:: The end of a year

The wife, kids, and I went to look at Christmas lights last night. I enjoy riding around and just spending some time with the family. Callie and Ethan both enjoy all the unique ways that people decorate their places on Christmas.
This was the first year in a while that it was just us on Christmas day. Christmas was very simple for us, opening a few gifts, sharing what we were thankful about in 2004, and remembering why God called us to come to North Dallas. We then hung out at the house drinking our hot chocolate, orange crush, and eating cheese cake and lemon chess pie. I am so going to need to hit the work out trail again soon.

As we approach 2004 a plan is materializing for our community structure. We are really deepening our relationships with the core team and now we want to reach more into the community. In January we will put some a bit more detailed structure into place. Mind you when I say structure I use that term loosely. We also want to be organic in letting God do what He wants.

I am looking forward to 4 days in Kansas City at the "one thing" conference. It will be an opportunity to set aside 4 days of hearing from God. I also will look forward to the trip to KC with Shane, Chris, Justin, and myself. There will be much time to toss around ideas and share about our journeys. I anticipate coming back from the conference with a fresh heart that will help propel me into 2004.

I've been contemplating and evaluating my own spiritual walk lately and have come to the conclusion that I am too heavy in the learning area and not heavy enough in a devotional bible intake. I want to build in my schedule a healthy dose of both learning and devotional life. When I begin reading and learning too much and not have enough devotional time, I begin to get dry spiritually.

:: What Christmas is all about?

Hear Linus tell us what Christmas is about: linus.wav

:: An Aussie Christmas story

I ran across this bit from Lukes gospel on Richard Botts blog. It is from the new Aussie Bible. Enjoy!

When Libby was six months gone, God sent the same angel—this Gabriel bloke—to a backblocks town called Nazareth, in Galilee shire, to a nice young girl who was engaged to the local carpenter, Joe Davidson. Her name was Mary.

The angel said to her, “G’day Mary. You are a pretty special sheila. God has his eye on you.”

Mary went weak at the knees, and wondered what was going on.

But the angel said to her, “Don’t panic, don’t chuck a wobbly. God thinks you’re okay. You’re about to become pregnant, and you’ll have a son, and you’re to call him Jesus. He will be a very big wheel, and will be called the Son of God Most High. God will give him the throne of his father—your ancestor—King David, and he will be in charge of the whole show forever.”

“But how?” said Mary. “Joe and I have done the right thing, we’ve never ... well, you know. I mean to say, I’m still a virgin.”

The angel answered, “Leave the mechanics up to God. This is heavenly stuff. God’s Spirit will come upon you, and the Big Brain behind the Big Bang will manipulate the necessary molecules to make it happen ... Look, even Libby, your old cousin, is preggers—at her age! God can do these things ...”

“God’s in charge,” Mary answered. “If that’s what God wants, then it’s what I want.”

Then the angel nicked off and left her alone.

(Luke 1:26-38 as retold by Kel Richards)

:: Weblog glossary

Take a look at the weblog glossary in Gaurdian unlimited. Many people use language that is common only to bloggers.

:: The pain of grace

When Jesus extends grace to us, it is an amazing grace. Grace gives His unmerited favor. Not only do we not merit that grace because of our sin, but we deserve justice. I get overwhelmed when I think of the boundless grace that God pours out to me. He pours when I am doing "well" and He pours when I am doing "poor". I am so thankful for the reality of grace.

Yet when that reality of grace needs to come from our end, it is not an easy process many times. It requires a pain extended when you need to give grace and it is unmerited. I appreciated Jordon Coopers honesty in his post called "the pain of the longview" as he wrestles with giving grace when it is not necessarily deserved.

I have read Jordons site for years and continue to read there because of the value of the content that embraces a wide scope of life.

:: Dude, somebody stold all my old shoutouts!

Hey,
Anyone out there know how to get back all the old shout outs I lost. I don't know where they are or where they went.

:: Death, where is your victory?

My grandmother died this week. My emotions are very mixed. The one side of me is deeply sad. Sad that I will not be blessed with living life with my grandmother anymore. I will certainly continue to be blessed by the character she portrayed in this life. She always had strong boundaries and a sense of right and wrong. She was very family oriented, always wanting the whole family to be together at holidays and special times. She was always taking care of me, my sisters, her own kids, and great grandkids.

I will miss the house at 1804 N. Ave G in Haskell, Texas. The place that has always been a refuge for me my whole life. The only place I am connected with that has always been there. But no longer, it will be sold now. I have so many memories in that house. Even though it is an inanimate object made of wood and brick, I feel my life is interwoven in its fiber. So there is loss this week in my soul.

Yet at the same time there is great rejoicing in my heart knowing that my grandmother is in the presence of Jesus. I partnered with a local pastor in her funeral and I told the people my talk about grandmother being with Jesus was not pie in the sky that I hope would console us all. No, it is more a reality than what I can touch, smell, hear, or see. To quote an old hymn "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness". In other words there is a solidity in my trust in Jesus that goes beyond my own senses and my own reality of this world.

It some ways, I am jealous of my grandmother, being in the eternal presence of the saviour of my soul. The Bible says that heaven is a place where there are no tears nor pain. It tells me Jesus went before me to prepare a place. It says that there are mansions up there. I will look forward to a future day when I will again be in the presence of my grandmother and we will be in the presence or our Lord.

:: Sheep comics

I ran across sheepcomics as I was looking at reading Marc van der Woude's blog. Take a look a sheepcomics. This particular one should be read by anyone who has gone to seminary.

:: Indie Allies

About eight of us met at Standard and Pours last night in Dallas. It was an enjoyable evening. Erik from Harbor Point joined Mark and I for the drive over. We caught up with the goings on in our communites. We also dialogued about what it takes to make a church or a community of faith and a bit about just the evil or good of advertising. We took a tour of the art gallery around the corner, a very cool place where an emerging group called linc meets for their corporate gathering. Rolando Diaz had some of his work on display.

:: Deconstruction takes work

Derridas ideas about deconstruction are so relevant to the conversation in the emerging church. We have methods, habits, and language that is burned out, so burned out it is becoming useless. So somehow as a new generation finds Christ, we (Christ followers) have to find ways to communicate the authentic gospel and authentic Jesus again. We have to deconstruct what church has become, what love has become, what the whole church culture has become and find a freshness in the reality of being a Christ follower.

About six years ago I began reading and dialoguing with others about postmodernism. I went to some conferences about postmodernism in the church and began to pick up books on the topic especially Len Sweets stuff. I even visited some new communities trying to deconstruct old models and try new ones. There were so many things about postmodernism and how those making this postmodern transition thought that connected with me. It is not like I learned about it and decided to try it. It is more like I learned and realized this fits who I am better than a lot of modern paradigms.

Here is my struggle now. I do believe culture is in a postmodern transition. I think God has called me to be a bridge from modernity to postmodernity. I think God has called me to be a part of communities that are making changes on the journey to become the voice of God in this new evolving culture. Yet now I am seeing the other side of the coin called me. I still have a whole lot to deconstruct. Even though I desire newness and freshness, I am steeped in modern ideas, methods and habits.

I've realized this journey I am on will take work and intentionality if I really want to go there. And then a thought takes me to the reality that all of our journeys with Christ should be like this. Christ in us is deconstructing old ways, old methods of living, old and burned out language. Yes, I need to be intentional about following Christ with all the struggles that are inherit with that journey. The cool thing is, there are a ton of real people who are on the journey with me.

I embrace the journey of deconstructing and letting Christ reconstruct in me.

:: FUEL 2 December

Tonight was good conversation over good food. I am realizing how important food is to community dynamic. Why is it we seem more relaxed when food is in the equation? There may be a grace that flows from food. We spent some time speaking what we appreciated about others in our community. We are truly becoming a team before our eyes.

I appreciated how everyone had not only involvement in the conversation but insight into what God is up to among us.

We talked tonight about how Monday night FUEL had evolved more toward a core meeting and now we need to look at how we can add the time where visitors connect with our community. Tonight it seems organic and good.

Sunday we are taking the whole morning for prayer, planning, and discovery.

:: Slammed

Have you ever been in a football game and gotten blindsided. It basically happens when you are runnnig one way and right as you change directions some other drooling player from the opposing team hits you. Usually because its not expected and you are not preparing to be hit, this tenancious maneuver puts you on your backside feeling like you were just in a car wreck. When this happens you spit the dirt out of your mouth, pull the grass out of your facemask, and check to make sure there are no major body parts missing or severely damaged. Then you fight back the pain and try to look tough because your playing football and everybody knows football players are tough. And if the other player smacked you good, your breath has mysteriously gone out of your body and can not be found momentarily. You have to wait for that breath to mysteriously come back.

That is what yesterday afternoon felt like to me. Emotionally it was like somebody blindsided me. It came out of the blue and knocked my breath away. For about eight hours I tried to find my spiritual breath and emotional strength and found it not. I can't help but wonder if this was spiritual warfare. I have been reminded today that prayer is not just about me and God having a great relationship. Prayer is about being prepared for the slams of the enemy. Reading Gods word is not to learn about what not to do, but as a preventative for the hurdles of life that come our way. I was reminded today that there is no cruising in this Christian life. No, I'm not saying you can't have fun. I am saying that not seeing the seriousness of the cosmic battle going on for men and women is a grave undersight.

