I hate commercials...BUT YOU GOTTA SEE THIS ONE!

I've never even heard of that candy bar, but when if I ever see it, I'm buying one. (and I'm buying one for my wife too!)

New edges in the Kingdom...

This is a fantastic video that features a bunch of folks who are exploring the new shapes and new postures of life together (read that as church if you need to) in the Kingdom of God. If you've got about 10 minutes, this video paints some vivid and intriguing pictures of some of the new possibilities for what church community actually looks like.

Here's my challenge to you. Watch this video and start dreaming about what God might be whispering into reality in terms of new shapes, new postures, new understandings of what church IS.

TransFORM: Missional Community Formation from TransFORM on Vimeo.

Meet Malawi

This was one of my all time favorite Sundays. (And not just because I didn't have to preach).

Today at the Launch, we got to hear from our Meet Malawi team. All but 2 of the 13 team members who went to Malawi were able to be with us. They took turns each sharing significant aspects of the trip. We saw pictures, heard songs, listened to stories, and shared in the vision for what God is doing in us and through us. We celebrated communion using cups, bowls, and baskets that were made in Malawi. And we affirmed together the relationship of mutual encouragement we will be developing with the church in Lisanjala, Malawi. We took up the offering Malawi style (which meant we kept taking it up all service long!) We even imitated Malawian worship by having our longest service ever!

It was impossible to miss the energy, passion, and transformation that the Meet Malawi project is creating in our midst! (It was REALLY visible during the video clip of Tim Jefferson dancing!)

If you missed it and you'd like to hear the stories for yourself, look over on the right column of this blog. Under Sermon MP3's, just click on the link that says Malawi Presentation. After it loads, it will begin to play automatically.

Extra special thanks to the Malawi team for sharing today!

I love books that shake my world...

here's a quote from a book I'm reading right now:

The word missional theologically means "to be sent," so leaving is where living like a missionary really begins. Leaving isn't just about going overseas. It's about replacing personal or Christian activities with time spent building relationships with people in the surrounding culture.

Have you ever considered that, as followers of Christ, we are all called to LEAVE??? (see above)

Like I said, shaking my world. I love it. Let me just say loudly and clearly, as a pastor, if any of you folks who belong in our church community feel like you need to STOP coming to our church activities because you want to spend more time building relationships with those around you (relationships in which you can "incarnate the gospel") then know without a shadow of a doubt that you have my full blessing. I'd even say you are on the right track!!!

Stay tuned for thoughts on HOW we go once we decide to "leave"...

A lamb among wolves

In Luke 10, Jesus says that he is sending us out like lambs among wolves. What do you think it looks like for us to live as a lambs among the wolves? (Or on the other hand, what might it look like for us to live instead as wolves among the wolves?)

Best answer wins a prize.

CS Lewis quote...

This was the quote on the screen Sunday during the sermon.

He works on us in all sorts of ways. But above all, he works on us through each other. Men are mirrors, or carriers of Christ to other men. Ususally it is those who know Him that bring Him to others. That is why the church, the whole body of Christians showing Him to one another, is so important. It is so easy to think that the church has a lot of different objects - education, buildings, missions, holding services … the Church exists for no other purpose but to draw men to Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any
other purpose.  - C.S. Lewis

I have Mere Christianity in my office if you'd like to borrow it.

Somebody just told me that....

October is Pastor Appreciation Month. I had no idea.

Interestingly, it wasn't someone from my church that told me. Hmmm.

This is a great experiment...

My question is...are there any implications from this study about the way we do church?

What do you think?

Good stuff

"We shall never learn to know ourselves except by endeavoring to know God, for, beholding His greatness, we realize our own littleness; His purity shows us our foulness; and by meditating upon His humility we find how very far we are from being humble" ... Teresa of Avila (1515)

This week's sermon...

We had some technical difficulties this week and the sermon recording somehow didn't quite work. So if you are looking for the sermon to prepare for your small group, you'll need to read the manuscript.

Here it is:
Heroes: Week 4 - The movement

Heroes series intro:
I want to again thank our friends over at Granger who gave us the outlines for this series.


So last week, we heard a little teaser report from our team that went to Malawi a few weeks ago. And there was something in there that I haven’t been able to get out of my head. Christy Hurt shared her prayer with us, the prayer that she said over and over leading up to and during that trip. She prayed, “God take care of my family. And God change me.”

That just blows me away. Christy is at the top of her field as a law professor. She’s got a great family. And here she is asking God to change her, to grow her. Christy had this sense that God was beckoning her forward into something more. To become something more. Jesus, change me.

