

2011-10-12T22:25:00.008-05:00

Yesterday, I read Gailyn Van Rheenen's "Equipping Kingdom Communities On Mission with God" blog post. It is holistic, robust, descriptive, and challenging, and I thoroughly enjoyed it as it also helped put flesh on the bones of some of what I've experienced this year. Consequently, I have comprised "A Church Planter's Response." This response is fairly raw, and originally, I recorded it as a "voice recording" on my iPhone with the "QuickVoice" app.

Regardless, I've been encouraged to share it here. Again, originally, this was done orally, so I apologize if it seems disoriented or flows poorly; however, it adequately presents my response to Gailyn's post, and I appreciate your willingness to share in it.

"A Church Planter's Response" to GVR's "Equipping Kingdom Communities On Mission with God"

"If equipping is basically about spiritual formation and skill, then what does that mean for me as a part of the Mission Alive fellowship or the Mission Alive network? One of the things that I think it means is that I am to be a person of prayer. Prayer becomes a necessity in the midst of my own spiritual formation, and also as a way of discerning and asking the Lord to reveal potential disciples. Part of my role is to be discipled by Jesus, and if I am to be like him, I am to be with him. One of the ways I am with him is in prayer. So then, prayer is transformational for myself and others as I listen to the Lord in discernment for myself and others. I'm reminded of John 17 where Jesus prays to the Father, but he also prays for his disciples for their own formation and he prays that they might be sent out.

Also, I need to be a person of the text. In the text, the living God reveals his Word...reveals his words, and I come to know him as I take the narrative journey in Him through the Spirit in the text. If I am to be discipled by Him, then I am in the text not just to prepare lessons, seminars, sermons, or even to engage in conversation with others; although all of those are extremely important and formative as I spend time in the text, but I'm in the text to know the text, to chew the text, to digest the text, to become the text as I spend time with Jesus getting to know Jesus...hearing, reading, and telling His stories...connecting to the overall narrative of God throughout the Scriptures...revealing deeper and deeper insights and a deeper and deeper relationship with God in the Spirit through the text. I'm a person of prayer, and I'm a person of the text if I am to be equipped in my own character. I am discipled by the Discipler.

There is a skill development piece in this as if spiritual formation and skill development can even be separated. What I find in my own journey is as I am attuned to the frequency of God and as the Holy Spirit transforms and awakens me to his ways, skill comes along with it. As I grow to listen to God, I am growing as a listener to other people for I am in search of God for and around other people. As I grow in prayer with the Lord, I am growing in an attunement to the needs and desires and brokenness and joy found in others. And so, as I am tuned to God's frequency, I can't help but be tuned to the frequency of those around me...especially those who are not following him. As I find peace and identity in my relationship with God, peace and identity flows in my relationship with others. And so, as my character...as the Lord forms my characters...as a son and as an embracer and proclaimer of King Jesus, I'm more comfortable (not in an apathetic, lackadaisical, or lazy way), but I'm more at peace in my relationships with others and in the opportunities God brings my way to initiate relationships with new people...I'm more confident, bold, and at-ease in those relationships, because I'm living out of and into the identity of a son of the King and as that relationship grows with the King, I can't help but proclaim his Kingdom. As the Psalms say, he is slow to anger. He is abounding in love. He is not willing that any would be lost, and would not be a part of his kingdom. So, there is definitely...not just this synergy, but perhaps this interwoven tapestry formed through Christlike character development. As Hirsch says, we are growing into "Little Jesuses", and as that happens, I can't help but grow in skill. To include some Breen, It is the imitation piece that innovation flows out of...perhaps. That as I imitate more and more, I'm now innovating in step with the Spirit, and I can't help but be more and more skillful in my equipping...or in the equipping the Lord leads me into. There is some John 10 here...some John 13 here...John 14, John 15, John 17...texts I can't seem to get away from! In that equipping piece, the Christlikeness and the growing into the image of the King...looking and living more and more like the King...under his reign and rule...I can't help but be like the King, and his skills are love, faithfulness, commitment, steadfastness, relationships, tenderness, forgiveness, leaving the 99 for the 1, peace, Fruits of the Spirit...ultimately laying down his life for his friends willing that none would perish but all would join his Kingdom and accept his sovereignty...resurrection!

And so, perhaps, as a Mission Alive network participant, that is my response to the "equipping/kingdom" piece. However, what are we equipping? We're equipping "kingdom communities...communities...communities..." You know, unfortunately in some ways but not in others, this would be the piece that I have probably struggled with the most. We come into this with notions of ecclesiology that primarily have been...we've either experienced up to this point...mostly in our childhood, and even, some of the ecclesiology we've been taught but haven't necessarily experienced...yet. It's kind of a tough thing to navigate, and it's really easy for me (and still is sometimes) to get lost in the structure of things or the non-structure of things, and to become an advocate, one way or another, and that's fine. Structure is unavoidable. Even not having structure is a form of structure. However, I think we have a lot to learn from the text and folks like Hirsch, Breen, Frost, Cole, and others who have pointed us in the direction of this metaphor of the "family" and of the Greek, oikos, maybe even what we would call the "household."

For the longest, I tried to develop a community that...I guess...primarily was strong on attendance. Buildings could fluctuate, because I felt like we could meet anywhere, and cash...well...we never really had a lot of it, so it was always a struggle, but attendance really seemed to be my main area of focus in the "ABCs." And so, if we had 40 people, that was okay, but I was really upset with myself, because we didn't have 60. And if we had 60 people, that was better than 40, but it wasn't 80. And if we had 100...wow...that's 3 digits, but what about 125. What about my buddy's church who's pushing 200? What about the Sunday when we had 116, and the very next week had 35. And so, attendance (and specifically Sunday worship attendance) really became an identifying marker for me as to whether or not I was doing a good job...whether or not I was being successful and it took its toll. It took its toll on my personality. It took its toll on my mood. It took its toll on my work ethic. It took its toll on my identity.

So then, we transitioned that structure into house churches. It was fine. We were focusing on smaller groupings of people, so there was some more intimacy...more relational development...more confession...eating together...sharing together...communing together...meaningful and good times together. But we were still structurally focused, and what we found was even though we met in a home, the meeting was still the primary ecclesiological definition. In other words, even though it was in a house, the meeting was still our working definition of "church." And along with that, "attendance" still held too much sway for me.

I remember times when we were struggling to pay the rent, and we would meet at my in-laws house (in particular)...large enough living room to accommodate everybody, and we would eat lunch and we would make a morning/early afternoon of it, and those times, as I look back on them, are very special to me, and I am very thankful for those times. I kick myself, because I wish I wasn't so focused on attendance that I felt like those times weren't "good enough." Now, I look back on those times with deep fondness, because the oikos was together. Even though I still struggled with "attendance" during those times, more often than not, I lived into some joy. I wasn't so worried about whether the sermon came off like I'd planned, the songs sounded good, and the service flowed. I'm not sure, in and of themselves, that those things are bad or wrong, but we were enjoying ourselves as a family...kids participating...meal involved...talking and praying around Communion. The family was really learning to live together under the rule of the King.

I think back to our baptism time in July of '05...just in a home singing, praying, talking, laughing, crying, worshipping, barbecuing, swimming, baptizing. It was the oikos living together, serving together, caring for one another, praying for neighbors, inviting neighbors. Man, it was rich...rich times, and I'm wondering if when we talk about "equipping kingdom communities..." that's what it looks like.

It starts with a few. It really does. As we are being equipped by the Lord and by mentors...by people who are discipling us...as we are pushing deeper into prayer and as God is revealing who those folks are in our lives who might be discipled by us, it just starts with a few. It starts with 3...maybe 12 (biblical numbers...lol!), but from those few, an oikos of Jesus develops by the Spirit...by the Spirit, because an oikos going after Christ for the sake of the world can't help but be attractive. It can't help but be attractive and draw folks into it and into the One who resides as King over it...who participates as King in it. And so, I long for the oikos. I pray that the Lord would use us as he grows an oikos...a family...a household of brothers and sisters in Christ in which all colors, situations, and life stages of the rainbow come together under the lordship and kingship of Jesus and live for Him, for each other, and for the world. Equipping. Kingdom. Communities...who are on Mission.

These kingdom communities are on mission, because the kingdom is ever-expanding, ever-breaking in, ever-moving forward, because this is an offensive kingdom...a "the gates of Hell CANNOT prevail against us" kingdom...because the King is on the offensive...because the King while we were yet sinners died for us...because the King has shown us what it looks like to be human...because the King is redeeming all of humanity back into how he intended from the very beginning...because the King and his love for all of creation CANNOT be contained, held back, or controlled, because the King reigns...because the King rules...because the King has and continues to overwhelm us...lavish us (and by us, I mean the world) in his love!

I'm also a person of mission. I'm a person of mission, because the Lord is discipling me to then disciple others...the Lord is forming me to then form others through me...with me. This is not a personal, solo endeavor or transaction, but this is always for the sake of others; and so, as I am equipped in character...growing in Christlikeness, I am equipped so that I may be sent out as an equipper to join God in his work of connecting with, growing, and bringing the 'Tiffanys' into his Kingdom reign and sovereign rule...into life with and for the King. So, I am a representative...not just a representative...I'm a son of the King in search of and proclaiming this Kingdom so that others might embrace his lordship, his kingship, and kingdom.

And so, we are on mission for the sake of our neighborhoods...for the sake of our neighbors...for the sake of our schools...for the sake of our cities...for the sake of the world. So, we willingly venture into dark places. We love unlovables. We touch lepers. We cure sick. We heal broken-hearted. We open blind eyes. We live that Luke 4 life. We live that Matthew 11 life. You tell me: The blind see. The deaf hear. The mute speak. The dead are raised. What do you think? We are on mission: out and deep...out and deep!

So, as a participant in this network of equippers...kingdom community on-mission starters or maybe...discover-ers. This would be my response. Peace."

Making Missional Trax

2011-07-07T04:08:00.006-05:00

Below are my reflections concerning the current story we find ourselves in.

We find ourselves involved in an unfolding narrative. First and foremost, this story tells of a journey centered in Christ. In Christ, we discover God: incarnational, missional, and relational. In Christ, we discover the full intentions for humanity. In Christ, we discover the true Israel leading a new, full Exodus of liberation, freedom, and sacrifice. In Christ, the way, the truth, and the life, we discover the One to imitate, participate, and inundate for the sake of others.

Second, we find ourselves acting upon and searching for the Imago Dei. To be like Christ is to join him in his work of revealing the image of God in others. For the Galilean fishermen, Mary Magalene's, Nicodemuses, and Gerasene demoniacs this was Jesus: Lord, Savior, and image of God unleasher. We too, as disciples of Jesus, share, by the grace, mercy, and Spirit–empowerment of God, in this revelation ministry.

Finally, our Spirit–initiated and sustained quest after Christ for the sake of others continues because we are sent. Father sends himself. Father sends Christ. Christ sends Spirit. Spirit sends us, his church. God sends. God, first and ultimate missionary, sends.

Therefore, this story makes four primary demands upon us. First, follow Jesus. In order to be with the One we love and become like him, we must follow him. If we are to invite or expect anyone else to follow us as we follow Christ, we must be good followers.

Second, with joyful urgency and perseverance, anticipate and propagate the image of God in our neighbors. Who are our neighbors? All in whom the image of God resides. Christ the King reigns, and we've been given the privilege of joining him in awakening others into his kingdom as we follow the spirit.

Third, pray. We cannot assume or underestimate this demand. If God is the ultimate missionary and loving sender of himself, the Messiah, the Spirit, and the church, then we must constantly be with him seeking that his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Never forget: this is his project.

Finally, go...into the fringes. The image of God is present within the poor, fragile suburban widow. The image of God is present within the inconsolable and uncontrollable raging child. The image of God is present in the young married couple denying their neighborhood, kids, and each other for the American Dream. The image of God is present in the wayfaring, begging old woman looking for a place to sleep. However, these friends (and many others) live in the fringes. Suburban landscaping, concrete jungles, and country-acre lots all perpetuate relational and proximal distance that drive potential friends into the fringes. And so, like light piercing a dark room, we follow the Spirit running into the fringes seeking to illuminate every forgotten cob-webbed corner. No longer will we remain content for others to have faces without names. Because God in Christ by the power and leading of the Spirit moved into the neighborhood tabernacling among them, we do too. We are temples rooted within and built upon the Chief-Cornerstone, and it's time to get the roadshow moving.

Without Love

2011-07-05T15:07:00.004-05:00

I finished re-reading ReJesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church this afternoon, and this will be my last post from the book. ReJesus is a phenomenal contribution seeking to "explore the connection between the way of Jesus and the religion of Christianity...assess the Christian movement in the light of the biblical revelation of Jesus...and propose ways in which the church might reconfigure itself, indeed recalibrate its mission, around the example and teaching of the radical rabbi from Nazareth." (p. 6) The paragraph below is taken from the top of page 187.

"In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul commends the harmonious expression of the gifts with each member playing his or her part in the building up of the church in the same way that different body parts operate as a united whole. It is no mistake that he then launches into his well-known description of love in 1 Corinthians 13, because without genuine love between the members of a church the differing expressions of giftedness would tear them apart. He is in effect commending a unity-in-diversity approach. We are better together, stronger for the ministries of each other in our lives, built up by all the gifts."

Amen.

Gathered & Scattered (for the city)

2011-07-03T23:11:00.002-05:00

I reside in a suburban, metropolitan context 15 minutes from the nearest "big city." Over the previous 15 years or so, our suburban sprawl has doubled in size, and is poised to double again by 2030. For a while, our "town" struggled with whether or not to embrace "city life;" and consequently, walk into an identity as a "big boy" suburb. However, population growth alone solved that brief dilemma. Subsequently, residential, economic, educational, and recreational growth litter the landscape across the 23-mile radius of our city.

While the decision as to what kind of "town" will we be has been made, we've yet to gain a handle on the implications of such "progress." In other words, we're very much within the vortex of a windy cultural landscape grasping for the relationships, tools, resources, and forethought necessary in order to effectively navigate "suburban city life." Moreover, the winds of civic cultural changes are also intensely blowing through the church(es) in our city. Previously, we've adequately focused on our own localities primarily expressed through activities held within our church buildings. We might chaplain city initiatives, events, and organizations; however, our spheres of influence or cooperative efforts rarely overlapped.

Perhaps, these cultural winds are shifting us (Christians) into ways of action more consistent with a "city-wide" viewpoint. More specifically, I'm currently questioning, wondering, and imagining how a "city-wide" approach might couple with the "gathered AND scattered" ecclesiological perspective. In 2010, Hugh Halter and Matt Smay released AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church in response to an unfolding missional and attractional
ecclesial polarization. Rightly so, they proposed that the church must participate in her sentness as well as share times of coming together. I appreciate the offering Smay and Halter have shared here, and was taken (again) as I (re)cracked the book tonight for a re-reading of the Chapter 2 sections on "engaging culture" and "forming community."

On the other hand, unless I am missing something (which is completely possible), the "gathered/scattered" conversation seems limited to the local church. In other words, what I am hearing when we talk "gathered/scattered" is primarily local church centric in thought and expression. I realize I'm being overly-simplistic and categorical; however, for the sake of space and time, I am attempting a fair summary of conversations I have had with pastors, church planters, and friends.

Here's where I'm wrestling: What if the gathered and scattered church conversation occurred from a "city-wide" perspective instead of a "local church" perspective? The truth is our local churches gather and scatter; however, what does that look like with a macro lens?

I reflect upon our suburban city of nearly 40,000 people littered with churches. Could it be that there are people scattered throughout our city's "local churches" with hearts that long to dance to the rhythms of missional church? Could it be that there are already people scattered throughout our city's "local churches" living missionally with and without any descriptive framework or knowledge of such a moniker? Could people group together, gather together to spur one another on in seeking Jesus and living for the sake of the city? Could saints gather, not to plant a church, start (another) "alternative" worship service, or plot an exit strategy from their current local church, but to swap stories, prayers, questions, and praises...to search the Scriptures and the heart of God for each other and the city? Could people gather not with the intention of leaving or being taken from their local church, but with the heart-felt and risky willingness to be sent back to form grassroots relationships, groups, and networks within their local churches propogating the Jesus virus of faith, hope, and love throughout their neighborhoods, relational spheres, and the city?

"Gathered and scattered" from a "city-wide" lens: wishful thinking or insanity? I'm not sure, but as I consider our vibrant city, I am hopeful that such a gathering and scattering is already underway.

the Christ journey

2011-07-01T01:59:00.004-05:00

Who would've thought we could have the disturbing privilege of naming a church? We seem so far removed from monikers like "the church in Corinth" or "the church that meets in the house of Priscilla and Aquila," and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. Either way, when the time presented itself, with naive conviction, the choice was made and "Christ Journey" became the metaphorical descriptor for a group of folks seeking to faithfully share such a quest in Burleson, Texas. However, naming the group was the easy part. Experiencing the implications of the name continues to prove challenging.

Throughout the past 7 years, many of you have prayed, fasted, traveled great distances, stayed up late, awakened before the sun, met in strange locations, embraced creative (and sometimes weird) ideas, asked good questions, sacrificed money, offered resources and equipment, opened your homes, cried, laughed, despaired, rejoiced, went way outside your comfort zones, gave to people you had never met, opened your backyard for baptisms and your front yard for barbecues, and served and loved in all kinds of other ways as participants in the Christ journey. To all of you, we offer deep, heart-felt, and humble "thank yous" many, many, many times over. "Thank you" for remembering us, the least of these among churches. You truly have served Christ by sharing this journey with us.

And what a beautiful mess of a journey it has been. We've been blessed to share meals with strangers, comfort folks in the agonizing valleys of life's most despairing moments, and celebrate with them from atop magnificent mountain peaks. We've made tons of mistakes, learned from them, and made tons more. We've baptized friends in truck beds, rebuilt homes in the 9th Ward of New Orleans, and gathered for communal times of worship all over town. We've handed out water bottles among homeless friends in downtown Fort Worth, participated in Burleson's Christmas

Parade of Lights with a lightless float, and helped friends sent overseas in Argentina, Africa, and Ecuador. We praise God for the leading of his Holy Spirit along the Christ journey. "Thank you" for caring about us enough to walk alongside us.

On Sunday, May 29, Christ Journey, as it has been known up to this point, came together for the final time. During that gathering, with words and prayers from Philippians 2 and John 17, Bret and Rachel Wells and three additional families were commissioned, blessed, and sent to start a church in a northwest Burleson neighborhood. We are thankful for the Wells family, the many sacrifices and risks they embraced in order to join Christ Journey in the fall of 2008, and the ways in which they modeled and nurtured the Christ Journey community with a passion for the Scriptures, intentionally pursuing and inviting non-Christians into CJ community life, and selfless attention toward disciple-making responsibilities and opportunities among children. We rejoice at the initial friendships beginning to form through their new work, and long for transformational stories in these four families and those the Lord adds to their number that Christ might be lifted high and poured out in northwest Burleson through them. For more information about their new ministries, click here.

So, what does this mean for Chris and Heidi? If you are asking that question, please keep reading.

First, we're pregnant!!! If you didn't know, I'm sorry we haven't told you yet, and if you did know, feel free to push back from the screen and "happy dance" for us again! Earlier this week, we had our first doctor's visit, complete with a sonogram and heartbeat! Additionally, Heidi's been quite sick this go around, and we would appreciate your prayers for a healthy momma and baby. As a result of not feeling well, Heidi hasn't updated her blog with the news just yet; however, for now, you can catch up on our summer happenings with a click here.

Second, I have received and accepted an opportunity to teach 5th grade math at our neighborhood's elementary school. Ask me about the wild ride sometime, but over the last year and a half, I've gone from substitute teacher, to instructional paraprofessional, to special education teacher, to classroom teacher. We have witnessed the hand of our gracious and faithful God all over this process. For the longest, we prayed and longed for the discovery of "people of peace" in our neighborhood. We're just now realizing that we might be those people! As a result of this opportunity, I get to walk with 80 students and their families all of which live within a 3-mile radius of our house.

Furthermore, the Lord has allowed our house to serve as a hangout for kids on our street. During last school year, it was not uncommon for me to come home to a backyard full of kids (a few of which I had never met)! We're thankful for the ways the Lord leads us into ministry to and with our neighbors.

Third, Heidi and I are prayerfully seeking to initiate, develop, and nurture disciple-making relationships across our social spheres. For us, this is somewhat uncharted territory, but we continue encountering Christians asking if weekly worship services is all there is to Christianity, non-Christians wondering about the hope we have, and pastors seeking friends with whom they can share transparent, vulnerable, and encouraging relationships. Perhaps, we are at a place in our lives where we can serve and walk with these friends for the glory of God. We will not hesitate in following Christ and inviting others into that journey with seeds of hope and good news. So expect to see us serving on Lancaster Avenue in Fort Worth, building fences for widows in our neighborhood, sending money through the "Christ Journey Fund" to friends in need all over the world, and helping others listen to the Holy Spirit discovering ways they might participate in God's mission by joining the conspiracy of little Jesuses wherever they are. Ecclesiologically speaking, if God brings a church out of that...a living, breathing oikos that hears the voice of the Shepherd, seeks connection to the Vine, and continually washes the feet of the neighborhood and each other...we long for such a day. And if not, we remain prayerful, humble, obedient, and for the sake of others.

