VitalPastor

53 Days Through Matthew

2012-02-28T07:49:00.000-08:00

Lent for Everyone is a YouVersion Scripture reading plan FCC is calling all our congregation to engage. The readings through Matthews Gospel are designed to lead us all together through the same spiritual experience right through Holy Week and Easter. The commentary on the readings should you want to read more are written by a fantastic Biblical scholar named N.T. Wright. His insights are quite literally moving and insightful. If you would like to join a growing group of FCC friends in this spiritual practice all you have to do is go to YouVersion and register. Look for the reading plan entitled Lent for All. You can have the daily readings sent to you each day via email or even on your smart phone.

There is also a Facebook page that has been created if you want read and/or share what the Spirit is stirring up in you. All you have to do here is befriend me, Michael Dunn, with a message that you want to join the FB group called Vitaljournal. I'm posting there a few times a week as I read through Matthew.

Here's a thought: There can be no wholeness in the image of Christ which is not incarnate in our relationships with others, both in the body of Christ and in the world. M. Robert Mulholland, Jr. Invitation to a Journey: A Roadmap for Spiritual Formation.

Erasmus' Heart is Ours as Well

2012-02-27T15:44:00.000-08:00

"Make Christ the only goal of your life. Dedicate to Him all your enthusiasm, all your effort, your leisure as well as your business. And don't look upon Christ as a mere word, as an empty expression, but rather as charity, simplicity, patience and purity--in short, in terms of everything he has taught us." For Jesus was "the sole archetype of godliness." Quoted in Jaroslav Pelikan, Jesus Through the Centuries: His Place in the History of Culture, Yale University Press, 1985, p. 155.

Just Like JB

2011-12-09T15:04:00.000-08:00

The Friday after Thanksgiving, while so many are at the Black Friday sales, our family is out at High Star Tree Farm cutting down a Christmas tree. This has been our family tradition for years. We end up back at the house and pull down the 800 boxes of Christmas decorations from the attic. The last few years, I've noticed that Dawn, my wife, places most of the ornaments on tree, relishing the meaning packed in each one, many of which were made by the little hands of our children. One of my favorite things is when Dawn sets up all the years of our family pictures with Santa. Seventeen years running the kids have gone to see Santa, sat on his lap, and had their picture taken. I was looking through them this year and choking up at how time flies and how big the kids are now.

This year, though, right in the mix of all that emotion, a few days after setting up the tree, one of my twitter feeds catches my attention. The hook line simply says: "You, Santa and a grenade launcher! Check the story out!" Naturally, who's not going to, right? So I clicked on the link and opened a news story about how people and families with kids of all ages, right down to the littlelest children are taking up an invitation from a gun club in Arizona to have their picture taken with Santa while holding AK-47 assault rifles and grenade launchers! In some ways it's comical. And in other ways it's sad. But really in all ways it's disturbing. The mixing of Santa, and Jesus at this season and automatic assault rifles and grenade launchers just seems beyond the pale.

Then right in the mix of all that emotion, later in the week, I open up to Mark's telling of the coming of John the Baptist. I realized in an instant that John's message really resonated with me. Mark's version of John's teaching is pretty tame. In Matthew John is harsher and more no-nonsense. He says there, You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath that is coming? The axe is laid at the root of the tree, and every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down! John's message resonates with me in a moment when Santa, Jesus and grenade launchers with little children are the mental model for at least part of the world.

That being said, Mark's version of John, though still rough around the edges, depicts a softer and less acostic John. Mark has barely begun his message when he bluntly announces, "John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness," starting things out with a bang. John simply appears and immediately begins to deliver his insistent and unwavering message about repentance.

John is described visually as a prophet like Elijah. He is dressed in camels hair and eats locusts and wild honey. We picture him with a rather wild, untamed look in his eyes. In most ways, John is not like anyone we know. We don't identify with John from some database of people in our lives who are like him. He's far removed from anything we want for ourselves.

But don't miss John's significance. As we approach Christmas, look beyond the funny clothes and his strange diet and his wild-eyed stare and hear more than just strong words to straighten up and fly right. Because I really think John offers something for the way we should understand our lives, who are committed to follow Jesus.

There's an old story that is told...

...about a little girl whose pastor asked her, "What is a saint?" She thought about the stanined-glass windows in the church and said, "A saint is somebody whom the light shines through."

This was john's life through and through. He was somebody through whom the light of God shined through. If we reproduce John in ourselves, then this would surely sum it up: To be people whom the light of Christ's love shines through. John, truly, is a saint in the best sense of that word in at least three ways:

He Goes Before Christ
John, first, by his very being is someone who goes before Christ. He doesn't simply come before Christ in terms of time. That, of course, would be impossible for us. He goes before Christ in terms of perparing the way. In some parts of the Church, John is not know as the Baptist. He's know as John the Forerunner. John is someone who goes before Christ to prepare the way for the presence of Christ in the world.

What would that look like for us to prepare the way for the presence of Christ in people's lives, in oppressive contexts and unjust systems? John forces us to ask that question of ourselves. He is as Isaiah 40 says, A voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' John stands for us as a testiment to how we should live before a world that needs to experience the grace of God's transformative power. We are called by John's life to be people who prepare the way of the Lord.

We do this by living a life of love. That's difficult for us to hear properly, or at least hear it in a way that gives it any teeth. Most of us hear about love from Hallmark or the cover of gossip magazines displayed at the counters of grocery stores. But we prepare the way of the Lord by living a life of love. Living a life of love means giving yourself to others in service in the same spirit of Jesus when he said, I have come not to be served, but to serve.