Tell me I’m not the only one for whom that resonates. I would bet that there are a host of us, who have felt that at one time or another. We wanted to turn our feet towards god and step in that direction. Maybe we were on that path for awhile. Felt close to God, close to the call he had for us. God seemed close at hand.

Maybe you remember some of the decisions that got you off the path. Maybe wrong decisions, or maybe simply chasing after the wrong things. Somehow, you got off the path. And instead of screaming down the highway journeying with God, I chose another direction and now I look around and just sort of feel like I missed it.


GPS Devices. Ours is called Maggie (Magellan). It was really helpful when we moved here, until we realized that everything is square here - not the people, the roads, I mean. How many of you ever think you know better than computer lady and go straight instead of turning right? Wives, you can answer for your husbands. We just decide, I’m going my own way. Initially, computer lady...she’s upset. Go back. U-turn. But we refuse, we drive on. I said turn, turn. Then after awhile, we realize computer lady was right. Our first instinct is to just go back to where I missed the turn. I’ll go back to where I made the mistake and from there I’ll get back on the right path. But computer lady knows better. Knows I’m so far from where I missed the turn, that it would be better if I just started where I am. Instead of me going back to where I messed up, computer lady says, “Recalculating route.” Ok here we are. In this together. no going back, better off if we just figure it out from here. Start where you are. This is our reality. Can’t go back. Can only start from right here where I am right now.

I’ve talked to alot of people who have this sense that they missed a bunch of turns in life. People who tell me there was a time when they felt close to God and were excited about following Jesus. But they just missed it. Now, they look around and feel like they are pretty far off the path. And they want it back. They long for that sense of purpose and joy they got from following Christ, but how do you get back on the path. How do we get back to what I had when I was 17?
You can’t go back. You’re old. You’re not there anymore. You are here. We all, every day, have to just start where we are. Can’t pretend all that didn’t happen. You are totally different, different knowledge, skill sets, relationships, wisdom from lots of mistakes. Time to recalculate the route from right where we are today.

That’s the beauty of the whole Jesus story. Whenever we realize we missed our turn and we’ve gotten off track, Jesus is right there waiting for us, saying “I can work with that. Let’s recalculate your route. I’ve got some great things for you to do.”

So, WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE TO ASK GOD TO RECALC MY ROUTE???

Paul in Acts 16 - There is this story about a possessed slave girl. The story tells us that she has an evil spirit that helps her tell the future and her owners were making money off her. didn’t care about her. cared about the money they made off her. And she’s following Paul and Silas screaming out, “these men are servants of the most high God who are telling you the way to be saved.” For days, she did this. followed them screaming that over and over again. And then, this is one of those great understatements in the Bible. It says Paul was in great distress. He can’t stand it any more. She’s driving them crazy. And through the power of Christ, Paul sets her free. The woman goes from being an overwhelming inconvenience to being a divine interruption.

This story brings up so many questions for me. Like, why didn’t they just set her free the first time they saw her? Why did they let this go on for days. Maybe because they were in a hurry. Had a plan. Somewhere to be. Something to do. She wasn’t a part of their chosen route.

Well the story goes on. She is set free. The evil spirit in her is gone so she can’t prophecy anymore. Owners outraged at loss of their income stream. They have P and S thrown in prison. Jail? For setting this girl free? If I’m in Paul and Silas’s shoes, I’m saying that’s it. I’m done. That’s the last time I try to help you out God. When I set off on this journey this was not the destination I had in mind. Paul & Silas could have said, well, wrong turn. Journey over. I’m done. But they don’t

Paul says, Lord I’m here. These are my circumstances. I didn’t plan to be here but here I am. Where do you want me to go from here? Recalc. my route.

In verse, 25 they are sitting in jail & what do they do? Pray and sing and worship. Everyone else listening, well yeah, captive audience. Kind of like church sometimes. Suddenly there is this earthquake, doors open, chains fall off. Guard about to commit suicide if prisoners escape. P&S says stop we’re all still here. He’s amazed. He listens to their story and asks what can I do to be saved. They tell him about Jesus - about how he died so that we can be forgiven and can live life abundantly right now.

Because Paul and Silas repeatedly allow God to recalculate their route, this man and his whole family come to faith.

God take care of my family. Jesus change me.

God is calling us simply to cooperate with him and stand against injustice cruelty poverty brokenness.

Shamma in 2 Samuel.
This was their pattern, cruel, evil, resulted in hunger and poverty. Philistines would come and steal their harvest. this year as every year, they would come and the israelites would flee. except for one. His name was Shamma
He holds his ground. he beat back the phils. he said NO MORE. no more injustice.


