Marinating Transformation

Middle School Volunteer Team Thank You!

2012-01-07T07:23:00.000-08:00

Reading from 10.15-12.15.11

2012-01-06T07:11:00.000-08:00

This book took me a bit to get into to but the style and story have stuck with me since. The atmosphere of the book has haunted me since finishing. One of the best books I have read in a long time.

This book is full of good reminders and was a different pace and tone from the books I have read like this the past couple of years. It took me back to my crusade days in a good way.

This was the UW-Madison Go Big Read. It follows Enrique, a young Honduran boy, as he journeys to find his mother. I personally connected with the book because of all my trips down to Honduras and was surprised to see pictures of the dump our team visited two years ago. It is a great discussion starter about immigration policy.

Films #2-5 - if I had a film fest 'Beauty, Hope, Justice and Redemption'

2012-01-05T06:52:00.000-08:00

This film is a bit old now but still is a moving story with a glimpse of hope. It is also amazing to discover the movement that has come out of this flim and the power that can be behind telling a moving story.

This film wrestles with justice from the point of view that a white person is experiencing the injustice. After watching a number of films about more obvious minorities experiencing injustice I found my experience with this film very interesting. I think it would provide a great discussion about racism and injustice.

A great debate about whether or not Christianity provides overall good to the world. There seems no debate that in the name of Christ people have both done good and evil but does one outweigh the other? This film is an example of healthy debate and create the potential for all kinds of good conversation.

Most is a short film that tells the tale of a father making an impossible decision. This film is beautifully shot and communicates the emotional impact of the gospel and the power of grace.

Film #1 - if I had a film fest

2011-10-26T10:23:00.000-07:00

I have dreamt of putting together a film fest for a few years now with films that pointed to 'Beauty, Hope, Justice and Redemption'. I want to post films here that I show in case this dream ever becomes reality.

Waste Land tells the story of social justice being done in a way that gives respect and hope in a place where it would be easy to believe there is none. While I do not believe it was its intent, this film has one of the best expressions of the gospel that I know.

Reading from 8.15-10.15.11

2011-10-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

I loved this book. It was a bit wordy at times and maybe overused poetry and art as descriptors but very much worth the read. It challenged me to think differently about viewpoints I disagree with and I wish any and all people in church leadership would engage with Dark's book. Not that church leadership is the only intended audience.

We are giving this out to students within the MS ministry so I have been reading through it. I have been impressed but as with anything like this I wish they did not take such care to clean up the stories.

I have wanted to read one of Frederick Bueckner's books in a long time and I'm not sure this was the one to start with. I did love the prose. It imparted surreal feeling upon every reading.

Even better than book one.

books 6.1-8.13.11

2011-08-31T07:55:00.000-07:00

I started this book with high hopes but I give it a mixed review. It had some helpful reminders to people in leadership roles but also described leadership in such hard terms that it came across a bit depressing. I think I would only recommend it to someone who has been leading for quite some time as a way for them not to feel alone. I went through part of it with one of our interns and it was not a great fit for her as a new and developing leader.

Finished off the Hunger Games series and have to say the first book was my favorite by a mile and it is only because of how well it was set up in book one that carried me through the next two.

Game of Thrones book 1 is not a book I would recommend to the students I work with nor my mom due to sometimes graphic content but it was a good summer read and really came alive after the first 60 pages.

Kingdom Called Desire paints a great picture of what the kingdom of God could look like. McKinley has a gift for reshaping and rewording tired ideas and church cliches and bringing them back to life. While his writing is only okay, his ideas make this a worthwhile read.

picture of influence

2011-08-31T07:54:00.003-07:00

A Picture of Influence from Blackhawk Church on Vimeo.

jalen's story

2011-08-31T07:54:00.001-07:00

My Story: Jalen from Blackhawk Church on Vimeo.

you are my influence

2011-08-31T07:53:00.001-07:00

You Are My Example from Blackhawk Church on Vimeo.

Reading from 4.1-5.30.11

2011-05-18T07:44:00.000-07:00

All kinds of controversy exist around this book and after reading it I was left with a sense of disappointment with the tone of the national conversation. A lot of people have a lot to say but I am not sure how much benefit can be found in the conversation. My sense is that while some of it is helpful, mostly it will reinforce why Christianity irrelevant to our culture at large.

I wanted to like this book better than I did but I just did not connect with it really on any level.

I read this as part of our media club and was one of my favorite books so far this year. I was challenged by Bonhoeffer's willingness to obey and follow where he sensed Christ was calling him.

This one was just for fun.

The birth of triple woohoo

2011-04-19T16:14:00.000-07:00

Madison Missions 2011

2011-04-08T17:01:00.000-07:00

Reading from 1.1.11-4.1.11

2011-03-30T07:57:00.000-07:00

#1 Created for Community by Stanley Grentz

Read through it with KK. Good theology book especially for those interested in theology but without seminary classes.

#2 Generous Justice by Timothy Keller

Good theological case for the why and how Christians should be active in fighting for justice. Page 108 was worth the book. This books helps frame both the how and why a Christian community should strive to bring shalom.

#3 The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly

This book, while feeling a bit idealistic, describes how I would like to work within my job or any job I have down the road.

#4 The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne

This is my 3rd time through this book and right now I am going through it with a couple HS students. Great discussion starter. Sometimes I get caught up on Shane's theology but if nothing else his orthopraxy challenges how I live in a good way.

#5 Life of the Beloved by Henri Nouwen

We shaped Snow Camp 2011 around the ideas in this book. Great stuff about identity and with a little work seemed to communicate to MS students about how much they are loved. If nothing else it was a good personal reminder.

#6 What you do best in the body of Christ by Bruce Bugbee

Maybe this is just where I was at personally but this one got a Muh.

#7 Awed to Heaven Rooted in Earth by Walter Brueggemann

This is a book of prayers/poems. I had forgotten the power of written prayers. This seems to be a forgotten practice/value within American evangelicalism, at least to a large degree. Good stuff.

final sabbatical books

2010-05-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

Everyday Justice by Julie Clawson is the most practical book about taking small steps to live justly that I have read. She starts the book with a confession that the most common feeling when people are exposed to injustice is to feel overwhelmed which leads to guilt, hopelessness and inaction. However global change can take place when individuals make small changes over time.

Each chapter discusses a specific topic from cars to coffee and how the decisions we make often have unintended consequences. Each chapter contains practical tips, websites, further readings, etc that make it easy to get involved. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has interest in living justly but whom is often left feeling overwhelmed about what they can do to make a difference

Deep Ministry in a Shallow World by Chap Clark and Kara Powell caught my interest based on the title but I found it to be a book that did not connect with where I am at. It is not that I don’t care about having ‘deep ministry’, I do, it is just that while I felt their ideas were good I did not find them practically helpful with where our team is at within the church. There were a few nuggets of wisdom I want to pass on but overall this was a skim read.

learning #5

2010-05-09T16:23:00.000-07:00

This has been more of a reminder than something new I learned but I really love the family/church that I am part of. There is no way to put a value on how many people’s stories I have had the privilege of being part of and visa versa.

We at BH are messed up and full of beautiful quirks and chaotic ticks and the best part is getting to live in the messy redemptive story together. I have read, heard about and seen communities that live in ways I would love for us to be more like and other practices I hope we avoid but in it all nothing beats actually knowing faces and names and being on the journey together. While I could be happy having more time away from email I do miss the people.

learning #4

2010-05-09T15:21:00.000-07:00

I am more excited about Madison Missions than ever. I know a program in itself never results in life change but I think God has worked by his grace through this structure at this time. How long that will last I have no idea.

I dream of a time when 400-500 students would participate in serving their community because of who Jesus is and what he has done and in doing so learn more about their faith. I also dream of more and more student communities living out their faith through service to others all over the country and the world. I just got an email from a friend in Italy who hopes to help engage students there and this summer we are hoping to do that same thing in Honduras. Very cool.

learning #3

2010-05-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

I am excited how our community engages with social justice. However I do think we need a new name for it. Kingdom justice seems to have a better ring to it. I have a sense that I am part of a community moving in a healthy direction. We still have a long, long way to go but we are moving and for that I am thankful.

The early church, while being messed up in many, many ways, is a challenging example of a group of people who lived generously. While they shared with everyone who had need, we tend to share with those who we think worthy of our help. When they sold their property to give to those in need, we tend to give from what is left over after we have made sure we are comfortable. But Spirit seems to be breathing new life into his people all around the world and I am excited about the hope that brings.

Learning #2

2010-05-09T14:09:00.000-07:00

I am getting more and more excited about seeing increased localization all around. I believe this is going to have a lot of ramifications within the American church over the next several years if not longer. I saw in different parts of the country and even in my own city, an increased interest in meeting neighbors, buying local, growing a garden and having more intimate church experiences even in the midst of large churches.

As my time comes to a close...

2010-05-04T17:01:00.000-07:00

Learning #1

I have a hard time stepping away from my job. I have not had a break like this since I was in middle school. I am incredibly thankful for the work ethic that my family and especially my father instilled in me from a young age. However upon reflection my job has become entwined with my sense of identity. More often than I would like to admit I am what I produce. I am a youth pastor. I don’t think I realized how bad it was until the first 2-3 weeks of my break. I didn’t know what to do with myself and now I feel like a I wasted the time but I am not sure I could have done it any other way. It was like what I imagine detox to be like. Granted I did not have cold sweats and violent shaking but I did have a lot of pacing and mind racing. I recognize this is not healthy. I know cognitively that my identity should be in Christ but in practice I have a long ways to go.

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

2010-05-04T13:58:00.000-07:00

While I have enjoyed the ideas provoked by all my readings over the past several weeks, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years was by far the most fun to read. I wanted to savor each chapter but could keep myself from turning the page. Last week I headed out for a solo camping trip for a couple days so part of what made this book great was the setting it was read in.

I was at Governor Dodge State Park and wandered around for the day until I found some rocks to climb up and surprised with a ledge view above the trees that looked out over the lake. I sat on a rock in the full sun and wind and read about life as a story. Miller writes about how our life is a story and asks himself and therefore challenges us to ask, if we are living a good story. Another way he puts it is, if our life was made into a movie would it be the kind of movie we would want to go to? Would anyone? For some reason the question of whether or not I am living a good story has stuck with me. I think part of the reason it has been so thought provoking is that question is at the heart of what my sabbatical has been all about. I have the chance to step back, evaluate and ask myself if I am living the sort of story I want to, or the story that I am called to.

I long for a better story.

Caught between two extremes

2010-04-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

I feel stuck between to inner longings. On one side I long to be called to something inspiring, beyond me that moves my soul. I want to be part of great change next to close friends, family and complete strangers. I long to inspire others. Embedded in the kingdom of God exists this sort of inspiration. At least I think so. We, the church, are called to be change agents in this world, to be hope and light where there is total darkness. We are to fight injustice, take on the sex trade, better our schools and love all as part of the gospel. These social injustices caused by sinful reality are beyond any one of us which is why taking them head on can cause the same sort of dismissal or inspiration as climbing a mountain. I want my life to be given to causes like these.

At the same time I long for a rest and a peace that is from the Spirit. I long to be satisfied in my identity in Christ and okay with being used for whatever purpose I have been created. I think of the older couples’ story that I heard this past week. For the past 40 years they have regularly and faithfully volunteered at a retirement community in their backyard. They taught music, help put on plays and spent time with the residents there. They are not part of a organized movement. They have not made any sort of noticeable change in our community and yet their simple, steady form of service inspires. What are the little things each day where obedience can be lived out and with it comes a sense of peace that God will do what he does? How do these two longings, if both proper to have, coexist?

How does peaceful, simple obedience dance with taking on ‘bigger than I can get my brain around’ initiatives?

book list part 3

2010-04-26T08:34:00.000-07:00

Now that I am a veteran youth worker, that v-word makes be feel old, I agree with almost everything Mark DeVries writes about in his book. However I wonder how helpful this book is as a resource for senior pastors, search comities and new youth workers who seem to be the target audience. There is so much good advice that I would think it would feel overwhelming. There are a few learnings that I plan to write more about later.

We have recently done both bathroom and kitchen remodels at our house so this book has proven to be a timely read. Crawford shines a spotlight on craftsmanship and the value of hands on work that has largely been lost in our society. I found it a insightful read as it relates to people being created in the image of God to work and find joy in their work.

This was just a fun read and a bit of a guilty pleasure. I know that the series is popular with the students I work with and while I would recommend it to other adults, it is pretty intense for students.

looking for patterns

2010-04-26T08:28:00.000-07:00

(warning: I did not proof this entry.)