FCC, along with several other churches, has been in a relationship with two at-risk elementary schools in our vicinity. Mostly what we do is serve them. We gather twice a year and paint, clean, plant and build. It's not fancy. John wasn't fancy. But it is a way for us to prepare people to experience Christ in other ways that are transformative

He Speaks the Truth in Love
John never minced with words. He told it like he saw it. His words called out people's lives because he speaks the truth in love. This is another way we can embrace the life of John for ourselves: To be people who have learned to speak the truth in love well.

It hardest to emulate John in this way. Most of us are far too ready to call out people's mistakes before looking at our own. But John shows us that there is a way to live that speaks the truth in love. Many times we speak it without ever saying a word. It looks like the faithful choices we make in the face of a world that is more often confused about what should happen.

Speaking the truth in love requires us to see the other. It requires us to see the heartbreak of others. We speak the truth in love well when the one receiving it knows that he or she has been seen. John's voice out of the wilderness acknowledges that the people of Israel have been seen, that the Lord has not forgotten them, that God in all power and splendor sees them and desires more for their lives.

This is speaking the truth in love when it is done well. It calls people to new ways of being and opens them to new lifegiving possibilities. It may judge, but it never condemns. It may fall like a ton of bricks, but is always there to re-build, restore and renew.

He Points Beyond Himself to Christ
There is another way we are to copy John. John also lives in a way that always points beyond himself. A famous Orthodox icon called simply St. John the Baptist shows John looking away off the canvas, if you will. He is ostensibly looking at Jesus. It is a hard icon to focus on, because it doesn't hold our gaze. John's hands in the icon keep scooping our attention back over to Jesus. It is like a visual depiction of John's own words, Jesus must increase, and I must decrease.

John's life, like ours should be, points beyond himself and to what is most important - Jesus, the Christ. John is most himself when he is pointing beyond himself to the one greater who comes after him, whose sandals he is not worthy to stoop down and untie.

So, don't miss John's significance. He stands as an example for us in at least these three ways.

One last thing: It is important to note that John doesn't come by all this easily, nor will we. He doesn't do all this without some real doubt and struggle. John will at one point in his life send his own disciples to Jesus and have them ask, Tell us. Are you The One or should we look for another?

Jesus responds, Tell John what you see...the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. It's after this that we do not hear anything else about John, except that he is beheaded by Herod. A sense lingers that John fades into the background for good. His work is finished. He has served well.

May such be said of us.

Become a Giver

2011-12-02T11:08:00.000-08:00

It was about 10 years ago that I finally admitted to myself that I'm not very good with money. In the division of labor in our home, the month to month maintenance of deposits and debits falls to me. I have to be honest. I absolutely loath doing the bills every months. As a result, the receipts pile up higher and higher until I've turned a mountain into Mt Everest! Watching over this wears me out. I worry about it constantly. It really bothers me that others seem to do it so well. And no amount of Jesus' teaching to NOT worry about tomorrow seems to aleviate my anxitey.

About five years ago, I decided it was time to put all that anxiety to rest. After years of fooling myself and trying to fool others, and years of constantly going two steps forward and two steps back, I became honest with myself and asked for help. Though the bills still don't light my fire, I have found some real freedom in getting the financial portion of our lives together. Jesus teaches that if we get the financial portion of our lives in order, then a lot of the other portions of our lives and faith will grow and mature deeply and significantly.

In today's climate, the stewardship of our financial resources is a pertinent subject for anyone. It's pertinent, because let's face it, fear and uncertainty fill the economic air we breath. Unemployment hovers at a stifling rate. Fear that the world markets could collapse tomorrow linger ever so near. We hear about Europe. Things are so tenuous there that what solutions they are proposing to bailout Europe's economy could falter in an instant if Greece's collapses. Occupy Wall Street, a movement of the so-called 99% who are fed up with the abuses of the 1%, is gaining momentum and growing more violent. Interestingly, in my opinion, it's kind of telling on Americans that those who consider themselves to be the 99% are really the 1% when we think globally.

So, whether it's the European markets, the total collapse of the economy in Greece, the U.S unemployment rate, or just personal deficits, a pervasive anxiety strangles many of us. What I have gotten present to in the last few years is that the way through is the simple and practical habits of money management mixed with the discipline of delayed gratitfication and a healthy dose of the circumstances of the poorest of the poor. Really, the stewardship of our financial resources is a simple spiritual practice of managing our God given gifts and resources, so that we might live into the heart of our commitments to love God and love our neighbor.

The turning point for me came when I took the 13 week course called Financial Peace University, a course developed by Dave Ramsey. We offer it every year starting in January. It's a course that offers participants hope and practical, manageable steps. Here are five steps that are offered in the course. I offer them as motivation for you to think and pray about your giving and find healthy patterns financially and spiritually.

STEP 1: Start an Emergency Fund
Starting out, everyone should have a beginning emergency fund of $1,000. If you don't have that in the bank, then that's the first step. What does this do to help? It means that we don't have to rely on Visa and Mastercard for emergencies. Proverbs says, Wise people have stores of choice food and oil, but foolish people devour everything they have. Find a way to put $1,000 in savings that's accessible so that when the car breaks down, you can pay for it.

STEP 2: Live on a Budget
Step two is to develop and live with a budget. Dave Ramsey says, "A budget is simply telling your money where it is going to go instead of wondering where it went." Just hearing that for the first time helped me. Jesus said, Don't build a tower without first counting the cost, lest you get half way up and you are unable to finish and all who see you begin to mock you. The good news is that having a budget takes the stress out of managing money, stress that has an impact in other areas of your lives.