David same thing in 1 Samuel. Every day Goliath comes out and mocks the people of God. And David says, NO MORE. Living Bible - "don’t worry about a thing. I’ll take care of it". 

There comes a point where we say, that’s enough of that. so were gonna do something about it. We’re done with it. You know what I hadn’t planned on this. I’m surprised, but I’m in a community with alot of needs, and its gotta end. So God recalc my route.”

God take care of our family.
Jesus change us.

God wants justice humility mercy kindness. We’re just trying to help with GOD’s agenda. We as a church are committing to do something about the brokenness we see around us. We are committed to setting people free through the power of Christ. We’re going to do something about it. But it’s going to require all of us standing together. Each of us saying, God take care of our family. God change us.

God I wasn’t planning on this, but recalculate my life.


Do you remember Peter? 3 times Peter denies Christ. WAS on course, but makes a big mistake, gets way OFF course. That could have been the end for Peter. God didn’t want peter done. didn’t want him out of the race. jesus comes to Peter and says let’s recalculate your route from right where you are lets go.

Acts 2 - Peter stands up and preaches in the same community where he had not that long ago denied Peter. He preaches about the saving love of Jesus and about being set free by the power of Christ and 3000 people say I want that too.

God take care of my family.
Jesus change me.


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Look at pledge card. help out in these areas, ways to be a hero. plug in, do what I can right where I am. add value, increase our carrying capacity, etc.

Find an area where you’d like to be a hero.
lord heres where I am. I think I can help with this.
I think I can get involved right where I am and start cooperating with you and making a difference. I’m ready, God. Ready to do my part to bring the light of your love, your grace, mercy, compassion to those who don’t realize how much they matter to you.

Now if you look at this pledge card, you’ll notice that all these boxes are things in here. Scott haven’t you been telling us for 2 years that God wants us out there? Yes I have and yes He does.

Let me explain it this way. How many of you have heard of the 80 / 20 rule? Usually it means that 20% of the people do 80% of the work right? Well, we’re gonna take the 80 / 20 rule and mix it up a bit. Because our goal is 100% of us playing our part and being the hero. The 80/20 rule for us, is gonna mean this: We want every single person who is a part of our fellowship joining God in His mission.

And we want you to spend 80% of your energy doing the thing that you were made to do. 80% doing the thing that gives you life and purpose. The thing that makes your heart come alive. But even a hero has to take the garbage. We want you to give 20% of your energy towards doing the things that help us take care of one another. 20% towards the things that help us increase our carrying capacity, our ability to care for and love more people. 80% towards what brings your heart to life.
20% towards what helps the

Here’s the beauty of it. In the Kingdom of God, even the 20% can make an eternal impact. Jane Bernthal comes in here sometimes on Sunday mornings and makes this tables look great. When I’m in charge of it, the tables are lucky to get the cross set up. When she adds her touch, I can just feel the creative spirit of God weaving through here. And somebody comes for the first time and may not even consciously notice the tables, but definitely notices the spiritual feeling the candles help create and Jesus uses that moment to grab hold of that person’s heart. Jane is using her God-given gift of creativity and offering her 20% towards decorating the tables and it matters.

Here’s another side to it. Some people’s 20% will be another person’s 80%. Some of you might sign up for helping in children’s Sunday School and you’re doing it because you just know somebody needs to. That’s great. But some of you, look at these kids on Sunday morning and you just feel the Spirit of God tugging at your heart to pour into those kids. You were made for that. When you watch people like Patty Farthing talk to a 7 year old, you’re seeing Jesus at work. It’s beautiful.

Here’s how I filled mine out.
This may confirm your notions that something’s not quite right in my head, but I like middle school kids. I think they actually like me. I love hanging out with, goofing off with, and talking about Jesus and real life with teenagers. So I checked “youth ministry” and I wrote “Junior High please” on the line. And I’m volunteering on Wednesday nights at junior high youth group and I’m loving it. We’re having a blast.

I want to ask you this morning to find your 80. It may be found taking care of the family. Or it may have nothing to do with Sunday mornings. What’s your 80?
But I also want to ask you to find your 20. Even a hero has to take out the trash sometimes.

God take care of your family.
Jesus change me.

Jesus help us change the world

And for my next trick...

This is the 200th post on my blog.
As such, I'm celebrating by posting an updated suggestion for our sign in the cornfield outside Barkstall.

Thought for the day

"Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction."