Throughout my sabbatical I have been hoping to see patterns in culture and the church. This is how my brain works. One pattern that seems to be emerging from what I have been reading and listening to is a widespread return to local. From Omnivores Dilemma to Shop Class as Soulcraft there exists an apologetic for the economic, moral and societal good of local production. Crawford in Shop Class as Soulcraft argues that the human work experience is more fulfilling when one is involved in the tangible and holistic process of production of a good or service. It would follow then that being a very small part of a large corporation is likely less fulfilling than being part of a smaller business where real ownership can be more easily created.

As both a reaction to our vocationally mobile parents’ generation and thanks to the increasing ease of working from home there seems to be an increased desire to prioritize where we live based on relationships. This seems no more or less individualistic than the recent past, it is just that now there is the potential for us to have our cake and eat it too. There is a felt loss in my generation of knowing our neighbors and feeling a sense of community and this is felt by both those outside of and within church culture.

As another response to localization of American culture, more and more churches seem to be thinking in terms of zip codes and neighborhoods. Many small churches have always been this way and continue to be so. However larger church communities seem to be moving away from creating large campuses that create an attractive place to gather people and are now instead structuring their small and medium size gatherings by where people live. This is a significant change from people coming together because of common life stage and replacing the commonality with zip code. This trend is both influenced by the aforementioned longing to connect with people in our proximity but made easier by technology that is driving the multi-site movement. With this movement comes the ease of being part of what is emerging as core Christian orthopraxy, sustainable food consumption, greener living, less transportation costs and loving your literal neighbors.

City planning seems to be part of this greater pattern as well. I quickly leap into ignorance here but it is my understanding that more cities as they design expanding neighborhoods are looking to create walkable, self sustained neighborhoods and in doing so creating less suburban sprawl, fewer transportation issues and a greater sense of ownership in residents neighborhood.

This trend interests me the most as it relates to the church and I believe that in coming years or even months we will see the structure of the American church transform and localize.

to try and publish?

2010-04-21T09:35:00.001-07:00

For several months now I have been toying with the idea of trying to publish the content we have created as ministry that we call Madison Missions. After going down a few rabbit trails and coming up against more work and less clarity I had hoped for I was prepared to let go of the idea until this weekend. I hung out with some of my closest friends from college and they convinced me that the idea was worth some effort. This morning I began a proposal and we shall see.

I still feel caught between wanting to publish this material because I truly believe it is some great stuff and could help ministries in very different settings connect with their local communities in new and exciting ways through service. At the same time there is a piece of this that just thinks it would be cool to publish something with my name on it. I am not sure how big that piece is and I want to be careful that is not my driving motivation.

This struggle takes me to a bigger issue of how naval gazing has a way of stalling action. I wonder, this blog included, if I take too much time to figure out what my motivation is when I should be quicker to act. I know this comes up a lot when it comes to acts of obedience that are uncomfortable. It is much easier to waste time pondering what is really at the root of my conviction than it is to take action. With that said I am going to get to work and see what comes of all this.

Great weekend

2010-04-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

As I was trying to write some thoughts about how great this past weekend was with my old college friends I kept coming up short until I found this which I really think says it best.

individualism, materialism and racism in the church

2010-04-15T10:25:00.001-07:00

I just got done reading The Next Evangelicalism by Soong-Chan Rah. Rah unpacks the changing landscape of the global and American evangelical church. His main point seems to be that current evangelicalism is captive to Western, white culture and that the hope of the evangelical church can be found in the emerging minority churches around the country and around the world.

There was a lot in the book that exposed my own racist tendencies and challenged me to be cautious of allowing my faith in Jesus to wed my culture of individualism, materialism and racism. I especially appreciated the challenge to carefully consider who you think of when coming up with a ‘successful’ church and/or Christian leader. I can’t help but think of Willow Creek, North Point, Mars Hill and Saddleback. All of these communities are relatively wealthy, large in numbers and primarily led by white leadership. Why are they successful my mind? Without being aware of it, I have defined success as wealth, numbers and influence or which the first two make the last one more probable.

But what really is success in the kingdom of God? Who are the leaders and communities we should learn from? What can we learn from American minority churches that are quickly becoming the global majority? And should I really care who the majority is? Race is rarely part of my conversations about faith.

I see an immergence of teachers and leaders moving away from individualistic language towards a more corporate view of the church. I see an increasing reaction to consumerism and a longing to be part of a multi-ethnic community. However a missing piece is that I am still unaware of much increase in the diversity of church leadership.

I wish that Rah would have offered more stories of hope in his book for even his examples of good things happening often came across as critiques but I am thankful for his challenges and work to continue this important conversation.

recent book list continued

2010-04-15T08:27:00.001-07:00

This was an okay read but not something I would recommend, unless you love Christian music and hearing about the lives of sub-culture, famous musicians.

Good stuff from Chan. The middle chapters were personally convicting as to how I use my time, money and abilities.

The The War of Art is made up of short reflections on change, art and resistance. The authors insights range from pop psychology to profound.

thoughts on social justice and the church

2010-04-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking a lot about the church and social justice. I believe there is a new term or at least an unpacking of an old term. Social justice is defined as ‘the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within a society’. Social justice is about political, economic and social equality and fairness. The kingdom of God has overlap with the values of social justice but not total alignment. Both call us to value of human beings and take action in the here and now instead of merely banking on a future, afterlife hope.

But the church needs a new term. Maybe kingdom justice would work. In the kingdom of God all people are invaluable because they bear the mark of God himself. Kingdom people share and our in relationship with one another so that all may have enough to eat, drink and wear. The kingdom is like a family that learns from one another, shares openly and out of love, not out of a sense that it makes the sharer better. In fact I am pretty sure in this reality there is a sense that sharing always is a two-way deal. There is no one way transaction. When material rich people share they recognize that all they are giving is material stuff which in eternal standards is nothing. They always are given something in return. Kingdom people actually are dependant on one another so that justice is not an issue of ‘I have’ and ‘you need’ but instead there is a constant sense of ‘I (we) need God’ and ‘I (we) can’t know him without each other’.

I like the language of Christianity offering a third way. We are not about social justice nor are we against it. We are neither blue nor red. The kingdom is something else that is better, deeper, more mysterious, life transforming and calls us to both live radically in this world and long deeply for the one to come.

meeting with gerry

2010-04-13T09:03:00.000-07:00

I just got done with my meeting with Gerry which is pronounced ‘Gary’ not ‘Jerry’. He is a seminary professor and he has been pretty influential in the church planting movement. I am not sure what I was hoping for so I was not disappointed. We talked about multi-site and social justice. Gerry did not express any concern about the growing trend of multi-site churches. He views multi-ste having no conflict with church planting. They are both strategies and they can both be done well and both can be done poorly. He did emphasis the need for a healthy site or campus to have a gifted leadership team and a focus on their geographical area. That gives mission to a given community and helps them be more than a franchise and more than a venue that you can watch a video.

He repeatedly expressed that onsite leadership was a must. They must differentiate themselves through other methods than the sermon. I still have a lot of questions but I'm least persuaded that the multi-site model is not inherently unbiblical. He told several stories of how it can be a great model. We did not unpack what this model communicates about community, discipleship, etc. Maybe his books on the issue will help.

I then asked Gerry his thoughts on the church engaging in social justice and if they were going too far towards deed and away from Word. He thinks we, the American church, have not gone far enough. He feels that evangelicalism is moving in the right direction of expressing their faith through deeds and should keep moving further in that direction. However we must work off a biblical and not social understanding of justice. He defined justice as putting ourselves in a position of less power for the sake of another and that injustice was seeing our stuff as our stuff. This is in contrast to social justice being the process of dividing wealth evenly throughout all people. He felt that the latter understanding creates social dependence and an unhealthy class system. God came down and became less.

I am not really sure exactly what this could look like lived out but that is the gist from our time and a helpful framework to process through.

on a recent hike

2010-04-13T08:56:00.000-07:00

Mary and I came across this on a recent hike. Wow.

learnings so far...

2010-03-29T10:41:00.000-07:00

My observations so far are pretty basic. Churches at their best reflect the culture that they exist in. I guess that is pretty obvious. The church is a group of people from a certain area and when those people gather it makes sense that they look like where they are from. BH is full of, but not limited to, smart, outdoor loving, white, middle class people. Madison is full of those people. Portland, ditto. Therefore since we look like the areas we come from then it would not really make much sense to want to be like a Portland church when we are not in Portland. I do love how organic the language is here. I do love how green, easy-going, thoughtful the Christian community here is. Also there seems to be something in the water that makes everyone love to take broken things and make them beautiful. I think that has inspired 90% of the art here. Here it is not a Christian thing, it is a Portland thing.

In Madison, how can we be more thoughtful, more organic, greener and take what is broken around us and through the power of the Holy Spirit reveal beauty? That is something I want to be part of. But I don’t want to just be part of a Madison thing. I want to be part of a God thing. What is there that is counter-cultural to Madison but fully cultural to the kingdom of God? What aligns? I guess it doesn't matter whether or not it is already part of the culture. The point is not to defy nor submit to worldly culture but instead live out the kingdom wherever we are and in doing so we will not conform to the world. This gets annoyingly simple and infinitely difficult at the same moment. Do we love others like we love ourselves? Do we give to those in need? Do we open our homes, our lives to those around us? Do we heal the sick, feed the hungry, cloth the naked, adopt the orphan, ask for help from others, worship the King?

I guess the benefit of seeing others in action is not to replicate but to spark imagination.

Longing for clarity: Switch part 3

2010-03-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

I long to be part of something significant. I want to be led. I want to be given the direction I need to go. I want clarity. I don’t believe that I am alone. While I long for this sort of clear calling, I struggle to know what it could look like or if is even biblical. Jesus seemed to be anything but clear or specific in his teachings. Okay maybe that is too strong. But as a follower of Jesus, what is a clear and compelling calling for my life? To be like Christ does not seem to qualify. To become a fully devoted follower of Jesus is compelling but not clear. There are a million ways I can go about that. What is a clear calling my church community can be a part of that does not oversimplify the kingdom of God? I want help picturing a preferred future. What would it look like to be part of a group of growing disciples? How would our city change? What tangle difference could be made?

There are some Christian communities that sell out to specific issues. Is that what I long for? I know that a lack of clarity is frustrating because you never really know if you are successful by any measure. Even if you measure success by whether or not the fruit of the Spirit is evident you still need to have sense that you full of peace, patience, self-control, etc. How do you know? Most people, maybe all, tend to over estimate their good qualities and justify away their bad ones. It is ill-advised to say ‘be like Jesus’, point in a general direction and then depend on self awareness to result in a mature disciple; more clarity is needed. It just that I am unclear on what the clarity could be.

A better question: Switch continued

2010-03-28T15:50:00.000-07:00

How often do I look for what is good and ask how can we do more of that? As a ministry leader I spend a lot of my time evaluating all kinds of things. But how often to I focus on what is good and strong versus getting caught up in what is broken? If I were generous I would guess I spend 70% of my time focusing on the negative. Is that being negative?

What if I were to always be on the lookout for the good that is happening, celebrating those stories and doing all I can to spread that success? What if Christian communities were like that? Instead of being shame based, what if we regularly held up ‘success’ stories and celebrated? That sort of community strikes me as one that would be exciting and encouraging to be a part of.

making change

2010-03-24T13:11:00.000-07:00

Today I read the first chapter of Switch by Chip and Dan Heath. I don’t usually enjoy business oriented books but this one seems promising. The authors suggest that change can be made easier, not easy, by giving clear logical motivation, compelling emotional inspiration and simple, clear ways to respond. I wonder how this works as a Christ follower and a vocational pastor. Is life change the result of human persuasion or the power of the Holy Spirit? Scripture seems to suggest that the answer is ‘yes’.

Drinking low fat milk verses whole milk is an example of giving a clear action step versus telling people to ‘be healthier’. I wonder if we don’t do this within the church when we call people to holy living and leave it with that and maybe a sense that reading the bible, praying and hanging out as a group on Sundays will make that happen. There are a million ways to be healthier and the same goes for being holier.

Calling people to be holier is wrought is difficulty but changed and changing lives are at the core of the Christian faith. I look forward to exploring more about what Jesus followers are called to and how we can help each other change.

multi-site musings

2010-03-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

The Multi-Site Church Roadtrip

My wife passed the first chapter of this book on to me. I believe this book is making a case for why multi-site churches are a good thing and how God is working in a variety of ways through a variety of structures. This does not go to the rightness of their argument but I found myself caught up by their language. They suggest that one of the strengths of multi-site is that they simultaneously offer the best of big and small church. But is that the point of church? And who is offering what? Isn’t the church all the people that make it up? Do they mean that the paid staff can offer the best of both worlds? If that is the case then it seems the way they frame their argument has been taken captive by the language of our consumer culture. Maybe later in the book they do this but at least in the first chapter they do not define what a successful church is or does and therefore seem to define success by number of sites, total people coming, diversity of sites and people coming to church services.

