:: 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.