Meet Malawi Project pictures...

If you'd like to see the pictures from the Meet Malawi Project team, they are now available. Just click on the link below. Notice that there are a whole bunch of different albums (each person on the team is uploading their personal set of pictures). There are also albums featuring some of the different stops along their journey.

Take your time and browse each set. It's a great way to get a feel for what the team experienced. There are some amazing pictures in here.

Meet Malawi Pictures

Enjoy!

Monday's Leadership Nugget

"The leader must appreciate that the vision is the deepest "yes", and as such, the integrity of the vision requires a thousand no's."

- Will Mancini in Church Unique

ALMOST HERE!!!!

The Malawi Team is on the LEX bus and on their way to Champaign. They'll be arriving at Illini Terminal on University, sometime between 2 and 2:30pm.

So if you want to be sure to be there when their bus arrives, best bet is to get there just before 2pm.

Amazingly, every leg of their trip home (except for the first one - flat tire) has been ahead of schedule.

Hope you can join us at the terminal to welcome them home!

Malawi Update - The Return...

Hey folks.
If you are considering joining us at the train / bus station to welcome the Malawi Team back home, just a quick update on timing. They will be returning this Sunday afternoon. The group may actually be back at the station as early as 2:30pm. That is actually the time on their LEX reservation. Of course that all depends on quite alot of things going just right. So it may be later than that.

We figure that we'll know for sure before the 10:30 service ends and we should be able to announce it at that point.

I'll also come home and update my blog immediately with a more specific arrival time.

Bottom line, we'll have to play it by ear a bit. But we do hope you'll find a way to come join us in celebrating the faithfulness of our Malawi Team by welcoming them home!

Thanks much.

Malawi Welcome Home Party

We want to invite you all to join us in welcoming the Malawi Team back to Champaign.
We'll be meeting them at the Train Depot / Bus Station on University.

They are currently scheduled to arrive at approximately 3:45pm on Sunday afternoon. Obviously that could change depending on the timeliness of planes, luggage, buses, etc. We should hear from them during the 10:30 worship services and will be able to confirm at both campuses what time they will be arriving.

By all accounts, it has been a great trip and I think it would be a wonderful wrap up to the trip if we had a crowd of folks there to welcome them home!

Stay tuned for more.

Malawi update - Thursday

Everything is going great. It genuinely sounds like the team members have just been blown away on this trip. In those short little calls, we can seriously hear it in their voices. God is working in them! Can't wait to hear all the details.

One little tidbit from yesterday. The team got to go on a moonlight safari drive. So they were out in the middle of nowhere, out in the midst of the African wildlife, and they get a flat tire. Can you imagine sitting there in the pitch black, not really knowing what's around you, waiting on the tire to get changed? Well, sounds like it was fixed easily and the safari drive was great.

God is good. Can't wait to hear more!

Keep praying.

Malawi update - Wednesday!

Many thanks to Tim Jefferson and Greg Cozad whose cell phones have made it possible for the team to occasionally stay in touch with us! Every few days, we're getting calls (that usually last about a minute) with super quick updates.

Here's the latest.
The group spend yesterday and part of today with Opportunity International. This is the organization through whom we are providing micro-financing to people in Lisanjala grow their own businesses. Our team got to meet together with the trust group (the group of 15 or so local people who received loans together and who meet together for spiritual support and business mentoring). Our team also got to experience the training seminar that the Opportunity International clients receive. It's pretty exciting to know that our partnership has allowed a whole group of families to work themselves out of poverty and to increase their ability to provide food for the families, education for their children, and many other things.

This evening, our team was headed to a wildlife preserve where they are hoping to catch up rest and showers and also will get to see some of the beauty and natural wonder of Malawi.

Tomorrow the team will be visiting a few other villages to learn about some of the ways that churches are healing their communities through health clinics and clean water programs. The team is hoping that these experiences will reveal new ways that God might be inviting us to partner with our new friends in Malawi.

Keep them in your prayers. And keep praying for all of us who are waiting expectantly (if not so patiently) for our loved ones to get back home!!!

Monday update from Malawi

Well, it turns out some actual details got lost in translation when we were talking with Melissa on the cell phone, with speaker phone, held up to my microphone at church.

The Malawi team has not had a shortage of drinking water. There has been enough of that. What they've been missing is running water. Which means showers and flushable toilets have been temporarily sacrificed. But I talked with Melissa today and she said the water is running again and everything is great.