I really should read more of this book but the examples they use for churches that have multi-sites all seem to have in common that they started with one church building and that building was located in the suburbs and then subsequent sites moved both to the urban and rural areas. I am not really sure what that implies but it seems worth noting. What cultural reality exists in the suburbs that are distinct from both rural and urban America? How might this movement, if reality, impact the American church in years to come?

I think of Honduras as a good example of this reality. My experience of the evangelical church in Honduras is that has been directly impacted by the brand of politically conservative Christianity exported from the U.S.

I really do believe that multi-sites are neither good nor evil. They just are but how we talk about them and what these communities are trying to do is important.

Sabbatical journal

2010-03-22T11:55:00.000-07:00

Today marks the start of my second week on sabbatical. My goals for this time are threefold:

1. Rest and rejuvenation physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually
2. Learn about how other ministries engage students with social justice
3. How do difference churches do multi-site with students
a. Why to certain communities decide to do multi-site while others do not. What are the intended and unintended consequences caused by the increase of this model?

I realize that point three is sort of cheating by throwing in as much as I can into one question but hey it is my sabbatical and I find it interesting. To help facilitate my goals becoming reality I am planning to do the following:

- Sleep in without an alarm
- Work out at least five hours a week
- Read at least one book a week along with the bible
- Go on prayer walks one time a week
- Journal at least twice a week
- Take long walks in silence or with a favorite podcast at least twice a week
- Watch lots of March Madness

The first book in my reading queue was The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman which reveals one of my guilty pleasures. I love how a story well told has the power infuse new meaning and feeling into subject matter and in doing so defies stereotypes. Gaiman’s book reads like a Tim Burton movie and skillfully weaves together death, ghosts and murder with love, parenting and self discovery. Besides merely enjoying the story as a fun kid’s book, I wonder what in this book reveals deeper human truth, if anything. Regardless…good stuff.

Book 2: Into the Mud by Christine Jeske

I have a deep envy for the few people I know that get free preview books from publishers and/or authors so it was great excitement that I unwrapped my first ever from the publisher copy of this book. The author is a friend of mine from college and it has been enjoyable to see both her and her husband grow as writers over the years. I expected to enjoy Chrissy’s book on the level of proximity to the author and I was not disappointed. However I did not expect the stories to challenge how I view ministry. I love to think big picture. I love dreaming about what could be. I love to consider what is and then jump 1-5 years into the future. Chrissy’s writes stories about every day people and how God can be seen in the mess. I have been challenged to not just think in futuristic terms but to see the world through specific stories in the here and now.

This may appear to be a bit of a rabbit trail but a group of friends of mine have been exploring how we might take the first steps towards starting a free/low cost medical clinic and I have been wondering how something like this ever starts. My initial observation is that these sorts of things start with a relationship. Micro-finance starts with knowing someone who needs a small loan, medical clinics start when a medical professional meets someone without insurance and does something about it and so on. Into the Mud has challenged me to look at what God might be doing in the relationships around me and then in turn dreaming about what could be.

I want to learn to dream in light of what God is doing instead of dreaming in a void and missing out on what is going on right in front of me.

maybe one of the coolest weeks out there

2007-06-15T15:06:00.001-07:00

Thanks Laura for the design.

another reason for not blogging

2007-06-11T12:05:00.001-07:00

A new house = no free time

what i have been up to since not blogging

2007-06-11T11:05:00.001-07:00

Here are some pics of this year's amazing Honduras team.

my visual dna

2007-05-05T15:12:00.001-07:00

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

not dead...yet

2007-04-20T14:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry for taking such a long time between posts. I am still alive and thinking but not so much writing as of late. I will get back to it eventually.

snow camp ideas

2007-02-21T17:46:00.000-08:00

I am verbally processing on paper so I thought I would post it as a blog. I would love to know your thoughts and if you think I am off at all. Be warned, these thoughts are in rough form.

If God loves than how can Jesus be the only way to God?

This question implies another question which is; there are good people that believe in other religions, sometimes because that is all they know, so how can a loving God send them to Hell? I mean isn’t there lots of ways to God. It is the most popular understanding of salvation that exists today because it has the ethic of I will not judge you if you don’t judge me. That way we are all happy and follow the path to truth. It is like the three blind men trying to describe what an elephant is; a snake, tree or a kite. All are but part of the whole truth. So the question is, isn’t that the case with religion or God? Isn’t God so big that no one should claim the one right answer? Isn’t that just arrogant? And not only that but isn’t the pattern of people who do that one filled with incredible violence ranging from the crusades to 9/11? So I believe Christianity is true for me and that is good for me. I will respect people by letting them believe what they want to believe AND then I can know that people who never hear about Jesus are okay because as long as they really believe and are good people then they will be okay. This is how most people see religion in our country – site poll from something.

The only problem is, and getting this makes your head hurt a little, if we are wrong. What if life, salvation, hope and fixing all that is broken is found in only one place, in one person? That is what Jesus claims about himself when he says he is the way the, truth and the life, no one comes to Father except through me. So either Jesus lied OR Jesus is the only way.
Some people say this idea, doctrine is exclusive and that is not really true, to say something is exclusive is to say that it is for some people and not for others. That is not what the good news about Jesus. The good news about him is that everyone is welcome with open arms and is accepted just as they are to experience forgiveness, life and hope. There are no outsiders. No one is too good or too evil.

But then the question still remains, what about all those people who never hear, who never experience a group of Jesus followers living as Jesus followers should? Does that mean that God does not care, that he does not love, that he sends them to Hell like we throw out the trash? The answer seems to be a hard one to swallow. The bible seems clear, Jesus’ life seems clear that God loves people. He really loves them. And for some reason and sometimes this does not always seem like a good choice by God he has decided to show the world who he is and what he is like through the people that follow him. They are his body on this side of a new heaven and new earth and that puts our questions about caring for those who have not had a chance to know God squarely on us. Have we told them, shown them, cared for them, fed them, clothed them and been Jesus as best we can for them?

We have a ways to go on that one.

got to pay the rent

2007-02-06T13:38:00.000-08:00

I am working on a talk for this week and I came across this product posted on another person's blog. What in the world?

Here is a sneak peak.

cartoon self

2007-02-03T09:02:00.000-08:00

Make a cartoon version of yourself at this site. You know you need more time wasting activities. Here is what I came up with for myself.

wasn't he wonderful

2007-02-03T08:56:00.000-08:00

You have to admit this could be sort of fun to try.

final thoughts from days away

2007-01-22T12:56:00.000-08:00

My time is coming to a close. I am sitting at a Starbucks while waiting to be picked up. I feel refreshed and excited to start another semester of doing life with students and volunteers. I was repeatedly convinced of my need to step back from the busyness of life to think, prayer, read and just relax. Even more than that I believe this is something that is important for all people.

Granted I am learning more and more that I am an introvert and I need these times to have the energy to love people or even be nice to them. However I believe there is something universally important about stepping away from the rush of daily lives. It forces us, which is often uncomfortable, to ponder the deeper things of life. Why are we here? What are we doing with the short time we have on this planet? Is there more to life that I am not allowing myself to experience? Is all that which I pour my time, energy and passion into really worth it? These are not comfortable questions for me and I often struggle with answering them. But if I am honest I usually make myself too busy to even think about them. There is a comfort in being busy. It drowns everything else out and makes me feel important, valuable, productive.

I am afraid too many of us do this for a significant part of our lives. I want to avoid that. Even if I am wrong about slowing down as a universal need, I know it is an ever present struggle for me.
The last couple of days have challenged me with being okay with just being, with not seeking worth by what I do or who I know but by the sheer reality that I am Abba’s kid. That is an amazing reality that has a long ways to go before really sinking in.

student ministry reflection

2007-01-19T09:56:00.000-08:00

I am reading Contemplative Youth Ministry by Mark Yaconelli and it has caused some interesting thoughts. In the first chapter of the book Yaconelli sees in many churches that the reason their youth ministries exist is to placate parents and distract students from an ‘evil’ world. I wonder if we do that. I hope not.

Are we a ministry that challenges students to truly experience God? Do we do all that we can to create situations and space for that to happen? Do the adults who volunteer their time see themselves as mentors and role models who have the opportunity to be open about their own journeys toward Christ while challenging students to take part in the same? Do we help students step out of a world of constant activity, advertisements and consumerism to try and see reality for what it really is? How can we improve and what would it look like for us to be a community that really seeks Christ?

The key seems to have loving, God fearing adults around students and allow them to share life together in a meaningful, purposeful way. Busyness seems to be the biggest obstacle to making that happen. We as adults are too busy to pray, to be purposeful and to really spend time with students. Even those of us who are paid to do it tend to get caught up in so many activities that we don’t get with students in the midst of real life. Instead we work hard to create non-lifelike situations and hope that we make a lasting impact.

How can we do this well and what is the ultimate goal? I think the answer is to see students grow into fully devoted disciples, as is expressed in the Great Commission but what does that really look like?

May we slow down and actively seek what that might look like.

stepping back and slowing down

2007-01-17T16:14:00.001-08:00

I am away for a two day personal retreat at a cabin near Reedsburg. Over the next two days my goal for the time is to read Contemplative Youth Ministry, come up with main points for coming talks and rethink our ministry leadership structure.

Already my time has been refreshing and challenging. I am only a couple hours into it and there exists the urge to watch a movie, turn on some music or have a discussion. Silence is hard.

On the way here I listened to a program on NPR where the guest discussed his recent book on the Religious Right and its supposed desire to create a totalitarian state. The guest’s rhetoric seemed to match that of which he was speaking out against and it hurt to hear Evangelicals painted in such a negative light. On many levels I agreed with him but it made me wonder what could be done by those of us who call ourselves Christians to understand Jesus and his followers in a different way.

I look forward to the next couple of days as Lord willing I am open to listening in silence to what it means to be like Jesus and lead a community of students that does not create God in its own image but instead is transformed by a truth that exists independent of us.

It is all too easy for me to become angry at a subsection of Christendom for making the Jesus they ‘worship’ into a tool they use to justify their purposes and then turn and do the same. I believe it is possible for us to know a truth apart from our immediate cultures and experiences for if we are not then relativism truly wins the day.

back in the saddle

2007-01-02T11:49:00.000-08:00

My email is down at work and I find myself running out of things to do so I thought I would work on a new blog. The past couple of weeks I have had a lot of time off work but I do not feel rested. It feels more relaxing now as I start to get back into a schedule. But writing about life updates and busy schedules is boring to even think about. Instead let me ramble a bit about what has been on my mind a lot lately; wealth and responsibility.

On a number of levels I feel like all I have been doing these past couple weeks is consume and watch others do the same thing. Too much food has been eaten, gifts have been given and received. Time has been spent online and in malls shopping and watching the masses do the same thing. And in the midst of all this I have experienced moments of thankfulness and joy while being with family, friends and celebrating our bountiful blessings together. It is good to enjoy people, food and drink. It is good to be generous and look for ways to bless each other.

Yet through it all I feel I am in a dangerous place. I am in danger of drowning in the joy of consumption. I just left a lunch with a woman who helps run a holistic ministry to woman and children with HIV/AIDS in Kenya. The people she sees every day struggle with having to sell their bodies so that they can have their next meal. I worry about losing the pounds I have gained this past month.

I have read in a couple difference places this past week that some believe that a new reformation is taking place in the church today. This reformation is believed to be driven by Christians who know a great deal about scripture but are now just starting to move as a body to take action. I hope that is true and that I will be obedient in my own life.

I am not sure exactly what to do about the tension between my expanding belly and my brother and sister being hungry across the ocean but I know action is required and my very faith is at risk to do nothing.

I really am thankful for all that I have and I see it as a powerful tool for good but at the moment I am more cognizant of its potential for evil.

reflections #2

2006-11-26T08:45:00.000-08:00

Some reflections on Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley

Communicating for a Change is a good book for those who have/get to teach/preach. I would guess this book would be of little interest to most people but I found it helpful. The first part is written as a modern parable about a preacher who is struggling and ends up being mentored on how to better teach by an unsuspecting truck driver. I have observed a growing trend on communicating by the use of story but sometimes when authors want to make a point and use story to express it, the point comes across as awkward and contrived. I think that is the case here.

However the second half Stanly breaks down what he believes is the best way to communicate. He emphasizes the need to make a sermon around one crystal clear point. Everything else should support that point. My first reaction when I read that something should be done a certain way is to want to rebel. I think that is my anti-authoritarian crap coming out. And yet as I read through Stanley’s ‘Imperatives’ I found myself persuaded.