Finally, I (Chris) will continue developing relationships, mentoring, and walking with other men through a bi-weekly gathering we've dubbed: "Scripture, Salsa, and Shiner." Basically, it's a gathering of guys with thoughts and questions about the Bible and life as we experience it daily. Some sit back and soak in the discussions, others mainly ask questions, and still others pour out their hearts in pursuit of Christ. Furthermore, I have joined with two friends (who are also S3 participants) in the "Missio Project," a website of stories, book excerpts, photographs, reflections, and conversations focused on life in the Kingdom, recalibrating our lives and the church around Jesus, and prayer for a movement of God in our city. We're just getting started, and have made some initial posts that you can check out here.

In actuality, who knows what lies ahead? For now, one Christ journey has concluded, and another is underway. In the chorus of "All To Us," singer/songwriter Chris Tomlin sings, "Let the saving love of Christ be the measure of our lives." We feel he's on to something...join us as we find out.

Which Jesus?

2011-06-30T00:56:00.001-05:00

From Chapter 2 of ReJesus by Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost:

"...the ethos of discipleship and the presence of the wild Messiah are not readily associated with church and Christianity of our day. Far from it, our expressions of church range generally from what we might call high church, where Jesus tends to be relegated to some place in the outer echelons of the cosmos, to the more prevalent contemporary seeker-sensitive model where the radical message of Jesus is easily trivialized into some form of spiritual accessory in a consumerist paradise. From the fundamentalist co-option of Jesus as a religious fanatic to the liberal reduction of him into a schmaltzy moralist, it is probably fair to say that we have largely lost touch with our loving, wildly passionate, dangerous, radically merciful, and always surprising Redeemer-Lord. This is the Jesus so powerfully portrayed in the Gospels. The loss of the presence and power of this radical Jesus must surely account for a significant part of the spiritual bankruptcy of the church in the West. And therefore the importance of reJesus for spirituality and mission cannot be underestimated." (p. 42)

Life in the Vineyard

2011-04-07T20:57:00.000-05:00

from p. 145-146 of Len Sweet's So Beautiful: Divine Design for Life and the Church:

"One of Jesus' most exquisite metaphors for himself was the Vine and the vineyard. 'I am the vine; you are the branches.' When Jesus drew on this image of the vineyard and its gardeners, he was drawing on a longstanding biblical image that spoke of relationship: the bonds of cooperation between humans and nature (we do this together or we don't have a vineyard) and the bonds of love between the lover and the beloved.

A vine exists to grow vintage grapes. But for the fruit of the vine to become a reality, every vineyard has frames that support the vines and enable them to grow the best grapes. Depending on where you find the vineyard, sometimes the frames are made of wire. Sometimes of wood. Sometimes they scaffold the vine horizontally; most often vertically. These frames need continuing maintenance, sometimes even rebuilding. If a frame collapses, it can kill the vine.

However, the purpose of the vineyard is not to grow frames but to grow the grapes that the frames support. When the only thing holding up the church are those frames and not Christ, then little things like fruit, freedom, and mercy are forgotten.

No matter how beautiful the frames, the fruit doesn't come from the frames but from the vine. The frames can't slake your thirst. Only the vine. And the purpose of the frames is not to keep the vine from suffering, but to support it in its growth and point it in the right directions. In fact, the more the grapes suffer, the better the wine. It may be that if something cannot be put in a nice framework, you will be reluctant to study it or work with it. But your future is not in the frames; it's in the fruit. In the words of one of my favorite hymns,

'My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.'

No matter how sweet the frame or how beautiful its latticework, there is no nourishment in the frame. Only in the Vine. Only in the fruit. Don't worship the frame. Don't let someone look at your life and say, 'You've been framed.' Only 'wholly lean on Jesus' name.'"

As you go...

2011-04-07T20:39:00.000-05:00

As you go, make disciples…

Once upon a time, there was a woman in a hurry. In fact, she was late. Her husband returned home from work an hour and a half after his usual arrival, and she was ready to run out the door. They exchanged “hellos” and shared a brief embrace as she raced toward the car. As the garage door slowly lowered, she muttered a prayer just before turning up the stereo.

Ten minutes earlier, a few ladies had gathered around a table in an upstairs loft at a local winery. Great conversation & $5 Wineritas were quickly flowing. When she arrived, they playfully chastised her for being late, and then, anticlimactically, she promptly told them she could only stay for fifteen minutes. With disconcertion, they asked where she was headed. Sheepishly, she responded by telling them she was off to a Bible study. Immediately, the ladies’ looks of intrigue transformed into distrust as they commented on her dressy appearance and refusal to purchase wine.

“Oh…no…it’s not that at all,” she replied. “In fact, we’ll probably drink wine while searching the Bible and talking about life. I guess our ‘study’ isn’t exactly what you might normally think when that word is used. We are working through a book that’s helping us confront the feelings of anxiety we’re all battling, but the book is only part of an overall emphasis on confessing our struggles, encouraging each other, and discovering the way of Jesus together. You know, for the longest, I battled anxious feelings in regards to my health. I just knew I had a fatal disease, or some kind of health problem that would never go away. Even still, I struggle with these thoughts from time to time. However, with prayer, daily reading of the Scriptures, continual confession to my husband and trusted friends, and opportunities to share my story just like this, I am experiencing the transformation God longs to initiate and sustain within and through our very lives.”

“Whoa…” the group of ladies exhaled. They were captivated, inspired, and disheveled. “Ummm…I’ve never thought of it that way,” one of them said. “I struggle with that kind of stuff, too,” another one chimed in. “I would really like a community like that. Do you think maybe I could join you the next time you all get together?” the remaining lady asked.

As we go, we need to tell more stories. Maybe it’s our own story that’s very much in process. Maybe it’s the story of a friend who experienced instantaneous transformation. Maybe it’s the story of a trying relationship that’s in desperate need of reconciliation. Maybe it’s the story of someone working through stages of change. Maybe it’s the story of a farmer that had some seed. Maybe, as with all of the previous examples, it’s the ongoing cross-stitching occurring between the Story and our story. Whatever the case, as we go, we need to tell more stories.

Who knows how this story will unfold. Join us in prayer that these who have shown interest might become disciples of the King.

Brokenness (Let's Work)

2011-04-07T20:37:00.002-05:00

Sometimes, the brokenness is real. It’s not a “reality” TV show. It’s not an article you read on the Internet. It’s not a tweet from someone you “follow.” It’s not something happening “over there.” It’s not concern over your “favorite” that got “voted off.” It’s not your DVR being accidentally erased. It’s not “that bad thing” happening to someone else. Sometimes, the brokenness is real.

Sometimes, the brokenness is real. It’s the mother next door that abandoned her children. It’s the family two streets over that’s stressing about how to feed their kids during summer vacation. It’s the couple down the street that’s slept in separate bedrooms for the last two years. It’s the kid around the corner who knows more about a daily regime of medication than the steps for solving a proof in geometry. It’s the family losing the battle with that deadly illness…again. Sometimes, the brokenness is real.

Sometimes, the brokenness is real. It’s like being locked in a cage with a key fitting only the lock on the outside of the door. It’s like finding a dead battery underneath a pile of flashlights in the corner of a dark room. It’s like wishing you could stay asleep, because life is so much easier when your eyes are shut. Sometimes, the brokenness is real.

Can the words of any language express the Amazing Mystery? The brokenness is real, but the brokenness does not have the last word. Nope, in fact, the Word, the One who became flesh and dwelled…tabernacled among us, this Word has the last word.

The Word is speaking…again…creation…a (re)newed creation into existence…again. The New York Times, CNN.com, and your local news station report a reality disconnected from the real. What’s real? The words of the Word: “I am making all things new.”

“In the beginning was the Word.” It’s déjà vu all over again. The Gardener, the Vine, and the Grower are ready to work. Where are the branches?

Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World

2011-04-07T20:31:00.002-05:00

from pages 45-46 of Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World...

"Becoming the Beloved means letting the truth of our Belovedness become enfleshed in everything we think, say, or do. It entails a long and painful process of appropriation or, better, incarnation. As long as 'being the Beloved' is little more than a beautiful thought or a lofty idea that hangs above my life to keep me from becoming depressed, nothing really changes. What is required is to become the Beloved in the commonplaces of my daily existence and, bit by bit, to close the gap that exists between what I know myself to be and the countless specific realities of everyday life. Becoming the Beloved is pulling the truth revealed to me from above down into the ordinariness of what I am, in fact, thinking about, and doing from hour to hour."

Chapter 3 Excerpts: "From Paper to Pavement: Believing & Being the Gospel"

2011-02-03T20:54:00.003-06:00

"It is not about trying to do what Jesus would do. Rather, it has to do with thinking the way Jesus thinks in order to live the way Jesus lived. Dallas Willard said, 'Another important way of putting this is to say that I am learning from Jesus to live my life if he were I. I am not necessarily learning to do everything he did, but I am learning how to do everything I do in the manner that he did all that he did.'" (p. 103)

"The power of Scripture comes to life when we give ourselves to it's message in the real living of our lives, letting it analyze us even more than we analyze it." (p. 104)

"People are not convinced by teaching but by encounter. Doctrine follows as a way of explaining the impact of the encounter." (p. 107)

"We are praying, 'Lord, I don't want to just read this passage and leave unchanged by it. Let me not just feed myself from this daily bread but help me feed others with it also.'" (p. 110)

"Jesus didn't say, 'Come and study me.' He said, 'Come and follow me.'" (p. 111)

"Do you just believe in Jesus or do you also believe Jesus?" (p. 115)

The thrust of chapter 3 seems to be that orthopraxy and orthodoxy go hand in hand.

*How are you experiencing the paper hitting the pavement in and through your lives and communities?

And Who is My Neighbor?

2011-01-31T21:38:00.004-06:00

"Our very lives are our messages, and we cannot take ourselves out of the equation of mission." -Alan Hirsch (p. 92)

My wife, Heidi, is so good at noticing people. Whether it's a server at a restaurant, the checker at the grocery store, or a neighbor, she's great at initiating meaningful and uplifting conversations. Oftentimes (especially in a fast-food drive thru), she goes out of her way to say "please" and "thank you," make eye contact, and intentionally leave the other person feeling better after she's gone than before she arrived.

On the other hand, if I'm willing to reflect honestly, I "quickly judge what a person is like, what their motives are, and if there is anything to gain by pursuing a deeper engagement with them." (p. 84) In Chapter 2 ("Meet the Extras: The Habit of Beholding Others") of Right Here, Right Now,

Lance Ford challenges my unfortunate ability to categorize and/or dismiss people based on my own perceptions. In fact, he poignantly summarizes and suggests, "As Jesus' ambassadors, seeking to have a right here, right now impact, it is imperative that we cultivate in ourselves the Jesus habit of moving past prejudiced

assessments of others we get via these initial impressions. We should work to develop a hearing ear and seeing eye to what the Lord is saying to us about another individual." (p. 86, emphasis mine)

Honestly, although the contexts vary, this section reminded me of the opening rhythms of Revelation: "Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches." Perhaps, the Wind Words are consistently blowing relationship opportunities with other people our way, but we're too "plugged in" or "tuned out" to hear.

*"What would happen if every place you were to go today, as far as it depends on you, peace [and the habit of beholding others] would be manifest?"

Up To Something

2011-01-30T20:31:00.000-06:00

I just started So Beautiful by Leonard Sweet, and the quote below has already captivated my attention.

"God is 'up to something.' Do we know God well enough to know what God is 'up to?'"

Identity: Starter's Pistol or Finish Line?

2011-01-30T14:16:00.002-06:00

"Perhaps the greatest factor that hinders the Western church from missional engagement is that most Christians here do not identify themselves as fully empowered agents of the Kingdom of God." (p. 71)

Although this sentence does not appear until halfway through Chapter 1, "Putting the Extra in the Ordinary: Viewing Daily Life with a Missionary's Eye," it seems to contain the thrust of what Lance Ford exposes, analyzes, and proposes in the chapter. I'd rather hear from you, so I'll briefly break down his statement through the lens of Right Here, Right Now.

First, what about this "missional engagement?" What does that mean or look like? I'll let Alan tackle that one by saying, "A working definition of missional church is a community of God's people that defines itself by, and organizes its life around, its real purpose of being an agent of God's mission to the world. In other words, the church's true and authentic 'organizing principle' is mission. When the church is on mission, it is the true church. The church itself is not only the result of God's mission but is obligated and destined to extend it by whatever means possible. The mission of God flows directly through every believer and every community of faith that adheres to Jesus. To obstruct this is to block God's purposes in and through his people." (p. 66)

Second, in the initial statement, with precision, Ford cuts into our identity. As the people of God in the world, who are we? In Jason Coker's beachfront context he's noticed Christians identifying themselves with the following distinctives, "The strongest churches here extoll conservative evangelical tenets: the inerrancy of scripture; the submissiveness of women; the threat of evolution to the faith; God's divine blessing on capitalism and Western democracy; an understanding of salvation as the assurance of heaven after death for those who confess specific boundary-marking tenets." Is that who we are? In UnChristian, the research data describes us as anti-homosexual, hypocritical, and judgmental. Is that who we are?

On page 67 of Right Here, Right Now, Ford proclaims, "There is nothing remotely average about a human being who has been born again with the very resurrection life that caused Jesus to rise from the dead, to have the indwelling Holy Spirit as guide, to possess the mind of Christ for needed wisdom, and then to be commissioned by Jesus himself to go into the world with his redemptive agenda." As the people of God, who are we?

Perhaps the latter section of the opening sentence provides a starting point to answering the "who are we" question: "...fully empowered agents of the Kingdom of God." As much as I would like to expound on what I think that means and/or looks like, instead, I'm going to defer to a humbling quote in So Beautiful by Len Sweet that should move us all to close our mouths for prayerful waiting and listening: "God is 'up to something.' Do we know God well enough to know what he is 'up to?'"

*What's keeping the Western church from shedding attributes that inhibit us from living as "fully empowered agents of the Kingdom of God?" Should we shed, renew, or reset?

*Should context influence identity, or identity cut into context? Where does contextualization fit in this conversation?

*What is God up to where you are at, and how do you know?

Moving Alongside in a Round-A-Bout Way

2011-01-26T22:06:00.001-06:00

Thank you for joining my in-process journey through Right Here, Right Now by Alan Hirsch and Lance Ford. Currently, I’m traveling through Alan’s “Briefing” chapter and stopping to engage each of his four suggested movements “needed on our behalf if we are indeed going to partake of the movement that Jesus started: move out (into missional engagement), move in (burrowing down into the culture), move alongside (engaging in genuine friendships and relational networks), and move from (challenging the dehumanizing and sinful aspects of our culture). (p. 35) Here, we looked into the move out (into missional engagement), and in the near future, Heidi Mashele will offer reflections from her own move in (burrowing down into the culture). Until then, I’m moving forward with the move alongside (engaging in genuine friendships and relational networks).

In an earlier post, I mentioned Alan’s challenging reorientation of the “Great Commission” text in Matthew 28:16-20. As we consider the move alongside, Hirsch describes his perspective by writing, “It is not simply about sharing the Good News with people through abstract concepts about Jesus and calling for a response—this is at best only part of the deal, at worst a shoddy witness and mere salesmanship. Friendships should be part of the equation. We are called to disciple the nations, which means we are committed to a long-term relationship with them that must surely include meaningful friendships, genuine involvement, and compassionate concern for a person’s best good.” (p.50) In other words, the “Great Commission” breathes, grows, and expands through discipling relationships that look “part cultural savvy, part organic friendship, and part hospitality.” (p. 51) With a descriptive and prophetic challenge, Hirsch summarizes, “Missional Christianity needs to get relationally savvy, and it should come naturally because we are called to love and discipleship.” (p. 52)

These comments read really well in a book about "Everyday Mission for Everyday People," but does anyone else out there feel like moving alongside through discipling relationships, in fact, comes very unnaturally? Here’s what I mean.

Recently, Bill Kinnon and David Fitch wrote helpful, succinct blog posts that seemed to thoughtfully deconstruct and (at least attempt to) reconstruct ecclesial leadership. In different ways, both posts point out what leadership has been while offering challenging possibilities for what leadership might become (or return to). Unbeknownst to either author (at least specifically), their reflections serve as stark challenges to the training, modeling, and leadership development I have experienced. Primarily, in terms of leadership, I’ve been molded to make organizational decisions, formally teach the Bible, and cast and protect vision.

While I accept the fact that decisions must be made, the Bible should be taught, and vision should be shared, modeled, and guarded, I’m not sure these components best support the scaffold of leadership.

If I don’t hold any inherent disagreement or disgust for these three expressions of leadership, what am I actually critiquing? Without articulating much in terms of new ideas (except stories from my own experiences), I am critiquing the way in which I have led in the past and sometimes find myself still doing today. Basically, my leadership attempts have originated out of a title and, additionally, the role represented by the title.

As a result, after many years of embracing and propagating this type of leadership, I have noticed a few of its harmful implications. First, when I’ve set myself up as the primary, role-based decision-maker, people (at least from my experiences) seem to take on a “just tell me what to do” posture. In other words, I (and usually a few close partners operating under similar leadership dynamics) do a majority of the thinking, wondering, wrestling, and deciding while most others seem to wait patiently to be told what to do. Although this assumes the guise of servanthood, I wonder if the posture creates unhealthy distinctions and distances among people. I don’t really have to give myself to others, because I’m not (deeply) involved in relationships as much as I’m doing what I’m told.

Second, leading from a title has given me too much of the wrong kind of power. I like attention, recognition, and others to look to me for answers (although I just critiqued it above...let me be honest, I've crafted and enhanced such dynamics, too), and I don’t need more help liking those things. For me, title leadership fed (and feeds) the ego…sometimes too much (as if a little is okay!), and I began thinking things like: “Look what I did,” “We’re such a great church,” and “You need to let me teach you a thing or two.”

I’ll never forget the Monday after we launched (language intended) our first Sunday worship service. 110 people showed up in the elementary school cafeteria, and that next day, I was on the phone with a close mentor exclaiming, “We did it! We planted a church!” I shudder to even recall, let alone share, the memory; however, it reveals the desires for power, recognition, and applause that were in my heart at the time (that surely have vacated by now…or not). Obviously, I’m still giving much of this over to the Lord (and these Right Here, Right Now reviews are helping); and therefore, I'm not laying my pride at the feet of title-oriented leadership alone; however, being “The Man” sure hasn’t helped.

Finally (there’s more, but…) leading from a title bred loneliness for me. Here’s a confusing reflection: if I’m going to be a good leader, I need to be a good follower, and when I was trying the hardest to be a good leader, I found (or took) very little time to be a good follower. Know what I’m sayin’? In the end, I was pretty sorry at both.

In our podcast conversation and in Right Here, Right Now, Alan awakens readers to a form of leadership that I’ve felt (and even experienced) for a long time, but wasn’t quite sure how to put into words: moral authority. When we walk with people, care for people, serve people, and sacrifice for people, it “comes naturally because we are called to love and discipleship.” (p. 52) Translated by me: a title doesn't necessarily result in leadership. Instead, leadership becomes an invitation offered by someone else...to move alongside, because of the struggles and successes of a shared and relational journey of discipleship.

Maybe I'm not the reader I pretend to be, but I've only re-read two books (that I can remember!): Following Jesus by NT Wright and In the Name of Jesus by Henri Nouwen. (Sorry Alan & Lance!) Although I'm certain that Following Jesus has much to contribute along the lines of this conversation, of the two books, In the Name of Jesus is the one I have in front of me tonight. While thumbing through it again, I was captivated and convicted by this gem: "Laying down your life means making your faith and doubt, hope and despair, joy and sadness, and courage and fear available to others as ways of getting in touch with the Lord of life." To the glory of God, may we move alongside whomever the Spirit draws into our laid-down lives with prayerful hope for another little Jesus.

*What about discipleship? Have such relationships come naturally for you? Share a story or two.

*If so, how do they originate? How do they take shape, grow, change, and twist as relationships normally do? If not?

*Where does Scripture reading and study, prayer, and your local community of Jesus fit into this conversation?

Briefing the Briefing

2011-01-24T21:45:00.002-06:00

Right Here, Right Now creatively portrays an engaging shared writing style. Alan writes a “Briefing” chapter at the start, and bookends the work with a “Debriefing” chapter at the end. In between, Lance unpacks a three-fold outline containing the following components: “Putting Our Hearts Into It (Missional Paradigm),” “Wrapping Our Heads Around It (Missional Analysis),” and “Doing Something About it (Missional Action).” Lance’s contributions are, oftentimes, poignant, personal, and practical, and in the midst of his reflections, Alan chimes in with theology, philosophy, critique, and/or cultural analysis that make for a thoughtful and productive dialogue. In other words, for a non-fiction book, the writing style successfully draws the reader into the “story,” and allows for different perspectives and people to share time during the conversation.