In case you missed this in earlier information, the team spent Sunday afternoon and all day today "shadowing" a family in the village of Lisanjala. This means they just spent the entire 2 days living life with a family. I know that as the team prepared for the trip, these 2 days of shadowing were the part they were most nervous about. What would they eat? Where would they go to the bathroom? What would they spend their time doing? What would they talk about? HOW would they communicate? The amazing thing is that from everything we've heard, these 2 days of shadowing may just turn out to be everyone's favorite part. We are hearing so many amazing stories of our team members just being so incredibly embraced, welcomed, and loved. It sounds phenomenal. Can't wait to hear more about it!

Keep the team in your prayers!

Malawi Update from Sunday, Sept 20

This was a complete surprise - I didn't find out about it until about 5 minutes before worship on Sunday.
But the Malawi team was able to phone us from Lisanjala during worship. It was pretty darn cool! Though I have to admit it was tough to hear my wife's voice and not be able to just chat with her a little. But anyway.

Here's what we heard:
They are having an awesome experience. When they arrived at the airport in Malawi, they were greeted by a choir from our sister church! This is pretty remarkable, because many of those choir members had never even been to the big city, much less to the airport. It was a tremendous display of welcome from our sister church members!

The group spent Sunday morning worshipping with our sister church in Lisanjala. They had a big crowd, including well over 150 kids. Scott Anderson and Jeannie Murray gave a children's message that included some lessons on dental hygiene! Even though they had way more kids than they were expecting, the supply of toothbrushes and toothpaste that Scott brought "multiplied" and every kid got one of each. Melissa and Rick participated in the service and we gave the church a communion service set that was engraved with the names of our two churches on it. I believe that set was used for communion that day!

By the way, the worship service lasted between 4 and 5 hours, which was great to hear seeing as how I preached another marathon sermon yesterday!

The team members were matched up with host families from the village and they spent Sunday afternoon. It sounds like every host family had a person with them who could translate for our team members. They spent the day learning about each other's culture and way of life. The team members gave gifts to each family. I heard that Greg Cozad brought a picture album that his host family had a great time looking through with him.

They are having a few challenges. The banks have been closed for several days due to a national holiday, so they haven't been able to exchange money into the local currency. There also appears to have been a shortage of water, due to rationing. They mentioned that this was an insightful experience into the real need for clean drinking water. Melissa mentioned that they were drinking alot of Coke for the time being. A later text message suggested that the water issue had been worked out.

They asked for prayers for continued health, protection, and safety. Let's all continue to pray that God would work mightily in the hearts of our team members and that they would return so full of God's love and God's heart that they would lead us to an ever greater vision for what it means to love our neighbor!

From everything we hear, it sounds like our team members are being warmly welcomed and are jumping head first into the lives of the people in Lisanjala. We only caught hints of the ways they are being impacted and can't wait to hear more! Tim Jefferson may have summed it up best with a one word text message he sent to Kelley: "Amazing."

Malawi update #3

And the journey continues...
The Malawi team has arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa. They'll spend the night there before the last leg of the trip to Malawi.

Malawi update #2

I got a text at around 10:30 last night saying that the group had arrived in Senegal (which is on the northwest coast of Africa). They were stopping to refuel. Right about now, they should be approaching South Africa where they will spend the night. They've been gone for about 24 hours and still have one more flight to go. It's a long way to Malawi!

The journals that Carol Thomas made for the kids are phenomenal. They've been a great way for the kids to process through some of the emotions of mom being gone. Thanks Carol.

Malawi update #1

Got this from Scott Anderson around noon today. It was too good not to post...

Hi Scott. You encouraged me to take this "leap of faith" and I'm so glad you did. This place is amazing!! A whole different world. Talk about diversity. The energy level here is amazing and we are all getting along great. The food is just so so but that's not surprising. Haven't seen any wild animals yet but lots of interesting people watching. That's all for now. From gate B17 at O'Hare. Ndapita (goodby in chichewa)

I love that guy!
Keep praying for the team as they are departing Chicago right about now.

Meet Malawi Project hits the road...

Actually they are in the air. The team of 13 left Champaign this morning at 7:30 and are on their way ultimately to the village of Lisanjala in Malawi. Please keep them in your prayers. The team is so excited about seeing how God is going to work in them and through them as this new mission partnership kicks off.

I need a hero....

Heroes.
Fall Sermon Series @ the Launch.
Starts September 20th

Have you ever had the feeling you were meant for something extraordinary?

A long time ago, events were set in motion that destined humans to experience life with unbelievable freedom and extraordinary abilities. Within us, with God's help, lies the potential to forever impact the world...in all it's brokenness. Poverty, loneliness, disease, hunger, and darkness have settled over our planet like a plague.