Lord, we are strangers and aliens here. Help us to have a divine perspective. Our existence on the earth is about extending your rule and reign. Continue to remind us who we are and why were here.

:: Fuel 1 December

Group dynamic seems to be the forefront of this months FUEL. In the past week and a half we have become a community. In previous FUEL meetings there was the feel that there was a group of people new to each other meeting together. All of the sudden our core people feel like a core. There is ownership of the vision from others beside myself. It is an exciting time. The other side of things is a caution in myself that we keep a heart to welcome anyone and everyone who comes through our lives.

There is a sense down deep in me that it is a time for us to shift. I cast the vision of our community again Monday night. In this preparation I also cast vision for what we are not. We are not called to be a network of house churches. We are not called to be a small group bible study. There may be small gatherings in the overall picture but that isn't our main purpose. We are called to create environments where people can encounter the living God.
We are praying about places and times to transition to. We our already outgrowing a small apartment especially with kids to think of.

:: Community Dining

Yesterday after the services at Harbor Point the Res community all brought food and had lunch at Chris and Kristis' house. It was a good time of fellowship and laughter. We are going to begin to do Sunday lunch on a consistant basis.

:: The Call Dallas

I was able to get over to the Call Dallas Saturday for a few hours. It was encouraging seeing so many young people with a desire to seek after Gods face. One young man spoke of how the enemy had tried to destroy a godly generation through the agency of aborition. This is a generation that God has called to impact the world. This particular young man said he had a vision and in that vision the voices of the aborted were crying out, give my gifts and calling to those still on the earth to fulfill the kingdom purposes in this generation. They cried give it to that one Lord, give it to this one Lord.

As we worshipped at the cotton bowl, I found myself praying that God would show me how to serve this young generation. I desire to lift them up and help them see Gods manifest purposes fulfilled through there lives.
I also began to offer myself up to God. I thought God I don't have extreme gifts and talents but I have a willing heart. I give that willing heart to you God. I know I have feet of clay, but I give it all to you God to use for your glory.

:: the three false prophets of modernity

I read a sharp article on the importance of community from a biblical perspective. The article was put together from a series of messages at the Vineyard national conference last year by Berten Waggoner. Read Building a Community of Hope in a Despairing World pt 1.

He said there was a trinity in modernity that was the ultimate in presumption. You had science promising to rid the world of disease. This false prophet told us given enough time even death would be conquered. Then you have technology which promised that any problem could be solved given the right tool, method, or technology. Then there was education. Education boasted that as ignorance was removed evil would be eradicated on the earth. After half a dozen wars, 9-11 and other terrorist acts, AIDS, weapons of mass destruction, poverty, and evils growing all over the world, it is obvious to this generation that the promises of these three were greatly exaggerated. They were in fact false prophets basing there pompous promises on the wisdom of men.

Berten proposes that the community of faith is the way to showing a despairing world there is hope in Jesus Christ.

Check out Bertens full article on the front page of Vineyardusa's site.

:: the move

Saturday, Chris and Kristi made the big move over to this area. The Lord has blessed them with involvement with the Apartment Life ministry. Basically they get their rent paid by Apartment Life to be activity coordinators for an apartment complex. We believe this is an awesome place for a church planting family to be.

I am glad Chris is a former youth director. We had lots of help on the move.

:: Fuel 3 November

Monday night was the next step for our community. On all our journeys there are identifying points along the way. With your kids your remember first steps, first words, particular Christmases. I will remember last nights FUEL as the first cohesive coming together of the people in a community with a common sense of purpose. It is not that community hasn't happened before now, but there was some dynamic that has happened among us that has solidified this call of God from a vision God gave me to plant a church to a community God has brought together to pursue this purpose.

Mike did a good job of teaching no the life of Paul. We looked at the many influencers in Pauls life early. Stephen when he was stoned and asked the Father to forgive those involved. Paul was there watching Stephens Christ-like character. Ananias was obedient to God to go and pray for this controversial character recently converted named Saul of Tarsus. Then there was Barnabus, who risked his good reputation to bring Paul into the community of faith and stayed with Paul encouraging Him. Our lives are not to be to promote our individual ministries or even our community of faith for that matter, but to be those who will serve to see the kingdom of God extended whether through us or through others.

The aftermath of FUEL went into our next step as a community. We want to let people know we are here to gather people in, but at the same time don't want to lift our name up. We want Jesus to have the high place in all our doings.

On a practical level Mike pointed out how I might be too cautious in wanting everything to be just right and that we need to jump out and take some risks. I agree totally with this and am thankful as a community we already are seeing various people take roles that will see the whole community blessed.

As one old friend encouraged me at the beginning of this journey "Enjoy the ride". I like this ride called church planting, it is definitely an e-ticket.

:: Developing friendships and theology

As Shane was here this week, it seems we have had so many conversations that went toward our understanding God and His ways. There were many differing combinations of people and dialogues.

Shane and I have had long discussions this week on what are the basic elements of a church. We realized we both came at the subject from different ways. My way was to see the church as the people getting together and what they did. His way was more looking at the God purposed structure of a church to define it. We both gained a better understanding of the concept of the church as we discussed this for a couple of hours.

We also have been talking about our completeness in Christ and how that works out in our lives. It is that we are already complete in Christ but not yet. It is done. It was finished as Christ died on the cross, but we are still working out our salvation with fear and trembling. It is the already, but not yet of the kingdom that we currently live in.

Dialoguing with Shane this week has given me a much better view of where we are at as a community. We have equippers, worshipers, people who love children, people who are encouragers. I like the community God is building. Not that it really matters that I like it or not, but it is nice to be community with fellow travelers who work well together.

:: Fuel 3 November

Three guitars creating a very calm worship ambiance was a highlight of Fuel 3. It was a worship unplugged evening. We also were blessed with our friend Shane Kuhn joining us. It was a God send night. Shane brought a prophetic word to our budding community. It was centered in that our primary purpose needed to be listening for God and what God was up to and not taking the latest strategy we had read about and adopting it. I'll blog more in depth later on the prophecy.

Our discussion came from Luke 10 revolving around the story of Mary and Martha. It was a joy to hear many people fill out what God was saying to us through His word. We talked about possible obstacles for both Mary and Martha in sitting at the Lord's feet and focusing on Him.

:: Indie Allies

The Independent Christian thinkers meeting called Indie Allies was Tuesday night in Dallas. The meetings are made up of many emerging church folks from all over the metroplex. We have met people from existing emerging churches, traditional churches that having meetings that fit more of an emerging church environment, and people who just want to be in the dialogue.

Tuesday night we were at Standard and Pours coffee house in Dallas. Mark and I made the journey over. They make an awesome chai tea. I think Mark went for the frozen expresso with caramel and chocolate. Our conversation went many different ways, but we did rest on postmodern evangelism for a while. I think all of us agreed that relationships were primary. We also talked about how we live in community and how we live out the faith together is crucial for pre-christians. Pre-christians may even become part of the community before they embrace following Christ.

I have found Indie Allies to be not only a good dialogue but an important one as our community connects with the larger community of Christ in this area.

:: Fuel 2 November

Chris and Mark facilitated last weeks Fuel while I was away coaching church plant teams. It was our largest group yet. Chris directed discussion on worship and how our lives are wrapped around that concept.

This week we had basically our committed core. Our conversation went toward what we hear God saying to us. Much of our dialogue went toward the concept of community and how important that was. Chris came up with a great illustration. We have been talking about HOC lanes (High occupancy community). The freeways here have HOV lanes (high occupancy vehicles). Chris gave the analogy of these lanes. When you are in community you are moving much faster than the rest of the traffic. When driving alone you are stuck at a slower pace. We realize as we all are just moving here and forming our lives we have an opportunity to mold community in a way that God is calling us. We are not all stuck in the traffic of busyness that happens so often in our society. We are looking forward to see how God unfolds community for us.

Another concept that was brought up last night was the importance of inviting people we meet into relationship, not into an organization. Church for us is a web of relationships. Each person who we encounter is a possible relationship for us and or for our community.

Our prayer: Lord direct us in this postmodern age, this pre-Christian society to be the community of Christ followers you would have us be.

:: Church planter fever

Last week I had an amazing opportunity to be a coach at a Church Planting intensive put on by the Foursquare denomination in which we are part of. There were seven teams from this part of the country. I truly had the sense of serving other people who are partnering in the harvest. Jesus said the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few.

I appreciated Foursquares balance of the practical and the spiritual. Each team had times to discover the vision God had put in their heart, the values that were within them, the mission God had for them, and practical ways to reach others with the gospel. We also had times of worship and prayer. God showed up in powerful ways, speaking encouraging words to the planting teams, empowering them, healing them.

I consider it a privilege and an honor to be able to be involved in this opportunity. I pray even with our small community as it grows that we will never lose sight of serving other communities of faith in their attempts to spread the gospel of our Lord.