STEP 3: Get out of Debt!
The third step is to get out of debt. The Bible says, The borrower is slave to the lender. Experience the freedom of not owing anyone anything! Dawn and I over the course of 3 years have paid off about $20K in debt. We have a half car payment left. This will only leave us owing on our house. Now, we are moving on to a fully-funded emergency fund of 3-6 months of our salary in savings. Do you know how liberating that is!! Some of you do, and some of you could , if you change some of your behaviors and simply be disciplined.

STEP 4: Invest Wisely
The fourth step is to invest wisely. Proverbs says, Spread your portion to seven, Yes, to eight, because disaster may come upon the land. Sounds like a land we are living in at present. Gas prices up. 401Ks look more like 201Ks. The best way to protect yourselves is to diversify, which simply means "Spread your portion to seven, Yes, to eight." Three to six months of your salary needs to be in a savings account. If you are fortunate enough to own your own home, then you have some of your investment in equity. Fifteen percent of your income should go to retirement. As you work through these steps, you find that there will be other money available to invest. Invest wisely.

STEP 5: Become a Giver
Becoming a giver is the goal of being a good stewardship of God's gracious resources. To be in a place where your wealth can be an opportunity to expand the kingdom of God in ways where justice is done. Wherever the poor are lifted up, wherever people are liberated from the forms of life that enslave them, wherever the broken-hearted are healed, wherever the captive is set free, there one finds the kingdom of God. That's the goal!

I believe that everyone should be committed to giving some amount regularly and consistently over time. Start somewhere. What's true is that if you can live on 100 dollars a year, you can live on 90 dollars a year. May the Lord bless you as you prayerful consider your giving!

PS: This Sunday, December 4 and next Sunday, December 11, we are asking the members and friends of FCC Houston to declare their plan for giving in 2012. This will be the amount that you plan to give to sustain the ministry of the church to bring people and ourselves into a vital relationship with Jesus. It will be a declaration that is between you and God that we will ask you to share with us in a commitment card that you'll turn in as we engage a budgeting process for the church.

PSS: This link provides some basic tools and materials to help you prepare.

An Advent Invitation

2011-11-28T08:42:00.000-08:00

"Preserve" by Laura Thewalt

Sunday we gathered at FCC Houston for the First Sunday of Advent, like so many other congregations. Advent is a season in the church year, a time for expectant anticipation and repentant preparation. Why? Because in Advent something is being promised. God promises that something is going to happen that is larger than ourselves and our small lives.

The Gospel text for this Sunday was Mark 13:24-37, which is the closure of Jesus explaining when the world is going to end. You know the one, "the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give it's light..." It's a rather strange and odd text, and in the proper frame of mind is also rather uncomfortable.

Here's the context: Jesus has just left the temple in Jerusalem where he was teaching with his disciples. He's just pointed out the poor widow who's put a few pennies into the offering - but which was all she had; literally her whole life's savings. As they leave, one of the disciples admires the huge stones of the temple and its grandeur and magnificence. Jesus replies, basically, "Yeah, aren't they. Isn't it. But hear me: a day is coming when not one stone will be left on another; every one will be thrown down!" Which actually happens around 70 CE when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the temple.

Moments later, Jesus is sitting on the Mount of Olives, looking out across the narrow Kidron Valley at the the temple, which was so massive it must have seemed like only a stones throw away. Recalling Jesus' pronouncement, Peter, James, John and also Andrew naturally want to know when this "great" thing is going to happened. And Jesus replies with what is the text for the First Sunday of Advent:

In those days, following that distress, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give it's light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time you will see the Son of Man coming in clouds of great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven...No one knows the hour...Be on your guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. Mark 13:24-26, 32-33

Jesus here can come across as an apocalyptic preacher rabidly spitting out that the world is about to end. We can picture Jesus standing on the street corner wearing a sandwich board that reads, "The World is About to End!" Harold Camping today has nothing on Jesus!

Looking back on my own faith journey, I realize just how much this text and ones like it in the Bible have impacted me. I lived in fear early in my Christian faith because of texts like this one; fear that the world would end and I'd be one of those left behind. Much of my prayer and devotional life was done in the shadow of the possibility that a day was just around the corner, perhaps even while I was in that very moment of prayer, when Jesus would return. By golly, I was going to be found praying or reading my Bible if it did.

I have let much of that go today (being motivated by fear, that is). I've stopped worrying about it so much. I came to the place where I was able to leave the end to God, along with all the fear of catastrophe and the necessary judgment that come with that. It's in God's hands.

I resonate with something someone said recently, Somehow we want to lose the fear and dread of these passages, but keep the urgency and passion.

Mark 13 is strange and odd to our modern sensibilities, which often causes us to circle in place and never get anyhwere. So, let me share a few insights I think important as one begins the Advent journey with Mark 13 in mind:

These words in Mark 13, first, are uncomfortable. Let's just acknowledge this. They are uncomfortable to our sense of stability that we experience through our normal patterns and routines. As I grapple with them, I realize that these texts are uncomfortable because I've got a life that's reallly pretty good. I don't want things to change! I want things to stay just the way they are because I like them just the way the are. It is to my advantage that they stay the way the are.

I recently heard a father say in exasperation to his teenaged son who didn't get what he wanted and cried for the umpteenth time, "It's not fair!" His father replied heatedly, "Look son, you don't want fair! It's not fair that you were born in America, with all its advantages! It's not fair that you have parents who value and love you! It's not fair that you are getting to go to college! You don't want fair!"