The brightest hope for a dying world?

Men and women who will recognize their abilities and act, right where they are. It could cause a ripple-like effect the world has never known and the waves of change are already beginning.

Ordinary people, with extraordinary abilities.

We call them HEROES.

Join us as we spend 5 weeks exploring the hero within each of us - the God given abilities and strengths that enable us to give back. Think you don't have anything like that inside of you? Think again.

You were meant for something extraordinary.


PS. I double dog dare you to invite a friend!

One Car Wednesday...

Sorry for the long delay with no blog updates.
Been tough to get back in the groove since vacation! But here we go.

So, I am averaging 3 days a week of biking to work. It's about 6.5 miles each way. So just under 20 miles a week. Our Subaru gets roughly 22 mpg in the city. So I estimate that I'm saving roughly just under a gallon of gas a week by biking.

That's kind of fun.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to say a special thanks to the grey Honda civic that passed me on Kirby (just west of Duncan). I know it was important to get in front of that truck when the lanes merged. I just hope I didn't hinder your progress. Thanks for trying to give me a half inch of clearance as you sped by. I literally felt your side view mirror brush my hand as you passed. I only hope I didn't put a scratch on your mirror. I'd feel bad if I did.

Vacation highlights

What an awesome vacation. 2 weeks...no internet. Just relaxing.

We spent the first 4 days camping in North Carolina with our old friends Jeff and Steph. Great campsite right on the New River (which is actually the oldest river in America - they say). Spent a day canoeing on the river - then floating down in it on pink dollar store pool rafts, which I think really impressed the locals.

Spent a few days in Durham at our friend's house. Toured Duke University (the chapel there is stunning). Had one of the best burritos of my life at a place down the street. If you're ever in Durham, its the Mexican restaurant with the cow on top of the roof.

Then our friends took us swimming at an old rock quarry. Me and Jeff went cliff jumping off a 25 foot cliff. I tried to be macho and just climb right up and jump. It worked until i hit the water. It kind of felt like there was an inch of concrete on top of the water. Fortunately for me the kids didn't see my first jump so I got to experience it twice. There was also a pretty cool rope swing, except that you had to climb a tree to reach the rope. I have to give myself some props for pulling a full back flip off the rope swing on my first try.

We spent the last week down at my folks lake house on Lake Harding in Alabama. This was one of the best vacation weeks of my life. I'm not trying to make any kind of lifestyle statements here, but I seriously think that disconnecting from the internet, and texting, and (gasp) Facebook, for a week was the biggest part of helping me relax. We went out on the boat about a dozen times. The kids spent hours on the inner tube behind the boat. And I spent hours doing absolutely nothing.

But i did alot of fishing.
Caught a bunch of blue gill and bream. And I caught a half dozen big catfish. But the biggest one was about 8 lbs. At least. Mighta been 20. The more I think about it, it was really about the size of a VW.

I realized how completely relaxed I was when Melissa wondered out loud how church was going and I said "Today's Sunday?"

Mighty good vacation.

My 3

I showed a video many months ago that was recorded by Penn (of the Las Vegas magic act, Penn & Teller). Penn is a well known atheist and very antagonistic towards organized religion. However, in this video, he is describing a conversation with a man who gave him a Bible. Penn is surprisingly respectful and appreciative and seemingly touched by this man's gesture.

What I find surprising in the video is that Penn, again an atheist, says that he has NO respect for a person of faith who ISN'T willing to share that faith. He basically says, "If i were walking across the street and there were a truck bearing down on me that I didn't see, how much would you have to hate me to not try to save me from being killed by that truck." His point is that Christians who don't invite other people into connectedness with Jesus are, in his words, HATEFUL. Not just ambivalent. HATEFUL.

I've found myself praying the last few weeks that we, as a community of Christ followers, would LOVE our neighbor so much that we would do anything to invite them into the love and grace of Jesus Christ.

Here's my challenge: First, start praying that you would love people that much. That you would care about their souls that much. Then, ask God to put 3 people on your heart. 3 people that you know and who you don't think are connected to a community of worship. Then start praying for those 3 people. Start praying for chances to get to know them better and to be the presence of Christ in their lives. Pray for chances to tell them about how Jesus makes a difference in your life. And pray for God to draw those 3 to himself. And if you can't think of 3 friends who fit that category, then start praying that you would meet some new people because a full 1/3 of the population of Champaign-Urbana would classify themselves that way. Let's start praying and see what God does. What would happen if every member of our church took this challenge to heart? (And I'm not talking about what would happen for our church. I'm talking about what would happen in and for our city?)