His seven steps in putting together a clear presentation are:
Determine a goal: What am I trying to accomplish?
Pick a point: What am I trying to say?
Create a map: What’s the best route to your point?
Internalize the message: What’s my story?
Engage my audience: What’s my plan to capture and keep their attention?
Find my voice: What works for me?
Start all over: What’s the next step?

I believe that the gift of teaching is an imperative one for the health of the church, just as all gifts are. I am determined after this reading that I need to work and work hard on improving as a teacher. There is so much I can learn and I find it motivating to think about what Christian communities could look like if each person worked at improving what they believe they are good at for the sake of those around them.

reflections #1

2006-11-26T08:44:00.000-08:00

Some reflections on The Rise of Christianity

The Rise of Christianity is an examination on how the movement of Christ followers went from being an unheard of group of Jews to the officially endorsed religion of the Roman Empire in less than two hundred years. The author is a sociologist by training and brings that approach to his analysis of history. Here are a few things that jumped out at me.

If the author is correct then the Christian faith grew largely because of logical reasons that seem to take the focus away from the Holy Spirit needing to work in supernatural ways. In other words, becoming a Christian appealed on a number of levels.

Christianity appealed to woman at the time because it granted them a better place in society and within the faith than anything else had to offer at the time. In most parts of the Roman world, women were property or either their father or their husband. To become a Christian was a liberating thing for most women.

Christianity spread primarily throughout the cities. The cities of the time were overpopulated on the same level as Bombay but without the skyscrapers. This meant that the quality of life was extremely low and the introduction of a faith that offered hope was very appealing. The hope offered was more than what was to come in the next life but it was hope in a better way of life in the here and now. The Christ followers were known for their care for each other and in a time of no public health programs filled a significant need.

Christians stuck around when others left during two plagues that wiped out a significant percentage of the population throughout the Empire. According the studies cited in his book, Stark argues that Christianity spread rapidly during these plagues because Christians cared for the sick and in doing so decreased the mortality rate. In other words the Christians were more likely to live and the non-Christians who did survive often had Christians to thank for it.

As I was reading this book I was initially threatened by explaining the growth of the Church void of any reference to the Spirit. It sounded so scientific and lacking any involvement from God. I guess I do have a bit of a bias against science at times. I will have to work on that. But then the more I thought about it, the more I was encouraged by the fact that a community of people trying to follow Jesus’ teachings and put their hope in his death and resurrection has naturally appealing elements.

Christianity can provide care for those who have no one else. It can provide community when it starts to feel that everyone is disconnected. It can value those who are marginalized in the rest of society. It can meet the deeply felt needs of all kinds of different people. In fact it seems like it needs to by its very design. If it is not doing these things something is wrong.

I believe God has created us with certain emotions, desires and passions and it is comforting to know that his desired structure of how his people should live on earth as the Church should fulfill those needs. The Christian faith grew rapidly during the first couple of centuries because it met felt needs. Shouldn’t it do much the same today?

a short break

2006-11-26T08:40:00.000-08:00

I am now a little over 24 hours into my personal retreat here in the middle of nowhere Minnesota. A few months back I finally sat down and put a couple of retreats into my calendar for the purpose of prayer, reading, writing and relaxation. I have been looking forward to this time for a long time. And now I am here.

I was afraid that the lack of contact with other people would be hard. I pictured that I would start talking to myself shortly after Mary dropped me off and would be borderline insane by the time she came back to pick me up. This may still happen but so far I love this opportunity.

Last night I started reading The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark while enjoying some tea and then switched gears and wrote in my journal and read part of Acts. The night was capped off with Everything is Illuminated which is an excellent movie with a rare touch of redemption. Thanks to Cory for pointing me to it.

So far today I have read, eaten, napped, run and walked around the farmland I am staying at. This has been food for my soul and I am thankful. I know that everyone tends to project and assume what is good for them is good for everyone so forgive me if this is the case but everyone should take the times like this.

I am thankful for the chance to pause. I have been challenged as of late to learn to live in the moment and be thankful for it. It can be easy for me to get caught up in ideas and ideals. I tend to be consumed by the fact that the Church is not who she should be, especially it seems, in America. I dwell on what needs to change in the ministry I lead, how our church should be different, how I have so much to learn about how to love. Sometimes these convictions are a good thing but not when they drown out my ability to appreciate the good that is all around me. There is so much to be thankful for.

I live in a fallen world and I am surrounded by the results of sin and at the same time by glimpses of the Kingdom. Visions of what one day will be but can already be enjoyed at least in a small ways. I am off to go see if I can look at the stars and then maybe indulge in the not so guilty pleasure of 24 – season 3.

if only we could show this on sunday

2006-11-01T12:01:00.000-08:00

For those of you who enjoy some good church humor check out this video. They are all worth watching but this is my personal favorite.

death wish

2006-10-31T11:29:00.000-08:00

My dad sent me this video of bike couriers in NY. In another life I would love to do this but I am afraid that life would be pretty short.

calling

2006-10-28T03:16:00.001-07:00

There are a few questions that I get on a regular basis because of the job that I have working at a church. One of those questions goes something like this, “When were you called into ministry?” or “How did you know this was your calling?” I never know what to say to this since the honest answers would be ‘never’ and ‘I have no idea’ but that never goes over well. The hard part for me about calling is that I have always had the miraculous in mind when people say that. I picture someone sitting and reading the Bible when all of a sudden they fall into a trance and a voice says to them, ‘you are my man (or woman) to reach the world by…’ and then the voice fills them in on what they need to know. Another option is that someone with the gift of prophesy prays over me and shares a vision of the future from God. No matter how it happens, being called is unique and has hints of the supernatural. Also it has always bugged me that people only seem to ask those who are paid to be part of a faith based community the question of being called. No one ever asked me about being called to work with children with autism when I had that job.

Because I have never had an obvious miraculous experience related to my job I have never felt called to do what I do until a couple weeks ago.

I recently took a weekend class that was all about examining how God has made each of us and God’s sovereign work in our lives to bring us to where we now are. The professor shared a helpful definition of calling that included the following 6-7 possible elements.

1. Providence – As you look back life events come together to send a person in a certain direction.

2. Special guidance: There have been nudges in certain directions or you can’t seem to get away from it.

3. Opportunity – Are their options to actually be able to do what you feel like you maybe should do or really want to do?

4. Gifts and Talents – Do we have the basic talents to be able to do a given task?

5. Need – Is there a need for a given task and/or ministry?

6. Community affirmation – Do those around me and those closest to me affirm vocational direction?

7. Miraculous – Has there been a time where God moved in a special way to communicate a direction for my life?

My professor went on to explain that he defines calling as a mix of many but not all the above. This was a refreshing perspective for me as I can look at my life and observe most of the above 7 elements. The above definition of calling also provides for a more universal understanding that all Christians are called to something and that their jobs can play a part in fulfilling that calling.

book excerpt

2006-10-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

Check out this interesting article from a former head of Bush’s faith based initiative.

two i can do but all three?

2006-10-11T21:04:00.000-07:00

I have had a lot going through my head the last couple of weeks and I only wish I could have been better about writing some of it down because now as I sit here I can’t remember much.

Here is one thing. Our church has starting going through the book of Acts and although we are only a couple weeks in I have been struck by the character of the Holy Spirit and His central role in the history of the early church. I have been trained well and fully believe in the Trinity but as I have been reading Acts I have realized that my theology and way that I live are not congruent. I spend a significant amount of time talking, thinking and writing about the Father and the Son but if I am honest I don’t really pay much attention to the Holy Spirit.

I think it goes back to my evangelical roots that feared being too charismatic and since those crazy out there Christians were so into the Spirit then we would talk about it more in whispers or in passing. I should say that in all fairness I don’t think my church community growing up actually believed that nor do I think those more charismatic then me are of a strain of Christendom that strange or somehow worse. It is just that I somehow came to a place where the Holy Spirit was left out.

And to be honest I feel I am at the very beginning of having any sort of understanding of how the Spirit fits into my faith in a practical day to day way. But I know He should and from my understanding of scripture it is a good thing He is here and in fact it is better then if Jesus was here in person.

Also and maybe this should be another whole blog but I love the picture of Jesus followers in Acts 2 who are acting in obedience and the Spirit is doing crazy cool things in their midst. The challenging take away I believe is that we should obey God with that sort of abandonment but not necessarily expect the same results. Rather we should obey and then with excited and open expectations see what the Spirit does.

I have always wanted revival or wild transformation but what if instead we had the change to be part of a community that wanted to be obedient and somehow found joy in whatever resulted from that obedience whether it was wild growth, persecution or nearly unperceivable change?

what matters most

2006-09-22T09:49:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here on a gray Friday morning searching my brain for a topic to write about. The month of September is one of the busiest times of the year for me and the staff I work with at our church. There was a time that I equated busyness with productivity and greater self-worth. I now see that as a dangerous lie. I am tired and very thankful for a morning to sleep in, read and write for a couple hours.

It is easy for me to look inwardly and say ‘Slow down stupid. You know when you pace yourself, things still get done and life is more enjoyable.’ Yet this seems to be a busy season that is impossible to avoid as long as I continue to live in the world I am in. And self analysis quickly turns to self criticism and that combined with being tired can be destructive.

So for today I want to pause and be thankful that the things that are making my life a little crazy right now are things that I am passionate about. I get to spend time with students and adults as they are striving to live out their faith in Christ. By God’s grace I influence those around me as they in turn change me. I get to take time to try and communicate what I believe is inspired text to those same people. I get to invite others to be part of making an influence in something that is eternal. To touch the lives of people who are often hurting, lost, confused and going through significant development.

In the midst of my job picking up speed I am trying to learn to have a loving relationship with Mary. I now see more clearly how ministry can become too important and drown out everything else in ones life. This struggle for me gets at something basic to what I believe it means to be a man. I find value in having something to take head-on, a task, a challenge to conquer. A job can easily become that all consuming conquest but in the midst of it I lose out on an important lesson that Mary has been teaching me: that people are the most important thing. And I want my commitment to her to trump other tasks or even relationships. That is a good thing. I am thankful for her patience and encouragement as this lesson continues to be one that I am slow to get.

I need to learn to love. To rest. To have the wisdom to know what is most important.

new side blog

2006-08-31T14:02:00.000-07:00

Check out this new side project blog by Mary and me (I like the sound of 'side project' as it sounds a little like the rock star I wish I could be).

This blog is an ongoing record of our Monday date nights and I am hoping it will lead to a creative exchange of ideas of what to do in the Madison area.

Here is it: Madison Date Night. Let us know what you think.

where have all the men gone?

2006-08-24T11:28:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in the past post this time of the year for me is a small bit of down time before regular programming at our church begins. One of the things that I have to do each year is work to rebuild our volunteer team. This happens in a variety of ways and I am thankful for the help of other volunteers and staff to make our needs known and spread the gospel of middle school ministry.

However I have a reoccurring frustration over the past couple of years and sadly this year is no exception. Our ministry is without men. That is not completely true. We have several great guys ranging from high school age to fathers with their own middle school students involved but overall we are hurting. The interest from woman has been awesome but men, hmm. It troubles me to think about what message this sends the students, especially the boys.

Why is this a pattern each year? Is it the age group? Is it my leadership? I tend to think that most guys respond best to a direct call to action so perhaps it is that we have not done that well enough or that my presupposition if false. Either way I am frustrated. In general I think that people who are a regular part of church should be part of making that community work. This means they are involved and volunteer. If the majority of people took more action I believe there would not be the above problems. But my personal problems aside, what is it that keeps people from getting involved at church?

I fear it is our consumer mentality and the lack of the basic understanding that the church is a community and for it to function as it is created to it needs full participation of every person. This leads me to have to look and the mirror and remember that people’s perceptions are influenced by leadership and that it is my job, along with others in leadership, to create a proper biblical understanding of what it means to be part of the church or at least my best understanding.

summer recap

2006-08-21T11:49:00.000-07:00

Breathe in slowly. Hold. Breathe out and relax. Repeat.

This time of the year feels like that. Summer is drawing quickly towards its end. Ministry trips and personal vacations are over and weekly programming has not yet begun. It is the eye of the storm, the brief pause with fast paced living on either side. It is a good place to be.

It has been a good summer and I am not yet ready to leave it behind but with our kickoff retreat this coming weekend that hard truth that another fall has begun will have to sink in. Some highlights from this summer have incluced:

1. Kicking the summer off with a trip to the BW with close friends. I know I wrote about this already but the Boundary Waters is one of my favorite places on the planet and I feel blessed to live as close to it as I do. The simplicity of reducing life to food, shelter, direction and friends feeds my soul.