The promise of change in Mark 13, a day when the great things will be thrown down, leaving no stone upon another is uncomfortable because it promises to disrupt my good life. It's is unsettling to my way of being that is nicely insulated from the lives of others in this world who are really on the edge - the edge of poverty, disease, hopelessness and despair, literally on the edge of death, because they don't know where their next meal is coming from.

It is important for us to hear this text (and others like it) as it would be heard by the least and the last and the lost in our world. What is rotten news for me and my comfortable life is great good news to the poorest of the poor. What is disruptive news to people who have a roof over their heads is beautiful news to those who are mistreated and stepped on and who live under systems that keep them under foot.

Second, once we hear these words from the standpoint of the least and the last and the lost, we can begin to hear them also as a call to join God in the work of cleaning up this world. Yes, God's promise is that the world as most people experience it will NOT always be this way. A day is coming, as Isaiah reminds us, when God will come and the low places will be lifted up, when the rough places will be made smooth, when the high places will be leveled. A day is coming when God's justice will be the rule rather than the exception. It will be a place where the lion will lie down with the lamb, where weapons of war will be transformed into instuments of peace.

What is clear in Advent is that we are invited by God to participate in the work of cleaning up this world. We are invited to partner with God as the Ultimate Reality to help make what God has promised, indeed, come to be. Mark 13 isn't to be a fearful encounter; it is to be an Advent invitation to participate with Spirit to make the kingdom values Jesus taught a reality in people's lives and in our own.

Third, this is a clarion call for us today that the time is now. We have a chance to participate with the Spirit in the work of God that was inaugerated in Jesus. Don't wait! Watch! Keep awake! Don't be caught sleeping! This is the urgency and passion of this text.

All around us the Spirit is on the move. All around us the Spirit creates space to change the circumstances of those for whom this passage is good news. In the midst of the Christmas rush it is easy to forget that. In the midst of normal life - once Christmas is over again for another year - it is easy to let the space stand empty.

I encourage you to stay awake to the possibilities! To begin this Advent journey with the questions of the disciples very much in the forefront, "When will these things happen?" Because it's clear that Jesus says, "This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened." I invite you to stand in the space that the Spirit creates, and dare to be the widow in the temple and put in to the kingdom work all you have as an offering to God.

PS: One of the thrusts for First Christian, Houston, for the next 2-5 years is to create missional communities. That is, communities where we are endeavoring to build a relationship with an at-risk community and letting the Spirit use us to transform lives and circumstances through the resources God provides, that we might live into our vision of bringing people and ourselves into a vital relationship with Jesus Christ. Look for opportunities to join in at www.fcchou.org.

The Beatitudes of Jesus

2011-11-15T15:39:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don’t know me, I am Michael, whose father is a retired Marine Corps Colonel and whose mother is a So. Mississippi woman who spent her life in the Mid-West. Think of the writer Pat Conroy and the Great Santini and you have an exaggerated picture of my life. I am a follower of a First Century Jewish rabbi named Jesus, who’s not so great at being his disciple. I am a husband who married up to a beautiful woman named Dawn – and if you will
forgive me for being a little corny – she really is – my dawn. I am a father to one son and three daughters, who open me up to new ways of loving almost every day. I am a pastor, and have been one for 20 years now, but who has only in the last 4-5 become more comfortable with that fit. All of that is part of who I am, if you don’t already know me.

If I were to say one thing I am not – I am not a human being, which isn’t to say that I am an alien from another planet. It’s just to say I am not a human being; I am a human becoming…because I really believe that no matter how we all might describe ourselves – gay or straight or something
else; Christian, Muslim, Jew or nothing at all – we are all in process, we are ALL human becomings.

The most important part of the process, the becoming for me at this point in my life is learning how to recapture my faith as a way of life, rather than a system of beliefs. When we filter each other through a certain system of beliefs, we start judging lives, determining if people are right or
wrong, if we agree or disagree, all of which makes us less able to really see one another and be authentic about who we becoming. And so I am learning how to recapture my faith as a way of life and allow myself to be open to God’s spirit. (I owe that most recent insight to my wife). And I am grateful for a community of others with whom I can do that.

Which leads me to the Beatitudes, the focus for our time tonight. The Beatitudes are eight blessings Jesus invoked at the beginning of one of his greatest teaching moments. These eight blessings, in eight verses, are as someone has said, “an extravagance of wisdom in an economy of words.” Nowhere in the entire Bible are we offered a more compelling image of a life of faith
in a world of doubt than in the Beatitudes.

Jesus said:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 5:3-10)

These eight blessings,eight verses of extravagant wisdom, crystallize the very heart of a message God (The Other, the More, the Holy Mystery…) has been trying to convey since the very beginning. That is: a blessed life is a transformed life, and blessed lives gathered in community are capable of transforming an entire world. That describes as nearly as we can the vision and hope of Zeteo, a word that means “to seek”.

The Beatitudes don’t really begin with Matthew chapter 5; the Beatitudes begin at the end of chapter 4

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.
(Matthew 4: 23-25)

When I read those words, I am reminded that the context for the Beatitudes is Jesus at work to touch the lowest people in society. Touching and healing and restoring lives that were sick with the pain of what the world’s worst things had to offer. The Beatitudes of Matthew’s good news are beautiful in and of themselves, but they are not generalized, abstract sayings, whose wisdom we debate. Jesus is the speaker. He has been healing the people. He is so committed to loving the least, the last and the lost that he will do so even in the midst of being rejected and humiliated. So the Beatitudes stretch our imaginations, kind of like a multipaned window through which we get a glimpse of what life in proximity to Jesus is like.