If you send me an email with the names of your 3, I'll join you in praying for them (and for you).

What do you think?

Any takers?

My friend Kelly linked to a blog by Erwin McManus.
Here's a quote from the blog and a link if you want to read it all: Mosaic

What is happening across the world and here at home is that there is an army of cross cultural missionaries who have become the new leaders of the church. Their calling isn’t to pastor churches that focus on the happiness of its members, but to mobilize the church for the purpose of fulfilling God’s mission of reconciling the world to himself. We used to send our missionaries out and it kept the mission a safe distance from us. Some how they broke back in and decided they were not going without us. At Mosaic we have no members, only missionaries. There is nothing to join except a community on a mission. We have little patience for self indulgent spirituality that insists on everything being about us.

I was at a seminar (at the Champaign Country Club of all places) and listened to a presenter who asked this question: What is keeping your church from reaching the next 100 people for Jesus Christ?

Certainly there are alot of answers to that question. But I think it starts with one thing: A passion for the lost. We are missing a compelling vision to reach those who aren't connected to Jesus Christ.

Don't miss the point here: This doesn't mean we don't do anything for ourselves. A part of our connecting people into the redeemed community of Christ is to actually have that community to connect them into. We are called to be a set apart, loving, self-less community of Christ followers. But the defining trait of that community is our MISSION of seeking to invite and draw others into that community of grace in Jesus Christ.

I'm convicted by this idea. In case you haven't noticed.

What is keeping us from reaching the next 100 people for Jesus Christ?
What would it look like for us to chase after them?

Comments are welcomed!

One Car Wednesday (a day late...again)

So, I've biked into work twice this week. Woulda been 3 if not for rain.
And let me just say that Champaign is woefully lacking in bike friendly shoulder space on roads. I usually end up on the sidewalk because riding on the streets is not far removed from russian roulette.

Had an interesting experience on the way home today. Got caught at the traffic light on Kirby and Mattis. And there was this girl, also on a bike, sitting at the light as well. We're both riding on the same sidewalk. She was there first, so I obviously let her cross ahead of me.

Awkwardly, we are both going the same direction. And going about the same speed.

I begin to notice that she's looking back at me frequently. Not in a "he's kind of cute" kind of way, but in more of a "I think this guy might be stalking me" kind of way. As I'm trying to slow down and eliminate the freaky stalker vibe, she suddenly veers out into the road and crosses to the other side.

Which creates a whole new awkwardness. Now we are biking side by side on opposite sides of the street. And still going roughly the same speed.

At that point, all I can say is that instinct kicked in. It was like 2 cars at the stop light both revving their engines. I mean, there is just no way, NO WAY, I'm letting this girl beat me down the road. I kick it into low gear and crank it down the sidewalk for a full block. I'm fighting the temptation to look over and see how I'm doing. But finally I take a little peak. She's nowhere to be seen. She must have turned off on a side street almost immediately.

All I can say is, thank goodness, because one more block at that speed and I might've passed out.

All of which is to say you see a bike on the road and there isn't much shoulder, give em a brake. It might be your pastor!

What if...

What if we dropped the label "Member" and instead went with "Missionaries"?

What do you see as the difference?

Some nasty statistics from the PCUSA

So, our denomination recently released membership and giving statistics for 2008. It ain't pretty. As a denomination, we lost over 69,000 members last year. There are obviously a lot of things that go into that number. 34,000 members died. another 35,000 left when their churches left the denomination altogether. Most staggering to me is the fact that 104,000 who were removed from the rolls and appeared to not join another church. And our churches did add 100,000 new members. But the net result of all that was the biggest one year loss of membership in our denomination since 1983.

You can read the full report by clicking here: PCUSA Statistics

A friend of mine, Kelly Kannwischer (Presbyterian Global Fellowship), points out the bigger problem. The stated clerk of our denomination, in his report about the statistics, is asking all the wrong questions. He says that we need to strengthen our answers to these questions: "Why do I believe in God? Why do I go to church? Why do I go to that particular church?" And the implication is that if we can answer those questions, we'll be able to convince people to join our church.

Here's a response from Kelly regarding that perspective:

"the question for people in the postmodern world is not what is true but what is real. To be effective witnesses of the Gospel, it is not what we can posit or defend theologically (although that remains important). Rather, to be effective witnesses of the Gospel in today's culture requires authenticity, deep relationships, and sacrificial action for the sake of others."