Alan’s initial “Briefing” chapter glides the reader through four movements. To me, his two-fold thesis is as follows: 1) “I believe with all my heart that the future of Christianity in the West is somehow bound up with the idea of becoming a people movement again. Somehow and in some way, we need to loosen up and learn how to reactivate the massive potentials that lie rather dormant within Jesus’ people if we are going to make a difference to our world;” (p. 31) and therefore, 2) “We suggest that there are a number of movements needed on our behalf if we are indeed going to partake of the movement that Jesus started. We have to be willing to move out (into missional engagement), move in (burrowing down into the culture), move alongside (engaging in genuine friendships and relational networks, and move from (challenging the dehumanizing and sinful aspects of our culture).” (p. 35)

First, Hirsch unpacks the need for the people movement of Jesus to “move out (into missional engagement).” As a result, at the bottom of page 35, he challenges, “…it might not be far, but the obligation is on us to go to them, not them to us.” It seems simple enough, but I remain stunned at my own stubborn ability to slothfully wait for people to come to me (or come to us). And you know what? In response to that posture, very few come and even fewer stick around. I don’t have a color-coded Microsoft Excel spreadsheet; however, I feel confident in saying that most of the churches I am connected to or have history with are in decline. Those that are not in decline are thankful for already-Christian move-ins that are looking for their flavor of church. That’s a harsh reflection and I hesitate to type it, but our failure to admit it would be more terrifying.

In August 2010, Bret Wells and I shared a podcast conversation (Missional Monks Podcast) with Alan. During our chat, he challenged us to a re-reading of the “Great Commission.” According to Alan, we have misinterpreted Matthew 28:16-20 labeling it as an evangelistic text instead of a discipling text. There are several implications that result from such a misreading; however, the one most obvious to me right here, right now is the lack of urgency about going to my neighbors.

We are well connected in our neighborhood, and share many good surface relationships. However, because of our existing relationships in the neighborhood, we also have a good idea as to the struggles and burdens our neighbors are carrying, and what are we doing about any of that? The couple on the corner just moved in…doesn’t know anyone…and is adjusting to life with a new school, neighborhood, and town. The couple across the street continues to struggle in their relationship with each other. The other couple on the corner just had a baby, and the late nights aren’t ceasing any time soon. The couple around the corner battles consistent health problems and rebellious children. Let alone the folks in our hood that we don’t know!

We’ve got to prayerfully go to them. In spite of any and every taboo in neighborhood suburban culture, Jesus said, “Go;” and therefore, we go empowered by the Holy Spirit and trusting in Christ to take care of the rest. On page 37 after a four-suggestion outline entitled: “Learning the art of the small,” Hirsch insightfully asserts, “For most of us, what will be required to engage in missional Christianity is to simply reach out beyond our fears and ignorance of others, to overcome our middle-class penchant for safety, to take a risk and get involved in what God is already doing in our cities and neighborhoods. It’s not a science really, although as we will see, there are sometimes tricky cultural elements to deal with. It is all about love. Just read 1 John again to remind yourself of this.”

I’m one step ahead of you, Alan! Before reading Right Here, Right Now, I had recently cracked open 1 John. Consequently, while reading Right Here, Right Now, this passage from 1 John rang in my head, “…but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, ‘I abide in him,’ ought to walk just as he (Jesus) walked.” Christ, have mercy. Help us to walk (into our neighborhoods, workplaces, and third places) just as you walked.

This “Briefing” chapter is almost 30 pages, and there are numerous good and needed treasures to be discovered within it. We’re nearing 11:30pm CST, and I’ll be up for work at 6:30am. As a result, I’ll blog again soon on the “move in (burrowing down into the culture). For now...

*What are your reactions to Alan's two-fold thesis? What implications do you anticipate or are you seeing in your context when acting upon this thesis?

*Share a story of a "move out into missional engagement," so that we might praise God for his work in and through you or your group of friends. (Click here for a great one.)

*Wrestle with Matthew 28.16-20 and 1 John. What else is the Lord saying to us through these texts that contributes to this conversation?

*How can I pray for you and your "move out into missional engagement" among neighbors or social groups in your context?

Peace.

A New Book Splashes into an Unfolding Story

2011-01-23T22:10:00.001-06:00

“You are here because you know something. What you know you can’t explain but you feel it. You felt it your entire life. There is something wrong with the world but you don’t know what it is. But it’s there like a splinter in your mind.” – Morpheus

As a Gen-Xer that journeyed through both high school and college in the 1990s, I resonate greatly with Morpheus’ comments. Without realizing it at the time, in high school, two close friends invited me into discipling relationships. Almost over night, I transitioned from attending (language intended…I still remember sitting in the balcony with my homeboy…half paying attention) a 4,000-member mega-church from 30 miles away to a high level of participation in a church of 225 within my town.

This hometown church welcomed me into their community. In particular, 2-3 families loved, served, modeled, and mentored me closely as I shared life (meals, trips, family celebrations, and more) with them and their own teenage children.

As I left home for college, and married my high school sweetheart, again I was invited and discipled into the way of Jesus. A close friend from high school, initiated opportunities for my wife and me to serve families living in pockets of economic poverty in our college town. For the first time, I found myself glaring drug addiction, domestic abuse, prostitution, and cycles of poverty square in the face. What I saw left me shaken and clinging to faith.

After college, my wife and I moved to the suburbs to serve in a quaint, friendly church. Most of the folks were in the thick of a time wandering in “Worship Forms Forest” wondering if singing during Communion, raising hands, preaching in segments, closing our eyes while singing, or other expressions related to the Sunday morning worship service were permissible. In addition, the church recognized the changes underway in the city, and timidly considered how we might be affected by and participants in such changes.

As we jumped into this community of friends, nice people all of them, we (Heidi and I) began longing for the raw, evangelistic, and adventurous experiences and relationships from college. We loved the people of this church, but couldn’t shake the stirring…the feeling we had, perhaps our entire life, “there is something wrong with the world…” In his song, Consuming Fire, Tim Hughes described our feelings, “There must be more than this. Oh Breath of God, come breathe within. There must be more than this. Spirit of God, we wait for you.”

As a result, in February 2004, we set out into unchartered territory (at least for us) with a burning question deep in our hearts: “What if we engaged our local people, neighborhoods, and cultures like missionaries?” Without any exposure to things post-Christendom, post-Christian, demographics, or Pew Research/George Barna, still, this question occupied the front seat of our minds. Having not heard (yet) of Leslie Newbigin, David Bosch, Darrel Guder, Craig Van Gelder, Mike Frost, or Alan Hirsch, we trekked downward (a metaphor I’ll unpack in a future post) along a steep path into a deep valley, and we had no idea just how far below sea level the path would take us.

In some strange twisty-turny, topsy-turvy way, this brings me to Right Here, Right Now: Everyday Mission for Everyday People by Alan Hirsch and Lance Ford. By the grace of God and sacrificial friends gracious enough to share the journey, Heidi and I have come a long way in the past 7 years. We trudged deep, spent transformative time in the valley, and have recently begun the overwhelming but necessary climb up the other side, and books like Right Here, Right Now are helping and encouraging us and our communitas of friends to continue the climb (sorry to get all Miley Cyrus all the sudden!), with a hip-out-of-socket limp, but still climbing nonetheless.

Consequently, I think I’m writing a review(s) of this book. However, as you may have already gathered, I don’t think it’s going to read like a “regular book review.” If you have any interest in reading my posts, I’m going to assume you’re already familiar with Alan and Lance. You already know how to connect with them, and if you haven’t ordered Right Here, Right Now yet, it’s on your to-do list or you’ll borrow it from someone.

Therefore, I’m not going to plow through the book in a typical fashion of summarization. Instead, thorugh a series of blog posts, I’m going to interact with the book from my walk with the Lord, discipling relationships, communitas experiences with my peeps: Christ Journey, and our prayerful responses to God’s partnership invitations to be about his Kingdom work in and around Burleson, TX and our specific neighborhoods, schools, playgrounds, and eateries.

If Right Here, Right Now is really about Everyday Mission for Everyday People, then let’s wrestle with the book as a people seeking God together, swapping stories together, and going into all the world…together. If missional is just a word, then the risk of failure is very real. But, if missional describes a way of life…a life that glorifies God as, together, we grow in looking like Jesus in and through the power of the Holy Spirit for the sake of the world…that’s spicy, or maybe better construed: salty; and therefore, worth sharing.

Saddle up (I’m in Texas. What can I say?), and let’s go.

A Broken Hip and Sunshine (Part 1 of 4)

2010-07-11T00:02:00.002-05:00

I started writing this post about this time of night on Saturday, May 29. I wrote 4-5 paragraphs and stopped unable to continue. As I lay on my bed tonight punching the keys of my wife’s dilapidated Dell, I’m realizing I wasn’t ready to write. Looking back, too much remained swirling for me to draft anything cohesive or understandable. Tonight (at least I think), I’m ready; thus, Part 1 of a 4-part blog series.

Much has transpired along the Christ Journey over the last few months. Several friends (especially when they heard I had accepted a job as a school teacher...more on that in Part 3) are asking if we’re still involving ourselves in church planting. Furthermore, just two weeks ago, one of Heidi’s friends asked about Christ Journey, because she was told we had dissolved.

To be honest, like any other community of friends, we have climbed the summit of many mountain peaks, and we have descended into the depths of many despairing valleys. While wrestling with appropriate ways to address these (and other) questions, I concluded that it’s been a while since I’ve written an update (so long, in fact, that I can’t remember the last one), so Sunday, July 11, 2010 seems like a great day to step back into the habit.

As early as February 2009, “identity” began to surface as a struggle worth facing for the CJ community. “Who are we? Why do we exist? What are we inviting others into?” were (and are) just three of the myriad of questions churning among us. As outside (and inside) financial support reached its lowest point in October 2009, we were finally forced to take shots at answering some of these questions. For the rest of the year (and on into 2010), the process proved arduous, painful, disappointing, and sometimes lonely. Many chose to discontinue their travels with us along the journey, and the remaining wondered whether we should circle the wagons or forge into unchartered territory. As we looked out across the land that lay ahead, with a broken hip and a blessing (Genesis 32:22-33 & an unexpected visit from Heather), we left the wagons behind and clumsily broke camp into the undiscovered. As difficult as it was (and still is to some extent), we are thankful for the (ongoing) opportunity to wrestle with the identity of our community into the dark night for we remember that even though we bear the marks of our struggles, the dawn has come and yet is still breaking upon us.

---------------
See, wasn't that short, sweet, and "postcardish" in length? Coming soon...Part 2: "So, are you still planting churches or not?!"

Brokenness...even (or especially) in the Suburbs

2010-07-10T23:31:00.001-05:00

Did you ever play the "whisper game" as a kid? You know, someone begins by making up a unique or common statement, and with everyone seated in a circle, the statement is whispered around the circle until the last person says it out loud comparing it with the original statement.
I played the game in Ms. Runkles middle school English class. Known for being a class clown (especially in middle school), when the statement was eloquently whispered in my ear, I made it my mission to dramatically alter its contents. When the last person announced the statement aloud before the entire class, my devious and "hilarious" (only to me of course) plan succeed. The only problem was that after hearing the phrase, a classmate of mine stormed out of the room in full sprint to the counselor's office leaving a cascading trail of tears behind.

The last few months have been kinda like that. Sometimes, I've felt like the guy in the circle who changed the phrase, and sometimes, I've felt like the kid blowing the doors off the hinges and wailing down the hallway.

Here's something we're learning: brokenness likes the suburbs, too. Pictures of most of the homes would make fabulous postcards, and most of the landscaping would fill an all-day lineup on HGTV. We like our SUVs, high quality schools, iPhones, and Facebook, but somewhere...somewhere...brokenness lurks hidden underneath the masquerade.

Over the last few years, we've met homeless children, single mothers who can't afford to work and can't afford not to work, and others living from one high to the next. We've met families facing and recovering from bankruptcy, couples ferociously plotting their single lives (after marriage), and friends stuck in the clutches of anxiety over the costs associated with their sexual preferences.

We're drowning in alcohol, entertainment, overspending, gossip, loneliness, drugs, racism, and financial injustices while desparately reaching for an inner tube that floats farther and farther away.

In other words, the cries of Good News are needed in the suburs (too)...even in the Bible Belt suburbs.

My friend, Bret Wells, often asks, "Could it be that the suburbs are also abandoned places of the Empire?" Beneath the smiles, nods, and handshakes...

Our experiences continue confirming this predicament, and we are slowly, deliberately, and dependently exploring missional and monastic ways of calling the abandoned ones (and each other) out of darkness and into light.

So, we host weekly neighborhood front-yard barbecues where kids learn to play together, neighbors meet and talk with each other, and rich, poor, and in-between share a table that no one pushes away from with an empty stomach.
So, we urgently and prayerfully engage our workplaces asking God to reveal his work that we might join with him. Whether we sell insurance, teach school, or repair roofs, our jobs provide Spirit-initiated opportunities to practice sacred vocations.

So, we intentionally share meals, prayer walks, long car trips, milk, and park play-dates with friends or soon-to-be friends who are not disciples of Jesus. I'm reminded of a line from a song that became popular during my college years (late 90's), "The Jesus [they] see will be the Jesus in me."

Look around you. We've been abandoned. Materialism, the corporate ladder, transactional relationships, and People Magazine promised us the world (and then fanned the flames of our pursuits), but what good is the world if we forfeit our souls to apprehend it.

...and so, we seek counter-community moving toward and with Jesus for the sake of others...at least, we're learning how to.

*How is brokenness expressed in your suburban context?

*Is this brokenness hidden or out in the open, and what effect does this have on dealing with the brokenness?

*How is your community of faith storming the gates of the brokenness in your suburban context?

Vocation

2010-02-27T22:15:00.001-06:00

I have a much longer (and more personal) post brewing on the topic of vocation and its sacredness; however, tonight, I am sharing excerpts from the genesis of such thoughts, Chapter 8 of Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture, (by Michael Frost) to wet your appetite and possibly spark some introductory conversation. Over the past month, Chapters 5 (another brewing post) and 8 of this book have aided in sparking critical growth for me as a church planter.
"[Followers of Jesus] will be devoted to their work, knowing that they can be called by God to work in a factory or a law firm or a school or the home every bit as much as someone can be called by God to minister as a priest or pastor. Like Daniel and Joseph, exiles will work hard for the host empire, and while doing so, they will be promising, 'We will work righteously.'" (p. 177)
"For too long the church has fallen into the dualistic pattern of seeing someone's job as a secular endeavor while valuing his or her role within the church as holy or righteous." (p. 180)
"Many churchgoing people get the impression that what they spend the bulk of their time doing every week is unimportant to God in comparison to what they do for a few hours each week in the church." (p. 181)
"God is present and interested in our work life as in any area of our lives. [Followers of Jesus] need to wriggle free from a church that devalues the righteousness of their everyday work lives as well as from a world that sees work simply as the means to make money." (p. 181)
"One of the simplest ways of [working responsibly and not contributing to the suffering of others] is to see that our personal sense of mission involves what we do for a living just as much as what we do for our church activities." (p. 181)
"We earn money at our jobs, of course, but our primary motivation as exiles is to do our work as an expression of our relationship with God." (p. 181)
"We routinely talk about the 'world out there.' What else can that mean other than that we, the church people, are 'in here?' This dualism has, over 1,700 years, created Christians who cannot relate their interior faith to their exterior practice, and this affects their ethics, lifestyles, and capacity to share their faith meaningfully with others." (p. 185)

Posted via web from Scratch Pad

Disconnected Electronic Rumination

2010-02-23T22:12:00.007-06:00

I'm well behind the curve in respect to this concept of liminality, but I can definitely see how it works and its lasting effects. Chapter 5 of this breaks it down wonderfully. It's kinda like I knew it was there but didn't have the language or perspective to provide solid descriptors and analysis. From Wikipedia (so it must be true...lol), "Liminality is a period of transition where normal limits to thought, self-understanding, and behavior are relaxed - a situation which can lead to new perspectives." That pretty much describes it..."new perspectives" (or not so new).

Even though that definition is quite incomplete (because it's part of a much larger paragraph), there are important reasons why "normal limits to thought, self-understanding, and behavior are relaxed." Most notably, the person or people group finds itself in the midst of struggle. It's like a journey from adolescence to adult...resident to full practitioner, student to teacher. Such transitions require (sometimes) extreme experiences of struggle, despair, heartache, doubt, strife, hopelessness, ineptitude, and so on. It is during these experiences that we depend upon, rely, lean on, come near, lift up, grow together, sacrifice, embrace, and carry with each other for each other. Such experiences develop bonds that are not easily broken.

As odd (and countercultural) as it may sound, we are thankful for liminality and must be a people running into the liminal. As God continues to bring order from chaos, we too as his agents, discard the shackles of safety, security, and predictability to run wild, free, and difficult with our Lord and each other. Like a firefighter running into a burning building, we must go.

Hunt

2010-02-22T22:23:00.002-06:00

"Here's the story I'll tell my friends when they come to worship, and punctuate it with Hallelujahs: Shout Hallelujah, you God-worshipers; give glory, you sons of Jacob; adore him, you daughters of Israel. He has never let you down, never looked the other way when you were being kicked around. He has never wandered off to do his own thing; he has been right there, listening.
Here in this great gathering for worship I have discovered this praise-life. And I'll do what I promised right here in front of the God-worshipers. Down-and-outers sit at God's table and eat their fill. Everyone on the hunt for God is here, praising him. "Live it up, from head to toe. Don't ever quit!"

From the four corners of the earth people are coming to their senses, are running back to God. Long-lost families are falling on their faces before him. God has taken charge; from now on he has the last word.

All the power-mongers are before him —worshiping! All the poor and powerless, too—worshiping! Along with those who never got it together—worshiping!

Our children and their children will get in on this As the word is passed along from parent to child. Babies not yet conceived will hear the good news—that God does what he says."

Sacred Snowballs, Carrots, and a Friend

2010-02-21T22:33:00.002-06:00

If you forgot already, a couple of weeks ago, it snowed a little bit. I must admit: it was nice. Four-day weekends are always welcome especially when they occur within a month of Spring Break. It was a Thursday and I worked late, because I was banking on a bad weather day, so I went ahead and prepared for the next week. When my daughter and I turned on to our street, we saw several of our neighbors playing in our front yard. We quickly parked on the street, jumped out of the car, and proceeded to launch snowballs at everybody. Sometimes, even in Texas, playing in the snow can be quite sacred.

I was born in Iowa but moved to Texas just before beginning Kindergarten. As a result, I don’t remember much about snow storm protocol. In Texas, when snow (or ice) falls from the sky, the first step in any system of response is to attempt to build a snowman. The day after the Great Snowstorm of 2010, my kids and I drove around our neighborhood counting 109 snowmen in a 3 mile radius around our house. Therefore, like good little Texans, we all pitched in, rolled snow, stacked snow, packed snow, and even found a couple carrots. The Snow Chef was our prize creation. (We got a little out of control on his head, and someone said it looked like he was wearing a chef’s hat.)

The next day, after a fresh night of snow, we were at it again: rolling in the snow, throwing snowballs at each other, and building stuff. I wanted to build a snowman that was taller than me, so I began working on said project on my neighbor’s front porch. (I was hoping it would inhibit their ability to enter and exit their house. That’s right, I’m the “ugly neighbor.”) After I got started, my own kids and a couple other kids in the neighborhood joined in. We pulled snow off of cars, out of the yard, and anywhere else we could find it to build this snow monster. Eventually, the top was wider and heavier than the bottom and it collapsed: poor design and management on behalf of the foreman. However, unbeknownst to me when the project began, crafting the snow monster led to an experience I never expected.

Matthew 10 (out of The Message) has really messed me (and Heidi) up lately. We initially read it in January during our first 40 days of Scripture reading and prayer; and now, after the first 7 of a new 40 days (Lent culminating in Easter), we’ve read it again. In short, Jesus sends his “harvest hands” out with quite a charge:

***”Don’t begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don’t try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here.”***

For me (and Heidi), it’s one of those sections of Scripture that causes the Bible to slip from my hands cascading to the floor as my head and hands leap toward the sky in repentance. I must continually ask myself: “How can I proclaim allegiance to the Liberating King and not know, spend time with, or tell my neighbors (with words and life) that the kingdom is here?”

So here I am attempting to construct a 75-inch tall snow monster...completely focused on packing snow into a wobbly foundation...and calling out to the kids to bring me more snow, when one of the kids in my neighborhood stops and looks up at me. With my eyes still on the emerging snow creation but the kids’ eyes dead-set on me, I hear, “Chris, you’re my best friend.” Cold, frustrated, tired, dumbfounded, and amazed, I responded, “Thanks.” The hour I had spent with this kid (and other kids from the neighborhood who were helping me) over the previous two days was the only time I had spent with the kids in my neighborhood so far in 2010.