:: Themes forming

As we learn to navigate living in a large urban area like the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex some themes are coming forth for our community.

The first is that of community itself. We understand that it is not enough to have a series of events each week to be a church. A true church is a true community where people are involved with one another and truly on this journey together, rejoicing with one another and crying with one another.

It seems to be community in this place we will have to eliminate busyness and other activities that keep us from community, we will have to consolidate our time with others who are in community. If you can travel with two, it is much better than traveling with one because community is happening. If your kids can participate in activities with others in the community, the community becomes stronger.

Inviting people into community is not inviting them into an organization. It is inviting them into friendship. Friendship with the community and friendship with our God.

Another them that is key is worship. Worship is a gateway to connecting with the kingdom of God here on the earth. Jesus asked us to pray "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven". It is our design to be those that extend the kingdom here on the earth and worship is a gateway that connects us with that design. Worship empowers us, encourages us and moves us. Most of all worship connects us with the maker of the Universe and invites our maker to direct us in His purposes.

:: Church Planter training

This week I will be an assistant trainer at a church planter training. It feels a little premature considering we are just a couple of months old and still in initial birthing stages, but I really sensed God saying go when the opportunity presented itself. Anyway we can encourage the extension of the kingdom of God fits for me.

Anyone that read this pray for 6 church planting teams that will be trained this week, that they would hear God and clarify their callings.

:: Garage sales: divine appointments

God continues a trend for us in touching the community. This week I spoke with Ann Moore, she invited us to meet people at garage sales at her appointment complex which she was coordinating. We never know what relationships will develop from meeting various people. We pray God leads us and connects us to people who are not in the kingdom or are hungry for more of the kingdom of God.

My deluxe purchase this week was a stuffed quail. It may make a great Christmas present for someone. Don't tell if you read this post. We also found some CD's we liked for .75

A new suggestion to all Garage salers: put signs out somewhere beyond your property, preferably on major thoroughfares if you want people to come.

:: Fuel 4 Oct

At Fuel our conversation went toward brokenness and pain in our lives. We read a portion from Henri Nouwen. The overview was that as followers of Christ we should embrace our brokenness and part of our existence. It is easy as a follower of Christ to push down any pain and brokenness in our lives and act like life is okay and we are okay when in reality we are wrestling.

Life is journey, and on the journey there is pain. It is inevitable. The world is not a redeemed world. It is still full of its own brokenness and sin. God is there though to guide us in our pain. Jesus even identified with all the sufferings that we deal with when He was on the earth.

I know in my own journey a welcome healing from pain and brokenness comes as my heart is turned toward God in worship. There is an encouragement that comes from Him in that time and space. Many times there is a calm that comes when I can worship Him admist the pain. A calm that doesn't take away the pain, but a calm that seems to say "It's okay, I'm there".

:: God has a way

After moving into our apartment complex, it didn't take us long to figure out that the management were not eager for us to tell people about the church plant. In reality they asked us not to put up any flyers or go door to door. For someone who was anticipating that as being the primary connecting point with people it was a bit of a hit. A part of me asked "God, why would you send us where we can't readily contact people?" But as so many times, I just needed to wait, to pray, and trust God for His provision, whether it fit my paradigms of life or not.

Saturday our complex had an all apartment garage sale. Since all the apartments have garages, over 20 apartments had sales. It was an awesome opportunity for us to meet people and let people know God has sent us here to plant a church. I remember John Wimber saying over and over "You have to tell your story and His story". Tell your story about what God is sending you to do and how He sent you. Tell His story of the cross and the wonderous things of the kingdom of God. So as we go out among people we are doing both, telling His story and our story. Saturday afternoon, Mark and I went out looking at apartments. He has found a job and is ready to find a place to live. At many of the places we shared how God has sent us here to start a new community of Christ followers. We had one apartment rep ask for more information and even say she would stop by and see what we were all about.

Gods ways are not my ways. My little mind can not even get close to the mind of God, yet He is faithful to speak in ways I can hear. What an amazing God He is.

:: Getting Wisdom

I am a learner. I am trying to get wisdom, understanding, ideas, impartation, free groceries, and just whatever I can from many sources. I am reading Community of Kindess right now. Community of Kindness is just a pragmatic, down to earth, straightforward, authentic work about church planting. It is quickly becoming my favorite church planting book read.

I also have had the privilege of meeting with Dane Yarborough (pastor of Harbor Point Community Church). Dane has been through this process and has been the lead pastor of a group of eight that today has probably a community of 1000 people. He was blessed to spend time with John Wimber. Dane lets me come by once a month and bombard him with church planting questions. I am thankful for this source of help for our community.

I am also thankful for the denomination God has aligned us with. The Foursquare church in Texas is made up of many quality people. Men and women who are authentically pursuing God. These people also have a heart for extending the kingdom of God through church planting.

I have also connected with the emerging church community here in the Dallas area and have some friendships forming there. I am amazed at the support God has surrounded us with and thankful for wisdom He is pouring into us.

:: Fuel 3 October

We had nine adults and 3 kids Monday night and two of our new regulars were out. Somehow God continues to send us a few new people each Monday. We are committed to giving what we have to who God gives us. This is not just at our Fuel meetings but in context of our daily lives.

I list the numbers not for numbers sake but for a history of who we are and how Jesus is constructing His community of Christ followers here. In all honesty as a beginning church planter I have been tempted to count my daughters life size stuffed animal Clifford a couple of times.

Monday, I had such a strong sense of the Lords presence and power in our midst. Our worship seemed particularly energized.

At the front end we had everyone read five scriptures passages and ask the questions "What is God saying in these passages?" and "Is He saying anything to me?". I love how the treasures of peoples heart and of His heart come out as we read, meditate, and share about what God is saying to us through Scripture.

:: Stepping out from the land of logic

Ever hear a phrase and have it stick to you like syrup. You just can't get it off. I heard a young woman speak of stepping out from the land of logic. When Peter went to Jesus walking on the water, he left the land of logic to follow Christ. In our lives obedience doesn't necessarily make since to our logical minds.

I am finding lately that my walk with God leads me to His peace but takes me away from my comfort. My obedience leads me to be involved with the kingdom of God not my personal success. Like Peter I am doin my darndest to keep my eyes on Jesus see what He is saying to me. Also like Peter at times, I look around me and see the sea and the waves and my logical mind kicks in and says "Are you crazy, what are you doing out in the deep?"

So this phrase continues to stir in me, and to wrestle with me, and most of all to challenge me. The challenge is to obey, even when I don't understand. God is so far above my rationality.

:: Garage Sale top 10

Saturday morning was a garage sale morning for Ethan, Mark, and I. Dallas is a great place for garage sales. There are a lot of wealthy people who get rid of some good stuff to have better stuff (sounds like a standup comic dialogue). I found a 21" Sony Trinitron monitor the other day for $40 because someone wanted a flatscreen instead. Mark found a wireless fm set up with headphones Saturday for 1.00. I found Ethan a whole crate of contex for $1.00. While on our excursion we came up with a garage sale don'ts top 10.

10. Don't forget your address on the garage sale sign.
9. Don't have bad stuff at your sale (you gotta have some furniture and tech stuff).
8. Don't tell customers where to park.
7. Don't just have junk in a box, put it out to be seen.
6. Don't charge retail prices for garage sale stuff.
5. Don't forget to have at least one Elvis item.
4. Don't use less than 5 signs to get to your place.
3. Don't leave old garage sale signs up beyond the week of the sale.
2. Don't leave out old food on your sale tables.
1. Don't sell your wifes stuff without asking first.

:: Among Thorns

We went to a conference where Among Thorns were doing the worship and then later a concert. They opened the concert with Shelter Me, one of my favorites.

:: Help me, I'm deconstructing

I was at lunch today with a new friend Chandra. We were dialoguing about the whole idea of deconstruction, is it good, is it bad, do we need it? I really enjoyed the interchange of ideas. As I was reflecting on the conversation I was thinking about how as disciples of Christ we are to deconstruct daily (Paul, said "I die daily"). We are to deconstruct our old self-centered impulses and reactions and construct our new self-less identity which is centered on our relationship with Christ.

Deconstruction is very relative to our existence. My prayer today is God show me the identity walls that need deconstructing and work in me to tear them down while at the same time work in me to embrace the constructs of life in the kingdom of God building towards eternity.

:: 1st Oct Fuel

Last night we began with Fuel with funny stories that happened in community or at a faith event. The funniest had to be Chris telling about the time he was playing ball at some church event. He grabbed his sweat pants to pull them off and inadvertently grabbed his shorts too. Some older saint close by let out a "Oh my gosh". I told them of our friend Karen when leading worship and being a tad bit nervous while in Europe said "Worship me, as I sing this song".

Then there was the time I saw an elderly gentleman baptize a lady weighing about 300 pounds, she went down and he just couldn't hold her. You see her feet go straight up in the air over the baptismal tank. We all voted yes that these maybe very spiritual moments in community and that God loves joy and laughter.

Chris had up recite the Nicene creed during worship and gave a little background on how it was created. The Nicene creed is a solid work of theology. There was a sweet presence of God during our worship. I was encouraged at the extended time of silence we took at the end.