Gregory of Nyssa (4th century CE) compared the Beatitudes to a Staircase, ascending toward God. The poor in spirit are compelled to mourn, the meek hunger for justice, the pure in heart are merciful, and therefore they strive to make peace, and wind up being hassled because of it.

But anytime we come to the Beatitudes of Jesus we are forced to see whom Jesus singled out as blessed. Whom did Jesus single out for special commendation? Frederick Buechner puts it something like this: Not the spiritual giants, but rather…“the poor in spirit”. Not the champions of faith who can rejoice even in the midst of suffering, but rather…those who mourn – for their own mistakes and for the real suffering of others in the world. Not strong ones, but rather…the meek, in the sense of gentle ones. Whom did Jesus single out? Not ones who get it all right the first time, but rather…the ones who hope they will someday. Not the winners of great victories over Evil in the world, but rather…the ones who, when they see the evil in themselves every time they brush their teeth, are in fact merciful when they see evil in others. Not the totally pure, but rather…the “pure in heart,” ones whose lives have brought them scars and pain and great amounts of suffering, but somehow keep an inner freshness and innocence in tact. Not the ones who have found peace in its fullness but rather…ones who for that reason try to bring it about wherever they can.

If any of that describes you, then you are welcome…you are welcome here.

The View of God for Me

2011-09-16T07:18:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday we began a new course based on the scholarship of Marcus Borg. It is dealing with the themes of God, Jesus, Salvation, Community and Practice. If truth be told, our very first session has already exposed us to some new and challenging ideas about how we as Christians can think about God.

Two Views of God:
Simplifying things for the purpose of teaching, we tried on the idea that there are two views of God. The first view envisions God as a person. Someone embodied who looks like us in the general sense that humans have arms and legs, a head and torso, a heart and a head. This image is a familiar one to me. The depictions throughout time show an old, wise man, with a long white beard standing in the sky looking down with white robes and a staff. I don't offer that depiction in any way pejoratively. God is more often than not viewed this way exercising superhuman love and grace. Often, at the same time, most likely because of our experiences growing up, we depict God as legalistic and the Great Judge. Often that God is near to us, walking with us, carrying us - as the Serendipity Prayer does.

Another view of God is much different. We could put a lot of names to it. Sunday we used the term: All Encompassing Reality. Sounds a little hokie. This view doesn't see God as an embodied person similar to us. It sees God as a divine reality in the spirit of Paul's words in Acts 17, when he said "For in God we live and move and have our being." God is everywhere present as a reality beyond our wildest imaginations.

The View for Me
The older I get and the more I walk with God, I have to say that the first view makes less and less sense to me. I understand where it comes from. We are made in the image of God. We naturally gravitate to ways of expressing the being of God that are familiar to us. However, the old man in the sky, which is what I grew up with, leaves me with so much to be desired.

I like God as an All Emcompassing Reality and am finding that it is really enlivening my faith over the last several years. It opens me up to sit in a coffee shop and sense that God is all around me. In and next to me and the people I sit next to. In the faces of those with whom I converse. It opens me up to the world as beauty and sacred, instead of anti-God and profane. Something about all that touches me deeply and moves me to a greater sense of devotion.

Personally, I don't lose anything. I gain. I'm looking forward to the course and the conversation.

Acts 17
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’[b] As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’[c]

Moving Forward on Strengths

2011-09-06T07:16:00.000-07:00

In late 2008, FCC Houston deeply committed to developing people who are committed to personal transformation. Believing that personal transformation leads to transforming the church and ultimately the world, we wanted to become intentional about engaging the transformation process deliberately and ongoing.

FCC just took a huge leap forward this summer by committing to our first Ministry by Strengths course. I want to acknowledge our elders and deacons who have stepped forward to take this 8 week course, beginning this week. They are providing a great example of servant leadership for us all.

Let me try to describe the course.

First of all, MBS identifiies your top five strengths out of a list of 34 provided by the reputable research done by the Gallup corporation. The self-discovery alone helps pinpoint the kinds of activities where one most likely will thrive.

But secondly, it is important to know that the course itself is really the beginning of a life-long journey of learning and discovery. At the heart of the time together is to get clear about your God-calling. For Disciples of Christ that is perhaps not "familiar" terminolgy. We have been very much a reason-oriented people. But MBS really takes the best of both worlds by combining the knowledge of researchers with a listening ear for the Holy Spirit. It is a combination of head and heart, mind and Spirit in the context of community to gain a better sense of your unique God-given talents.

Lastly, let me say the MBS course is about deploying people into joyful service to expand God's kingdom. So much of our approach to self-improvement is about shoring up the areas of our life that are lacking. If we get five As and a D on a report card, what do we focus on? The self-help world is full of books about how to improve this or that asppect of your life. It's appproach is remedial. MBS is about acknowledging your strengths and entering into joyful service that builds on those strengths, engaging things YOU consider life-giving! Wouldn't THAT be nice! Imagine the impact not only on God's kingdom, but the impact in your relationships as well as your professional career.

This week we are taking a huge leap forward toward our vision of realizing people who are experiencing personal transformation and gaining the tools to keep that going in their lives.

A Beautiful PreSchool at FCC!

2011-08-17T09:08:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I am powerfully reminded of what a beautiful preschool we have. In several ways, it stands out. Not the least of which is just the space. With its large rooms and seemingly even larger windows, it invites a environment of warmth and openness.