***”Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously.”***

Sometimes, we don’t have to be sent to the other side of the globe. Sometimes, we only have to be home long enough to be sent across the street. Sometimes, we don’t have to be prepared to throw Bible verses. Sometimes, we only have to be prepared to throw snow balls. Indeed, we have been treated so generously. We have so much to live (and give).

Remix

2010-02-21T22:17:00.003-06:00

I wrote this in late 2006, and this weekend, Heidi and I had an experience that reminded me of it, so I thought I would share. We continue to pray and look for Spirit-initiated opportunities such as these.
---------------
"This is really an understatement, but tonight was a wild night. I have mentioned a little about my two wonderful children, and tonight, one of them was in full force. Newsflash: MY SON DOES NOT LIKE HIS CAR SEAT!
There just isn’t a lot of room when the family piles into the 2003 Nissan Xterra. Mom, Sister, and Brother all sit in the back, and lonely ‘ole dad assumes the ship’s controls. At least I get to control the stereo. Because of the scarcity of room in the Xterra, Mom and Dad thought it wise to begin a search for a potential new vehicle. This is an ‘on again, off again’ search that began 6 weeks ago. Tonight, the search took us 25 miles southwest of home.

Did I mention that my son does not like his car seat? I didn’t want to include too many paragraphs before telling you that again. What does this mean? Usually, it means that he screams from the moment he is placed inside his car seat to the moment he is removed from its blood-thirsty clutches. I am pretty sure the phrase ‘AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!’ would describe it best. I can’t fault the guy though. If you placed me in this box, pinned me down, and strapped me in using this uncomfortable and intimidating buckle that ran between my legs, I’d be a little wigged out, too. Also, what can I say? At least the boy has a good, healthy set of lungs. As we were driving around trying to look at a few vehicles, tensions were running high and patience was running low as Mom, Dad, and Sister took turns attempting to soothe our beautiful baby; however, each of us ended up staring into the face of a wild-eyed, red-faced mini me wondering when the next chance to get out and walk around would present itself.

I’m not sure if it was the screaming, the cold weather, or the fact that we were on a semi-tight schedule, but it seemed that every stop light we approached saw us coming and upon making eye contact with us quickly and without hesitancy proceeded to red. I’m surprised I remember one specific red light in the sea of never ending stops that we made; however, one does stand out. We stopped at this red light where on the right was a bank and on the left was the marquee of a local church. This marquee was extra nice, because not only did it have the standard manual lettering, but it also had the scrolling digital type. Fancy. The standard manual letters read something about a ‘casual dress’ worship service, and the ‘regular’ worship service, but the red digital letters caught my eye. The lettering scrolled across the sign displaying, “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.” At this moment, my son was doing his best to match the sound of an airplane taking off with his screams, and I couldn’t help but muster a smirk. The King James was a nice touch, too.

Here’s a shocker. The other day I was running late. It was a Wednesday morning, because I volunteer for a few hours at Harvest House, a fantastic, local emergency benevolence agency, every Wednesday, and as usually, I was behind. My daughter was already in school, and my wife takes our son with her to work, and they were already gone. After a quick shower, I had run into the bedroom to get dressed. I was returning to the bathroom to squirt two quick shots of cologne on my neck when the home phone rang, and I make sure to inform you that it was the home phone for a specific reason.

On a very rare occasion, you will find me answering the home phone, and I want to make sure to emphasize the word ‘rare’ in this sentence. I just don’t do it. To be honest, I’m really not sure why, but don’t get me wrong. I do realize that it’s pretty quirky. Part of it is probably because I don’t really want to have a home phone. My cell phone has unlimited minutes for making and receiving calls, and my wife doesn’t use her cell phone all that much, so couldn’t we get by without a home phone? Also, our city has just installed a city-wide wireless network, so I know I don’t need a home phone for Internet service anymore. Another reason I don’t answer it is probably because we don’t have caller ID on our home phone. At least with my cell phone, I’m not surprised by the voice I hear on the other line. Finally, those who know me and want to get a hold of me know to call my cell phone, so if the home phone is ringing, it is probably not for me anyway.

So, I’m a few steps away from the bathroom door and the home phone rings. Actually, I thought about answering it, but I quickly smothered those thoughts remembering that I was already late, and did not want to waste one more minute especially if that meant talking on the home phone. Our answering machine picked up, and the caller began to speak. It was a lady that I had not heard from in a long time. Her name was Angela (no it wasn't but you get the idea), and her granddaughters were in my youth group years ago. She mentioned that she had met someone whom she wanted to refer to me and the new church I was a part of because this person lived near me. Okay, I made the mental note to call her back as soon as I had the opportunity which would probably be over lunch.

However, immediately after the home phone quit ringing, my cell phone began to ring. At this point, I’m starting to get a little flustered. I looked at my phone, and did not recognize the number, so I didn’t answer it either. I do that sometimes, too. I noticed that the caller left a voice message, but continued walking toward the door to my garage. As I opened the door, the home phone rang again! I rolled my eyes, hopped in the car, and violently sped off to Harvest House.

Ministry is amazing. God shows up in marvelous ways. Things happen that can not be explained. Encounters with people take place that leave you without words. The power of God is real, active, and transforming. He is constantly “calling us out of darkness into his wonderful light.” One of the greatest things about working in a new church plant that is focusing on people who do not go to church or haven’t in a good while is just that…the people. God is about his mission in the lives of people, and I’m thankful that he allows me to come along and participate with him. A lot of my time is spent sharing in dinners, phone conversations, and living room talks, and I love it.

However, this particular morning, I was in no mood for the power of God to work though me. Remember, I’m late! About an hour and a half into my day at Harvest House, my cell phone rang again. This time as I scanned the caller ID, I realized it was my wife and I promptly answered the phone. She began by asking me if I had talked to Angela, and I quickly recounted the phone circus I escaped from as I left the house that morning. Well, apparently Angela had called my wife, and stated her need to talk to me with great urgency. So, at the powerful beckoning of my wife, I reluctantly took a 10 minute break and called Angela.

After a couple of rings, Angela picked up on the other line. She thanked me for calling and began to tell me of a new friend she had just met. The last ten years of her friend’s life had been littered with tragedy. He had battled cancer, drug addiction, prison, and the death of his wife. He lived in our area, and Angela wanted me to meet him. So, she put him on the phone! Mike (ummm...not really) introduced himself to me, and we chatted for a few minutes. I told him a little bit about Christ Journey, and before I knew it, Angela was back on the line. She encouraged me to go by Mike’s house later in the week to meet him in person, and she said that the two of them would join our Sunday worship gathering the following weekend, and that was it.

Why does God put up with a person like me? He has shown me his incredible, indescribable, and untamable power time and time again, and I still, either in pride or doubt, do not live expectantly. Instead of getting out of the way and looking for God to show up, usually, he bursts on to the scene, and then says, “Everything is possible for him who believes.”

You see, when I hung up the phone, if I was truly honest with myself and with you, I placed the encounter into a neat and hidden corner of my brain. Okay, I tried to use flowery language to dress it up, but in reality, I forgot. I forgot about the phone call. I forgot about Mike. I forgot that I was supposed to go by his house later in the week. I forgot that Angela and Mike were coming on Sunday.

However, in the midst of my ineptitude, Sunday came, and so did Mike and Angela. Mike was extremely kind and open about his plight in life. He was exuberant about understanding the ways of God, and experiencing the power of community. I was blessed to share in worship, friendship, and conversation with him.

Sometimes in life, we need time to refocus. We need time to remember that life is not about us. It’s not about what we can do, or the talents we have been given. It’s about giving, blessing, sharing, and loving. As one mentor of mine has put it, “we are church for the sake of the world”, and Mike reminded me of that.

The next day, I received a phone call from Angela. Mike wanted to become a disciple of Jesus! Mike wanted to share in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus through baptism! Amazing! One minute, we’re uncomfortably talking on the phone, and the next minute, we’re gathered around Mike in a backyard pool praising God for his love and work expressed in Mike.

You know, what I thought was an end was really a beginning. As Mike was ushered into the Kingdom of God, the Holy Spirit began opening doors within the cobwebbed halls of his family. Mike became God’s tour guide sharing with his family about His love, church, and Spirit. God calls and God sends, and Mike was sent into his very own household. As family members began to see hope and life in Mike, they began asking questions about this God. Before we knew it, a house church was launched in Mike’s home, and his mother, grandmother, sister, and others became participants in this emerging community of faith. About a month after the launching of the house church, Mike’s mom expressed her desire to become a follower of Jesus.

From a random phone call to a guy who was too busy to be bothered, God began redeeming an entire household. The people’s response to His redemption is still in process, and sometimes, the journey is tough; however, nothing can separate this family from God’s love as he continues to raise up servants and proclaimers within the household.

Instead of providing you with a report, we thought it more creative and impactful to share this story. As we look back upon 2006, there are many, many similar stories that reflect God’s provision, transformation, and mission in our midst. We are thankful for a God who is truly “with us”, and as we reflect upon his birth in a manger, we find virulent, unending hope. If the Savior of the world can be born in a barn, what can the spirit of God do within us?"

Frijoles Negros

2010-02-21T21:42:00.005-06:00

Sometimes (like right now), I feel completely out of place. I know that’s kinda weird for a guy to admit. We're suppose to continually put off auras of carelessness and control...like nothing can ever touch us. It’s kind of a load, but we do it anyway. Most of the time, I wonder when we’ll get tired of being frauds.

When I was in middle and high school, my Dad fixed dinner most of the time. Looking back, I should have been much more helpful and grateful when it came to dinner time. The sides accompanying most of my Dad’s dishes were white rice and black beans (i.e. frijoles negros). For a while, it seemed that every time we sat down at the table, our plate included a modest tower of black beans. We ate and we ate and we ate. Black beans. Black beans. Black beans. Until one day, I just stopped. It’s not that I didn’t like them. It’s not that I embarked on a crusade against black beans. I had just had my fill.

It’s funny. I do the same thing in other aspects of life, namely music. From time to time, my wife (kindly) points out how I will listen to a certain album or song over and over and over again. “Not again,” she’ll (kindly) moan. “There you go! In a month, you’ll never want to listen to that CD again!” I try to defend myself by telling her how much I like the music or the vocals or a certain song, but it’s pretty pointless to plead my case because she’s right. Remember Jars of Clay? (Probably not) The Eleventh Hour? Furthermore From the Studio and Furthermore From the Stage? Great albums but I haven’t listened to any of them since 2004. I played them for 6 months and that was enough. In fact, I’m jammin’ to the first single off of Erykah Badu’s new album due out next month. I’ll probably be done with the song before the full album debuts.
Anyway, I had my fill of black beans, and to this day, I may have eaten a few...beans that is. I won’t even eat black-eyed peas with my wife’s family on New Year’s Day. That’s random (and maybe even a little sad).

Tonight, that’s how I feel about worship services. Don’t get me wrong. I have a strong desire to gather with others to worship, exalt, praise, magnify, and proclaim glory to the One, true and living God. However, I’m just not sure we do much of that in worship services anymore. Instead, we spell out the benefits associated with participating in worship services. As if by worshipping God with us, you are going to have an experience you’ll never forget because we’re going to meet the (spiritual) needs you have and be the church you’ve always wanted. Sometimes, I wonder if I’m sitting in a sanctuary or the flooring department of Home Depot.

Am I being too harsh? Maybe but I don’t think I buy it anymore, and believe me, there is much blame to heap on my shoulders here. For much of my ministry career, I have promulgated the very things I’m challenging. Throughout my years in full-time church work, I have spent countless hours making sure all of the worship service elements were just right, but now I’m wondering: Is that really what we have to invite people into? It seems like "Join us for worship this Sunday!" and "God answers knee-mail." are the only two choices for the church marquee. Is that really what following Jesus is about? If so, then why don’t we all go to Fellowship. At least they have smoke machines and a bookstore. Plus, if we all go, they’ll overtake Lakewood as the largest church in the US and that’ll be just plain cool.

I’m lost and probably on the verge of my 2nd “adult” faith crisis and I don’t even know if it’s a good thing. Did Jesus start a personal fulfillment club and forget to tell me? Is that what the Good News is really about?: “Sin, brokenness, and depression are all quite undesirable and inconvenient, so come and sit in our building for an hour a week and we’ll turn you into the person you’ve always wanted to become.”

I feel weird talking (or writing) this way, and I wonder what impact it will have on my kids. Do they really need a “youth room” with half a VW Bug and a sound system better than the one used by U2 when they played Cowboys Stadium last year to understand and embrace life with Christ?

We’re (myself included) obsessed with being the “best.” Come join our church, because we have the best _________. Fill in the blank with whatever you want. Worship band? Check. Preaching? Check. Sunday school classes? Check. Children’s programs? Check. Potluck lunches? Check. Long-term vision and growth strategies? Check. Maybe that’s fine, but most of what Jesus said about those who strive to finish first haunts me.

I guess I’m past the point of caring, which I’ll admit, is a pretty dangerous place to be, or maybe I care but about different things. I'm less concerned about “relevant worship” (whatever that means). I'm less concerned about things starting early, so I don’t miss Kickoff. I'm less concerned about the quality of the professionals. I'm less concerned about whether the lighting is provided by fluorescents or candles. I'm less concerned about whether coffee and donuts are provided, although that’s a nice touch. I don’t think I'm even concerned with whether people are able to “use their gifts.”

Are our hearts far from him? Are we striving for first or last place? Are we being poured out for others or filling our cups to over-flowing? Are we modeling for and inviting our kids into communal life or sending them away? Are we diving into the Word or looking for a lifeguard to jump in on behalf of us? Are we searching for opportunities to serve or squeezing every last drop out of opportunities to consume? These are the types of questions that are guiding my quests nowadays.

What good is it if we gain the whole world? What good is it if we have “inspiring worship services,” “solid biblical teaching,” and “casual dress?” What good is it if James Dobson himself teaches our child’s Sunday School class? What good is it if we're the perfect church that meets at just the right time with all the nice, smiling people and the most welcoming door greeters? “What kind of deal is it to get everything [we] want but lose [ourselves]?”

Like I wrote, earlier, sometimes, I feel out of place, because I don’t know many who are feeling this way. Which means, of course, that I could be wrong. Maybe I just have a sour attitude. Maybe I’m over-generalizing and needing to repent of judgment. I’m not speaking in code or hiding behind this blog to thrash around veiled personal put-downs. Instead, I’m seeking to critique and re-examine a system I have promoted. I have sacrificed sleep, time with my family, and opportunities to nurture relationships with people who don't know Jesus to go buy candles, rearrange chairs, and refine that sermon conclusion just one more time. I just want to ask (myself mostly): “Is this it?” Is this Christianity? Is this Good News?"

In November 2009, our family decided to host a neighborhood brunch on a Sunday morning. My daughter and I went door to door in our neighborhood inviting people to come to our home for brunch on the upcoming Sunday. As we knocked on a door 5 or 6 houses down from our house, a lady in her late 50s (that’s a guess...to my own discredit, I did not know her) came to the door with a harried countenance. We swiftly introduced ourselves, told her we lived down the street, and invited her to brunch at our house: “this Sunday, 10am.” Before we could finish talking, she tersely responded that she could not come because she would be “in church” at 10am. “Oh...okay,” I said with a sly smile, and she closed the door. What good is it?

Unintended

2010-02-18T22:26:00.002-06:00

Once upon a time, I had a job. Even though I drove 90 miles roundtrip for this job, again, I was happy to have a job. I started slow functioning much like a glorified secretary at first. As Kester, my Austin buddy says, “You know that guy who can get things? Cigarettes, diapers, somebody killed? The guy you mean when you tell your friends ‘don’t worry, I know a guy.’” During this time, I was that guy. Okay, maybe I wasn’t that guy, but I could slip you a package of paper clips and a stack of file folders. Yeah, I got it like that.
It was more like “Can you go make copies? Can you take notes during this meeting? Can you keep track of things that need to be kept track of?” These are the types of requests I would take care of at first. I was learning the ropes...paying my dues as they say...whoever “they” are.

Anyway, after proving that I could use keyboard shortcuts and take decent notes, I began working on a computer software build project. For those who knew me as a wild-eyed, cart-wheelin’, spiked-hair, too-excited youth pastor, thinking of me dressed up in my exquisite business casual while shooting the breeze about .net, .asp, and naming conventions must’ve been hilarious. Of course, once the hilarity wore off, it was probably equally depressing. I’ll admit. It was pretty weird. One minute I’m booking a junior high excursion at Main Event, and the next, I’m booking a flight to another city to coordinate and provide site support for an email migration project.

Anyway, I’m a part of this computer software system build team working my growing, sedentary butt off, when one day I realized, “You know, I’m the only one in this department who can do what I do.” It wasn’t a haughty realization, but a practical one. At the time, no one else knew how to do my job.

I’m tired tonight and listening to a great presentation originally given at ACU Summit 2009 by Dr. Mark Love, so I’ll keep this short. As I reflect upon my church planting ministry up to this point, I must shift away from initiating endeavors similar to my computer system build experience. Church planting ministry must spark reproduction and empower others into ministry. Instead, I have flourished at crafting good things that were dependent on my coordination, energy, and endurance for longevity.

There is much more I should say here to adequately unpack where I’m coming from (and what I am describing for that matter); however, for now, as part of this year’s Lenten journey, I am giving up church planting ministry ideas, activities, and expressions (even the good ones) that require my ongoing leadership and do not encourage, empower, and expect others (especially new leaders emerging from the harvest) to, in turn, return to the ripening fields. For me, this is a tough one, and I appreciate your prayers.

Dust Collector

2010-02-17T23:14:00.010-06:00

9-year olds are quirky, beautiful, spazdek, smiley, and highly flammable. They also have a tendency to be quite obsequious. My 9-year old fits all of these descriptors, and she’s a sweet little thing (when she’s not choosing to be otherwise). She’s a lot like her Dad.
In the mornings, she reminds me of my last attempt at biscuit making...slow to rise. Again, she’s a lot like her Dad. Once she gets going, (for the most part) she’s fine, but that initial: “Hello world! It’s time to leap out of bed and spring into the day!” doesn’t happen. Actually, this is fine, because it doesn’t happen for me either.

This morning, we were running late (Dad included). I have a rule that if you are not ready to leave the house when Dad is ready to leave the house, then you are not going to leave the house with Dad. I’m glad my 9-year old doesn’t have the same rule. If that had been the case today, I would’ve walked. However, once we got to school, she (nonchalantly) paid me the greatest compliment. Now that I think about it, it’s the best compliment I’ve received in a good while. Now that I think about it (again), it’s the only compliment I’ve received in a good while. (Sorry...I couldn’t resist.)

The short story is that I am working at her school now. In the mornings, I spend 20 or so minutes reading with students. Sometimes they read to me and sometimes we all sit at the same table silently reading our own books. This morning, we were running late (Did I mention that?); and therefore, I did not remember to bring the book I’m currently reading, so I whipped out my iPod Touch and began silently reading John 12 from “The Voice” translation of the New Testament. At this point, one of the other students asked what I was reading to which I replied in short, “The Bible.” Then, my daughter said something that shocked me. She looked up from her own book in the direction of the student that had asked me what I was reading and said (in this “Yup...that’s my Dad” kind of voice), “Yeah, he’s always reading the Bible.”

My daughter came to live with us in 2004. Until recently, she has only known me as a full-time pastor, and until today, to my knowledge, she has never said anything like that about me before. I never gave her a reason to.

As part of this year’s Lenten journey, I am giving up my passe, read it only for sermon preparation, “yeah...yeah I know it says that somewhere in there...” approach to the Bible. As part of this year’s Lenten journey, I am giving up my information for information sake, go to the Scriptures to prove a point, know a lot about but resist its formation and change approach to the Bible. I just don’t want to do it anymore. I don’t want to sit around talking about the book as if it’s words somehow exist outside of the context of my life. It’s not a governmental treatise or mathematics textbook. It’s not a do-it yourself manual or university handbook. It’s not even basic instructions before leaving earth, although the acronym is (almost) a spark of creativity. How was it...the last time you meditated day and night on the Internal Revenue Manual (all CPAs not withstanding)?

As I give up such approaches to the Bible, I am hoping to pick up a hunger and thirst for the God revealed through the Scriptures. I am hoping that the cultivation of passion for the Word continues in me and into the lives of those I am around.

How can I not engage in a rhythm of Word, life, and communit(as) and not experience change? How can I not engage in a rhythm of Word, life, and communit(as) and recognize qualities of the Scriptures I had never noticed; and therefore, experience the transformation they initiate? How can we not dive (with others) into the Word on a daily basis swimming freely in the Living Water?

If Dancing with the Stars hinders you, throw your television out into the street.
If Facebook hinders you, put your computer in the dishwasher.
If running your kids from event to event hinders you, sell your car.
If working long hours hinders you, cancel your cell phone.

It’s better to delight in the law of the Lord over the course of a lifetime than to watch an entire season of American Idol and forget the names of half the contestants 6 months later.