We had three friends come by from Mars Hill (an emerging community in Richardson). It was an encouragement to us to have Justin, Jeff and Josh worship with us. They told us that Mars Hill had adopted the Nicene Creed as their doctrinal statement of faith.

It was a good night of laughter, worship and being with the saints.

:: Time keeps on slippin, slippin, slippin . . .

I can't believe that there's been no blogging for a week. Time shot by. I found myself wrestling much this week. There was much emotional dissonance. Feeling of loneliness seemed to pound at me. I questioned my own capacities to manage what God wants to do with this church plant called Resonance. I've read the books and know that this is all part of the territory of pioneering a church.

My greatest fear is that I won't allow God to use this for me to depend on Him more and end up using the struggle to convince myself to make it all happen.

As I press in to God. I hear His reminder to keep focused on Him, to continue to renew my mind in the matters of the kingdom of God, to continue to pursue being morphed into the likeness of the man/Christ Jesus. So I embrace the wrestling in my emotions as good. Good because they will direct me to call out to the almighty. Good because I become aware of my extreme weakness and turn to my true source of strength which is God.

I am reminded by a message I heard this week that my place is to obey God. If I am to do that I have to put my trust in him daily, hourly, minute by minute. And not a trust that is fluff. It's easy to say you trust God when your feet are on secure ground and your emotions are comfortable. Real trust is when we take a big risk, one so great that there is no way it happens unless God moves and comes through. That is where we are at. So we embrace the brokenness, we embrace His strength, we embrace the journey and we continue to embrace our God.

:: Shareblogs: a novel concept

There is a site on the web that has web logs listed like a fantasy stock market. A secondary site begun by some of the games players is called shareblogs. What a great concept that gives people a focus on giving not taking.

:: Fuel 4 Sept

If God is at your small gathering, can you call it small? We did have a small group at Fuel Monday night but the God of the universe showed up, so it was big to all of us there. I understand theologically that God always shows up where 2 or more are gathered in His name, but there are times when it seems that time stands still and you know God is there in the place. An encouragement comes that couldn't be conjured up by mortals.



Our whole group sensed that encouragement. Thank You, God of the universe, for letting us be in your presence this night.

:: Truth, is it all about rationality?

I've begun to think about the theology of truth a bit lately. Our modern world would have us say, truth is in what we can rationally prove or understand. Postmoderns tend to base their truth on experience. I'm thinking of a paradigm that is much more holistic. It includes our whole being, our understanding, our feelings, our experiences, etc. I think that fits better our pursuing truth.

And even beyond a holistic view of truth in us, isn't truth found in a paradigm of the kingdom of God. Jesus said "seek first the kingdom of God. . . " truth is found in our connectedness to this kingdom, more specifically to our connectedness to the king of the kingdom. It is not found in Christiandom by counting nickels and noses and saying we have more of those so we have a handle on the truth.

I'm not sure exactly how we measure connectedness to the kingdom. I think part of it is on a servanthood scale. How are we serving our king? How, through connectedness to Him are we serving our fellow humanity? How are we being connected to our king and His kingdom?

Just some thoughts that I don't have fully worked out and may never have worked out, but I am on the journey.

I think that would be my question to all of us. Are we on the journey?

:: West End

Last night mom and dad were in town for the Texas school board convention. We met them at Landrys in the West End in Dallas. The shrimp was excellent. Afterwards we strolled out among the walkway. We watched a man on the streets doing spray paint art. It took him about 5 minutes to do an amazing picture. The kids loved the part where he lights the paint on fire with a lighter to glaze it. Mark told me that at our next worship time he was going to do some spray paint art with a lighter.

:: Could I?

Wednesday night the guys and I went over to the All Nations House of Prayer. It was a devotional prayer time where a guy was worshipping on the guitar. The times we have been to ANHOP, I have really sensed the presence of the Lord in that place. Well, Wednesday I took off on my prayer list and really didn't sense that I was connecting with God at all. And then it seemed the Lord was speaking to my heart and saying "put down your list and just rest in me". It was an hour just of resting in God's peace.

This time reminded me of a song off the All I Need CD. It says:

could I just sit here a while
Know that there's nothing that I need to say
Safe in the knowledge that You know my ways
Love me completely, no need to hide a thing

Could I just stay here a while
Letting you melt away all of my fears
I feel Your comfort when You are so near
I'll hide myself in
this shelter You've made for me

Being who I am in God, nothing less, nothing more, nothing else.

:: Too, Too Hot

Mark, Michael, and I went to a local Thai food restaraunt Wednesday. The waitress asked "on a hot scale from 1 to 5 how do you want your meal?" Of course Michael and Mark both go for the 5. I get the 2, thinking I'll be okay. After my first two bites, my head is sweating, my nose is running, I have tears beginning to well up in my eyes, and my mouth in "on fiah". I like hot food but my tolerance is nothing compared to my friends.

:: This particular Christian ticks me off

Ever been really ticked at a Christian. I have. There is one particular Christian guy that makes me so mad. He doesn't live the life of Christ well at all. I wish could get him to witness more, study his bible more, and overall be like Jesus more. This guy has a ton of immaturies including being a father, a husband, a leader, friend, servant, etc.

This past weekend I was in a focused living retreat which is just what it says. It is a place you can look at your life and find focus. One of the main topics God dealt with me on was being such a harsh judge of the guy above. There were times that I have wanted to have a talk with the guy and say "give it up buddy, your no good at this Christian walk thing".

You know I don't think I am as hard on anyone else as I am with this person. And God really spoke to me about this. In the way I hear God, I heard him say "Why are you sitting in my place of judgement? Why would you not listen to my (God) evaluation? Clearly I understood that this was sin. It was wrong. I was arrogant to take the position. It was prideful to put myself in the place of judge and jury. You may have figured it out by now, but the person I am so hard on is myself. It is easier for me to forgive others of their immaturites than it is for me to forgive me. I asked God to forgive me. If he has forgiven me of sin and immaturity, then who am I to not allow that to happen.

I'm glad there is a lot of grace for the journey. I continue to learn that God will continue extending grace and mercy to us as we learn and grow and walk the path of this journey called Christianity.

:: 3rd Fuel September

Last night we began a more focused time in our Monday night FUEL. By design we are pursuing health in Christ.
In Phillipians Paul says that God will be faithful to complete (bring into full health) the good work that He began in us until the day of Christ Jesus. Our pursuit is to be all that God has created us to be, nothing less, nothing more, nothing else.

We talked some about the incredible weight of sin that Jesus carried to the cross. Not only did he carry on the cross a life time of sin for me, but all the sins of the people around me. He bore all the sins of the people in Dallas which is probably a pretty substantial list both in quantity and the sheer dark side of human existence. Yet not only in Dallas but all the sin in the whole world. Yet, not only in the world today, but past, present, and future. It is beyond comprehension and understanding. Jesus became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness (full health) of God in Him.

For us to grow as a community inner health is key. We understand that some slick advertising statement will not bring true growth or a great marketing campaign. We are not throwing out advertising, but we know to bring health to others we ourselves must be healthy in Christ. There is a real peaceful presence of God that seems to rest on us as we are in community on Monday nights.

:: 2nd Fuel Sept

At our FUEL this week, we talked about some characteristics of the pre-modern period, the modern period, and the postmodern periods of time. We want to have an understanding of the times we live in and intentionally pray for wisdom in how to communicate the endless truths of the kingdom of God in these times and in specifically the place of North Dallas.

We talked about how human reason was the foundation for understanding in the modern age, but how in at least this part of a postmodern period experience and community are foundations for understanding.

We also took a look at Psalms 37 and talked about how an important part of our journey is delighting ourselves in God. Direction comes out of delighting, knowing His heart comes out of delighting in Him, knowing Him and becoming like Him is found in delighting in Him.

There was a good sense of community tonight, both with the people and with our God.

:: Indie Allies

Mark and I went to the area Indie Allies meeting last night at the Insomnia coffee bar in Deep Ellum. Indie Allies is a group of active independent christian thinkers. Its a national thing where emerging church folks get together to dialogue about the church in our postmodern culture in 100's of cities across the U.S. and Canada.

I enjoyed getting some history on the various emerging faith communities in the area and getting to know some new friends.

:: In, Out, Together

Spencer Burke has a great article on the emerging church and it's make up on the ooze. The jist of it is we need to move beyond deconstructing and begin constructing foundations of the emerging church. He puts forth three ideas towards an emerging foundation: the inward journey, the outward journey, and the journey together.

It seems in our modern day churches the inward journey is greatly lacking. I can see how the inner life of Jesus directed his outer journey and his journey together with others.

:: Views of the cross

Take a look at 14 stations of the cross found in Communique, an online literary and arts journal. These are 14 Texas artists interpretations of the last moments in the life of Jesus.