2. Time in Honduras. I have had the chance to go to Honduras several times now but never before have I felt such purpose and vision as I did in July. Our team of adults and middle school students were part of a four day camp throughout the time there we had a blast building relationships with new friends as well as people we have come to know fairly well over the past few years.

3. Spending time with Mary, Chris and Sarah at a ‘cabin’. The place we stayed at was amazing, the food was great and the best part is that we had nothing to do. It was relaxing to the point of boredom. Our days were spent eating, sleeping, and traveling to nearby state parks and small town coffee shops.

4. Madison Missions. This was our third summer in a row doing this and it was again another exhausting but fully worthwhile week. As a group we did around 1200 community service hours in Madison with a number of different organizations. My favorite thing about this week is seeing students come to the realization that there are real needs all around them and not just in distant lands and that the process of trying to help reach those needs as a community can be a blast.

5. Mary moving to Madison. As she would tell you this was not really an event as much as a process over more than a month but it is great to have her here. I love starting to get into a pattern of seeing each other on a far more regular basis and learning how to do life together. Small things like eating dinner together or talking about being in a small group together seem like huge blessings after this past year of them not being an option. It makes me excited for what is to come.

So all that along with some class work, weekend retreats and trying to train for another marathon have kept things at a pretty fast pace this summer and really cut into my blogging. But now it is time to breath. To pause. And to ask to be re-energized for another year of ministry and thank God for so many blessings.

stolen but sweet

2006-07-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

This story was taken off another blog but it was so good I felt I had to post it here as well. I will have to do what I can to work this into a talk.

July 3, 2006 (UPI) - A young man was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from college. While he was walking through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air.

The elephant seemed distressed so the man approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant’s foot. There was a large thorn deeply embedded in the bottom of the foot.

As carefully and as gently as he could he worked the thorn out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man and with a rather stern look on its face, stared at him. For a good ten minutes the man stood frozen–thinking of nothing else but being trampled.

Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned and walked away.
The man never forgot that elephant or the events of that day. Twenty years later the man was walking through the zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to where they were standing at the rail. The large bull elephant stared at him and lifted it’s front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times, all the while staring at the man.

The man couldn’t help wondering if this was the same elephant.
After a while it trumpeted loudly; then it continued to stare at him.
The man summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder.
Suddenly the elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of the man’s legs and swung him wildly back and forth along the railing, killing him.
Probably wasn’t the same elephant.

choose your own adventure

2006-06-28T08:28:00.000-07:00

My dad’s birthday was in March and so knowing, or at least believing that my dad is not a big material gift person, my brother and I gave him a "choose your own adventure" gift. His options were a three day canoeing, backpacking, or biking trip. This was a great gift to give since all three sounded like something I would like to do, but we were pretty sure it would also be received well.

My dad picked biking and that made me a little nervous. You see, growing up I was never really into the sports my dad was. He was a runner and biker and my mental connotation for both those activities was pain and who likes that? Well for starters, my dad and brother, but not so much me. But somewhere in the past few years I have changed and have grown to love both biking and running, at least most of the time (see last post).

We had originally planned to bike from Madison (home to me and Joel) to Eau Claire where my parents live but as the time drew near we became more realistic and shortened the route to go from Lyndon Station to Eau Claire over 3 days, 2 nights. It was a fantastic trip.

Here I am as we are about to get started.

We put about 180 miles on our bikes over those three days as we traveled through a beautiful part of the state. I came to appreciate what great county roads our state has and learned, or at least was told, that our roads are of such high quality to better aid farmers transport their products. Go dairy state. Our trip was a good combination of flats and butting kicking hills. We passed miles upon miles of farm country that was only broken up my occasional small towns with their four churches and five bars and one small coffee shop.

Here are a couple shots of the countryside. The second one is after a bigger than average hill ... I learned to love my granny gear.

This is the four room hotel we stayed at on our first night. You gotta love small towns where you have to stop by the owners home to pick up the key.

This was a great way to spend time with my dad and I was reminded how lucky I am. I am lucky to have a father who is willing to take time to spend with his kids and always has since we were little. Thanks dad and happy father’s day (a little late) .

the day i wanted to die

2006-06-26T21:02:00.000-07:00

I have been sitting here doing homework for the past couple of hours and I feel the need for a break and an updated blog. I have been meaning to write more as the last few weeks have been full of activity that makes for good blogging but alas I am lazy. So this entry takes me back nearly a month to the Madison marathon at the end of May.

My brother and I started to train together back in February or early March and committed to each other that we would at least do our long run together each week. We started at about 6 miles and worked out way up to 20 about a month before the race. It was a great experience training with him. I loved the chance to spend so much time together as we discussed every possible topic we could come up with to best pass the time and not think about the fact that we were running for hours on end. It is a funny thing for two average guys to try and come up with topics of conversation for so many hours when our word quota for the day runs out in about the first 45 minutes.

After months of training and me reminding Joel again and again not to run one step in front of me, the day of the race arrived. And thus began several of the most humbling hours of my life. Over the past few months Joel and I had been able to push each other fairly well as we had done our runs in fairly good weather that was at its worst pretty cold in the early stages. But the morning of May 28th was something new, it was 75 degrees at 7 am and would reach highs of low 90s. I am not sure exactly when I knew I was in trouble but I would say it was about mile 2. I was already sweating like crazy and wanted to escape the sun. Joel and I had planned to run together until at least the last couple of miles where I imagined he would take off and I would plod my way to the finish line. Instead we made it together to mile 13 where Joel was trying to be the encourager and keep conversation going but the only response he got from me was to shut up and stop asking so many questions.

It was right about there that my body started its’ rebellion. I have never felt such pain in my legs or had my brain will one thing and my body demand something counter to it and so it was a new experience when my muscles started to cramp and I was slowed to a stumble. The humbling experience was highlighted by seeing five people placed into ambulances and being asked twice by medical support along the way if I needed help.

In the end I did finish but sadly it was not with my brother who had been done for nearly an hour, and it was not even close to the time I had hoped for. Now that it is past I am glad for the chance to experience something so humbling and be reminded that my body, no matter how much I want something, is weak and has its limits. It has also helped me to remember how important training is for any goal that I may want to achieve. I’m sure this will make for a good illustration some day for a talk.

ode to the bw

2006-06-07T08:33:00.001-07:00

Since last blogging a lot has happened or at least I have had the chance to cram in several ‘adventures’ between the end of school and the beginning of summer ministry events. The ability for flexibility is one of my favorite things about the job I have. I love that things are always changing and that like the students’ school schedule, my year changes every fall and spring with a gap for vacation built in.

That is why a few weeks ago right after a 5th grade retreat and a wedding; I hopped in a car with a couple great friends and headed to Eau Claire to prepare for a week in the Boundary Waters. I have been able to make this trip seven out of the last eight years (is that right Jared?) and I love it. I have yet to find a better place on earth where I experience rest and peace like I do in far northern Minnesota.

I have often wondered and conversed with others why we love the BW so much and here are some of the reasons that this place is a little slice of heaven on earth.

1. The solitude is food for the soul. We are never really alone as I always go in groups of 4-6 but we can go days without seeing another person so there is a feeling of our group being the only people out there. Maybe this is the introvert in me but I love the break from all people except the few that I am with.

2. There is something powerful about being in a place that changes at a different rate than the rest of the world around it. We talked about how no matter what happened in the news while we were gone this place does not care. Thanks to the safe keeping of the state of Minnesota this area is largely untouched and unchanged and for me that is a healthy reminder to how important the decisions I make every day really are. Not very.

3. There are no emails, internet, phone calls or meetings in the BW. Enough said.

4. There is a predictable pattern to each day and it is a simple one. The list of activities mainly include paddling, setting up camp, breaking down camp, preparing food, eating that food and cleaning up the food, portaging and occasional fishing and swimming. That is it. It has just a hint of survival mode and is restful to my brain this is all too often multitasking. The biggest choice each day is usually what dinner to eat that night.

5. Time with people I like. The BW brings out great discussions and I have had some of the best up there. Discussions have ranged from philosophy of esthetics to the last time we took a dump (things change a bit when women have come) and can go from one to the other in a matter of seconds.

6. Finally (and there are most likely more but this is starting to get too long) is the chance to submerse myself in creation nearly free from the effects of people. Nowhere else do I have the chance to see fish spawning, moose appear at the edge of the lake, loons dive for food only feet from our campsite or eagles perch in nearby trees. Nor do I have the chance to silently stare out at emerald green hillsides and watch the effects of the wind along the surface of the lake. All the sounds, smells and sights of nature help to put my soul and rest and remind me that I am very small and fragile and that my worries and stresses really are not that big of a deal.

So there is my ode to the BW but now I am back and already much has happened but that is for another entry for another day. For at least this moment I am thankful for the chance to reflect on the time I had with great friends in the far north.

church search

2006-05-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

I know this blog has become more a collection of links than anything else as of late but in light of working at a rather big church and the fact that we are building a new building, I found this both funny and sad. A little too close to true on many levels.

liberals start to pray

2006-05-03T21:17:00.000-07:00

As I am putting together a talk outline about end times for the students tomorrow night I came across this and felt I had to share it.

another game

2006-04-26T14:50:00.000-07:00

Okay so thanks to emails from friends and co-workers the last couple hours have been a waste of time. Here is reason #3. This is actually pretty fun for those who like logic games. It took me a couple tries but I got an A on easy. Now it is time for the big leagues or maybe actual work.

reaching the lost

2006-04-26T14:02:00.000-07:00

Now this is what I call culturally relevant outreach. I love the small print on the bottom. I can see Christian daisy dukes sweeping the Religious Right.

i have a sickness

2006-04-20T14:26:00.000-07:00

This game is seriously evil. Is there no end to ways the internet can suck away your time? And yet I am proud of my 22 score. Just see if you can beat that.

longing to run

2006-04-19T19:25:00.000-07:00

I figured it is about time I blog again after taking over a month off. I have not had much to write about or at least I have not been able to turn my daily routine into something thoughtful or interesting. I decided I might as well give it another go and see what I can get down on the page.

This is the time of year where I want to be outside all day and I have fantasies of running off into the wilderness to live a simply, remote life. There are no phones, no emails and no tv. Something about the simplicity of it all calls to my soul and I long to run off to a life that lacks complexity. I want to hike through the woods, sleep in, drink coffee, write, read and talk with friends.

Then I pause, take a deep breath and remind myself that I have created my own complexity and that running away from it all is not a cure. Thanks to God given free will I am master of my own life in at least some ways and I am responsible for what I make of it. I am not a victim of a busy society but a full participant in it. I can turn off my phone, computer and tv and I can go out and walk in the woods.

I am blessed to live in a town and a country where I have easy access to the beauty of creation and the opportunity for quiet and solitude. I was just talking about God’s command to us to ‘be still’ and how that heals and restores our souls. Being still looks different for different people I know but for me it means turning off the many distractions and giving up another week of American Idol to get out of the apartment and walk in silence.

i hear planet hollywood pays good money to celeb lookalikes (by mary)

2006-04-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

sorry, jon. i couldn't just sit by and watch a decent blog go to waste ...
this is just what happens when you share your password :)

so this post will just feature photos of jon and his celebrity look-alike according to the myheritage celebrity face recognition site:

first up at a 72% resemblance is film actor, director and oscar nominated producer sean astin, born in 1971. you may recognize him as the face of mikey in 1985's the goonies and most recently, the character of samwise gamgee in peter jackson's the lord of the rings movie. hmm ... creepy.

next up at a 70% resemblance is ian somerhalder. born december 8, 1978, ian is an american actor, model, and producer. he is of french, english, and native american descent - yep, sounds like jon to me. before jumping into his acting career, somerhalder was a model for guess? jeans. you can currently watch ian in episodes of "lost."

and in third place (prepare yourselves), it's ronald reagan himself. born in 1911, ronald "the great communicator" reagan was a sports broadcaster, a lifeguard, a newspaper columnist, motion picture actor, head of the screen actors guild, television actor, and a motivational speaker, not to mention 40th president of the united states from 1981-1989. he was also the only U.S. president to be struck by an assassin's bullet while in office as president and survive.

surprisingly enough, jon's resemblance at 62% with ronald reagan is also matched by two other celebrities: kate hudson and brad pitt. interesting. i guess when you're that hot, you're able to transcend gender.

i know you're just dying to figure out which celebrity YOU look alike. go ahead. and then comment. i'm curious ...

more ramblings on growth

2006-03-18T11:58:00.000-08:00

As mentioned a few posts ago I am taking a class on spiritual formation which is basically a class that asks, ‘what is spiritual maturity and how does one grow towards that end?’ This question continues to capture my attention in both blog world and the real world. Something that I heard in my one of my last lectures has stuck in my mind.

