:: 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.*