Let's be really clear about something: It is absolutely critical that we know the Jesus we worship. It's desperately important for us to be able to articulate the good news about the grace of God given to us in Jesus Christ. We will always need to continue growing in our understanding and application of the scriptures for our lives.

But understanding by itself will never result in a world transformed by Jesus Christ. The question we need to be able to answer is this:

"Who is Jesus and how am I trying to be more like him?"

When we love our neighbor more than ourselves, our evangelism will be authentic and effective.
When we are as committed to healing our community as we are to our longstanding church programs, then our witness will be genuine and true.
When we start asking how we can be the body of Christ IN the world, how to be Christ-like for the sake of our neighbor, then we will at least be asking the right questions.

Any thoughts? Complaints? Questions?

what a week...

So me and the fam spent all of last week down at Camp Carew in SOUTHERN Illinois (which is a world unto itself). It was a great week but a crazy and hard week. Glad we did it. But I'm wiped out. Picked 14 ticks off me. Caught 2 big catfish. Tipped a canoe. Slept in a hogan. Good stuff.

Now it feels like summer can start. It's been a sprint up until and through last week. But now it feels like I can shift my attention ahead to the coming year. (Yikes.) You never know what's gonna come up when I start thinking and dreaming ahead. I'll keep you posted.

My friend Tammy

I need your help. Would you please pray with me for my friend Tammy?
She is a missionary in India where she runs an orphanage. It would take pages to describe some of the amazing things she has done there. Tammy prays with tremendous strength and God answers her prayers in miraculous ways. And she has taught those children in India to pray the same way!

Well, Tammy needs some prayers herself, now. She is in the hospital with pancreatitis. She just had a first surgery to remove a gall stone that had caused inflammation in several organs. She needs to have her pancreas removed. The degree of inflammation means that laproscopic surgery might not be possible. Regular surgery is more risky and more prone to infection.

Bottom line, please pray for my friend Tammy. Pray for success in the attempt at laproscopic surgery. Pray for swift and full recovery. Pray for healing. Pray also for peace for all her little children in the orphanage that are, with us, praying for her!

Thanks.

Gettin' back to my roots

The South Georgia Yard Swing

Can we get one of these at the Launch?
How awesome would it be to preach from the hanging couch?

In case you missed this cool idea...

So a member of our congregation had an idea following the generosity series.
The idea is described on this new blog. This is not connected to the church in any way. It's just one person's idea.

Take a peek. You might be able to help. Or to be helped.

Click here: Generosity In C.U.

Jesus walks into a tattoo parlor...

So, don't ask me why, but I found myself in a tattoo parlor recently. And it was a little bit of an eye opening experience. I just don't get to hear that kind of language very often in the church office. I mean, did you realize that you can use the F-bomb as a noun, an adjective, and adverb, and a verb, all in the SAME SENTENCE???? I'm sitting there listening to these rather graphic conversations about casual sex, and heavy drug use and I'm just praying that nobody asks me what I do for a living.

Then I have this picture pop in my head of Jesus hanging out in that tattoo parlor. And I realize that it's exactly the kind of place Jesus would want to be. Those are Jesus' kind of people.

That's exactly what made the religious folks so mad about Jesus. He actually ate meals with "those kind of people". He went to their homes. That's what the whole God-in-the-flesh thing was all about: God becoming one of us, God moving into the neighborhood, God living right smack dab in the middle of our ugly, broken, warped lives.

So I'm watching this guy get a tattoo - its a huge cross that covers most of his forearm. And the thought occurs to me: what would these guys think if they came and watched ME at MY work? What would they think of my world? What would they think of my life? What would they think of my faith? What would they think of MY Jesus? (And I'm intentionally saying MY Jesus because my life and work and faith and words and choices all play a part in the way I communicate Jesus).

Here's a quote that I've used before that says what I'm trying to say much better than I can say it:

Jesus's teaching consistently attracted the irreligious while offending the Bible-believing, religious people of his day. However, in the main, our churches today do not have this effect. The kind of outsiders Jesus attracted are not attracted to contemporary churches, even our most avant-garde ones. We tend to draw conservative, buttoned-down, moralistic people. The licentious and liberated or the broken and marginal avoid church. That can only mean one thing. If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then we must not be declaring the same message that Jesus did. If our churches aren't appealing to younger brothers, they must be more full of elder brothers than we'd like to think.

That's from Tim Keller's "The Prodigal God".

All of this got me re-thinking some things.

I found myself hoping that one of those guys might actually ask me what I do for a living. Maybe they will next time.