:: 1st Sept Fuel

Have you ever shifted a gear in your car by accident. If you shifted into neutral you might get a loud revving of the engine so you notice what's going on. If you downshift by accident, you may drastically slow down scaring all passengers. The thought that came to me to encourage our small team with is to beware of shifting gears by accident. Let me explain: When we were on the frontend of our transition to plant a church we were crying out for Gods help each step of the way. We understood our neediness, we were in high gear seeking Gods will and his guidance for the next step. I noticed this last week as life has taken on a bit of a routine (just a bit) I became a little comfortable not pressing in for Him as much. I encouraged our team to look and see what gear they were in and that we had to continue to press in and ask God for His guidance and strength for our journey.

The other thing I noticed this past week was the spiritual wrestling. It's funny when your kind of status quo in your life how things seem to move along fairly smoothly, but when you set your mind to follow Christ in faith there seem to be many roadblocks, obstacles, and wrestling matches along the way. I often forget this is a spiritual world we live in. The spiritual aspect of our lives is more real than the physical aspect we can taste, touch, see, hear, and smell. When Jesus asked us to pray that the kingdom would come, He was asking us to let the spiritual aspect of our existence take first place. I continue to ask the father "Let your kingdom come in my life, in my families life, and in our community today as it is in heaven.

:: Eatin at Eatzi's

Labor day weekend was a bit different this year. I usually am with a large group of single adults at a camp grounds in the beautiful mountains of Glorietta New Mexico. Glorietta has one of the prettiest prayer gardens I've ever gotten to spend time at. I missed it and fellowshiping with my good friend Jerry Newton.

This year though we are here in Dallas. Our friends Loren and Nancy Bishop came down from Tulsa and took us to Eatzi's. Eatzi's is a little bistro type place in downtown Dallas. They have counters with fresh food from about any country you want. While I stayed American with fire-roasted chicken and mashed potatoes. Elizabeth went with the Arab cuisine. The kids both did freshly made chicken quesidillos.

Loren and Nancy have both committed to being consistant prayer people for our new community. God is good to us.

Life is in a new season of church planting and friends.

:: On and on

I was reflecting this morning on giving my life to Christ. He asked for everything. And there have been so many times that I have prayed "God you can have it all". Finding the kingdom of God is like finding the most valuable treasure you can think of and doing whatever it takes to get it.

And then I was thinking how God is so faithful to help my prayer along. He will expose areas that I still hold on to. He continues to draw me toward himself. He continues to be a true and faithful friend with my best in mind.

I ask myself why? why did I choose this path? the path of being a Christ follower? and I realize the answer is simple. He loved me like no one else ever had. There's no one on the planet that I could have relationship with like I have with Christ.

That makes me trust Him in whatever state of life I find myself in. It's that love that compels me to move forward and continue listening to His voice and His direction in my life. I'm so glad He continues maturing me. He takes me on and on.

:: Context: sometimes forgotten

I was reading some quotes by Patrick Henry of "give me liberty or give me death" fame. History records the whole quote there was

"An appeal to arms and the God of hosts is all that is left us. But we shall not fight our battle alone. There is a just God that presides over the destinies of nations. The battle sir, is not to the strong alone. Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death."

A year later Henry said

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionist, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here"

Ole Pat might have been an emerging church guy if he lived today. It's religion that pulls people down. Religion can only bring rules and regulations, but doesn't give humanity the power to overcome their propensity towards selfishness. Only in the gospel of Jesus Christ do you find the empowerment in humanity to overcome and go on to spiritual fullness.

:: Cry from the heart

I was perusing some web logs today and came across a notation from a young guy named Mike Lea who committed suicide this week. This is an excerpt from one of his recent blogs:

07/18/03-09:21:54 PM Friday — touching the rocks and flying

i will never be a writer, an artist, a musician, a programmer; i will never be an athlete, a monk, a dancer, a mechanic; i will never learn how to talk to people, meet strangers, make friends; i will never have a happy childhood, another chance to make the connections that i missed, another chance with friends i have lost. i will never be, i will never learn, i will never have.

I remember feelings that were similar at times in my life. Here is another post from Mikes blog:

08/05/03-07:46:15 PM PM Friday — touching the rocks and flying

counting down final solutions
holes and memories. i have a hole in one of my teeth. when i move my jaw in a certain way, or explore the hole with my tongue, i get shooting pains through my head. i have a hole in my life, sometimes I think my life is nothing but holes. Whenever I think about them, it sends shooting pains through my life, and I want to die. I can go to a dentist and he'll pull the tooth with the hole in it. The holes in my life are what my life is made of, they are my memories, and the only way to excise them is with a bullet. It seems like other people heal with time, forgive with time, change with time, forget with time. I don't. I seem to be stuck here with my holes, memories and holes.

It is tragic to see life end so soon. I am reminded there's a God shaped hole in all of us that only He can fill.

:: Connecting with the world

This postmodern world is a fascinating place. In my head I realize the internet not only has the capacity but is changing our world at a dramatic rate. Recently with blogging though, I am put into that web of interconnectivity and beginning to ride the wave myself.

I was reading a blog recently and the blog owner had been mentioned on Jordon Coopers site. I don't know about other people, but I attribute Coops site as the grandfather of web logs and postmodern dialogue on the web. I have been using the site for years as a resource to all things postmodern. I guess the owner of this blog thought of Jordon in the same way because he was really pumped to have been mentioned there.

I received a brief feedback from Darren Rowse whose web log is the living room. Darren is a church planter somewhere north of Melborne. he is probably an ordinary church planter guy like myself, but just having other emerging church people interact with my blog got my adrenaline pumping.

What a great time to live in when dialogue is becoming worldwide (glocal) and not just local. Hopefully all of us will be broadened in our understandings.

:: Fuel for Thought

Monday night we had our Fuel meeting. This is the core of our launch team for resonance. We took a look at a little of John Wimbers testimony. He does a great job of portraying what it is like for someone who doesn't know about churchy stuff and churchy jargon, coming in to a service for the first time.

Our discussion focused on how do we stay true to seeking the kingdom of God, but not get into cultural trappings of what "church" looks like. We want to clearly articulate the gospel of the kingdom but reach people that traditional churches don't. We understand that a central part of this is that our message and our telling His story is not in persuasive words but in a demonstration of the power of God and the spirit of God. We also know that power encounters many times come in acts of service to others.

Chris is still driving over from the other side of Ft. Worth. He is trying to sell his home. We can't wait to see what kind of faith story he and Kristi have of getting here.

We also begin our first alpha class this week. We are looking forward to meeting some new folks who will be coming to alpha.

God continues to tell us not to get ahead of ourselves and especially of Him, to just take it a step of obedience at a time.

:: Hear ye, hear ye!

How we take care of what is given us is directly related to more being given to us. I have heard this kind of thinking for many matters of life. For example if you take care of the money given you, then you can be responsible for more. Today I heard someone speak about being responsible for what we hear. If we listen to the voice of God in our lives rather than the other voices that come to us, then God will speak to us even more.

I had never thought of hearing like that.

I heard Peter Lord give an example of a man who could distinguish over 60 varieties of crickets. He had trained to listen to the distinctive sounds. I think maybe we can learn how to hear God more clearly with some practice.

*Lord may we listen, and then let that voice guide us.*

:: Know that you don't know

I've begun reading back over unlearning church by Mike Slaughter. His intro focuses on the fact that in modernity the system worked with experts who said "take it from me". As society is in this postmodern transition we recognize the truth that we see through a glass dimly. We know in part only. It's an arrogant thing to say to the creator of the universe or to our fellow man that we are an expert.

This generation sees the state of the union after those who were "experts" couldn't fix it. The experts didn't keep mom and dad from divorce. They didn't keep countries from being at war. They didn't fix the brokeness of our world. The experts was the ultimate con. It was a convention of men that didn't prove out. There is a hunger now for more than we can understand.

Even for us as followers of Christ, we think when we get a decade under out belt we have really learned a lot. I guess compared to where we were we have gained some understanding of God. But in comparison to all of who God is and all there is to know of Him, we have only scratched the surface. I think of Paul who in his earlier new testament writings said "Paul, apostle of God". You can hear the bold proclamation of his calling. Yet in latter books you see "Paul, chief of sinners". Did Pauls relationship with God get watered down along the way. My guess is as Paul moved closer to God, he realized what little he did know and how amazingly vast God was.

Mike S. says this in his intro : The people to fear are those who don't know enough to know that they don't know.

**God help us to keep a healthy respect of your vastness.**

:: New Blog

I am putting together a web log that lists links to church planting, emerging church web logs, and a few misc. places. It is called faith stories.

:: Take the best and go

I've been in "the church" most all of my 42 years, except for about a year and a half of checking out the world and living totally for me (worst year and a half of my life and another blog). I have been in some of the most real communities during some of their best years and I have been in some really bad church settings as well.

One thing I've seen is how easy it is for christians to look to the past. The shout seems to be "Remember When". And noone embraces change because it would be different than "Remember When". I am convinced that God is the God of today. If we ever start looking back we begin to get crusty. Religion is what we see when we look back. We are putting our faith in the past, when God is with us today. I like something I heard Mike Bickle say and think it lines up well with the nature and character of Jesus. He said if you ever stop moving forward with Christ, you will begin moving backward.