More Goodies from the Vault

2010-02-01T20:50:00.005-06:00

I wrote the following piece on November 19, 2008 for a group of Christ Journey supporters. I am thankful that the Lord is still leading us into connections with those who do not know him.

Tonight, during our house church gathering in my living room, she prayed for my daughter. Her name is [Carla], and she is around 19 or 20 years old. She lives in a neighboring town with her mother who was healed of cancer a couple of months ago. She was not raised in a Christian home, and had never had any contact with any church of any kind until February of this year. She wants to believe that God exists, is active in the world, and loves her; however, as with all of us, she needs a little help with her unbelief. She is seeking Him though...perhaps with more vigor than most of us realize. From time to time, she will send me text messages asking deep questions of faith. This was her most recent question: “If God loves us and wants us to follow him by loving others, why do Christians show so much hate toward homosexuals.” My response: “Great question, [Carla]. Sometimes, I ask myself the same thing.” She is not even a Christian yet, but God seems to be forming a Christ-like love for those who are rejected or considered outcasts. She is already coming to understand that there is more to life with God than asserting certain beliefs. Instead, as a community formed by the cross of Christ, daily, we pick up that cross living for the sake of others. I am thankful that [Carla] is a regular participant in the house church that I am a part of, because God is greatly using her to model such a life for me.

Tonight, during our house church gathering in my living room, she prayed (out loud for the very first time) for my daughter. She prayed that my daughter would not stray from her faith in Jesus as she grew older. She prayed that where ever the opportunities of this life took her that she would still be connected to Jesus Christ and the community of Christ Journey Church. Tonight, the fragrant sacrifice of out-loud prayers were offered before the Lord by [Carla], a dear friend and not-yet Christian who is growing in the ways of Christ.

I Once Was Lost

2010-01-31T17:07:00.005-06:00

Everts, Don & Doug Schaupp. I Once Was Lost: What Postmodern Skeptics Taught Us About Their Path to Jesus. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Press, 2008.

I Once was Lost is a brief book that investigates and proposes a threshold-oriented perspective of faith development among postmodern skeptics. The book is significant, because of the five thresholds it presents as the authors seek to reorient our viewpoints concerning the journey toward God for postmoderns. In this review, through the purviews of summary and critical questioning, I will overview the five thresholds covered in this book, and make connections with my North American church planting context.

I Once was Lost shares critical reflection concerning the postmodern journey into Christianity. Initially, the authors analyze their experiences in college campus ministries seeking to learn from their students and friends. As they consider what has happened and what is happening in regards to their ministry contexts, the authors arrive at two formative conclusions. Everts and Schaupp remark, “The first lesson [postmoderns] have taught us about the path to faith is that it is, in the end, mysterious. Again and again, we found ourselves marveling at transformations that we never would have anticipated and shaking our heads in frustration at those who seemed near to faith but never got there.” (18) The authors allow themselves to wrestle with the implications, excitements, and frustrations of the mysterious faith-building pathways traveled by postmoderns. In the end, they decide that mystery leads to liberty. Mystery, although unpredictable and undefinable, presents much needed relief for church planters. With firmness, Everett and Schaupp conclude, “We cannot create life. It is impossible for us to predict why some of our friends will choose Jesus and why others just won’t. We don’t know how to change hearts…The path to faith is mysterious. To admit that is liberation. The monkey is off our back, and onto God’s back, where it belongs.” (19) In I Once was Lost, the pathways of faith development among postmoderns are celebrated as mysterious.
Second, I Once was Lost, reveals the organic nature of postmodern faith pathways. The authors share, “The second lesson this group of new believers has shown us is that the postmodern path to faith is organic.” (20) By referring to Jesus’ parable in Mark 4:26-29, the authors focus intently on verses 28-29: “All by itself the soil produces grain–first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” According to Everett and Schaupp, “Heeding this lesson, we are able to recognize the different stages of growth and seek to love our non-Christian friends wisely and sensitively, adjusting to where they are in their growth.” (21) Instead of seeking an either/or pathway to faith, I Once was Lost advocates an organic, season-oriented approach.

After constructing the mystery and organic frameworks for postmodern faith development, the authors dive into their five thresholds proposal. The first threshold involves a movement from distrust to trust. Poignantly, the authors reveal the challenging context for today’s church, “In another day and age, God, religion, and church enjoyed the general respect of the culture. Not today. Religion is suspect, church is weird, and Christians are hypocrites. Distrust has become the norm. People are tired of the ‘sales tactics’ often employed by Christians and are offended by our bait-and-switch attempts at introducing them to Jesus. In the past, the occupation of evangelist was viewed as a respectable profession, even by secular society. Today, evangelist has fallen to the very bottom of the pit, among the most distrusted occupations.” (31) Furthermore, Everett and Schaupp share from their own experiences, “When people first find out we are Christians, we often literally see them shift from relaxed to rigid, from warm to suspicious.” (31) In an interesting twist to conventional evangelical thinking, the authors muse, “When trust has not yet been established, lostness feels like wise skepticism and right thinking. If Christians are fanatical and narrow-minded, keeping one’s distance seems like the smartest posture to take toward us…Until this framework of distrust is shifted, growth is nearly impossible.” (32) From there, the authors share “Five Knee-Jerk Reactions to Distrust”: Defend, Bruise, Avoid, Judge, and Argue; however, they also propose “Five Kingdom Habits to Build Trust”: Pray, Learn, Bond, Affirm, and Welcome. Perhaps, the opportunity to operate in a climate of distrust could have a positive impact on the church. With encouragement, Everett and Schaupp suggest, “We need to learn to be unfazed by distrust. We are in an age of distrust, so instead of being surprised and reactionary when our coworkers or neighbors don’t trust us, we need to learn how to respond kindly and quickly begin the normal, basic and foundational investment of trust-building.” (37) How are you seeing and experiencing the climate of distrust referred to in I Once was Lost? In what ways are you seeking to build trust with a non-Christian friend?

In I Once was Lost, the second threshold of postmodern faith development involves moving from complacency to curiosity. The authors describe such a shift in the following manner: “To go from being complacent about spiritual things to being intrigued is a natural process. Our souls and our minds are built by God to be curious, to ask questions until we have landed upon satisfying answers. So this move from complacent to curious isn’t easy, but it taps into a desire and need that is wired into all people.” (51-52) Everett and Schaupp summarize this movement in three distinct stages: 1) Awareness: “Awareness of more options, more paths in life, is often the first baby step out of complacency. As people hear about Jesus, their old answers and old pictures of God slowly become antiquated and inadequate,” 2) Engagement: “Engaging with a real Christian, becoming friends with a Christian and taking time to read through the life of Jesus were concrete actions that caused [the author’s friend’s] curiosity to grow stronger over time,” and 3) Exchange: “This is an intense form of curiosity that means being so curious that you want to exchange ideas, ask questions and offer your own opinions.” (52-53) After describing the movement from complacency to curiosity, the authors provide three ideas for provoking curiosity among non-Christian friends: 1) encourage questions, 2) use parables, and 3) live curiously. (54-58) What responses have you received from your non-Christian friends when you have encouraged questions, shared stories, or lived in curious ways? How are you living curiously? What additional suggestions for provoking curiosity would you make?

The third threshold presented in I Once was Lost involves an openness to change. At this point in their journey, the postmodern skeptic seriously considers the changes necessary to embrace life with Christ. As we all know and experience, this can be quite challenging. Everett and Schaupp state, “Out of all five thresholds, becoming genuinely open to change is often the most difficult to overcome. Change is beautiful and horrific, after all. (Even for postmodern folks who proudly wave a banner of ‘openness,’ being open to real change is a tough thing.)” (69) At this point, the call to followers of Jesus includes: patience, enduring prayer, and a reminder of the mysterious and organic frameworks of postmodern journeys toward faith. The authors reiterate, “In the end it is only God’s Spirit that is able to overcome the human hesitancy, fear of pain and spiritual enemies that are against someone at threshold three. But when God does this, when he uses our patience and our prayers and our faithfulness to bring someone to a place of being open to change, it is a wonder.” (82) Are you sharing a journey of faith development with someone who has recently crossed into this threshold? Describe your shared journey at this point.

After an openness to change takes shape, Everett and Schaupp propose that postmoderns truly become seekers. They describe the journey across this threshold in the following vignette: “Those who have recently traveled the path to faith tell us that after trusting a Christian, becoming curious about Jesus and finally being open to change in their life, they still weren’t necessarily wanting to come to conclusions. For each of them there was another shift, a fourth threshold, to come: they needed to lean into the journey they were on and decide to purposefully seek final answers, a resolution. They needed to become seekers.” (85-86) Furthermore, the authors highlight this threshold, “There’s a subtle but important difference between someone who is sort of meandering toward God and someone who is purposefully seeking out and exploring Jesus. When someone is truly seeking, there is an urgency and purpose to their searching.” (86) From there, the authors suggest three major trends among seekers: 1) Seekers seek Jesus, not just God, 2) Seekers count the costs, and 3) Seekers spend time with Christians. (87) However, once someone shifts from an openness to change to a full quest after Christ, how are we to help? Everett and Schaupp share “three tangible ways [we] could starting living the kingdom in front of a friend who may need help becoming a seeker rather than a meanderer: 1) Show them how to build their lives on Jesus’ words, 2) Open up your prayer life to them, and 3) Provide satisfying answers to their initial questions.” (89-90) The authors conclude their description of this threshold by saying, “If the Spirit of God works in the concrete circumstances of someone’s life and in the profound depths of their soul, they can cross threshold four: moving from meandering toward Jesus to seeking some final conclusions. And once someone is seeking, only God knows where it might lead.” (101) What would you challenge about this threshold? What “tangible ways [of] living the kingdom in front of a friend” would you add?

Finally, Everett and Schaupp share a strong call to their postmodern friends to enter the Kingdom of God, and this marks the final threshold in their proposal. Initially, the authors remark, “While a truly open-ended, pressure-free process is most needed around thresholds two and three, it isn’t as helpful here at threshold five. Letting people just slide casually and vaguely across the line sounds very postmodern-sensitive, but with such a laissez-faire approach we keep people from knowing there is even a line to cross. And we don’t help them move from being lost to being redeemed.” (107) Then, after building a case for such urgency in Luke 15, the authors challenge, “Our friends stuck at threshold five need a concise summary of what Jesus and his kingdom are all about. They deserve to know, in a nutshell, what Jesus calls people to and what it means to become one of his.” (111) How would you challenge this urgent approach? How are you calling people into the Kingdom of God?

I Once was Lost seems weak on involving not-yet and new followers of Jesus in mission, and promotes an event-driven, programmatic evangelistic methodology. For the sake of time and space, I have chosen to leave out in-depth critiques of these two characteristics of the book. However, as we continue prayerfully engaging and living life with non-Christians, Christ Journey participants have found the five threshold framework significant in helping start relationships, discern relationships, and invite friends into the Kingdom. Although the ideas in the book do not originate from missional contexts, the work can provide benefit to anyone seeking to rub shoulders with those who will one day proclaim: “I once was lost.”

Grandpa's Bible Belt

2010-01-30T23:45:00.006-06:00

I was searching the folders of my computer tonight and found this vignette. I wrote it in December 2005.

"Wow. It’s cold outside. I belong near the beach somewhere, a place full of sand, umbrellas, and fried shrimp. My bronze skin can’t take this! However, instead, I find myself in the parking lot of my daughter’s school waiting to pick her up, and the last time I checked, my favorite ocean spot is 1,463.4 miles away.

I’m still getting used to the idea that I am a parent who has to go pick my child up from school. Well, big school anyway. Just last night, my daughter revealed to me that she now knows how to rhyme. Where did that come from? It seems like yesterday my wife and I were explaining the letter ‘P’ to her, and now she’s rhyming? I’m almost certain that one day she’ll want to work on multiplication tables together. Then, she’ll want to debate ‘hot topics’ with me like foreign policy, public education, and theology. But for now, I’m happy with rhyming, because I have this strange suspicion that she is going to graduate from high school, maybe even college. Also, there’s little man. Yeah, I’ve got one in school, and one that entered the world 3 months ago. Recently, he woke up and started smiling. Now, he makes beautiful, incomprehensible noises when he smiles as if he is trying to talk or at least communicate. Pretty soon, he’s going to ask for the car keys.

Every Sunday afternoon, a house church gathers in my living room. Makes sense, doesn’t it? (house church – living room) I really enjoy participating in a house church. People are real, or they’re at least learning how to be real. Too often church centers around the ABCs: attendance, buildings, and cash; however, in the context of a house church, it seems we really experience a deep journey together. People share their successes and struggles. We pray for each other, for the mission of God, and for our kids. It’s not perfect, but it’s a foreshadowing of the Kingdom to come. Maybe God wants people, not perfection.

Our house church is new, just a couple of weeks old. Newness is fun. Newness is exciting. Last week, we were talking about encountering Jesus outside of organized church. Astonishingly (or maybe not so), it was extremely difficult to do. Thinking about Jesus in terms of a personal, active, outside of the church walls kind of being was a stretch. This was a mind-bender for us. It was easy to remember Sunday School, potlucks, worship services, service projects, and summer camps. But, Jesus, in our ‘every day lives’, what do you mean? Jesus spent some of his time in synagogues, but the majority of his interactions with people (namely sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes) occurred on mountainsides, in boats, or at the dinner table. If when Jesus was on earth, people encountered him out in the world, why do we have to go to a building with a marquee, steeple, and library to find him today? Couldn’t we meet him out in the world, too? Maybe he doesn’t like McDonald’s, Wal-Mart, or pawn shops. If so, I wouldn’t blame him.

After our feeble attempts to wrap our finite minds around this spellbound brain teaser, people began to share. However, even in what we shared, there were connections to organized church. Placing that aside, stories were told of other house church encounters, fire and brimstone sermons, and personal times of prayer, Bible study, and meditation. Without too much thought, I began to tell the story of a man I met in the playground area at a local fast food restaurant.

I remember it being a Sunday night, because a group of ladies connected to our church were going out to a steakhouse or something, and the remaining Dads whose kids were too old to just go home and be put to bed were going out for processed hamburgers, slimy, imitation French fries, and Dr. Pepper flavored club soda. (You can almost taste my sarcasm, can’t you?)

There were three of us and our kids, and after finishing our illustrious banquet of a meal, one of the Dad’s split leaving me and Jason as the remaining hardcore Father of the Year candidates. Jason and I were still getting to know each other, so we small talked for a while. After noticing his club soda had run dry, he trekked into the main area of the restaurant for a refill, and I turned in my seat to watch the kids. I can’t even remember how it started, but I’m sure it had something to do with the playing kids. Anyway, the guy seated at the table next to us struck up a conversation with me.

I think we began by laughing about how funny children can be sometimes. He was a grandpa probably in his early 60s. His wife sat at the table with him staring at us from time to time out of the corner of her eye, but other than yelling at her grandson, she remained silent. I remember him wearing a green auto mechanics’ hat of some sort and a plaid flannel shirt. Without too much prodding, he began to reveal to me his Catholic upbringing, catechism classes, and pathway to what I have begun calling functional atheism. He told me that he believed in God, but he didn’t believe in the Bible, and it didn’t matter what they (religious people) told him, he didn’t believe in their book! It was just a collection of human thoughts written by humans who, I guess, pretended to know what God was thinking and saying. He continued by saying, “I don’t go to church, and I don’t have a reason to.”

Two things struck me about this man. First of all, he was a grandpa. I thought back to memories about my Grandpa. Earlier in life, Grandpa smoked, and I don’t just mean, he smoked. There’s a factory real close to where I live. It’s located right along a major freeway, and in the center of this factory are three, gigantic smoke stacks. They reach high into the sky as if to say, “Something important is going on here.” Anyway, most of the day, they spew soot, smoke, and other harmful vapors high into the sky like a huge black rainbow covering the freeway. The smoke stacks…this was my Grandpa. He would snore while he slept, and we would lovingly refer to it as World War III. You may be thinking that I’m making too much light of the situation; however, deep inside, we were all concerned for Grandpa. Grandpa had this lime green chair with a tall back that he used to sit in, smoke, and watch the news. I’ll never forget the Christmas morning my sister and I came running down the towering flight of stairs to find Grandpa’s solid green chair on its side, because Santa had bumped it over in the night. Grandpa was strong, weathered, a John Wayne type whose smile would light up the entire house.

Now, because my Grandpa lives hundreds of miles away, my wife’s Grandpa has really taken over this role for me. It struck me like waking up in a harried, disheveled state in the middle of the night. I thought one of the major problems in the church was that there were too many gray-haireds, and here was one telling me he didn’t even believe in the Bible.

This did not fit into the worldview I had formulated. What was I to do with this piercing insight? How was this to reconcile in the fortress of my mind? Secondly, what was he doing in the Bible belt? Didn’t he know that we lived in the part of the United States of America where everyone was a God-fearing Christian who never missed a church worship service, Monday night visitation, Wednesday night Bible class, Thursday night discipleship group, Friday night bridge club, or Saturday afternoon service project? He was like a Texas State Fair turkey leg in a room full of 7th grade boys. How could he speak with such confident defiance? Let me say, he was not rude. He was not condescending. He just spoke his mind with this terse yet soothing finality.

I wish I could tell you that I baptized him later that night, but to tell the truth, I have never seen him again nor would I recognize him if I saw him at Albertson’s, but I do know that he did a lot for my faith in God that night. You see, I have this problem. I haven’t ‘officially’ had a doctor diagnose it yet, but I affectionately refer to it as ‘Chris’. Sometimes, when I am really honest with myself (which rarely happens), I come face to face with my own self-guided, power-asserting, intensely selfish, applause-seeking, people-trampling idolatrous pride. Following Jesus is hard, because it means that he is number one, not me. So, here I was talking to the Grandpa who hated the Bible realizing that nothing I could say, nothing I could do, nothing I could give, and nothing I could buy would change his mind. Nothing. It was then that I remembered that I am just a ‘jar of clay’, and that I exist to show that the “all-surpassing power is from God and not from [me].” That only God revealing his love and presence to this man could bring him back.

As I drove home that night, I wondered. How many more were out there? How many more Grandpas living in the Bible Belt didn’t believe in the Bible? How many more people were out there going to work, volunteering at their kids’ schools, buying groceries, filling their cars with gas, and cutting others off in traffic who did not want anything to do with God, or at least the things and people of God they had been exposed to thus far in their lives? I felt small and insignificant. I was a dreamer who, at least for this brief moment, caught a true glimpse of what this dream’s fulfillment might mean. I gazed over the lights of the city wondering what I had gotten myself into. This must be about God, because I could never do this on my own. Of course, I would never really want to anyway."

Speak(ing)

2009-09-10T21:25:00.004-05:00

If I could capsulize yesterday in a couple Bible verses, the following two would be a great start:

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." (John 14.1)

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." (John 15.4)

Maybe a few of you can receive hope from them, too.

First Day of PreSchool

2009-09-09T10:15:00.001-05:00

This morning, we sent our son off to preschool. He was so excited and couldn't stop talking about the playground. I had to remind him that he might have to hang out in the classroom some to learn a few things. He had no trouble kissing us goodbye and playing with his new friends.

p.s. This kid has an incredible mother. After dropping him off at school for the first time, she spent the initial two hours of her morning doing ministry and sacrificially impacting the lives of three other moms. Way to go!

Fearless

2009-09-08T00:01:00.005-05:00

The latest book from Max Lucado hits bookstores today. Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear tackles that which “has taken a hundred-year lease on the building next door and set up shop.” (5) Fear. As Lucado points out, “We fear being sued, finishing last, going broke; we fear the mole on the back, the new kid on the block, the sound of the clock as it ticks us closer to the grave.” (5) Fearless leads us into our fears by helping us admit their existence, captivating and inviting narratives, and an intense focus on Jesus. I would highly recommend the book to anyone looking for a handle on fear.

First, in Fearless, Lucado helps us stare our fears in the face. In the fifteen chapters, we encounter the following fears: insignificance, disappointing God, health, kids, challenges, worst-case scenarios, violence, death, what’s next, God’s absence, global catastrophes, and God getting out of our boxes. Whether I thought I struggled with the specific fear mentioned in a chapter or not, there was something in each chapter that helped me recognize ways in which I am susceptible to fear that I did not realize. I appreciated Lucado’s inclusion of fears specific to individuals or individual families and fears on national or global scales. He understands the global and local characteristics of the 21st century. Fearless honestly unveils a wide spectrum of fears, and does not allow the reader to sidestep any of them.

Second, in typical Max Lucado style, Fearless shares powerful narratives that allow readers to laugh, cry, contemplate, anticipate, and join the storyline of the book. Whether it is the opening story of his brother’s death, the twist-at-the-end story of the conversion of “Jack,” or the story of the woman who did not believe the man standing in front of her was Max Lucado, each narrative presents an opportunity for the reader to identify with the characters, consider their own reactions to the plot, and enter into a readiness to deal with the specific fear being presented. Lucado’s books always offer inviting stories, and Fearless does not disappoint.

