:: 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.