My own shout is one I learned from another mentor, John Wimber, "Take the best and Go". In other words leave behind anything that doesn't bear the freshness of Him. Leave methods behind unless they are for today. Leave styles behind unless they speak for Him today. Take the principles we've learned and apply them to today.

**This is my prayer for our new community as we press into Gods kingdom words and works for us, "Lord help us to take the best and go forward, help us to leave old clothes behind."**

:: Callie makes me smile

We were coming home from school this week and in conversation. My 9 year old says I'm never getting married. We start talking about this for a minute. She goes into deep thought and says "Dad, I going to ask God who to marry, and even if he has crossed eyes, a pig nose, and a crooked mouth, if God tells me I'll marry him." That's a good prayer. "No matter what, let your will be done."

:: Fuel 3

We had our third Fuel meeting Monday night. Our group had 6 adults and 3 kids. We have a team forming who all have that divine nudge from God to pursue this journey of forming a community of Christ followers. We talked about what God was doing in our lives at this point. We talked about keeping our mind on obedience each day and not looking too far to the future and not getting stuck in the past. There is a real sense of this being a God thing. We all are acquiring testimony of Gods faithfulness in our transitions and in our desire to further His kingdom. Mark is with us for the first time at Fuel and Christi is their for the first time.

Stories of His faithfulness after praying for Gods will

Elizabeth at work to head boss.
hb: Are you ready to go to work here?
El: If its Gods will
hb: Do you really think God gets involved at this level?
El: Yea, God is involved at every level. I have tons of stories of Him doing that.
hb: Tell me one.
El: ok, let me tell you the story of how God provided for my prom shoes when in high school.
hb: Maybe God does get involved at this level. ... shares some of his life story and talks about a "higher power"
hb: I think maybe God does get involved at other levels. boss leaves

:: Learning to listen

This is part of an article called 10 reasons why your church sucks found on the ooze. Check out the whole article. Listening I think is one of the top disciples of the emerging church.

“First” he said, “Your church is totally irrelevant to the community. You all talk a good game, but you do not see the dynamic of the community changing around you. Second, your church is filled with poor leaders and over bearing bullies who believe the best way to get anything done is to frighten people. All you have are people who will tell you what to do, and not lead us in doing it. Third, your church has no vision. You guys are just dead in the water. Fourth, your church is old. Your church is filled with old people who have no reason to move ahead. They have more life behind them then they do ahead of them. Fifth, your church is inbred. The people my age in your church are all related to the older people so change is impossible. People who are part of the outside don’t feel welcomed into the inside and voice an opinion; it’s filled with mama’s boys. Sixth, your church is more concerned about image them reality. You all seem to be more concerned with the condition with building then with building the condition of your people. The carpet looks great, because no food is allowed near it. The stain glass is wonderful; because you spend more money on cleaning and maintaining it then you do on mission work. Seventh, your church sees no need for change. You are all happy in your fortress and are not interested in opening your doors to the outside. Evangelism is a dead concept, and community is only those inside the building. Eighth, your church doesn't’t share a relevant message for a relevant time. You’re so concerned with doctrine, you are not allowing me to explore the faith and question the unquestionable. Ninth, your church doesn't care about me as a person, only as a checkbook. Over the time I was with the church I heard more sermons on how much I should be giving and not one on how much you were willing to give up. The only time I had anyone from your church visit me was when it was pledge time and you came around and you needed me to increase my giving. It got to the point were I felt no matter what I gave it would never be enough. Tenth, your church is all politics and infighting. Things only get done if you can muster enough political support form others to get your point to be heard, press your issues and lobby for approval. You have to wheel and deal to get anything done.

God keep us from inauthenticity, and allow our authenticity to make a difference.

:: Kingdom Ethos

A simple definition of the kingdom of God is the rule and reign of God. Christ came and ushered in the rule and reign of God on the earth in a whole new dimension. No longer was the presence of God contained in the holy place in the temple. Jesus came as a sacrifice for our errors. After the resurrection of Jesus the presence of God was available to all of humanity. Now the rule and reign of God is upon the earth in us.

There is a time in the future where the rule and reign of God will be a complete work. George Eldon Ladd said we now live in the presence of the future.

Having laid this as a groundwork, we can truly say that our purpose as Christ followers on the earth is to extend the rule and reign of God. This is the greater reality. We are no longer citizens of this present age but are citizens of Gods kingdom. Our lives are to reflect this reality. Our actions, our thoughts are to be vessels of the kingdom of God. We are now ambassadors of our fathers kingdom. We carry His full authority as ambassadors of His kingdom.

So our thoughts, our worldview, our perspective, our ethos is to be one of the kingdom of God, not of the kingdom of this world. I was thinking today how we have data thrown at us that does not work with the kingdom. Our feelings, our experience, this worlds ideas give us an ethos that goes against the grain of the kingdom. When someone is rude to me on the freeway. There are instincts that kick in and my desire is to be rude back. Oh you cut me off, I can do that also. But my kingdom ethos is different. In this paradigm, I may be directed to pray for that person or rejoice in Gods goodness at that moment.

I pray I can learn to embrace a kingdom ethos in a more holistic way in my life.

:: Test

I want to see how this w.blogger software works. Is bloggin strictly postmodern or just an emerging technology? Whatever it is, I like it.

:: Testimonies and the journey

Our journey planting a community of Christ followers in Carrollton is on its way. It hasn't come together as fast as I was thinking, but it is coming together none the less. Part of the process of this journey is letting go of my expectations and asking "What is the father saying?" and "What is the father doing?".

At our first meeting there were three adults and two kids and at our second meeting last week there were four adults and two kids. I mention this for journaling reasons. We are keyed in to the idea of having a community of Christ followers shouldn't be defined by the times we meet together. Meeting together for celebration is a part of our journey but only a part. If we are going to seek first the kingdom of God, we are going to pursue that on a daily basis.

We are having dinners and lunches together and talking of the people we are encountering in our daily lives that need to embrace the kingdom of God through following Christ. In all we are doing we have had a strong sense of the presence of God and recognize that we are just getting on board with His journey.

Testimonies:
Michael Bates has been in the area for about three months. Already he has gone from being a server at a local restaurant to training for a managers position. We see the Lords favor on his step of faith to move out here.

Elizabeth had planned on getting a temp job when she came out. She called about 12 temp agencies. Only one would even take an application because of the many people out of a job right now. Out of that one agency, she was given a temp job the second week. And her first week of work at this job, the firm asked her to apply for a full-time position there. We see Gods favor on her in this.

Mark Pierce just came out this week to make the transition from Lubbock. Marks car is not in the prime of its life and even a trip to Dallas was an occurrence to pray about. The timing on his coming was just right as the weather was overcast and his relic of a car did just fine. As he puts out job applications we are praying for a testimony to come from that the next couple of weeks.

A picture:
We see this community not as a puzzle that we are looking at the lid and trying to fit all the pieces together to make a perfect puzzle, but more like a journey into a forest where we don't know exactly what we will encounter next but are excited about the adventure.

:: Emerging Church: mapping a course

There seems to be a ground roots movement across the world today called the emerging church. As I look at various emerging churches as they spring up there is incredible variety in what they are looking like.

There are some that have a worship style that sings Passion stuff, there are the Hillsong churches, those that use mostly Vineyard worship, some that are totally alternative worship. You have groups that are house churches, others that are church plants meeting in shopping centers, strip malls, schools, or local bars. The types of meetings vary. Some look like traditional churches in format, others wouldn't be caught dead meeting on a Sunday. Polity varies, how they started varies. This is a very eclectic group of people.

I see one thing that is common among the mixture. People today are hungry for spiritual things and are not finding what they are looking for in the churches of today.

With all the variety in the emerging church how do we resonance find our way as we "emerge" onto the scene. Here are some things we could do:

1. We could come up with an elaborate marketing plan to sweep the city and let them
know that Resonance is one cool church and they should come check us out.

2. We could look at the emerging churches we think are doing community in a way that
appeals to us and pattern ourselves after them.

3. We could decide to do everything different from anything we've every seen or
experienced because we want to be different.

Here is what we are hearing from God and believe He is saying to us as we get ready to emerge as a community of Christ followers.

As we have begun to dialogue (an essential part of the community) about what do we do as resonance, we have come to this conclusion. Lets look at Jesus and see what He did. Lets ask the questions of how did he emerge in ministry. How did he live his life? What was He about as He emerged into the world? So our pattern will be Jesus. I know that can sound hyper spiritual. It can sound like buzz lightyear in Toy Story (with big booming voice) "We will follow Jesus pattern." We really don't think this is anything profound and realize probably most everyone would agree with us that Jesus pattern is the direction they are going.

So a couple of things have come up as we have just begun this dialogue within our small community.

. Lets ask like Jesus did "What is the Father saying?" and then lets get in on what the
Father is saying and doing.

. Jesus came preaching the kingdom of God and fulfilling what he taught through His
works. So we know we want the words and works of the kingdom of God to be part of
our journey.

. And recognizing this is a journey. It is not a bunch a events. It is a journey of group of
people who are being the church by a lifestyle of words and works that extend the
kingdom.

Well these are some of the initial thoughts. We met for the second time last night with four adults and two kids. As one friend who is a church planter recently reminded me "Don't forget to enjoy the journey". It is cool serving God, not always easy, but really cool.