Third, Fearless moves effectively from welcoming narratives to biblical narratives often involving Jesus and his disciples. In each biblical narrative presented, Jesus is the star of the story, and Lucado reveals how he confronts and overcomes any and all forms of fear. We experience Christ walking on water, feeding thousands, calming storms, and transfiguring on Mount Hermon. Lucado challenges and encourages readers by exposing the disciples’ fears and Jesus’ reassurances. Also, on several occasions, in the midst of these biblical narratives, Lucado provides bullet lists of Scriptures that readers might want to post on their bathroom mirrors or car dashboards. The biblical narratives lead readers to Jesus, the One who reassures us: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.”

Like a light shining into the darkness of a world filled with terror threats, financial collapses, and unsightly doctor’s reports, through honesty, stories, and an eye toward Christ, Fearless empowers readers to fear less. The book is a quick, piercing read that I highly recommend.

Happy Birthday Son!

2009-09-05T23:08:00.002-05:00

I love my kids, but I need help!

2009-09-01T19:54:00.008-05:00

As many of you know, Heidi and I became parents to a 3rd child over the summer. Words can not describe my emotions, thoughts, joys, and fears occurring simultaneously as Hudbud experienced life beyond the womb.

Today, I'm reminded that he won't always be a newborn. In fact, he turned one month old a couple days ago, and has already entered the realm of 3-6 month clothing. Furthermore, both of my other children have birthdays this month, and my own rolling over to 32 is but a few months away.

Simply stated, parenting ain't easy. There's much to worry about, much to be sorry for, and much that will not be revealed until it's too late to fix! On the other hand, there is much to celebrate, much to fondly remember, and much to look forward to!

With all that in mind, I wonder how the individualism of our suburban culture affects our parental abilities. In other words, how many of us are bearing the burdens of parenting in isolation secluded from the prayers, resources, hugs, suggestions, and support of others?

In our training with Mission Alive, the following motto is hammered into us domestic missionaries: "No one should church plant alone." Perhaps the same statement holds true for the parent. Whether there are two parents in the same household, two parents sharing responsibilities while living in separate households, or one parent attempting to shepherd their children, perhaps no one should parent alone. Our kids are gifts from the Lord, and gifts are meant to be shared. Maybe we need each other.

I had an hour-long conversation with two parents today: one with children long out of the house, and one with children in elementary school. We brainstormed ideas for connecting with local parents who may be carrying their parenting responsibilities by themselves.

At the beginning of our time together, we conversed introspectively discussing the following question: "As a parent, with what do you need immediate help?" Spawning from this question were sub-questions such as: "How might I discipline my children in productive and formative ways?" "What are the best ways to tackle homework?" "What do my children need in terms of nutrition and exercise?" "How can I encourage my child to spend more time playing outside and less time in front of the television?"

With these questions as primers to the pump, as a parent, with what do you need immediate help? How can I assist you in pursuing the help you desire?

Get Yo Grub On

2009-08-31T21:50:00.002-05:00

A couple of months ago, the Burleson Star started publishing weekly reviews of local restaurants. As a family, until recently, we probably ate out a little too much, so this has been a fun addition to the paper for us. Recently, the Star ran a review of Tuscany Italian Bistro, a new restaurant close to the HWY 1187/FM 731 intersection in southeast Crowley. As a result, we jumped in the Uplander to check it out.

Previously this storefront location housed a family sports restaurant. It wasn't really a full-fledged sports bar, but did offer televisions, lots of fried foods, and decor featuring local sports teams, local collegiate teams, and DFW professional teams. However, unbeknownst to us until we read the Star's review, the sports bar had been transformed into an Italian garden. Now, the walls are decorated with scenes of villas, canals, and a map of Italy featuring Rome, Vienna, and Tuscany. The railing near the ceiling, and the red brick wall are nice touches as well.

As far as the food was concerned, there was an abundance of complimentary fresh bread available. Heidi and I shared a large plate of Chicken Marsala complete with spaghetti, mushrooms, black olives, and a creamy alfredo sauce. We also shared a Dr. Pepper and let the kids share an order of spaghetti with meat sauce. The service was excellent, and with tip, we were out of there for around $20. I would highly recommend the Tuscany Italian Bistro @ 824 S Crowley RD #22 in Crowley.

A couple questions:

1) Have you tried any "new-to-you" local restaurants lately? If so, describe your experience.

2) What's your favorite local restaurant?

Back to School

2009-08-28T23:05:00.005-05:00

This week, Heidi and I sent our baby off to 3rd grade. I still remember her first day of preschool, and now we are only three years removed from middle school. I have to be honest...I'm a little nervous about third grade. I'm a little nervous, because I remember some of my own third grade experiences. Every morning, my friend Johnny and I would get to school a little early to hang out in the back of the classroom and listen to the Licensed To Ill album by the Beastie Boys on our teacher's tape player. I can still hear it: "Now, here's a little story I gots to tell..." Also, in third grade, I had my first little league basketball meltdown, and my first glimpse of a condom that a boy in my class named Alex brought to school. For an unrelated sidenote, my third grade teacher lived next door to Brian Bosworth...no kidding!

Anyway, as a result of all this, Heidi and I have had a couple "concern-sharing conversations" in terms of sending our daughter off to third grade. This has got me wondering: many of you have been watching your child or children head off to school each day this week...some of you for the very first time(s). Others of you work in professions that nurture, teach, and care for children before and after school. Would you chime in with your "back to school" celebrations, anticipations, and trepidations? Please post comments on any or all of them.

Here are some questions to get us started:
1) What excites you about the new school year?
2) What concerns you about the new school year?
3) How can we encourage our children as missionaries to their schools?
4) What funny stories could you tell from your own elementary school experiences?

A Little Blue Ball & An Ecclesiological Conversation

2009-08-27T11:04:00.006-05:00

Over the last month, God has richly offered, blessed, and grown racquetball relationships for Bret and me. Although you probably can not tell by my physique, Bret and I have been playing 20+ games of racquetball per week at Huguley Fitness Center since October 2008. Lately though, we have begun playing singles, cut-throat, and doubles with a group of 5-7 folks. One lady regularly reserves a court and whoever shows up on a particular morning breaks into teams and then we play for an hour or so.

Even going back to the seven months I worked with Charles, I have always been hesitant to initiate relationships at the health club, mostly because I don't want to be "that guy." (lol.) Maybe I'm making it more than it has to be, but it seems a little weird for a 31-year old married father of 3 to attempt to strike up health club conversations with women, and most men have that "leave me alone" look and vibe going, because they are concentrating on lifting weights or running. However, through the common ground of racquetball, these relationship are a fun and emerging expression of God breaking into the health club. Maybe racquetball is a missional sport: "No one should play racquetball alone." (Sorry...that was a Mission Alive joke.)

Anyway, yesterday during a break between cut-throat games, a friend of mine mentioned that she grew up playing golf for the national team of her South American country of origin. She remarked at how pressure-filled and performance-driven those days were, and how calming and fun it is to laugh and compete at racquetball without the unbearable stress of her golf days.

I took this as an opportunity to ask her about her upbringing, so I responded with: "What were the main religious influences around you growing up?" She mentioned that her South American country was primarily Catholic with a minor Jewish influence as well. In a couple sentences, she shared how she was turned off from the religious influences of her childhood because they were boring, difficult to understand, and made no impact on her life. Instead, she stated that she has decided that God is God and there is only one God, (I'm not sure what she meant by that.) and because of that, it doesn't matter where she or anyone else went to church. As long as her kids had fun, it was fine with her. At this point, I haven't invited her or even talked to her about Christ Journey, so I'm guessing her comments were a reaction to the prominent church of her childhood and her desire to participate in a faith community of her own choosing.

I enjoy my growing relationships at Huguley, because my friends are teaching me much almost every single day. In our Bible belt suburban context where we might just be a little "over-churched," I have found the "church doesn't matter" perspective before, and I'm wondering if you have too.

My questions for you are below. Please chime in with comments on either or all of them.

1) What next steps should I pursue in this particular conversation and friendship?

2) Do you have any reactions to the "church doesn't matter" perspective?

3) How have the religious influences of your youth impacted your adult faith?

4) In terms of church participation, what sacrifices are you making for your children?

Read and Share Toddler Bible

2009-08-10T15:41:00.012-05:00

A month ago, my friend Steve told me about the Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers opportunity. After signing up, my first book choice was the Read and Share Toddler Bible by Gwen Ellis. At first, that may seem like an odd selection; however, I am Dad to an 8-year old, 2-year old, and an 11-day old. In addition, I am a participant in a 4-year old church plant with several young couples who have young children. Consequently, I expect to turn the pages of the Read and Share Toddler Bible quite often. In this review, I will summarize the strengths and limitations of the Toddler Bible and provide additional “likes and suggestions” at the end.

There are many strengths to the Read and Share Toddler Bible. First, Gwen Ellis’ active writing style is a dramatic strength of the work. For example, in “Noah and the Big Boat,” Ellis tells the story in the following manner, “[Noah] found some boards and his saw. Then Noah went to work. Pound! Pound! Saw! Saw!...Crrrrrreak! Crrrrrreak! God shut the door of the boat. It started to rain. Pitter-patter. Pitter-patter. The wind blew. Oooo! Ooooo!...” (25 & 29) When reading aloud to my 2-year old son, he enjoys chiming in with the story whenever an action word comes along. Second, the illustrations throughout the book are just as inviting as the active writing style. We live in a time where images are quickly taking the place of words as conveyors of truth, meaning, and information. Therefore, especially in a toddler Bible, the images must be large, sharp, detailed, colorful, and powerful tellers of the story. Steve Smallman does all of that and more. Furthermore, he creatively includes small animals like rabbits and birds in many of the pictures that draw the attention of toddlers and add a nice touch to the stories. Additional strengths to the Read and Share Toddler Bible are the parent/child activities at the conclusion of each story. They provide opportunities for reflection, conversation, and action involving both parent and child. Finally, I appreciate the inclusion of the Scripture references for the Bible stories. Many of the parents that I work with or am reaching out to through our church plant do not know most of the Bible stories that many who have grown up in church have been exposed to time and again. As a result, including the Scripture references to the stories becomes extremely important, because I am hopeful that as parents are reading these 40 stories to their children, they are also cracking open their “not-so-toddler” Bibles to engage the stories by themselves or with others. In my opinion, the Read and Share Toddler Bible does well with all of the above.

The Read and Share Toddler Bible has limitations as well. First, to me, the overall vibe of the work seems heavily centered on the toddler. If I were you, at this point I would be shaking my head at the computer screen saying, “Isn’t the book a toddler Bible?” My response here is one of understanding; however, after finishing the book, I felt a tension revealed in the following question: How do we convey identity, worth, the goodness of God, security with God, love, acceptance, forgiveness, and inclusion to toddlers while also portraying a life with God to be lived for the sake of others? For example, minus the “Jesus Loves You” ending, the grand crescendo of the book is the story entitled “Jesus Goes to Heaven.” In my opinion, the story misses the point by concluding with the following section, “We are still waiting for our Best Friend, Jesus, to come back. He will come, and when He does, we will be with Him forever!” Is it too far-fetched to think that a toddler may respond with the following question: “If Jesus is my best friend, why isn’t he here with me?” What if the finale story of the book were a call to mission? Especially when utilizing the Acts 1:6-11 text, what if we introduced and called our toddlers and their mommies and daddies to a Spirit-empowered life of mission where we don’t sit around and “imagine heaven,” but we participate as little Christs with God breaking into the hear and now with glimpses of heaven? My toddler doesn’t need any help viewing the world as all about him. Instead, he needs his parents, grandparents, siblings, church, friends, and Bible to open his eyes to others in need, pain, brokenness, poverty, and sorrow. Throughout the Read and Share Toddler Bible, I did not experience a call to live with God for the sake of others. Second, the two garden stories miss the point also. Adam and Eve’s waywardness in the Garden is much more than a “no-no.” What if the story was framed less as a “no-no,” and more as a rejection of relationship with God? Toddlers can understand rejection and broken relationships, and this seems to be the bigger theme taking shape in the story. Why does the “Adam and Eve and the Sneaky Snake” story end with “Out you go...You can’t live in the garden anymore” (21) instead of a retelling of Genesis 3:21? At this point in the Story, community between God and humans, humans and humans, and humans and creation have been severed; however, God does not relent in his pursuit of relationship with humanity. Finally, I felt like the Toddler Bible struggled in the area of incarnation. Okay, I’m not advocating that the word “incarnation” should have been used in the work; however, tell my toddler a little more about who Jesus is. For example, in “Sleepy Sleepy Shepherds,” the story concludes, “There in the straw is a tiny, wee one. It is the Savior. It is God’s Baby Son.” What does “Savior” and “God’s Baby Son” mean? Are there ways of explaining “Messiah-Jesus” to toddlers? This leads me to a subset of this limitation: the cross seemed to be an add-on to the “Jesus and His Donkey” story. On pages 174-175, the people are celebrating Jesus and on page 176, all of a sudden, “Jesus had something important to do.” This seems confusing. My toddler son and I have had conversations about Jesus’ death and resurrection, and I would have preferred a more prominent telling of the story. There are a few limitations to the Read and Share Toddler Bible.

The Read and Share Toddler Bible was an eye-catcher for me. In our church plant, at least one woman has been pregnant at any given time since April 2005. As you can see, we have toddlers everywhere! In addition, I have a toddler of my own, an 8-year old, and a newborn. Therefore, I was eager to read, reflect upon, and review the Toddler Bible. I have not gone through such a process with a toddler Bible before, and I must say that it was quite enjoyable. Throughout this process, my 8-year old read the Read and Share Toddler Bible from cover to cover as well, and we have been reading through it on most nights with all of our kids. As with any book, there are strengths and limitations to the Toddler Bible; however, I would recommend it for use in our church and home. Below, I have includes additional “likes and suggestions,” and a review-oriented comment from my 8-year old.

Additional Likes
*The Noah stories were my favorites.

*The Jericho and shepherd David stories were fun as well.

*Color-coding the page numbers was creative.

*The “Word to Parents” was thoughtful and inciteful as to Gwen Ellis' ideas in writing the stories.

Suggestions
*Include a “God said that it was good” comment in the “In the Beginning” story.

*Leave the “Out of the Garden” story out.

*“Moses Leads the People” should include the people in slavery and crying out to God for deliverance.

*What about share your fish sticks with your neighbors and/or friends as an addition to the parent/child activity at the end of “A Little Boy with a Lunch?”

*Tell us more about Zacchaeus.

My 8-year old was most impressed by the colorful story headings and the illustrations.

Thomas Nelson's Product Details
Format: Hardcover w/DVD

Trim Size: 6.10 x 7.10 x 0.9

Page Count: 192

Retail Price: $14.99

ISBN-10: 140031464X

ISBN-13: 978-1400314645

Have you read this book? Are you considering a read of this book? Are you interested in sparking a discussion of the themes, points, critiques, and challenges of this book? Do you have questions or counterpoints of assertions from this book? Post a comment and join the conversation.

Beyond Belief

2009-08-09T00:18:00.009-05:00

Hamilton, Josh. Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back. New York, NY: Faith Words, 2008.

Over the past two years, my family and I have become strong fans of the Texas Rangers. Having lived in the DFW Metroplex since 1982, I have always followed (sometimes up-close and sometimes from a distance) the Rangers; however, recently the youth, potential, homerun power, pitching (Did I just type that?), and ticket specials of the team have prompted loyalty from my household. As a result, we have stumbled upon several opportunities to utilize free tickets, and have taken advantage of numerous specials including $10 Friday night fireworks tickets, Free Kids Tuesday nights, and most recently, six tickets for the price of one. We’ve probably been to 10-15 games over the past two years.

During this time, we got to know Josh Hamilton as a fantastic 3-hole hitter and centerfielder. Last year, he had 95 RBIs by the All-Star break, and even though he has struggled to stay healthy and productive this year, the last game I went to with my daughter, he crushed a huge homerun to right field. There is no doubt that Hamilton is my kids' favorite player, and as a result of his looks, my wife's favorite player, too. It was after watching Josh Hamilton the baseball player that we were introduced to his amazing, inspiring, and in-process story. After hearing bits and pieces, I purchased Beyond Belief and read the entire book last Friday.

On the back cover, the book is classified as a “Sports/Memoir,” and that’s a good description of the style and content of the work. Beyond Belief is written by Josh Hamilton and Tim Keown from ESPN The Magazine, and the significance of the book can be found in its narrative structure, authenticity, and insider access to the world of professional baseball. In this review, I will summarize the importance of these three categories as revealed in Beyond Belief.

First, the narrative structure of the book makes for a compelling read. This is the story of Josh Hamilton’s life up to this point, and as a result, it’s easy for the reader to accept the invitation to enter into the narrative. Story drives the world we live in. From our favorite television shows to our employment histories to the current school year experiences of our children, stories that reveal the colorful pages of our lives are taking place all around us. Stories shape the way we view, interact with, and contribute to the world. Typically, in stories, we ultimately learn about ourselves, because we identify with the plight of a prominent character. As a result, we join with them in comparing their experiences with our own. With Beyond Belief, the storytelling quality of the book allows the reader to do just that. In the Epilogue, Hamilton recounts a time when a fan brought his sister to a ballgame in the hopes of having Hamilton say words of encouragement to her in the hopes of stopping her drug abuse. Hamilton reflects on the experience by saying, “There are so many people out there searching. So many people who struggle and want to do better but can’t find the strength. So many confused, sad, desperate people who need the right kind of guidance to change their lives. People just like me.” (256) Many of the themes discussed in the book: family, work ethic, parenting, pressure, jobs, relationships, temptations, faith, boundaries, forgiveness, repentance, transgressions, on-going transformation are all aspects of life that each of us encounter almost everyday, and Hamilton’s ability to share his life in a narrative fashion offers opportunities for others to join the story by reflecting on these issues in their own lives.

Along with sharing his story, Hamilton and Keown write with a high level of authenticity. Even today, as news of his January 2009 relapse surfaces, Hamilton does not shy away from responsibility or confession, and Beyond Belief continues the precedent. Whether it was the time as a 7-year old that he hit a homerun off a 12-year old, the time he relinquished his wife’s wedding ring as collateral for drugs, the time he passed out on the floor of Murd, Leon, and Lester’s trailer, the time he snorted an 8th of an ounce of cocaine all at once, the time he hit a 549 ft home run, or the personal emotions associated with Ian Kinsler, Michael Young, and Hank Blalock showing up at his first Texas Rangers’ press conference, Hamilton holds back little in an effort to authentically share his struggles and successes. As C.J. Wilson, Texas Rangers’ relief pitcher, tweeted today, “I’ll say this only once about Josh so listen up- he’s a bigger man than anyone I know. Who else can admit EVERY mistake they’ve ever made?”

Finally, Beyond Belief is worth your time, because of the insider access into the world of professional baseball offered throughout the book. Whether it’s a batting practice homerun contest with Jose Canseco his rookie year, his travels through the minor leagues, his conversation with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays’ General Manager in regards to his reinstatement, or his feelings during the 2008 Home Run Derby in the old Yankee Stadium, getting a behind-the-scenes look at life in Major League Baseball through the eyes of Josh Hamilton is a rare and fascinating opportunity.

Beyond Belief is a quick and worthwhile read for anyone interested in baseball, Josh Hamilton, or life in rural North Carolina. In addition, if you are even partially impacted by drug abuse, the book is a must. Hamilton attributes his new life, sobriety, and professional platform to Jesus Christ; and perhaps, through Beyond Belief, you might encounter Him, too. The book is significant because it is in story form, authentic, and a first-person account of life in and around professional baseball. I would recommend reading Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back as a great way to spend a couple hours.

Amazon.com's Product Details
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: FaithWords (October 13, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1599951614
ISBN-13: 978-1599951614
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1 pound

Have you read this book? Are you considering a read of this book? Are you interested in sparking a discussion of the themes, points, critiques, and challenges of this book? Do you have questions or counterpoints of assertions from this book? Post a comment and join the conversation.

Next, I will review Thomas Nelson Publisher's Read and Share Toddler Bible by Gwen Ellis with illustrations by Steve Smallman as part of my participation in this opportunity.

Evangelism after Christendom

2009-08-08T14:50:00.012-05:00

Stone, Bryan. Evangelism After Christendom. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Brazos Press, 2007.

A Review of Evangelism after Christendom: The Theology and Practice of Christian Witness by Bryan Stone

Evangelism after Christendom is a comprehensive treatment of the definitions, histories, contexts, subversions, environments, and virtues that shape, nurture, and challenge evangelistic practice. The book is significant, because of its thorough review of appropriate literature, movement from theology to practice, and emphasis on the “evangelizing community” and the virtues that originate within this community. Throughout this review, through the purview of reflective critique and agreement, I will summarize the basic arguments of the book and apply these arguments to my context of North American church planting.