Sidenote: These are some thoughts have been marinating for some time now and for the most part have taken a hiatus due to one of God’s gift to us – March Madness but that is for another post.

On one of the lectures I have to listen to talks about part of I Corinthians and Paul’s call to grow to maturity. In this context and when understood in the Greek, a phrase that I am at times suspicious of, Paul uses the plural to talk about maturity and without going too much into the interpretation of the text, the conclusion is that maturity should not be understood as a individual journey but instead a community goal. This idea has challenged the way I see growth as it appears to me to have a number of implications

Implications

1. If we want to grow as an individual we must care about the growth of the people around us. This means that Christians are not part of a church or serve merely so that they can grow, as if they are consuming a helpful product. Instead maturity should be seen in the context of the body and the body is only healthy or mature if all its parts are working and developed as they were created to be. This means thinking with a community mindset and move away from an individualistic mindset, something that is hard for any Western mind to grasp.

2. Spiritual maturity can’t be reached outside of community. This is not just an apologetic for being part of a local church as exists in many of our minds. Instead I think it means that we must be part of a group of people who are striving together to be like Jesus. If this understanding of the scripture is right then without other people we can’t grow fully into the man or woman we were created to be. We need others and they need us. This again means we must not be consumers but also that we can’t critique the church without participating it and hope to grow to maturity. This is often hard for me to agree with as the Church is a mess and is made up of a lot of people who are also a mess and often don’t want to admit it.

3. Finally, if this is true then we will never reach maturity in its completeness, at least this side of eternity with Abba. If maturity is about community and not just the individual and a sign of maturity is having a heart for the lost and the least, then the community will always have people who are new to the community. This does not mean that it is just about evangelizing. Instead the church is made up of people who authentically care for the whole person and in doing so moves towards all kinds of people. Our churches should not just be full of ‘churched’ people but instead it should be an amazing mosaic of broken, yet remade souls.

So those are some of my thoughts as I continue to process how I would answer, ‘how does a Christian grow?’

this is not a good idea

2006-03-17T10:57:00.000-08:00

Knowing Jared and his parking problems this is something maybe he should think about.

it is good

2006-03-01T19:44:00.000-08:00

Another thing I am thankful for - one of the greatest sports on the planet: broomball.

I have been trying to figure out my next blog for a few days now and I am starting to feel the heat from at least one person who shall not be named. There are a few things I have been pondering as of late but for the moment I am going to reflect and be thankful. For me this is a conscious choice that I need to make from time to time since my brain gravitates towards evaluating, critiquing and being just plain cynical.

I just finished a meeting with our student leadership team which is to say the small group of cool students who have an almost impossible time staying on topic and forget the purpose for our group's existence about every 30 seconds. And I love them. I love their energy and inexhaustible desire to have fun.

I am thankful for our snow camp this weekend - even though I was ready to sleep for about 30 hours straight on Sunday night, because it was worth it. It was worth it for the stories of great conversations had. It was worth it because I got to deck guys into the snow banks while playing broomball all in the name of bonding.

I am thankful to work for a church. No matter how messed up the American church is and no matter how twisted we make it in our sinful nature, God’s grace can’t help but pour in as you hear stories of people’s lives being changed, of people who make radical choices to try and be more like this person Jesus. Of course, community is messy but is there anything of value that is not hard to get?

It is easy for me to go on another rant about what is wrong with this thing or that thing, and I am sure I will go back to that by the next post, but for now I want to force myself to remember what is good. This coming Sunday our church will be talking about the gospel; the goal is to recapture the good news through the help of the Spirit. It has been helpful to reflect on what we tend to try to put into formula and simplify so it can be expressed on a napkin and ask for its power to transform my heart and refresh my faith. I need that. After running hard and being so busy, I need to pause, listen and remember that God is good and he is active in this world in good ways.

stage fright

2006-02-22T17:25:00.000-08:00

I am sitting at one of my favorite coffee shops in Madison, listening to some Norah Jones and enjoying the way caffeine interacts with my bloodstream or whatever it is that makes my brain work so much better. The past couple of hours I have been working on talks for camp this weekend with the middle school students. I enjoy the process of trying to craft a talk, to capture people’s attention and hopefully influence the way the live.

To that end I have to be careful. Sometimes I can get so caught up in the challenge of coming up with the right hook to grab the listener and make them want more and then move into the meat of the message and flow into one great illustration after another. They will forget that time is passing and move from emotions of humor to sadness to conviction. I want them to leave the room with a desire to change the world and with the knowledge and motivation to do the little things that can make that happen.

But too often this process is all about me. The rush of being up front and the feeling of importance are intoxicating. People care what you have to say and even when you suck people take the time to tell you you did a great job. That would all be nice and good if I were a motivational speaker and sometimes that sort of thing sounds good. You know, all I need to do is go try out for the Notre Dame Football team, get in for one play and the rest will be history. Of course that might have already been done so I will have to come up with something else to conquer.

I am looking forward to this weekend and can’t wait to get through all the details and just get on the bus and be on our way. By God’s grace I hope that students both experience and better understand Truth. I look forward to teaching and seeing what comes of it. And then I look forward to a long night's sleep come Sunday.

the secret is out

2006-02-21T10:25:00.000-08:00

I work at a somewhat large church. Here is the secret to our success: mega church. Check it out and let me know if it works for you too.

the classics

2006-02-17T13:37:00.000-08:00

hi, my name is jon. and i work in a button factory. i've got a wife and two kids. one day my boss said, jon, are you busy? i said no. then push this button with your right hand.

hi, my name is jon. and i work in a button factory ...

oh just kidding. i hear that song all the time from our junior highers. they just can't get enough of the classics!

that's why i bought them time life's classic rock collection. from the byrds' 1965 mr. tambourine man hit to the delfonics' 1968 la la means i love you chart-topper, my students are here early and leave late! they can't get enough of what time life calls a classic rock explosion that'll leave you a changed man (or woman, as the case may be).

you know, they say you never forget your first kiss. and how could you? when the soundtrack of that premier smooch is playing tommy james and the shondells' hit, i think we're alone now, you've made a moment that's one for the history books.

so what's stopping you from stepping back to the classics? time life promises - no, it guarantees - that you'll be creating your own magical memories in no time.

well, looks like i need to get back to my junior highers. i hear someone crying out for 1965! it's true - once you've heard sam the sham and the pharoahs sing wooly bully, life will never be the same again.

just not the same

2006-02-13T17:46:00.000-08:00

AND

This past week with the middle school students we had a night where we had a panel of men and women and the students filled out cards where they asked questions to the half of the panel that was the opposite sex. Here are some of my favorites…

Questions from the boys to the women:
What makes a guy hot to a girl?
Why do girls care so much about what they wear?
Why do girls talk for such a long time about nothing?
Why do guys think it is so funny to fart and girls don’t?

Questions from the girls to the men:
Why do guys hit you when they like you?
Why are guys so stupid?
Why don’t guys say what they feel?
What do people feed boys that make them so hot?

I love their honesty. I love the open discussion about all they do not understand about the opposite sex and their basic understandings and misunderstandings. I know we jokingly say that the opposite sex is beyond our ability to understand but I would love a more open dialog like these students have where we can laugh at our differences while trying to learn to appreciate what seems so foreign to us.

Or maybe I will go out and buy one of the million books about this topic, write Ann Landers and call it a day.

stealing from cory

2006-02-09T11:31:00.000-08:00

Okay I know it is lame to post this since Cory does on his blog but you really should check this out. I am just thankful that all the times I have done the same thing it has not been caught on tape.

becoming more me

2006-02-07T09:59:00.000-08:00

I think I have rambled on this topic before on my blog but it has been on my mind again so I digress. Last week our staff team met for a day of planning, evaluating and sharing stories. A question that arose in a variety ways was ‘are people growing spiritually?’ and ‘what does it mean to grow?’ This question has plagued me since that discussion. I am also taking a class right now called spiritual growth which only complicates matters.

My experience in the past is that most people, me included, usually answer a question about spiritual growth with quantifiable activities like quiet times, amount of prayer, going to church, etc. I am growing if I do more of those things and I am not growing when I forget or lose interest in spending my time that way. Or maybe even more generally I am becoming more like Christ when I do more of the disciplines.

This has often been my practical theology. Not that I actually believe it but I live it out which I think is really more of a reflection of what I believe than any affirmation of some theological fact. Any yet at the same time, and I think this is a Rob Bell influence, I find myself taken with the idea of growth becoming more of who you are.

This is the idea that once you place your faith in Christ you are forgiven and alive when you were once dead. From that point on your reality is that you are perfectly forgiven and holy in God’s eyes. The rest of your time on earth is to become more and more of who you are. I am a saint, now I just need to learn to act like it. That is growth. I like this idea because I think it reflects what I see in scripture and is so freeing. It is no longer about guilt and always coming up short.

So what is growth and how do we foster it? What can we do if anything to help challenge people to move from where they are now at towards something better? Towards Christlikeness? I don’t really know. And as another topic for another day, what is up with the term spiritual growth? Is that a worthwhile term or is it a dangerous compartmentalization of our person? Maybe more on that later.

come on people

2006-02-01T18:13:00.000-08:00

Because it has been a long time since I have posted and I have had a hard time coming up with something to talk about I thought I would take a moment to rant on something that I hold near and dear. There are few things in life I love more than a good debate. I love hearing people who know far more than I ever will about a given topic put forth their best argument in an attempt to persuade listeners to come to their viewpoint.

I remember a night in college where a world renowned atheist and monotheist came together and in front of a few thousand people debated the existence of God. What stood out to me was the amount of respect that the debaters had for each other and the respectful and yet passionate way they presented their views.

As a Christ follower I believe that all that is Truth is God’s truth and will rise to the top of the sea of ideas that exist all around us. I also believe that we are blinded by sin and that it is by God’s grace that we can see the truth but it is out there and should be sought.

My pet peeve and the reason for blogging, other than to stop the ‘post now!’ comments, is that I sense that most people do not really believe in actual debate or the power of truth and instead feel obligated to use manipulation of facts and persuasion by emotionally misleading terms.

For example, saying that in the abortion debate you are pro-life. Come now, is that to suggest that the other side is pro-death? I believe strongly that abortion is wrong but I don’t believe my friends who disagree are gleeful when an abortion takes place. Of another example is a common response when a Christian is asked what his view is concerning a certain doctrine and he responds, ‘I believe what the bible says about ____’. Again, what does that make my view if I happen to not agree, the anti-bible view?

I think what set this idea off was hearing about the confirmation of Judge Alito and hearing how partisan the discussion was about his confirmation. It seems excepted in the political realm that people can and even should cherry pick cases to paint a person in a certain light even if that does not fairly represent the person.

Oh if we could just learn to fight fair.

hard to explain

2006-01-19T09:25:00.000-08:00

Honduras day 2
1.5.06

Our first full day of being in country is coming to an end and I am tired and a little sunburned. This morning our day began slowly, one of the reasons I love this culture, and we headed to the market. I watched as Luis bartered and chatted with local venders and I acted as the team mule by making repeated trips to the truck with melons, potatoes, eggs, and a variety of food I have no idea what they were over my shoulder.

In the afternoon we loaded up the truck and made the 2 ½ hour trip to Orica, home of the church that we have worked with the past few years. I love driving here. Each trip is an adventure. There are no observable laws and even the few stoplights are treated more as a suggestion than a rule. Upon arrival in Orica I adopted my persona of Juan Gordo (or Fat Jon) and spoke like a two year old. I asked penetrating questions like. What you team is favorite? Or Do you like a grade you have? I don’t even know what I am getting at sometimes but the people there are very gracious and patient with me.

Then came my favorite part of the day. Orica is out in the middle of the country and you have to travel along a winding dirt road over a pass in the brown colored hills to get there. It was time to leave Orica and I got the back of the truck just as the last bits of daylight faded into darkness. I put in my headphones and listed to some of Joshua Tree looking out over the dark landscape and up into the clear night sky. It was amazing and for a few minutes it felt like God was all around me and smiling down on me and swelling up within me. I wish I could put it into words and tell you, tell myself what it was like. But I can’t and regardless of my experience, that is what I love about the divine.

He can be experienced, talked about, related to, studied and yet never in a way that fully gives God justice. God is so much more. More than I think I will ever understand even given eternity to try. But I look forward to giving it a go.

word nerds

2006-01-18T09:48:00.000-08:00

For all you word nerds you really should check out: Lake Superior State University Banished Words List. Any words you felt they missed? I think I may have to give my own version from my work world. We shall see.

safety blanket

2006-01-17T13:07:00.000-08:00

Notes from Honduras…

I very much doubt that I will be able to get online while I am here in Honduras so I will be posting these blogs after getting back home.