:: A semi-definitive list of Christian blogs

Take a look a blogs4God to see lists of some Christian blogs.
Journals

:: When it rains it pours

Wow, we just had one of those weeks where it seemed everything hit at once. I came down with an intense cold for about five days. The van wouldn't start. The brakes on the car wouldn't start. Ethan didn't have all his shots to start school. We couldn't find Callies birth certificate. Our house that was supposed to close, didn't and we had further negotiations on it. We weren't sure about Callies new fourth grade teacher and I had to talk to the principal about the possibility of her switching classes. And somewhere in the midst of all this, I know I am supposed to be about the kingdom. I know I'm supposed to be about the business of planting a church.

Somebody tilted the world or at least our world this week.

On another note I was reminded this week that as followers of Christ we are no longer about ourselves. It is a challenging thing to not be about ourselves. It is a challenge to serve others when I have needs that need to be tended to. It is a challenge to focus on obedience to God when everything around you seems to be calling out "give me your attention".



I find that following Christ is not walking in a straight linear line that is painted with yellow stripes down the middle to give you the correct parameters. It is more like entering a mountain trail that has so much growth you don't know what will come next. Even at times you are not sure which way the path goes. It seems to fade out in the foliage.

This latter path is one that I can navigate only as I continue a divine communication with the creator of the path.

:: What is a weblog?

Check out this report on what a web log is at the Harvard law school blog site. It goes into depth on the heart of a weblog or blog. What is a weblog?

:: deconstructing "knocking on our heart"?

As the emerging church we have to look at how we are communicating the gospel of the kingdom of God. The modern church has it's own venacular. I believe God is all about giving fresh avenues of communication that reach each generation specifically.

I thought of this as I talked this morning with my eight and nine year old. I asked them to read Proverbs 15 and then tell me what jumped out at them. After about ten minutes of dialogue somehow we got on the topic of asking Jesus to come into our heart. Callie (my nine year old) said she remembered hearing that Jesus knocks on the door of our heart the first time. She said she thought their was this little Jesus who would knock on a little door in her heart and then open it and step in. Ethan (the eight year old) told me how when he could feel his heart beating he thought that was Jesus knocking to get in. This brought on a great dialogue about Jesus living in us and what that is all about.

I was reminded that we really need to know who we are communicating with and speak their language. I love talking with my kids about the Lord, they bring up topics I would never think of on my own.

As we are in the beginning week of launching a community of Christ followers, I've been telling our small core to think fresh. We want to communicate what God is doing in us and not try duplicating others.

:: Risk

I love the cover of the new Ten Shekel Shirt CD called Risk. It speaks to the situation we are in at resonance. We are planting a church by stepping out. We feel like this kid jumping from the swing. We are going for it, and it feels unsure in how we'll land, but we're still going for it.

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Go here to listen to some cuts from the CD: ten shekel shirt

:: The world of blog

Blogging has become one of my favorite hobbies. It might not seem so looking at the site, but I have been soaking up the blog world. It is a new habitat I've never been in and I like it. There are some great blog communities out there. I am even trying to learn a little code, although I haven't found any good publications on the matter yet, just picking up bits and pieces from some of the more technical site.

This seems to me a budding technology that is evolving every day. That's something else I like about blogging, it is a place where innovation is happening by the day.

Although I'm a tiny piece of the blogging world, I look forward to being a part of the community and the exploration of its universe.

:: Check it out

Check out the trailor of the New Mel Gipson movie: The Passion.

:: Kingdom Protocol

I am glad the way God does life is not like the norm of how humanity does life. I heard a story this morning about a complaint in the community of Christ followers in the first century. It went something like this "Your not taking care of our widows, what kind of community is this?" The people had an issue with those who were running the show.

There were twelve guys in charge. They could have taken a poll. Who among you has experience in managing a non-profit organization?, check here. Who has had some experience as an administrator of a food bank?, check here. If you have a degree in management, then check here. This is how humanity might have done it. Or these twelve guys might have said "you know George, he's not doing anything right now, lets appoint him to do it. Or maybe they would have said "This is a crummy little job, we don't want to waste any of our major contributors on this. Make sure someone of no consequence gets this duty."

But Gods ways were different. Taking care of widows was important to Him. There were three qualifications. Put seven men over this task with a good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit, and full of wisdom. Then there is a list of seven men who were recommended. These guys were not the little people of the community. They were people who were known, yet they were willing to serve. I like that God is really into people willing to serve. He is not too impressed with people who are impressed with themselves.

Serving God and others is the protocol of the kingdom. It so flies in the face of the realities of our culture. In our culture it is all about me, myself, and I. Those who have committed to follow Jesus wrestle with this also. Sometimes our churches become a place that "I" can get better, a place where "I" like the worship style, a place that "I" have to be fed. The emerging church is one of a faceless generation. They are not plastering their picture upon the face of the earth, but are engaged in making only one face shine. They are putting the face of Jesus before the world. That's the focus of the community of faith I want to be involved in.

Cool is not enough

Once upon a time I was a die hard Macintosh guy. PC's were kinda like the bad guys of the matrix. They were big, pushy, ugly, and not in the least useful. Somewhere along the line of daily routines and working in churches and companies I switched over to PC. I even learned DOS and the ins and outs of windows. Today, I'm much more comfortable on a PC. Although I miss that mystique that Apple always seemed to have. They were always so innovative and styling in how they approached the computing world.

I was reminded about that Apple mystique as we were in the Willow Bend mall one night with my family. I was drawn in to look around at the new Mac models and setups. As usual the Apple store was totally cool. My eight year old Ethan looked up at me as we entered and said "Dad is this a spy store". That was like the ultimate compliment for him. At eight years old, spys are at the top of his cool list. First just a moment I was tempted to go buy a Mac, but just for a moment. It did make me think: Apple has not fallen out of the race.

Finding the river

Last night, Michael Bates and I went over to DFW for an international worship conference. The speaker was Bob Sorge. He used Ezekiel 47 as the jump off point of his message. It speaks about a river of God that flows from heaven. He used this portion of scripture to talk about how churches should worship. He said the goal of every worship leader is not to follow his list, but it is to find the river of God and stay there.

I thought back to a week ago as we attended Harbor Point Community Church in Plano. There was a particular song where the sense of the reality of God was strong in the room. The lead worshiper recognized that and deviated from his list to follow the river. The sense of Gods reality stayed. My eight year old son told me later that day "Dad, I felt something in my heart during the worship I had never felt before, I'm not sure what it was, but I know its kinda good". It encourages me that not only was I aware of God showing up in our worship Sunday morning as was the worship leader was, but my eight year old picked up on it to.

He talked about how we American christians should not be so set on our lists and our linear paradyms, but to set our goal as finding the river of God and hanging out there.

Bob Sorge also talked about how that in Grateful Dead concerts there were times when Jerry Garcia and company would just take off playing music. it wasn't anything they had played before. At these times they were creating new music. It is as if something spiritual was happening as all the band members flowed together. Bob said how this was like an unholy river that the Grateful Dead learned how to plug into, not every concert but in many. This is one of the reason so many "dead heads" would follow them around the country. They hoped to get caught up in this spiritual experience.

We as Christ followers are looking for that holy river, one that brings the reality of Gods presence before us.

I thought about my own life. How many times have I let my agendas and my to do list (for God) keep me from finding the river and staying there. Oh, God show me the river today, let me take a swim.

Net be gone

Wow, It's been almost three weeks since I've been online. Life is a little simpler without the web. I am excited though to be back. We have just made a transition to the North Dallas area to begin our journey of planting a new church called RESONANCE. Our first two weeks here are all about unpacking.

I don't know how were going to get everything that was in our house in Lubbock into this apartment here in the metroplex, but I know that with Christ I can do all things. Honestly Elizabeth and I are hearing from God that we need to simplify. We are attempting to get rid of a lot of stuff we have acquired.

Reality has sunken in, we have jumped of the high dive and are hoping there is water in the pool. So far, so good. We have reconnected with a friend from Lubbock who has moved up here also. Michael is going to help us in this new adventure. Also we have reconnected with our friends Chris and Christy Baggett. They also are signing up for the trip. They will begin to be in transition to North Dallas. This is true Christianity for them, picking up and moving to a new place and trusting God to make life happen and work.

We are elated that God is bringing partners into this journey. There is strength in others who come together for community and pursuit of God.

This is like a roller coaster for me. I greatly dislike heights but I love the ride. There is a mixture of the of emotions that are part of transitions that I greatly dislike, but I know who is running the ride and I am set for the thrill.

Who are we gonna get in the draft?

Well the NBA draft is happening tomorrow. I am anxious to see what my team the Miami Heat are going to do. I've followed the Heat since Pat Riley arrived. For many years he built a contender in Miami, recently though they haven't fared so well. I would love to see a draft day miracle.

Speaking of drafts, wouldn't it be cool if church planters had a draft. We could have a lottery for the top ten worship leaders, and youth directors, for the top ten artists, or the top ten planners.