But we can have the best space and still not have a beautiful thing. Right? I was reminded this week of the beauty of FCS more to the heart of what is ultimately important. That is, FCS creates an experience over a long haul that forms people to be authentic lovers of God in the spirit of Jesus. It is something that happens in nearly every instance and at every level. Certainly the children are nurtured in an environment of the core values of FCS. But it is something that happens with parents and staff as well. As a ministry of First Christian Church, FCS functions so well as a mission outpost of love and grace.

I want to (and you along with me) acknowledge the leadership of Carolyn Maloney, and her assistant director, Tara Barouch. The teachers also are tremendously dedicated and dependable. One note on this score is that the average tenure of all our FCS teachers is over 6 years. Half of the 20 teachers have been here for 7 to 20 years. That speaks volumes!

You might be asking, "Well, what reminded you this week of how beautiful FCS is?" Well, the answer is that I received a copy of a resignation letter from one of our teachers, Laura Reprezza. Here is a transcript of it. I share it with a desire to share with you what I see, in the hopes that you will see it too. Blessings:

Dear First Christian School Family,

With contradicting feelings, I'm enjoying my last days at First Christian School. As you probably already know, my husband has accepted a job offer with Telemundo Network in McAllen, TX, and I have happily accepted to move back where my family lives.

For the past four years I have had the best experience ever, a wonderful job and the most loving school for my daughter. Working at FCS has been very fulfilling; I have grown as a person, as a mother and as a teacher.

It seems that the word "Thank You" is not enough to express my gratitude; to the teachers who were asking me how my daughter was when she was sick, to the ones who were holding and hugging her when she was crying, to the parents who were taking that extra time in the mornings to talk to me, to the ones telling their children, "Ok, let's go and look for your second Mom" ... again, thank you, it was an honor for me, when they were asking for my help.

The Blue room will always be the Blue room because Ms. Yolanda is there and from her I learned that no matter how cloudy it looks outside, it will always be a sunny day inside the Blue room. It's her energy and optimism that has made me enjoy these past four years.

Thank you Mr. Dunn for your warm smile and your jokes, for your spiritual guidance and your prayers, and thank you church members for all your support; to Robert my deepest appreciation for always taking care of me; to Kenneth, thanks for being such a great friend and I hope you continue to let the children call you "Swiper", because they love it and love you.

Thank you Langdon for holding hands with me when I most needed it, as young as you are you gave me more that what I could have given you.

So big thanks to the parents for letting me be a part of your children's life, to the children for all the love and the hugs, to the teachers for all these four years full of great moments and that you to Tara for being so thoughtful with my family.

And even when I know Thanks is not enough I have to say Thank You! Thank You! Ms Carolyn for not just offering me a job but offering me a big Family here in Houston...and Thank you for trusting me with your most precious treasure at First Christian School...your children!

I will always keep all of you in my heart!

Laura Reprezza

Houston Sports Authority

2011-08-05T06:50:00.001-07:00

This week I had the pleasure to pray for the opening of the Houston Sports Authority's bi-monthly board meeting where they meet at Minute Maid Park. HSA's board was established by the legislature to oversee the three major sport stadiums in Houston (Reliant, Minute Maid, Toyota Center and Dynamo). The money to fund those projects comes from hotel taxes, car rental taxes and the lease arrangement with each location. The HSA is now engaged in, as board chair Kent Friedman said, "a marketing function to get heads in beds and butts in cars" in Houston.

I wondered how to pray in such settings and exactly what to say. I did what I normally do when I am asked to pray at such functions: I get there early and meet some of the people and ask lots of questions. I learned a lot. Both about what the HSA does but more importantly about the people present and their families. I learned also that at least three major religions were represented. I learned that these folks dress really well in very high dollar suits. I learned that we could find things in common to make us laugh and pause reflectively. But behind the things that were said were fathers and mothers with families and joys and struggles. You learn the more you meet people that all of us are so completely just normal people with lives and loves and losses.

I think where I saw that so clearly was in the the way they received my daughters, Grace and Hollis, who came along with me. It was nice to see a very high functioning and professional group of people find joy in their presence.

So, as I thought about how to prayer and exactly what to say, I did what I normally do on such occasions: I sat quietly by myself and wrote a prayer to God for us all. Here it is:

Most gracious God, we express our gratitude that You remain near to us, Your creation. As Your handiwork, we are aware that when You made us, You pronounced that we were not just good, but VERY good. For that, and so much more, You are greatly to be praised.

In the context of the work of this team of people, we first thank You for the gift of sports and stadiums and elite athletes and competition. They all combine to bring us so much joy.

In the context of the work of this team of people, and perhaps specifically in light of today's agenda, we ask for Your Spirit to be very present. For the decisions that must be deliberated on and made this morning, we ask that a spirit of truth-telling mixed with humility and unity would prevail. We ask that these things would prevail for some higher collective purpose and good, than just our personal desires and what we feel we may need. We ask these things by Your grace.

To God be the glory. Amen.

A Holy Interruption

2011-06-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

Just a few moments ago, Clemente, a young man who has grown up in our church stopped by. He came by the church today - as he often does - to play his many instruments in the sanctuary, especially the music of Bach. He stood at the door of my office just beaming, his smile literally radiating a Spirit joy.

He said he came early to pray in the chapel for about 30-40 minutes. When he played his music in the sanctuary he said is was this powerful experience where eveything I had worked on just came together and God was just present. He said, "I love playing but it doesn't often feel like that! But when it does, it feels good, man, it feels real good!"