It is the end of our first day here and there is a lot going through my head at the moment. Mostly questions that I really have no answer to. Such as, ‘what is the purpose of short-term missions?’ or ‘are they really helpful and the best of resources?’ or ‘how can our team be a reflection of Jesus with so many cultural barriers?’ But I don’t want to write about any of those questions and risk being overwhelmed with what I do not know. I feel that if I dwell on all the questions around me that I will be swallowed up and miss out on actually living.

Instead I want to write why I love being a part of trips like this. I love it because it reminds me to pray. Being a Christian I know that I need to pray. In fact I even enjoy praying most of the time. And yet I don’t do it. I forget. I don’t care. I don’t want to bother God. At least that is what I tell myself. The fact is, I think I am proud and I think I don’t need God. I can do life. I can handle myself and through good team work, lots of discussions, networking and reading the best resources I can figure out just about anything. What a load of crap.

Here in a different culture, I find myself in a world I do not understand. I am often confused and uncomfortable. I think people are talking about me when they are not. My clothing sticks out. I am way too pasty. All this and God’s grace makes me pray. I pray that I would enjoy people, different food, and limited conversations. I pray that I would not be judgmental of what I do not understand. I pray that I would communicate who Jesus is in a way that reflects truth and not just the United States. I pray that I will not just hide in my room until it is time to go home and I pray that I will not forget and drink the water.

Somehow this prayer out of desperation seems healthier than my normal day-to-day life. For now at least I feel like I can’t do life without help. I am pretty sure that is true back home as well and if I did not so easily wrap myself in the blanket of comfort I might be able to feel this intimate with my Abba wherever I go.

right kind of hurt

2005-12-30T09:18:00.000-08:00

I am finally coming to the end of Rob Bell’s book and I am sorry for multiple entries related to the same book but I love some of the questions that it is bringing up in my own mind and as usual I would love to hear any thought you might have.

Towards the end of the book he talks about the relationship with Christians and suffering. I am not sure if I understand him correctly and he does not go into it a great deal but here is what is going through my head.

I have grown up with the idea that scripture teaches that Christians who fully live out their faith in an authentic and bold manner are highly likely to suffer because of their faith. Although this has never been a significant focus of any Christian community it has always existed as a theological undercurrent that is important to the faith. According to my best recollections I can’t remember exactly what form of suffering we are to expect or why exactly we are to suffer except that we are ‘true’ Christians.

The impression that I have always had is that we suffer because we oppose something that society holds in high value and because it is evil we stand united against it and thus are ridiculed and persecuted. I still think this mindset makes sense in many situations but I wonder if the promise of suffering isn’t something more.

I think Bell proposes that suffering for a Christian is not about opposing parts of society as much as it is fully engaging and interacting with the suffering that already exists all around us. Jesus followers, if they want to be like him, will jump in two feet first into the pain of poverty, sickness, injustice, sin... And in doing so experience the suffering along with those who suffer. Suffering comes not because we are against popular society but because we draw near to the least. We hold the hand of the AIDS patient and weep with them because we know that the disease is evil that destroys this person who is more loved then we may ever know by the Creator.

This then poses the question in my mind that even if I am right in the previous paragraph, aren't there certain things we should stand against? Or are we merely to be against something by striving to be for its opposite? In what circumstances should we expect persecution that are for what is good and just and not just because we are making asses of ourselves in public?

What is the right kind of hurt?

in the back seat

2005-12-27T22:46:00.000-08:00

I am looking out as gray colored fields rush by along the interstate and listening to a mellow attitude producing mixed cds. Christmas celebrations are nearing their end. The Anderson family is packed into a seven passenger van traveling back from spending time with aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. The last few days have been inundated with the national pastime of overeating and sweatpants are now the clothing of choice.

The seven of us sitting crammed together for several hours takes me back to younger years. The reality of all of being in the same vehicle is an oddity in and of itself and now when we do find ourselves traveling together we each pull out our personal music players, books and try to squeeze into a comfortable world of our own. It has not always been this way.

Back in the day we had the mini-bus size van with maroon colored paneling and tough plastic covered seats. Each Christmas our family would pack up and travel first to see my mom’s side of the family and then onto my dad’s. We would make the time pass by trying to sleep. Making awkward piles of Anderson kids upon the van benches. Upon waking we would play ever popular games like ‘I spy” or the “alphabet game” which consisted of finding the alphabet in order outside anywhere outside of the vehicle.

It is good to grow up and hard not to romanticize the past. And yet at moments like this where I sit in the back of the van, I am transported back to a time not that long ago where things seem simpler in retrospect and I begin to miss my copy latest copy of the Hardy Boys and snack bag from my stocking that I would munch on without guilty feelings of an expanding waist line.

questions

2005-12-22T08:54:00.001-08:00

My job is to direct the middle school ministry at a church. Because of that I tend to ask churchy questions a lot. This week I have been asking the question, ‘how do you best create an atmosphere for ministry to happen?’ How do you call people to journey together to learn what the kingdom of God is and live in that kingdom? At what cost do you try and make Christianity fun and appealing? Is the gospel those things at its nature? It seems that the message of the cross appeals to our deepest desires.

We want community. Jesus invites us to be part of the body of Christ.
We want meaning. God calls us to be the light of hope in a dark and dying world.
We want to be loved. The Son died for our sake while we still hated him.
We want to be known. Our Maker knows us better than we know ourselves.

I am sure there are many many more…

So how does ministry happen? How do we share this life with others? How do we create safe places to ask questions like Matt, Sarah, Cory and Mary do?

How do you work with a population whose god is fun and meet them where they are? The above questions/blogs and being part of a number of interesting conversations this week makes me want to start a church. How awesome would it be to journey together with people you love looking at God’s Word and wondering along the way…

Does Satan exist?
What kind of life does God want us to have?
What role should Jesus followers play in their country's government and if we were in charge how would we govern with kingdom ethics?
Is the Bible really literal?
Does it have errors?

So many questions.

a little dancing

2005-12-19T09:54:00.001-08:00

I love this video: http://www.worldonfire.ca/ There are few things that bring tears to my eyes but the half-second shot of the kid doing that little dance in the streets is one of those few things. There is just something I find incredibly beautiful about scenes of joy in the midst of extreme hardship. A smile of joy in the midst of a garbage dump. It is as if to say that even when evil is at its worst, glimpses of God can be seen and those glimpses seem more real than God’s reflection in the midst of comfort. Maybe it is the contrast, maybe it is the hope for something better, maybe it is an honest picture of the state of this world compared to what is to come… I don’t really know what it is but I love that dancing kid.

for cory

2005-12-14T08:33:00.000-08:00

Cory you asked me to check out some of the reviews concerning Bell's new book so I went on Amazon and copied parts of the one that seemed to have the most issues with his work. Here are some of my thoughts as a reaction. (I see no reason to react to reviews that say, "I loved it! Best book ever.) Also I should give this reviewer credit but I could not find his name again so sorry...

He says:
The Good 1. Importance of Context - Rob is excellent on the importance of context in interpretation. He has read widely and deeply on the culture at the time of Christ, and it shows. Excellent. 2. Community - Points out the weakness of radical individualism and how it has infected the church. Calls us to community! Great! 3. A place for doubt - One of the great strengths of the book. As Frederick Buechner said, "Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it alive. They keep it moving. 4. Humility - As Millard Erickson said, we need to hold our beliefs with some humility, because we might be wrong. Rob agrees and points out the dangers of arrogance in belief. He is correct.

I argree with all this. Especially the point about asking the reader to challenge all that he writes. I love it when people present their ideas not as truth but as stabs at truth and are open to being questioned. I find myself disarmed by this approach and am more willing to listen and learn.

The Bad 1. Foundationally wrong on Adam and Eve. Rob asks, "Is the importance of Adam and Eve because it 'happened' or because it 'happens?'" He says because it 'happens,' i.e. because Adam's experience [of sin] is our experience. This is directly at odds with Paul's understanding of Adam (and of the rest of the NT's understanding for that matter) - see Romans 5 - 8, especially Romans 5. This is a foundational and crucial error. It is very important because it colors all of Rob's theology.

I think this just means that Bell would be from the Arminian camp and believes that people are not born sinful but at some point choose sin and become sinful. If my understanding is correct, then I may disagree with his statements but I do not think his stance is dangerous. I know several amazing Christians who are Arminian and truly love God.

2. Interpretation/Opinion. Rob seems to imply that one's "interpretation" of Scripture cannot be separated from one's "opinions." Of course the book is full of his own "interpretations" of Scripture, though he does not explain why his "interpretations" are any more valid than anyone else's. A non-Christian reading this book would say, "see, this is what I have been saying all along, why is your interpretation any more valid than mine?" If Rob has an answer for this, he does not give it.

This seems to be a good critism to me. Bell does seem to go out of his way to say that we bring ourselves to the text and that our worldview and culture deeply colors our interpretation of the Bible. While I personally agree with this, it also seems to me that as a statement of faith I believe the text does have a foundational truth and it is that truth we are seeking. It may be hard and we may never get there but that should be our journey. We should be careful to fully embrace our culturally influenced vision but instead see it as a reality that should be recognized as often getting in the way of seeing Truth.

3. Rob's trampoline/brick analogy is weak - and so sets a weak foundation for the book as a whole. For instance, can one deny the virgin birth and be a true, believing Christian? Sure. See Romans 10.9,10. Of course if one does not believe in the virgin birth, that is one spring on the trampoline that is broken. I assume Rob believes that there is a limited number of springs that can be broken and/or stretched beyond recognition before the trampoline fails and one injures oneself. How many springs would this be exactly? Rob doesn't say.

It is a good question about how far is too far before you lose the faith but does anyone know the answer to this? Not that I know. Also and Bell says this, it is an analogy so don't take it too far. People do the same thing all the time with Jesus' parables.

The Ugly 1. Truth. Rob claims that one reason why teens leave the church when they go out into the world, is because they are met with "truth" that is not found in Scripture and this destroys their whole belief system, because they have been told that the Bible "contains all truth." Is he serious? You have got to be kidding me. I suspect that not one teen has ever left the faith for this reason. Ever. They leave the faith because they get into the world and find that they have been living off their parent's faith, have not made it their own, and this is insufficient to deal with the problems the world throws at them. Because their faith is not genuine! And by the way, if Rob feels that unbelievers also distort the truth due to their own intepretation/sin/opinions, he does not say so.

A little harsh but good point I think. If anyone knows why so many teens leave the church after high school they really should share with the rest of us. I think that question is very complicated and to say there is one simple answer does a diservice to teens and youth pastors everywhere. And I bet at least one teen has left the faith for that reason.

So that seems to me to be the best critique I could find. And I know this is really not that interesting to most people but it was too long for a simple response to Cory.

what jon needs...

2005-12-12T09:33:00.000-08:00

Because all the cool kids are doing it...

What to do:
Go to google and write your name and the word ‘needs’, in quotes — as in “matt needs”. notice the first 10 sensical sentences that come up." here's what i got when i tried "jon needs" ...

1. Jon needs a poke in the other eye. (I did not enjoy the first)
2. Jon needs a new name. (agreed)
3. Jon needs help.
4. Jon needs a consequence for misbehavior; time outs usually work well. (they really do)
5. Jon needs to change his classroom management practices.
6. Jon needs to answer some questions.
7. Jon needs to come out of the closet. (hmm idk)
8. Jon needs to move on.
9. Jon needs to raise about $10000 American dollars in financial backing. (please feel free to send checks or cash)
10. Jon needs change for the bus.

(also at #12: Jon needs lots of support at the home front and elsewhere to help him maintain good boundaries.)

bounce bounce bounce

2005-12-07T08:29:00.000-08:00

I have been reading Rob Bell’s book, Velvet Elvis the past couple of weeks and one of his metaphors has stuck in my mind. It is about his trampoline and faith. It sticks because it reminds me of many times I have been with middle school students in the same sort of setting he describes.

The other day I was at Isaac’s house for a family dinner and as the food was being prepared the kids in the family and I messed around in their large backyard with footballs, Frisbees and their trampoline. Our time turned into a talent show of sorts as four out of the five kids took turns showing off what amazing things they could do on the trampoline. I swear I saw half a dozen near death experiences in fewer than ten minutes as they flipped, twisted and bounced for glory.