As we prepare to launch a new church community called Resonance next month we are counting on prayer to bring people into our draft. We are counting on God to do things that are beyond us as we faithfully attempt to serve Him.

I guess God is really our general manager and will make the choices for our draft. I kinda get excited thinking about it. Maybe he'll go for a foreign player, or the young draftee who will need some maturing.

The Beauty of God: Random Thoughts

There is a sentence in the Bible that says "behold the beauty of the Lord". I'm thinking that people today are not too plugged in to that. I believe that needs to be imported into the code of being a Christ follower. Maybe its time for an upgrade.

I've been reading Mike Bickles book "The pleasures of loving God". He talks about Christ followers pursuing the superior pleasures of knowing Jesus and contrasts those with the inferior pleasures of the world. Beholding the beauty of God is one of those superior pleasures.

I am praying that God (the ultimate coder) will begin to import the correct code into my own DNA that helps me pursue looking at the beauty of God. It excites me to think of looking into the face of the creator and think of not being met with a harsh condemning look, but to be able to see the beauty of God.

When I think of natural beauty, I think of my wife. I think of a lush green national forest in Ireland that sits on the ocean. I can remember the crashing of the waves as we visited there two summer ago. I think of a sunset I saw in Tampa Florida last week where clouds and sky were streaked with a variety of orange hues. All these are a glimpse of beauty found in the creator God.

Not religious stuff but THE REAL THING

My definition of religion is doing religious stuff but having no life, or love, or fun involved. Religion is stuffy and boring. I've know religious people in my life that reminded me of the Hulk when he gets angry. They are steeped in the art of intimidation to those who don't fit into small religious expectations. These folks and places pursue making others feel small.

Jesus really didn't like religious people. He said they were polished on the outside and a mess on the inside. This seems to be a challenge for us all, not to put on the polish that will win us kudos with other people, but to be who we really are.

I was in Tampa Florida this week for a church planters training. I saw things there that really appealed to me. There were a group of trainers who didn't expect to be treated as celebrities, but actually swept floors and helped move chairs after the teaching times. That says to me they weren't there for the kudos from those they taught or really those who they facilitated, but were there because of an inner relationship and conviction about planting churches. Those are examples I look forward to imitating.

Bible, a book or a mystery?

The Bible is not a book. The Bible is not information. The Bible is not good moral behavior. In my mind the Bible has so much mystery in its existence. I don't think I read it as much as it reads me. As I read in the word, so many times it seems like the words jump of the pages and into my heart and began to tug me or draw me. Those words create spiritual hunger and thirst in me. I am thankful that God, the God of the universe, the huge majestic mysterious God, created a tangible piece of equipment called the Bible to communicate with me.

A scenic stop, a loving voice

This past week I stopped in to visit the ANHOP (All Nations House of Prayer) in Grand Prairie Texas. It is a model after the IHOP of Kansas City founded by Mike Bickle. I felt a dramatic peace as soon as I walked through the door. I was there for the Saturday morning prayer time. There is nothing quite like walking into a place and sensing the peace that can only come from God. The prayer chapel is a calming place. It has a large picture window on the west end that looks out into a garden setting.

While there in prayer I was encouraged to hear from God things such as "Would a loving father ever fail to give good gifts to His children?" "Or would a loving father send kids into a place and not take care of them there?" This was an affirmation for me on our step of faith to move to Dallas and plant a church. My family and I are attempting something that can not be a success, unless God Himself directs us and supplies what we need there. We continue on our transition wrestling with fear, yet going ahead in faith.

Open windows

Prayer, there is no life flow without prayer. How many times have I learned that when prayer (talking to God, listening to God, revering God) comes to a stop in my life then the journey gets much rougher. I truly think that in this generation God is speaking. But are we listening? Somehow prayer is like opening a window to heaven. When the window is open heavenly stuff falls through it and touches the earth and us and changes us and the world around us. If we can just take time to open the windows of heaven with prayer then life flows, the God of wonder and mystery invades our world and does life like only he can do. He does things like taking the ordinary (water) and turns into extraordinary (wine). He takes defeats and someone brings good out of them.

How can we not pray, when windows open?

Reloaded

A friend and I went to lunch today. We talked in anticipation about seeing the Matrix reloaded. He just turned thirty. I kidded him that if he didn't understand the movie that meant he was getting to be an old person.

The whole premise of the Matrix is such a great picture of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is the reality we all live in, yet so many times we don't see life through the reality of the Kingdom, we see it through the reality of this world and how this world looks and feels (The Matrix). Faith is so much not what we can taste, touch, feel, see, or hear in a natural sense, it is embracing something bigger than ourselves. Enough of that, I know books and thousands of interpretations have been written on the Matrix. Personally, I can't wait to see Hollywood's latest and greatest technology and to talk about the postmodern values of Reloaded with a circle of friends.

Morph

I began the first chapter of Ron Martoia's book Morph today.

Ron is the lead pastor at Westwinds Community Church (http://www.westwinds.org) . The book addresses the texture of leadership for tomorrow's church. One particular quote surprised me a bit. He said the audience for the final survivor (I'm guessing the first one) was larger than those who voted in the Bush/Gore presidential election. This points to the changing culture that puts more stock on craving experiences rather than representation. In my mind this could be a enormous opportunity for communities of faith to draw people to a Jesus who is not just a historical figure of influence, but a personal real relational God involved in our lives today.

The focus in this book is that today's leaders of faith will need to morph (transform, change) on a continual basis to have impact on an emerging world.

Failure

Do you ever feel like your a failure at being a GOOD Christian?


For some reason lately I've been wrestling with my "got it pretty easy American Christian life". It doesn't mean I don't struggle and just cruise through life. But I honestly wonder if we (the American church) are really living the life. I think my bottom line question is "What does God think of me as I live my life for Him?"


I found a bit of the answer I was looking for today in an e-mail reply from a friend. We were discussing a page written by Tony Campolo and I was telling my friend Shane about this issue. A portion of his reply said:


"Regarding Your comments about what i wrote, Yea - i agree that the main push of the article was about Jesus' integrity and character that was/is so like the Father's. Is there anything better than that besides the fact that He Loves us?


i totally agree about the U.S. and the living status of Christians here, too. We do have it good, but that to me is not anything bad. In my opinion, God never blames us for where He puts us. i do think, however, that He always holds us accountable for our stewardship of the positions, gifts, wealth, talents, status, influence, and health that He gives us. i am just now in my Life beginning to grasp how much i have been given and how much i am a steward of for God. Accordingly, i am just now beginning to learn how to humbly walk in His Mercy & Grace in order to be that good steward and good administrator of those things He has put in my trust. i am really blown away by that whole concept. So to me, the struggle i have is not so much the struggle of many Westerners about whether i deserve what i have or not or whether i should spend any time feeling guilty about my ____ level - my struggle is how to be a faithful steward of stuff of which i'm pretty convinced i don't deserve any. How can i be a good steward - which to me inherently includes the Jesus kind of selflessness."


That's all I needed for today, a little assurance that it is ok to live in American and try to walk the walk in the place I am in. I still want to pursue the life Christ is leading me to live and do just that, but there is peace that maybe He put me right where I am at to fulfill enlarging His kingdom as a "got it pretty easy American Christian".


Continue to lead us Father into your best. Its all about you.

Home base

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Plant Wars

I was reading an article by Jim Griffith (a church planting consultant for Easum and Bandy http://www.easumbandy.com) this morning. He said something I had heard clearly from Tom Wymore Friday. Don't launch too quickly. Griffith calls it a premature launch. Wait until the team has formed and they are ready for launch. Another thing that I heard from both of these men is the importance of prayer. Tom told me as he was planting in Austin that each time he sent out a prayer sheet to his prayer folks life seemed to run a bit smoother for a time. In Griffiths "Ten Most Common Mistakes for Church Plants" #1 is taking spiritual warfare too lightly. I pray for not only Gods will in planting a new church but Gods wisdom for carrying it through.

Keep Unlearning

The Gallup strengthsfinder test identifies a persons top 5 strengths. The twenty something dollar book is worth getting. My top strength according to Gallup is learning. This is coming in handy in this process of church planting. There is a lot to learn. I have found that learning includes unlearning the incorrect learning we have. For all of us life is a journey of learning and unlearning. When we stop learning, we stop growing, and become stale and bored with life. It's very much like that as a Christ follower. To walk forward following Jesus is a life long learning and unlearning journey. When you stop learning and unlearning about Him you become bored and all the sudden earthly things become more appealing than heavenly things. I am trying now to learn and unlearn about planting a church.

I even hesitate to use the word church since that word is so worn out in our present society. So, I guess I'll be planting a community of Christ followers in North Dallas called Resonance.

This weekend, I was able to spend some time with Tom Wymore. Tom has helped write the Church Planting curriculum for the Foursquare Church. Tom pastors in Midland Texas and also heads up the Foursquare organization in West Texas. I enjoyed talking through different aspects of approaching the plant we will be doing in Carrollton. Not only has Tom written on church planting, He had been the lead pastor on a church plant in Austin Texas. Mentoring is important to me. Not so much formal mentoring but mentoring that comes relationally I find really rewarding.
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