He also shared with me that he spent a marvelous Father's Day with his dad. They had a chance to talk about what was important and real in their lives. He said, "I sure do love my dad." He was able to hear back from his dad, "I sure have a fine son." There's nothing like a father's blessing, is there?

Clemente arrived in the midst of me "trying to get some things done." I realize now that his interruption was God sent, a holy one. As he was leaving I told Clemente, "You know, I think I needed that today, my friend." And he simply said, after a little pause, "Well...enjoy!"

Thanks Clemente, for the interruption, the holy one!

Creating a Community of Friendship

2011-06-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

FCC began its second year hosting Kidventure, a summer camping program that provides care for children in the Houston area when school is out. Our first year was a year of intense preparation, laying out how the relationship will function, considering needs of both Kidventure, the church and FC Preschool, working out schedules. Our goal was to create an open and honest relationship that would bring a new group using our facility into a sense of friendship and family with us. Our hope was to build a sense of loving community with a partner in ministry.

Yesterday, Mike McDonell, president of Kidventure, stopped by as he did last year to make sure things are going well and that KV was being a good partner. Some of our staff (Jenni and Laura) and I we chatting in the office wing when Mike showed up. We had a light conversation, playfully ribbing Mike about KV's poor behavior and lack of respect.

As the laughing died down and we sat in the space of joy, Mike said, "In all seriousness. We run different KV camps in lots of locations. We feel like tenants in some places, but in a few we feel like family. Here, you all make us feel like family. We really appreciate that."

It's nice to get that feedback, and nice also to know that we accomplished our goal! Glad to have KV with us again, and look forward to more years ahead!

Gov Rick Perry's Prayer Event

2011-06-14T12:01:00.001-07:00

As some of you have perhaps picked up, controversy surrounds Gov. Rick Perry's planned prayer gathering at Reliant Arena being hosted by the American Family Association. Here is a word from the CEO of Interfaith Ministries, which may give you some idea of the impact it is having in some circles. I thought it was well-stated and so share it with you.

A THOUGHT TO PONDER
I've been asked my opinion about Governor Perry's upcoming Prayer Event scheduled for Houston in August. If things were ever straight-forward I would be cheering. Prayer plays a powerful role for many of us. For me, prayer is a refuge where I seek God's wisdom and counsel - and to keep myself in balance. So prayer provides both a private retreat and a public display of shared belief.

There's no doubt that we are in need of prayerful wisdom. With all sorts of natural disasters and private failings of the high and mighty, it would be nice to have more people seeking to walk in Godly ways.

But I find it unsettling when prayer is used as a political ploy. There's no doubt that many will find this day uplifting and spiritually moving. But the flip-side of all of this is that prayer will be used to make some people feel welcomed while pushing out many others.

Perhaps if more of our elected leaders let their faiths guide their behaviors we'd have fewer scandals. But, when one's faith is used as a private club, then all the rest of us, believers and non-believers alike, are left out. It's never helpful to use religion as a wedge issue - just look all over the world.

Mr. Governor, I applaud your deep religious convictions. Let them guide you. Just please don't use them as a way build your base of Holy warriors.

Talk to you in two weeks.

Elliot Gershenson
President and CEO
Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston

Being on Mission in the World

2011-05-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

I want to share a story about Elmer and Brenda Sosa. Elmer and his wife Brenda have been attending First Christian Church for about a year now. Elmer comes from a Pentecostal background - and the stories he tells about his early church experiences are joyously delightful. He has brought a real joy to me in his sincere desire to ask a host of good questions about God and the church. Brenda comes from a Catholic background - interesting match,huh? - and she brings a sense of deep spirituality. If you meet them, you will find that Elmer is the talker and Brenda is the more reflective one. She reminds me of the old saying, "Still waters run deep."

We met for coffee this past week, and they both came with lots of questions (okay, actually Elmer had most of them...LOL!). We ended up talking for about an hour and a half, and it was a deeply rich experience for me.

I say that, because of all the quesitons they had, the one they were most concerned to have answered was, Where can we get involved? What can we do to bless the church? They explained to me that the reason they were asking was because they didn't want to simply attend church, but they wanted to serve Christ and serve the church. In essence, although they didn't use these exact words, they were asking how to "get on mission" through the church.

As a pastor, I love it when people ask that kind of thing and authentically seek how to live into an answer. Let me just say that again: I LOVE it when people ask that!

If you are reading this and feeling any judgment, please allow me to say, Please don't. I really do not intend that. Elmer and Brenda just serve us all as a reminder that church is a place where we gather to prepare for something else: Living into the mission of God. Saying that is a way to say also that FCC is taking on more and more that our reason for being is tied up with "being on mission" in the world. Encouragingly, this has already been happening as the Spirit of God has been prompting others to serve "their neighbors" as an expression of their love for God.

I think I will leave things there for now. More to come in later blogging. But I leave you with a thought. It's from a missiologist named Leslie Newbigin: "You cannot pray 'Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven' with sincere faith if you have no interest in making your faith visible in action."

Thanks to the Sosas, and to many others of you at FCC (I could tell lots of stories like this), for the questions that lead to answers that put us "on mission" in the world!

New Spanish Language Parenting Class

2011-05-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

Someone once said that God's mission statement is found in Revelation 21:5: I am making everything new!

First Christian is excited to announce that we have started a new spanish language parenting class initiated and led by Rev Omar and Dora Rios. Both Omar and Dora have been very involved at FCC for years and have had this dream of starting such a group a the church. With the help of Donata and Esthela Guajardo, they have gathered a group of about 15-20 couples. The class is a series of lessons on biblically based parenting techniques.