Then it was my turn. They challenged my to try the same things they had been doing. My cynical side suspected they just wanted to see death up close and figured I would be as good as anyone but in actuality I think they had pure motives. They desired that I experience some of the same exhilarating fun they were having. The rush of bouncing eight feet into the air, of being bounced to unexpected heights thanks to the timing of others on the trampoline.

I had a blast. However I need to be honest and admit that I was a wuss. Somehow in my old age I have become fearful of pain and go to great lengths to avoid it. But even in light of my limited willingness to experience all that the trampoline had to offer I had an amazing time.

Bell writes that our faith should be like jumping on a trampoline. I tend to pick metaphors apart and as my friend Cory points out I am cynical. But somehow this image has stuck with me this past week. I want to be experiencing Christ and all the joys and fears and risks that that involves and because of what comes from that ongoing experience I want to invite others to jump with me. Not because I am supposed to or because doing so makes me a better person but because I care about others and I want them to be part of something amazing.

That of course means that I need to think it is worth jumping myself. Do I believe that a life in Christ is something I would want those I love to have as well? Do I live what I confess with my mind? Do I find joy in a life in Christ? I am commanded to be joyful, not necessarily happy, but joyful. Am I?

God help me to learn to jump and by your grace invite those around me to do the same.

what to build on?

2005-11-29T08:25:00.000-08:00

I have been wondering about my faith lately.

As mentioned in prior posts I am reading about the classic Arminian/Calvin debate. Each camp in this debate holds to views that they see as foundational to their Christian faith. The books I have been reading have a level of humility that is refreshing and yet the authors hold firmly to their views.

People who have strong convictions challenge me. They know what they believe and they defend it to their last. And yet those sorts of people sometimes scare me. Like the man who stands at the center of the university campus declaring that all gays will burn in Hell. That man has strong convictions and maintains them despite popular belief. He thinks he is helping people; somehow pointing others towards God. I think he is dangerously wrong.

The question that keeps rumbling in my mind is this, ‘what beliefs are we to hold to dogmatically?’ or ‘As a Christian, what is essential to my faith?’ What is important but not essential? And what is merely window dressing?

What does God really think about gay marriage? Evolution in the public schools. The sort of government our country has. Stem cell research. International trade agreements. What is on television each night. Forgiveness of foreign debt relief. And so on and so forth.

The easy thing is to say these questions don’t matter and to get on living as I think I should. And there does seem to be some wisdom to that. And yet our actions are built on our beliefs so I want to be building on what is truly important. Now back to reading that claims to be foundational. I pray for wisdom.

take 2

2005-11-18T13:38:00.000-08:00

Okay I want to give this one more go to see if anyone that reads this has stories to share. This time I will be more specific in hopes that it will generate a little more feedback.

Many of us are passionate about helping those in need so please share what you do to help those who are without. Do you sponser a kid, send out missionaries, go yourself, buy random people lunch, serve at a food pantry, etc etc? The options are nearly endless and it would be awesome to hear what others do to make a difference in the world around them. Don’t think of this as bragging, since no one will likely know who you are, but instead as a chance to encourage and challenge those who read this (or maybe just me).

If this is a bad idea or just annoying I will give up soon if there is no response.

I want this to have only two guidelines for sharing stories:

1. All posts need to be anonymous. It is good to share what we are doing but we need not run the risk of this being a place of pride.

2. You can only share ideas for others if you have tried it yourself.

care to share?

2005-11-16T08:50:00.000-08:00

I only have a few minutes before I need to leave for an afternoon full of meetings but here is something that has been on my mind the last day or so…

I love reading and thinking in ideals and this is where I spend much of my mental time. I want to see the world become a better place. I want the church to be the bride of Christ and not dirty herself so quickly. I want Jesus followers to help the poor, cure the sick, care for those who everyone else has given up on. I want societies, when they think of Christians, to think of the above things and not of all that is negative. I want to care for the environment, to celebrate the arts, to find Truth all around us…

But then my idealism runs hard into reality and I get a bloody nose. I hate how much I and in turn so many of my passionate generation can talk but how at least I feel the task is so big that there is little that I can do. I know that deep down it is about each of us doing the little things. Things like sending money where it is needed, going on short-term trips to have our eyes opened and start relationships, it is giving a dollar, an extra shirt, saying a kind word, inviting a friend to church, recycling. It is not merely being nice people but it is being the hands of feet of Christ and doing all the small things. Together as we do that we can and will make a difference.

Here is my suggestion and we will see if this will even get off the ground. I want to create a forum to share stories of how we are taking steps even small ones to make a difference to move towards the ideals it seems that we all have. I want to create a place, maybe this blog, to post stories and links of what we are involved with.

I want this to have only two guidelines for sharing stories:

1. All posts need to be anonymous. It is good to share what we are doing but we need not run the risk of this being a place of pride.

2. You can only share ideas for others if you have tried it yourself.

So with that said I would love to hear what you, specifically Christ followers, are all doing, small or big to be the body of Christ on earth. I would love for the stories to begin. (if the response is at all good I am thinking of starting a separate blog just for these sorts of stories but then again I am an idea person and maybe this is not a good one)

another one bites the dust

2005-11-09T22:35:00.000-08:00

I have only a few minutes left of being 27 and I thought I would take a few minutes to reflect on this past year.

Instead of coming up with a boring list of my year in review let me share five highlights: (in no particular order)

1. The chance to speak at Fort Wilderness. There was something always about the camp speaker that seemed beyond reach. I never did normal camp but I did go to family camp (aka dork camp) but even there the camp speaker was cool. Having the chance to be the speaker was stressful and challenging and I love how much it pushed me to depend on God. I wish it were not true that I need new and hard things in my life to push me back towards God but it is a pattern that can be easily seen in my life. It was also fun because I was able to do only the things I like and skip all the stuff I don’t. I worked on talks and played with kids. Good times, oh yeah and I was able to do the famous mud run.

2. Running in Grandma’s marathon. This happened to be the day after camp and I am not sure what I was thinking but after some nervous moments and last minute car troubles where the mechanic told me, ‘If I were you I would not use your breaks’, I made it to Duluth and joined my friend Katie the night before the race as we talked excitedly about things like how much we would eat for breakfast and when the best time would be to go to the bathroom for the last time before the race. When I finished I did not feel like Hell, but good would not be a word I would use either and was then able to go back and have a deep fried turkey and drink Spotted Cow after a long bath. Thanks Shannon for that and for your parents inviting me to their church.

3. Madison Missions: We had a weeklong missions trip in our own city and over the course of a week were able to put in hundreds of community service hours. The most exciting part was seeing students get excited about serving and doing it together in community. Now I know that student events often end in highly emotional times and that I should not overvalue these times but it was so cool to see students from different friend groups hugging and crying for a couple hours at the end of a time of foot washing. It was one of those times where God feels tangibly in the room.

4. Dating Mary. We had been friends for several years and kept in touch on a regular but infrequent basis. I took a class this summer near Chicago and we were able to spend a lot of time together. At the end of that time, I was finally able to get the guts to ask her to date me and, in a moment of confusion, she said she would (I will ask her before I put anything more up on the blog).

5. Backpacking with the boys. After my class in August and before another year of ministry began, I was able to head north with Jared and Matt and hike through the Porcupine mountains. There are few things that refresh my soul like being with close friends and talking about everything from politics to religion to things I should not mention. I really have amazing friends and I am reminded of that each time I get to spend time with them.

So that is the year in review. Not as funny as the last post but at least I wrote it.

dear jon

2005-11-09T14:40:00.000-08:00

on my last day of being 27, i am writing myself a letter. and lucky you, you know my blog address, so you get to read it, too. here goes nothing. zoop!

dear jon,

you are ridiculously good-looking. i am fond of you. you are very popular. so popular, in fact, that hardly anyone notices that you are losing your hair. but the fact that you can grow lots of facial hair says a lot about your ability to do other things well - like climb mountains. i mean, when was the last time you saw a guy climb a mountain who DID NOT have facial hair? yeah, you can climb a mountain. better yet, you can climb EVERY mountain.

jon, remember those nights in junior high when you played the "sound of music" soundtrack just to center yourself after a long, hard day in the cruel middle school world? you sang "climb every mountain" so well, i don't know why they would not let you audition for the part of maria in the school play sophomore year. you told them that sandy duncan played peter pan. they are so sexist. goodness.

but jon, the thing is, i do not want you to forget that you rock. so i want to dedicate this song to you for the next year of your life. it is outdoorsy and dreamy. just like you. may it guide, inspire and be always on your mind.

with all of my love,
jon

climb every mountain

climb every mountain, search high and low
follow every byway, every path you know.
climb every mountain, ford every stream,
follow every rainbow, till you find your dream!

a dream that will need
all the love you can give
every day of your life
for as long as you live

climb every mountain, ford every stream,
follow every rainbow, till you find your dream!

my brain hurts

2005-11-02T21:58:00.000-08:00

This last week we started a discussion in my class that will last for the next month and a half. It is the Calvinist vs. Armenian debate or somewhat unfairly known as the free will verses predestination debate. This discussion reminds me of the golden age of college where my roommates and I would nightly debate issues ranging from the biblical role of para-church organizations to the aforementioned discussion. We would sit around our living room and while the other person spoke, conjure up responses that were sure to stop everyone else in the room in their tracks and reduce them to shock and awe. Sadly this never happened.

So now my theology class will be spending the next several weeks discussing and debating how we should best understand God’s sovereignty and how it relates to our free will. Did Jesus die for everyone? Does God choose those who will be saved or do we have the freedom to respond? Does our freedom include the ability to be saved at one time and later lose that salvation? If God chooses people why try and share the hope of Christ? If God chooses to send some people to Hell for his glory, is he a loving God? (see Melissa’s blog at http://pauserewinderase.blogspot.com/ for similar discussion) And there are thousands more questions along these lines.

The point of this blog is that as we have begun this debate I am coming to the clear understanding that my theology contains many a contradiction and I am not sure how much I care. I am quite sure that I hold to views, although I am not sure exactly what they are, that are not logically consistent together. And the reason that I am not sure if I care is that all examples within history that I know of that have attempted to come up with a fully logical and error free system has jumped wildly into either heretical beliefs or limited theology.

Now I still want to weed out of my life things that are illogical but I don’t want to spend my days focusing on that. I want to live a life that is fully obedient to scripture which I believe by faith is without contradiction when correctly understood. I do not want to be lazy but I also know that these debates can drown living out of our faith. I want to learn how to balance sincere glorification of God with my mind AND living according to what I now know. We shall see how that goes.

leaking all over the place

2005-10-26T09:40:00.000-07:00

So far this year, there has been a slow cancer growing within the ministry that I am a part of. As with actual cancer, things at first look fine but under the skin there is a spreading risk and, if not taken care of, will lead to death.

This may be overly dramatic but that has been my sense for the last couple of months and I have had no idea what to do about it. I know the answer (or at least part of the answer) is to pray. This first step is hard for me. I feel that because I work at a church, prayer should be like breathing but it is not. Prayer is hard for me and does not come naturally. Sad. But praise God He loves me right where I am at and has opened my eyes. The source of our problem begins with me.

Our cancer is this: over time our ministry has lost purpose. In church speak, we have lost vision. Our adult team and students gather each week, get through our programming, have fun, and then go home. Put this process on repeat and you can get through a year safely and things look fine. Over time people begin to lose interest, are not willing to sacrifice their resources, and take no part in the community. Next thing you know, things begin to get too busy and before long, we're just creating a Christian club. I believe that is our current diagnosis - or at least we are feeling its first symptoms.

But the truth is we exist for an awesome purpose. There are thousands of middle school students in our community that are lost without Christ. Those three years of life are foundational to a person’s development and often determine the path their lives will follow in regards to all aspects of their being. We have a unique opportunity to provide a place where students can experience the Kingdom and know the extravagant love of God for them. We have the chance to share the Hope that gives amazing meaning and purpose to life. And though we're affected by another cancer that is sin, we know by God’s grace the cure for all that separates us from God. We have the chance to be part of life-changing community that walks with people through all the insane things that a student has to deal with. We desire to build healthy community that reaches out to a larger community that is lost without Him.

That vision is worth giving up time, money and energy for. That vision has eternal significance that will far outlast any degree, paycheck or material possession. We have the real opportunity to spend eternity with those whom we have poured our lives into. That is amazing to think about.

I have been remiss for not keeping this vision at the forefront of all that we do. For this I am sorry. Now by God’s grace I pray that we will move forward with eternal purpose and be part of changing lives that are moving towards the very likeness of Christ. That is something worth giving your life for.

jump around

2005-10-25T06:23:00.000-07:00

I love this picture so I thought I would put it up. It is from my time in Germany this spring and it must have taken at least 10 tries to get. Left to right: Jenn, John, me, my sis Sara.