Initially, Evangelism after Christendom serves as a prophetic call to the church to reclaim its true and intended evangelistic identity. In the book’s introduction, author Bryan Stone states, “The thesis of this book is that the most evangelistic thing the church can do today is to be the church—” (15) Moreover, he provides a specific framework for how this might take shape. Stone continues, “…to be formed imaginatively by the Holy Spirit through core practices such as worship, forgiveness, hospitality, and economic sharing into a distinctive people in the world, a new social option, the body of Christ.” (15) For Stone, this is the nature of evangelism.
Furthermore, these descriptions serve to construct the framework of what Stone, later in the book, frequently refers to as the ecclesia. However, Stone’s attention toward ecclesia begins with a theological foundation of evangelism as practice. Stone uses the work of Alasdair MacIntyre to purport, “A practice is especially important in MacIntyre’s overall argument, for it provides the context in which the identity of a tradition is constituted, the narrative meaning of human life is enacted, and the character, virtues, and skills for journeying toward that meaning are displayed and refined.” (30) However, as he builds the argument, Stone succinctly asks, “Is evangelism a practice? To the extent that it may be so understood, it likewise employs a number of varying skills, arts, techniques, and activities. But if evangelism is a practice, it is never reducible to any of these…” (31) Next, Stone clarifies his reference to MacIntyre by involving James McClendon’s description of a “game.” I found this metaphor to be quite helpful in describing evangelism as practice. Stone unpacks evangelistic practice through the lens of McClendon’s “four necessary elements to a game: (a) an end or goal, (b) the means to that end, (c) the rules by which the game is played, and (d) the proper attitude in playing.” (32) Finally, throughout the rest of the book, Stone structures his assertion of evangelism as practice upon the pillars of narrative, social context, and virtue.

In Evangelism after Christendom, Bryan Stone assembles a case for evangelism taking place in a narrative context. In other words, as Stone articulates, “This story [the story of the people of God], with its various characters, subplots, twists, turns, and surprises, literally ‘makes sense’ out of the Christian life by depicting its beginning, way, and end and thereby orienting us on a journey.” (55) At this point, however, I would take slight exception with Stone’s description. Perhaps, it is not the story of the people of God, but instead, the story of the God of the people. As Gary Holloway and Earl Lavender state in their book, Living God’s Love: An Invitation to Christian Spirituality, “…the main character in my autobiography is not me, but God.” Nevertheless, during this portion of the book, with outstanding thoroughness and meaning, Stone walks the reader through the stories of Israel, Jesus, and the early church. As an underlying form of foreshadowing, through his articulation of “the story of the people of God,” Stone lays the foundations for his later call to ecclesia.

Before Stone arrives at his call to ecclesia, his pilgrimage winds through potential rival narratives of “the story of the people of God.” For the purposes of his book, he tells the story of two main rivals: “The Constantinian Story” and “The Story of Modernity.” For me, this was a meaningful portion of the book, because of the immediate application to my context of North American church planting. I find myself as a resident in a church culture that still bears many marks of Christendom, and a suburban culture that reflects the categories of secularization, religious pluralism, and consumerism as described by Stone. In response to these cultural frameworks, Stone asserts, "Only insofar as the church is itself a visible communion, a material culture, a form of life, an embodied social imagination, a public, a politics and economics in its own right, will it pose a threat to the individualization and subsequent massification of persons inherent in the modern invention of sociality and its institutional offspring." (170) With experience to reflect upon, I concur with Stone’s assessment. Furthermore, for Stone, the church embodies this description by communally subversive means choosing not to opt into a dominate culture of individualism, marketing, and choice. In rebuttal to the dominate culture, Stone writes, “The question we must ask is whether the church is the eschatological sign and living demonstration that the end of time has come or whether it is to be viewed in strictly functional terms…” (168) Throughout this section of the book, Stone remains true to his prophetic calling toward the church to be the church.

Next, as a specific element within Stone’s calling toward the church to be the church, he launches a section of the book in which he unpacks the ecclesia as witness and invitation. First of all, the ecclesia serves as a witness to the reign of God. In support of this point, Stone says, “The new creation to which evangelism witnesses is God’s peaceable reign—a work of prophetic imagination that both demands and makes possible a distinctive reordering of loyalties, priorities, and relationships and of the way power and resources are shared and distributed.” (177) For me, this prophetic call, or maybe better stated, a prophetic community living out this way of life (“God’s peaceable reign”), is much needed in my suburban context. Ironically, for Stone, the second service of ecclesia involves invitation. As Stone reveals, “The practice of evangelism announces and embodies this imaginary even as it seeks to invite and initiate persons into it through a fully material formation into a people, a Spirit-created social option in space and time.” (177) Stone continues to describe witness and invitation in terms of cruciform politics and economics. In other words, his suggestions for evangelism after Christendom find root in the practices of ecclesia instead of the propositional truth and scientific methods of modernity. As a result, conversion must be viewed in terms of process or being continually converted. In a conversation about the measurability of evangelism, Stone concludes, “If evangelism can be ‘measured’ at all, perhaps it can best be measured by how well a community prepares a place at its table for those who are not there yet, for those who have not even heard, much less heeded, its invitation.” (274) In Evangelism after Christendom, the ecclesia embodies and invites people into “God’s peaceable reign.”

Finally, in what, in my opinion, is actually a discussion about spiritual formation, the author digs into the character of the evangelist who would proclaim (or live out) such a life (“God’s peaceable reign”) in ecclesia. Basically, Stone summarizes the “martyrdom and virtue” of the evangelist in the following four characteristics: presence, patience, courage, and humility. I found the “churchwomen,” Oscar Romero, and the Common Cathedral to be prophetic exemplars of Stone’s description of the evangelist, and consequently, stories saturated with conviction. This portion of the book left me introspective as to how I, through the power of the Holy Spirit, might exhibit such virtues in my church planting context. These pages of Evangelism after Christendom and my Tuesday night covenant group’s study through Discipleship Essentials by Greg Ogden simultaneously ushered me into Jesus’ words in Luke 9.23-24: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” As evangelists who are also participants in ecclesia may we “come after” Jesus with such Spirit-fueled intensity that our evangelistic practice spreads through the virtues of presence, patience, courage, and humility.

Evangelism after Christendom provides an extensive theological framework for discussion concerning evangelism in a post-Christendom context. I would recommend it as a worthy, cost-effective investment for any church leader discerning God’s prophetic call toward the engagement of such a post-Christendom culture with the story of God or desiring a full description of evangelistic practice. Bryan Stone’s treatment of practice, narrative, history, ecclesia, and virtue contribute thorough scholarship, thoughtful critiques, and meaningful applications in the context of any discussion concerning evangelism. Teleologically speaking, Stone set a course to prophetically challenge the church to be the church, and in Evangelism after Christendom, he remains true to this end.

Amazon.com's Product Details
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Brazos Press (March 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1587431947
ISBN-13: 978-1587431944
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds

Have you read this book? Are you considering a read of this book? Are you interested in sparking a discussion of the themes, points, critiques, and challenges of this book? Do you have questions or counterpoints of assertions from this book? Post a comment and join the conversation.

Next, I will review Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back by Josh Hamilton and Tim Keown.

Neighbor's Lunch

2009-04-28T12:38:00.011-05:00

Originally, the idea ignited through these sparks from my boy, Charlie K. Then, this was added to fuel the flames. For the last 31.5 years of my life, when approaching the pantry in my kitchen, the first question that entered my mind has been "What should I eat?" It has never been, "Will I find anything to eat?" We are realizing that the pertinent question for many in our region is the latter.

So, in the suburban southwest corner of the DFW Metroplex, what would it look like for us to share in a "Neighbor's Lunch?" How might we offer the hospitality of Table, conversation, and friendship?

Next, we turned to our friends at Harvest House, a local, 25-year old benevolence agency providing food, clothing, and emergency financial assistance for folks in our area. After a half-hour talk with the director, she was willing to give "Neighbor's Lunch" a try. The plan was to invite any and all Harvest House employees, volunteers, clients, and friends to join with participants in and friends of the Christ Journey community for Taco Tuesdays at Rosa's Mexican Cafe on the last Tuesday of each month.

That's it. Christ Journey does not do this so that clients of the Harvest House will "come to our church," and Harvest House does not do this as a client stipulation for assistance. We're just gathering around the table eating fantastic tacos and sharing life together. And so, we're growing in relationship with Sheila and her mother. We're getting to know Alice as a friend and not just the Executive Director of Harvest House. We've shared a meal with Ginger, and a couple other families. Who would've thought that service, justice, and friendship could happen through a plate of tacos, beans, and rice?

Thanks, Charles, for modeling such a gathering for us. Thanks, Christ Journey, for seeking to be known as a community of people living the with-God life throughout Burleson and the surrounding cities. Thanks, Harvest House, for shining the lights of hope, justice, and provision into the dark, hidden, and neglected lives of our town.

The mission of God is coming alive in the suburbs.

Sing the Song

2009-04-26T15:45:00.009-05:00

What if it’s a song...a song that’s was written by someone else, but a song that we are privileged and invited to play? What if it’s a song...a song with different instruments, harmonies, and tempos? What if it’s a song with guitars, keyboards, and drums...with trumpets, flutes, and violins...with harps, oboes, and synthesizers? What if it’s a song...a song with choral vocals, lofty sopranos, and resounding bass? What if it’s a song...a song sung in English, Spanish, French, German, African dialects, Chinese, and Russian...a song played at all times in all corners of the world? What if it’s a song...the most beautiful song ever played...the most beautiful song ever sung...the most beautiful song ever heard?

What if we are privileged and invited to play the song...to pick up a cello, to sit down at the piano, to twirl a drumstick, to slap a bongo, to pluck a harp string? What if we are privileged and invited to sing the song...to hum quietly, or inject a range of harmonics, or step up to the microphone intensely inhaling all of the oxygen that we can stuff into every crack and crevice of our lungs and opening our mouth to the size of a basketball to sing the song with all our might? What if, although we did not write the song, the song is a gift to us for us to sing?

Psalm 92:1-4: “It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.”

What if it’s a song...a song, that sometimes, we are unable to hear...with melodies we sometimes forget and words that we jumble together in ways we are more comfortable with? What if it’s a song...a song that sometimes ends abruptly or builds to the crescendo only to come crashing in on itself...a cacophony in response to which the eardrums cry out: “Emergency!”, or a song where the bridge comes before the first verse or half the chorus is missing or the introduction is found in the middle? What if in playing, singing, and hearing the beautiful song, we are plunged into doubt, despair, and disappointment?

Luke 24:13-25: “Now on that same day (the first day of the week) two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, (the resurrected) Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’ He asked them, ‘What things?’ They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.’”

Do you understand how Cleopas and his traveling companion (probably his wife) felt? Their fervor zapped, and their hopes dashed, they are walking home distraught, dejected, and duped. They were promised an opportunity to play the song, and when it came time to receive their brand new his and her matching Fender Stratocasters, instead, they were given a couple of used, dented ukeleles both of which are without strings.

Verse 21 reveals the pit of their angst: “But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides this, it is now the third day since these things took place.” We thought he was the one to lead us in triumphant defeat of our oppressors, but he was just another false messiah who was put to death. Plus, even though he said he would raise from the grave on the third day, it’s the third day, and we don’t see anything. Sometimes, it’s hard to hear the song, because it doesn’t sound like the other songs we are familiar with.

Luke 24:25-35: “Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’ That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread."

As he walked and talked with them, he reminded them of the song. As he walked and talked with them, he reframed the song for them. As he walked and talked with them, he recast the song as the beautiful, harmonious, participatory music it was always intended to be. “Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer...?” You see, the Messiah’s way of conquering those who would write, sing, and play alternative songs was suffering and death...not inflicting suffer and death upon others through domination, manipulation, and forceful power, but through taking all suffering and death upon himself. And now, as a resurrected Messiah, on the “Lord’s Day,” the first day of the week, the first Easter Sunday, he has been resurrected to new life and is now beginning the process of new creation.

In John 20:15, the resurrected Jesus is mistaken as a gardener, and in John 20:22, the resurrected Jesus is breathing the Holy Spirit upon his disciples. Is that an accident? Is that just a literary happenstance? Jesus exhaling the Holy Spirit should remind us of God, the gardener of Genesis 2, breathing the breath of life into the nostrils of the man he had formed from the dust of the ground. So, what is John saying? “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

That is the resurrection song we are invited to sing...a song of good news to the poor...a song of release to the captives...a song of sight for the blind...a song of freedom for the oppressed...a song of right relationship with God and each other.

So now, we come to our time to respond...to respond to the song. What does it sound like for us to play? If you are a teacher, how can you play the song? If you are a manager, how can you play the song? If you are a stay-at-home mother, how can you play the song? If you are an insurance agent, how can you play the song? If you are a coach, how can you play the song? If you load hazardous materials onto trucks, how can you play the song? If you install sound systems, how can you play the song? If workers at your company are considering a strike, how can you play the song? If you and your boss do not see eye to eye on a particular issue, how can you play the song? If you are in school, how can you play the song?

In the book, The Challenge of Jesus, author NT Wright provides more helpful questions, “If you work in information technology, how is your discipline slanted? Is it slanted toward the will to power or the will to love? Does it exhibit the signs of technology for technology’s sake, of information as a means of the oppression of those who do not have access to it by those who do? Is it developing in the service of true relationships, true stewardship, and even true worship, or is it feeding and encouraging a society in which everybody creates their own private, narcissistic, enclosed world?...If you are to shape your world (or as we have been saying this morning: “play this song”) in following Christ, it is not enough to say that being [the Church] is about high moral standards, using every opportunity to talk to people about Jesus, praying for or with your coworkers, and being fair and honest in your speaking. All that is vital and necessary, but you are called to something much, much more. You are called, prayerfully, to discern where your [occupation, neighborhood, participation in the PTA, little league coaching, community action] is showing signs...that declare that the powers have been defeated, that the kingdom has come in Jesus the Jewish Messiah, that the new way of being human has been unveiled, and to be prepared to tell the story [or in our case sing the song] that explains what [all this is about.]"

In other words, as the Church, we are singing, playing, rehearsing, and performing the Spirit-filled song of Christ, a song of hope, justice, compassion, humility, suffering, joy, faith, peace, community, and love to God’s world, and that happens when you are a voice for a neglected or undervalued coworker...that happens when you share food and conversation with those who live next door to you...that happens when you refuse to sleep in on a Saturday morning to help Harvest House serve the poor of our city...that happens when become the neighborhood hangout...not just for the “church kids,” but truly for your neighborhood...that happens when you share a shoulder welcoming tears of despair...that happens when our lives lift up the Son of Man that he might draw all people to himself.

It’s the most beautiful song ever played. Do you hear it?

You: Only Better

2009-04-18T16:13:00.001-05:00

Loving Pursuit and the Other Direction

2009-04-17T19:16:00.006-05:00

God is the ultimate missionary. Existing in community, He has worked throughout time to share that community with all creation. After reflecting on the quickly spreading problems of Genesis 1-11, Christopher J.H. Wright in The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative, paints the following picture of our missionary God:

"What can God do next? Something that only God could
have thought of. He sees an elderly, childless couple in the land
of Babel and decides to make them the fountainhead, the launch
pad of his whole mission of cosmic redemption. We can almost
hear the sharp intake of breath among the heavenly hosts when
the astonishing plan was revealed. They knew...the sheer scale
of devastation the serpentine evil and human recalcitrance have
wrought in God’s creation...The call of Abram is the beginning
of God’s answer to the evil of human hearts, the strife of nations,
and the groaning brokenness of his whole creation." (p. 199)

In addition, as we see from the story of Abram, God calls and sends his people to participate in his mission. Again from Jesus Wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell and Don Golden, “God always hears the cries of the oppressed. God cares about human suffering and the conditions that cause it. God is searching for a body, a community of people to care for the things God cares about. God gives power and blessing so that justice and righteousness will be upheld for those who are denied them. This is what God is like. This is what God is about. This is who God is.” (p. 44)

This is church. We are not a building. We are not a social club. We are not a list of programs. We are not a safe alternative to the perils of the world. We are “...a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that [we] may declare the praises of him who called [us] out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9-10 NIV) And just like our Father Abraham, we have been sent out by God to shine that light into all the darkness we discover.

We are living in communal covenant relationship with God and each other: a communal covenant relationship where the cries of the oppressed are heard, where the torn are knitted back together, where the rejected are invited into family, where the broken receive healing, where the fallen are helped up, where those on the bottom of the corporate totem pole sit down at the head of the table, and where prodigals are rushed to and receivers of a grand “welcome home” parade. Whether we share in the story of Abraham and Sarah, Moses, David, Esther, Zerubbabel, Micah, Jesus, John, Peter, or Paul, we are experiencing God’s mission for God’s glory, and sharing his love with the world. God is the original missionary, and his loving pursuit of creation never fails.

That’s why, for us, our process for growing in Christ-likeness begins with seeking God communally (and individually, but the individual is always brought before some form of the community) through prayer, Scripture reading, spiritual disciplines, etc. As growing followers of Jesus, we are called into the Spirit-empowered life of our missionary God. Therefore, we seek to enter into his mission, because God initiates and reveals connections with others and we respond to his ongoing work

However, the point of this post is not so much to layout a missionary view of God nor to describe our spiritual formation process. It’s to reflect on my own participation (or lack thereof) in said process. Lately, I have been drawn to Ephesians 6, and Paul’s summarizing crescendo in verses 10-20. In Ephesians 6:11-13, the text reads, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” As I have reflected and talked with others about these verses in the context of our desire to be Christ-formed people of God’s mission, two conclusions have surfaced.

First, I recognize God’s initiation of mission all around me, but am not consistently praying for opportunities to enter his mission. Prayer isn’t just asking God to do things for me. Prayer is asking God to awaken me to his recreative work here in Burleson and the surrounding cities; here on Nathan Street and the people with whom we share a street. Prayer forms us into saying, “God, I recognize you to be at work in and around me. Please show me how and where to join you.” Therefore, I long to be transformed into a person regularly seeking the Lord in prayer for opportunities to join him in mission.

Second, in the midst of the Ephesians 6 text, verse 12 continues this calling to prayer. Ephesans 6:12 states, “ For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” If I had the space and time, we look at this verse (and section) in light of all Paul has written thusfar in Ephesians. However, no one is grading this post (that I know of), so I’ll take the “minimalist” approach. lol. The original word that the NIV translates as “struggle” speaks to hand-to-hand combat (perhaps wrestling) where both participants are grappling and clawing at each other in an “up close and personal” fight. How many opportunities to participate in the mission of God have passed me by, because I was so focused on the receptivity or lack of receptivity of others that I forgot that we are involved in hand-to-hand combat and therefore must seek the Lord against the “authorities,” “powers,” and “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” I’m not saying there is a “devil around every corner,” or that personality flaws, poor decisions, and behavioral struggles are always caused the the “spirit” of something. However, I recognize (at least some of) the systemic injustices of our world, the advancing forces of evil at work around us, and even my own tendency toward the “devilish.” Could it be that part of the missional prayer of asking God to reveal the locations, people, and situations in which he is at work (so that we may join him) involves an appeal for the shining of light into darkness, and the eradication of the clutches of the “authorities,” “powers,” and “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms?” I am not writing to postulate about or describe these “spiritual forces.” I’m just trying to say that there is a dominion (seen and unseen) that stands opposed to the Kingdom of God; that stands opposed to love, mercy, forgiveness, justice, hope, community, and peace. The way we rise up against this dominion is not by attacking another brother or sister in Christ, but instead, through going after the “authorities,” “powers,” and “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” through prayer appealing to the power of God at work through the Holy Spirit. Then, in prayer, as God reveals opportunities for mission in locations, people, and situations which are under assault from the “spiritual forces of evil,” we go after division, hopelessness, abuse, hatred, greed, legalism, and dehumanization.

I guess my point here is that I’m not engaging in either prayer; and Ephesians 6 calls me to conviction, confession, repentance, and newness of life.

Church and World

2009-02-18T17:03:00.008-06:00

1) Is shifting from figure #1 to figure #2 a good idea?

2) If so, how do we get there?

3) If not, what's the alternative?

The Game

2009-01-30T11:04:00.011-06:00

We had a blast last night at the Harlem Ambassadors' game! We got to play basketball, dance, watch some hilarious antics (musical chairs, 6'4'' Kevin Lombard being tackled by 5'4'' Ashley, the Burleson Mayor trying to shoot free throws, and a brief football game on the basketball court), and #21 had a few sweet dunks.

The game was a lot of fun for kids, parents, and even those of us on the opposing team. The "Burleson Lions Pride All-Stars" consisted of Burleson Firemen, local pastors, other friends of the Burleson Lions Club, and the Burleson Mayor. We lost 76-20, but at the start of the 3rd quarter, the Ambassadors gave us 49 points, so at the end of the game, the scoreboard read 76-69. By the way, during the 3rd quarter, the Ambassadors outscored us 30-2. Yikes!

For those of you who drafted me for your fantasy basketball teams, here's my statline:

5 mins played
0-0 FGs
0-0 FTs
2 turnovers
1 block
1 volleyball spike
2 muscle-man poses
0 trips to the hospital

Thanks to everyone who was a part of a great night!

Community

2009-01-23T16:11:00.006-06:00

Below is most of a presentation that Heidi and I are sharing in Coppell tonight.

--------------------

“In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” The book of beginnings begins with the pinnacle character and Author of the story. The Great Initiator; the Wind Sender; the Pot Stirrer; the Great Almighty Himself; Elohim, God, the One and Only.

God creates. The word here in the original language of the story is bara. Throughout the first or Old Testament, God is the only one to bara. God creates out of nothing, and God also orders pre-existing chaos. Without hesitation, God jumps into the tohu and bohu; the chaos and waste. God sends His Spirit hovering over the waters of the deep revealing an act of divine expectation; something is happening.

Then, God speaks. At the sound of His voice; by His Word, the universe springs into action: light, sky, land, seas, vegetation, plants, trees, fruit, day, night, fish, birds, livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals. The Psalmist celebrates the creative Word of God by proclaiming: “By the word of the Lord, all the heavens were made, and all their hosts by the breath of his mouth.”

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground...’” God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

How are we to describe this God who is the only one powerful enough to bara, who also exists in some form of Spirit, and yet, by His Word jolts the cosmos into being? How are we to describe this God who describes Himself as “us?” In the book, The Shack, author William P. Young describes God this way: “We are not three gods, and we are not talking about one god with three attitudes, like a man who is a husband, father, and worker. I am one God and I am three persons, and each of the three is fully and entirely the one…If I were simply One God and only One Person, then you would find yourself in this Creation without something wonderful, without something essential even. And I would be utterly other than I am [which is] love and relationship. All love and relationship is possible for you only because it already exists within Me, within God myself. Love is not the limitation; love is the flying. I am love.” Could it be that this Divine Creator; the One who bara(s), sends His Spirit, and crafts the universe by His Word does not just place relationship high on a personal priority list, but actually, exists in perfect, harmonious, and loving community? Could it be that this God is understood as a community of persons revealing the perfect model of loving community? Leonard Allen, author of The Cruciform Church says, “The doctrine of the Trinity is shorthand for God’s relational character. Get rid of the arithmetic. It’s a mystery of God’s nature.”

Therefore, as community, God does what community does, and extends the invitation of community to others. As a result, God forms the apex of His creation. In Chapter 1 of the book of beginnings, God is transcendent, beyond, powerful, distant, holy, and other; however, in Chapter 2, God takes on human forms such as: gardener, sculptor, and surgeon. In Chapter 2, he is imminent, involved, personal, and near. Chapter 2:7 reads, “...then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.” So, here, between the accounts from Genesis 1 and 2, we have man described as a “living being,” or in Hebrew, nephish chaya (which is also a descriptor for the animals), and also, as made in the image of God. Interestingly, back in Genesis 1, after God creates male and female in his image, he blesses them, and sends them out to rule.

In their book, Living God’s Love, Gary Holloway and Earl Lavender state, “The creation story in the first three chapters of Genesis reveals humanity’s purpose. After lovingly creating humans in his image, God placed them in a beautiful garden and willingly supplied their every need. He called them to care for the garden, to rule over living things, to multiply and fill the earth, and to exercise dominion—all activities of God himself. Humans were to exercise dominion over the world not in a careless and selfish way, but in the loving, caring way that God rules his world.” In other words, God extended himself in community by creating and entering into relationship with humans. Furthermore, as he had shared community with humanity, in turn, he sent them to share community with creation.

However, community is difficult. Community is costly. Community requires us to lay down our lives for others time and time again. Over the last year or so, Heidi and I have been in consistent prayer for our neighborhood. Can we truly be church planters, and not even know the names of our neighbors? How are we to balance the tension of desiring and expecting the Kingdom of God to break into our town, but not participate with God in breaking into the lives of those we live around? Be careful what you pray for. God listens, and God responds, and with his work comes the call for us to lay down our lives.

Unfortunately, far too frequently, we do not receive, live, or extend community in the way of God. In fact, our story can be found in Chapter 3 of the book of beginnings, because we, too, have chosen our own ways and rejected relationship with God. Too often, we refuse God, the ulimate Hosea to chase after our self-guided Gomer-like lives. But God is too persistent. I guess “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. [It] does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth...always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” And so, God, the One who exists as loving community, sends himself into the Garden crying out in search of his beloved: “Where are you?” Amazingly, by the end of the chapter, God becomes a seamstress making garments for the man and his wife.

In Chapter 12 of the book of beginnings, God covenants with his people through a man named Abram. “Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’” In these three verses, God promises four blessings for Abram: 1) personal blessing (“I will bless you”), 2) universal blessing (“I will make your name great”), 3) the blessing of a child (“I will make of you a great nation”), and 4) the blessing of land (“...to the land that I will show you”) But why? Why these four blessings? “...so that you will be a blessing...[so that] in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

However, as the covenant story continues, the children of Father Abraham find themselves subject to the oppression of a superpower: “Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph...[He] set taskmasters over [the Israelites] to oppress them with forced labor...The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor.” But, remember, “Love never fails.” “After a long time the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their slavery, and cried out. Out of the slavery their cry for help rose up to God. God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them.”

God remembered his communal covenant with his people. In fact, in Exodus 3:7-9, God told Moses, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey...The cry of the Israelites has now come to me.”

As told in the book, Jesus Wants to Save Christians, “God sends a shepherd named Moses to lead them out of Egypt. Moses challenges Pharaoh, they go back and forth over who exactly this God is and why Pharaoh should even listen, and eventually the night comes when they gather up their things and leave Egypt. Three days later the Israelites cross a sea, an event which is later referred to as the baptism of Moses, and on the shore they dance in celebration of their liberation.” (p. 28)

Although this part of the story could be seen as the end, instead, it is actually the beginning...again. Finally, at Mount Sinai, God speaks again. The same book describes the happening this way: “So when Moses tells the people at Sinai to ‘prepare yourselves’ and then leads them out of the camp ‘to meet with God’ this is about way more than a group of wilderness wanderers gathering for a message from the heavens. This is about humanity estranged from its maker. This is about the primal distance that exists between the divine and the human, the gap deep in the soul of humanity. Sinai is an answer to God’s question to Adam, ‘Where are you?’ This moment at Sinai is about the reversal of the consequences of Eden. Sinai is the breaking of the silence. God is near. God is about to speak.”

And, as they were in the beginning, things were good for a while. Israel, the delivered people remembered their God, the One who brought them out of Egypt. However, their journey from Sinai ended up in Jerusalem, and so we fast-forward to King Solomon. At the time, Jerusalem looked a lot like Egypt.

Again, from the same book, “Sinai was a marriage covenant between God and the people, a coming together of the divine and the human. And so the first commandment was that people couldn’t have other lovers. The relationship simply wouldn’t work if they were unfaithful. Solomon’s many wives and his infidelity to God are representative of the infidelity of all the people - they’ve turned from God.” Again, community had been spurned for a self-guided, self-gratifying, and ultimately empty existence. Where does life outside of community end up? Babylon.

My final quote from Jesus Wants to Save Christians, “The Hebrew Scriptures have a very simple and direct message: God always hears the cry of the oppressed; God cares about human suffering and the conditions that cause it. God is searching for a body, a community (emphasis mine) of people to care for the things God cares about. God gives power and blessing so that justice and righteousness will be upheld for those who are denied them. This is what God is like. This is what God is about. This is who God is...At the height of their power, Israel misconstrued God’s blessings as favoritism and entitlement. They became indifferent to God and to their priestly calling to bring liberation to others.” (p. 44) You know, it sounds to me like God called and sent the Israelites to do much of the same things he wanted accomplished at the end of Genesis 1: extend my community to the world as I have extended it to you. Instead, I guess you could say they sat down to dinner with Adam and Eve pulling the fruit off the tree, passing it around to make sure everyone got a bite, and, together, ate to their heart’s content. Welcome to Babylon, or better said, Welcome back to Egypt.

Maybe community doesn’t work. Maybe community makes claims we can’t handle. Maybe community is just too much trouble.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, community is hard work. It’s deeper than saying “hello” at the church potluck, or having a Bible study in your home. While these are important contributors toward community, they fall drastically short of capturing the entire picture.

Thankfully, God does not leave us in Babylon. “[You see], Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatsoever to him.” (Romans 5:6-8) Again, “love never fails,” and God never ceases extending Himself, community, to His Creation.

Now, tonight, God approaches us with the same challenge He presented in the Garden; the same challenge He gave on Sinai; the same challenge He embraced and modeled through death, burial, and resurrection.

“God spoke: ‘Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.’ God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God’s nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: ‘Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! [Live out my Kingdom inviting others into community with me and each other.’]

This is church. We are not a building. We are not a worship service. We are not a social club. We are not a list of programs. We are not a “safe alternative to the perils of the world.” We are “...a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that [we] may declare the praises of him who called [us] out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once [we] were not a people, but now [we] are the people of God; once [we] had not received mercy, but now [we] have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10) And just like our Father Abraham, we have been sent out by God to extend that mercy to all we come into contact with. We are living in communal covenant relationship with God and each other; a communal covenant relationship where the cries of the oppressed are heard, where the torn are knitted back together; where the rejected find a place; where the broken receive healing; where fallen are helped up; where those on the bottom of the corporate totem pole sit down at the head of the table; where prodigals are rushed to and receivers of a grand “welcome home” parade as fine china comes out of the cabinet, ribeye steak is slapped on the grill, your Momma’s best mashed potato recipe is whipped up, and the wells of Chicken Express sweet tea overflow with no end, because the one that was lost has been found; the one who had left has now returned, and taken a rightful place back in the family. Small group leaders, with the power of the Holy Spirit, you have the opportunity to cultivate such communities; communities of hope, reconciliation, and peace.

Over the past few weeks in our house church, we have been journeying through a series entitled: “Navigating the Suburban Wilderness.” Each week, we are looking at a “toxin” of life in the suburbs, and reflecting upon the way of Jesus and spiritual practices that might challenge and help us in overcoming the toxin. Last week, the toxin was: “What will this relationship do for me?” and the spiritual practice was truly seeking to enter into non-transactional community with others. I know, for me, I, oftentimes, think of what others could be doing for me or Christ Journey or the community, and forget to rest in deep, meaningful relationships void of transactions or expectations. While wrestling with the content of the week, Heidi came to a few intense conclusions about some broken relationships in her life.

Tonight, our task was to share with you a theology of community. As you have noticed by now, our methodology involved narrative, experience, reflection, Scripture, other resources, and pieces from our lives. We could have given you an outline, taken a point-by-point approach, and filled the projector screen with bullet points. Instead, we wanted to sit down with you and talk. You are invited into the grand story of a God who will not back down from redeeming everyone and everything unto Himself; a God who will not back down until community is restored once and for all. However, in addition, you are invited to tell and live such a story: not just when you come together inside this building, but in your living rooms, department meetings, front yards, public parks, and grocery stores...extending community to Coppell and the surrounding cities.

As we conclude our time together, I would like to pray an adaptation of St. Patrick’s Breastplate Prayer as a blessing over you.

--------------------

“We arise tonight through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through the belief in the threeness, through the confession of the oneness of the Creator of Creation. May you arise tomorrow through God’s strength to pilot you: God’s might to uphold you, God’s wisdom to guide you, God’s eye to look before you, God’s ear to hear you, God’s word to speak for you, God’s hand to guard you, God’s way to lie before you, God’s shield to protect you, God’s host to save you from snares of demons, from temptations of vices, from everyone who shall wish you ill, afar and near, alone and in multitude.

Christ to shield you against poison, against burning, against drowning, against wounding, So that there may come to you abundance of reward. Christ with you, Christ before you, Christ behind you, Christ in you, Christ beneath you, Christ above you, Christ on your right, Christ on your left, Christ when you lie down, Christ when you sit down, Christ when you arise, Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of you, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of you, Christ in every eye that sees you, Christ in ever ear that hears you.

We arise tonight through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the threeness, through confession of the oneness of the Creator of Creation. Amen.”

A Day in the Life of a Church Planter

2009-01-21T20:17:00.010-06:00

It's always a fun conversation when someone asks me: "What do you do for a living?" Usually, I will answer the question with "pastor," "church starter," "church planter," or "church worker." However, recently, I wonder if "gardener" might be a more appropriate descriptor. In this post, Professor and Author, David Fitch, paints a picture of today's church planters with the following words: "They will be communal shepherds [who] are most often shepherds of an entire ethos of a community. They are not starting or managing an organization. Instead they are cultivating a communal sense of mission identity among a gathering people 'for this time and place.'" I find that to be a pretty good scratch at the surface of "what I do."

Last Saturday, my wife and I had the opportunity to share the day with new friends from this church. As we talked together dreaming about connections with unbelievers, starting house churches, and spiritual formation in the context of community, inevitably, the question was asked: "So, what does a typical day look like for you?" My friend from Denton graciously stepped in to answer; however, tonight, I would like to invite you into "A Day in the Life of a Church Planter."

After an 11 and a half hour day yesterday, I took my time getting started today. Although I took a slight verbal lashing later, my wife sacrificially got our kids going, took our daughter to school, took our son to Grandmom's, and worked all morning herself. For those of you praying for her during this pregnancy: "Thank you!" Today was a rough day, and now that the first trimester has come and gone, she is actually feeling worse...at least right now. However, she's amazing, and keeps putting one foot in front of the other.

Recently, Bret, myself, and a mutual friend have committed to crafting and living out a "Rule of Life." The three of us were in a "Christian Spiritual Formation" class in January 2008, and as we have entered into a formation group together, we are seeking to live out revised versions of our "rules." Part of my "rule" involves an ancient spiritual practice known as "praying the hours." For me, "praying the hours" consists of stopping (to the best of my ability and memory) and putting aside whatever I am involved in for prayer at 9am, noon, 3pm, 6pm, and 9pm. I have been greatly blessed by this practice, because I am walking with God throughout the day and able to reflect on what has already happened and what is yet to happen each day. Usually, in the morning, I will pray along with the "morning prayers" podcast of Divine Office, but today, I fired up "Navigating the Suburban Wilderness - Week #3" through my car stereo via my iPod to guide my time of prayer. May I see myself and others through the eyes of Jesus, and not through possessions, labels, and a craving for results.

For both Bret and I, "personal care" (daily exercise, healthy eating habits, proper sleep rhythms, etc.) is a high priority. As a result, since he moved here in October, we have played racquetball 3-5 times a week. Today was no different. I met him at HFC, and four games later, we were both exhausted.

From there, it was back to an empty house for some computer work: email correspondence, website development, Facebook networking, work-related blog reading, and perhaps some non-work related blog reading, too.

After that, I began thinking again on our theme for this coming Sunday. We are approaching week #4 of an 8 week series entitled: "Navigating the Suburban Wilderness." The purpose of the series is to compare the dominant aspects of suburban culture in the southwest corner of the DFW Metroplex with the way of Jesus. Yikes! God has been mightily at work in our community through the first 3 weeks. I can think of 4 broken relationships (some for more than a year) that were restored last week alone, because one or both parties in the relationship approached the other for forgiveness and reconciliation. God is truly forming us into a community of confession, forgiveness, and restoration, and he is going with us to extend such a life to our area.

For a teaser revealing some of what we'll be tackling this Sunday, click here. I am responsible for two times of story-telling, so I began to imagine what the context of each segment would consist of. In addition, Bret and I spent some time talking through email and on the phone fleshing out the theme, and crafting a flow for the sermon. We have been team preaching the entire series, and the collaboration has been a formative experience and a lot of fun.

While talking to Bret, I hopped in the car and took off for lunch at Dairy Queen with my wife, mother-in-law, and son. I chomped down a hunger-buster, medium french fries, and two 32oz Cherry Cokes. Didn't I say something about "personal care" earlier?

I spoke to a friend on the phone for 15-20 minutes. He is in the midst of some major life changes, and I am excited about the possibilities that lie ahead for him and humbly approaching God on his behalf.

45 minutes later, I went to visit some friends who came to our Sunday AM worship gathering for the first time last week. They had to leave early, so I thought I would swing by their house for a while. As I mentioned in the beginning, a majority of my role involves "seeding missional communities;" and therefore, I spend Wednesday afternoons and most of the day each Thursday "out of the office." Turns out, my friend answered the door, and we shared a little over an hour talking about her life. Currently, she is wondering about her identity and worth, mouring a recent job loss, making major sacrifices for her family, and uncertain as to whether or not church should be described as a community of healing and hope or a community of harm and disappointment. I pray that through the transformational power of God, Christ Journey can help her rediscover a little bit of the former. At the conclusion of the conversation, I prayed for her and left.

Next, I talked to my Mom on the phone for 30 minutes, and hoped to visit with a friend I have not seen in several months; however, no one came to the door after I knocked. Shortly after returning to the car, the boss called to ask me to pick up our daugher from school. "No problem," I said. "I should probably take her out visiting with me anyway." I found a great spot near the front of the "pick up" line. My daugher jumped in, and unbeknownst to her, we headed to MCDs for a hot fudge sundae.

After dropping $1.08 for the sundae, my daugher and I met Bret and his son at the Shenandoah Townhomes in southwest Burleson. We have been praying and cultivating relationships in the Shenandoah community since June 2008 eagerly looking forward to a launch of a house church in the neighborhood someday. That day is coming...really soon!

We met up with a friend of ours who lives in the community. Our kids played together, and we talked about life, faith, the Kingdom, scheduling, cleaning, serving, meeting our neighbors, work, sleep, and our shared vision for a house church in the Shenandoah neighborhood. Praise the Lord for new friends willing to live risky lives for the Kingdom of God. Thank you for praying for this new house church.

We said "goodbye" to our friend at Shenandoah, Bret, and his son, and my daughter and I returned home to find a "not feeling too good" Mom and a sleeping son. In 15 minutes, the four of us were in the Camry on our way to City Market for diapers and dog food. The dog food was for us, but the diapers (and wipes) were for a baby shower we were going to. Over the last few months, Bret has been officing (for the most part) at the local Denny's restaurant, and as a result, he has developed some good relationships with the wait staff. As a "regular," he has been able to strike up extended and meaningful conversations when the restaurant is not busy. One of the waitresses is expecting her first baby at the end of January, so Bret invited himself and us to her baby shower that was held at Denny's this evening. Kingdom living is exciting to say the least!

We arrived with our diapers and wipes, and were able to meet most of our friends' entire family. We talked, played the "don't say baby" game, and watched our kids color and play with balloons. We are thankful to be messengers of the Lord cultivating relationships in our community in his name.

My wife already did not feel good, and the smell of cigarette smoke in the restaurant was not helping. I think restaurants without a fully enclosed "smoking section" or a fully enclosed "non-smoking section" might as well consider the entire restaurant a "smoking section." On the other hand, I do love me some Grand Slams!

Anyway, we left the shower early, and went back to the house. My wife took a rest, and I got to cooking a lil dinner. In reality, this means that I heated up some leftover brisket, and popped two corn dogs in the microwave for the kids. The three of us ate together, and then, I got "little man" ready for bed. He brushed his teeth, laid down with his Mommy for a while, said his (and our) prayers, and then, amazingly went off to sleep with ease.

By this time, my daugher was ready for bed, and the two of us sat down for some devotional Bible reading and conversation. You know, if LST is using the Bible to teach non-English speakers to read, then why am I not using the Bible to teach (and grow) my 8-year old in reading? Anyway, we talked about what the Bible is, where it came from, what kind of literature we find in it, what "Old Testament" and "New Testament" means, where books, chapters, and verse numbers came from...you know, anything that an 8-year old might need to know in order to be a world renown biblical scholar! My favorite question from her came when I was telling her that there was a time when people did not have the Bible as we have it today. Immediately, she asked, "If they didn't have the Bible, how did they learn about God?" She really does not understand how profound a question she asked, and how many of us today would have no answer.

For the rest of our time together, we dove into Mark 1.1-3. We talked about the title "Christ," Jesus as the Son of God, and the "Good News" Jesus is to us. We even ended up in a bit of a trinitarian conversation as she asked how Jesus could be God's Son and yet be God. We had a meaningful prayer to close as we asked God to reveal the Good News of Jesus to us as we journey through Mark, and that we would also be sharers and livers of such Good News. She's excited to talk about Isaiah and John the Baptizer next time. I gave her a drink of water, and kissed her goodnight.

Now, I'm sitting on the love seat in my "Mary Tyler Moore" living room reflecting on a full and wonderful day in the "already, but not yet" Kingdom of God. Having the sacred opportunity to join God in confessionally, humbly, sacrificially, eagerly, and patiently tilling soil of the lives of others is the greatest job in the world. In fact, most of the time that I think I am working for and with others, God is actually tilling the soil in my life, too. There you have it: "A Day in the Life of a Church Planter."

Tomorrow looks like racquetball at 7am, formation group at 9am, preparation for a presentation I am making at a church in Coppell on Friday at 10:30am, time in the community all afternoon, and coffee with a friend at 9pm.

For now, I'm headed to the ps2 to fire up some NCAA Football 2008. I'm 3-1 with Florida State. I lost to Iowa, but beat Oklahoma by six touchdowns. Go figure.

Tweet Button Code

2005-07-01T22:57:00.003-05:00

*Missional Trax*