One of the exciting aspects of the class is the real help it may offer some couples who have had no prior involvement in a church. Frankly speaking, some are attending because they have to. This is a real opportunity for FCC to have an impact in people's lives not only from a parenting aspect, but from the aspect of sharing with them the good news of Jesus.

Already, there has been some tremendous results. Our Faith Factory children's ministry and youth ministry have both seen an increased number of children and youth attending. Think of the impact we will have on even more lives in ever new ways. Also, we have had to open up one of the moveable walls to make two classrooms into one. And our existing FCC members are also learning to connect with others when there is a language and cultural barrier. God has provided us with the possibility to expand and grow deeply and significantly.

In so many ways we are being changed. And I cannot help but see that the Holy Spirit is at work in it all.

Omar and Dora, and Donato and Esthela, are living examples that God's mission statement is being fulfilled in our midst. Please offer your prayers for them, the members of the class, and extend warm hospitality that includes new people into our family.

Lenten Devotional Reading 5

2011-04-08T06:44:00.000-07:00

So, we have read now the four gospel accounts of the last week of Jesus' life. This has been an opportunity for our congregation to go deep in Spirit in order to go far in Faith. This week the reading will come from 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. Written by the Paul about 20-30 years after Jesus lived, it teaches about the heart of our practice of communion.

Here are some questions to consider as you read it this week: What issue(s) do you think Paul is addressing in the church at Corinth? How does what we do in participating in communion connect with loving your "neighbor"? What does Paul mean when he says for us to examine ourselves so that we don't take the bread and the cup in an unworthy manner? Is he talking about individual sins or something more related to things that affect the wholeness of community? Why do you participate in the Lord's Supper on Sundays?

A page from my journal: John 19:1-16
Pilate is the classic case of a person caught between a rock and a hard place. His indecision really points out the fact that he was a moral man, whose heart is to do good and decide right. I need to say that to myself because I have been guilty of "demonizing" Pilate. That's not to say that Pilate doesn't make a bad decision; it's just to say that he's human. He's caught between his duty as a Roman governor and the pressure of the religious leaders (who interestingly are in collusion with Rome) and this enigmatic figure of Jesus who has clearly done nothing wrong. Pilate is more human to me, because I sense that there are lots of times in my own life that I too have been caught between a rock and a hard place in my own walk with Jesus. And how often I too have failed.

Devotional Reading 4

2011-04-01T07:08:00.000-07:00

For our reading of the last week of Jesus' life in each of the Gospels, we are reading from John's Gospel. It's found in John 12:12 - 21:25. One of the things you will notice in this reading is how very different the account is compared to the other Gospels. It's an interesting excercise to note the differences and additions and ask, "How does this help me more fully understand Jesus' last week on earth?"

For instance, one significant difference is that John does not place the "cleansing of the temple" directly after Jesus enters Jerusalem. The "cleansing" is there, but much earlier in John's Gospel.

It's also interesting to see just how much time Jesus spends in prayer in John's version, and also how much time Jesus spends with his disciples preparing them for his death.

A page from my journal... Luke is clearly a friend of women. This stands out not so much against the backdrop of a 21st century world, but it certainly is stark in a 1st century world. One of the features of Jesus' last week in Luke's gospel is a beautiful and powerful scene of a woman who comes to the temple to make her offering. Woman were only allowed in a specific location in the temple, near the outer court, and they could not go further, ever. The scene is of her placing a very small amount into the "treasury", in a line of others who are placing great amounts in the offering. Jesus draws our attention to this woman's offering and says, "She in her poverty put in all that she had to live on." It's telling that Luke places this story here in the context of Jesus' last week, as things inch closer to the cross. It's a living illustration that she is like Jesus in terms of complete and utter self-sacrifice and trust. Whoa! That hits me like a ton of bricks. mtd.

Devotional Reading 3

2011-03-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

This is the third week of the Lenten journey "in the desert with Jesus." Each week many of you have been keeping up with reading a different Gospel account of the last week of Jesus' life. This has been for centuries a common spiritual practice as a way to lead up and prepare one's heart spiritually to receive the gift of Easter.

This week we are reading Luke 19:28 - 24:53 (six chapters).

Pass this along to someone else. And share what God is helping you to see.

A page from my journal this week:
Exactly at the moment that Jesus dies on the cross a centurion, leader of the forces that actually carried out the crucifixion, exclaims, "Truly this man was God's son." He is the first human in Mark's Gospel to call Jesus God's Son. That's huge in part because not even Jesus' own followers speak of him this way in the story. It's also huge because it comes on the lips of a centurion. According the imperial theology only the emperor was considered God's son. Not only that but they consider the emperor a Savior, the only one able to bring peace on earth. Yet, here in this statement made by this centurion is a representative of Rome that says Jesus is Son of God - therefore the emperor is not! In what ways do I live and react that puts other powers more powerful than Jesus, God's son? ~mtd.

Devotional Reading 2

2011-03-16T14:43:00.000-07:00

We have called our congregation and friends to spend the 40 days of Lent reading the different Gospel accounts of the last week of Jesus' life. This week we will be reading Mark's version which can be found in Mark 11:1 - 16:8 (six chapters). We made some helpful suggestions for what you could do while you're reading each week in the last entry.

May God add God's blessing to the reading of the Word this week! Amen!

Share what gets stirred up in you...it might benefit someone else.

A page from my journal:

As I was reading the last week of Jesus' life from Matthew's Gospel, I was struck by the manner in which Jesus entered Jerusalem. He road in on a donkey. As much as Jesus, the offering of the crowd also struck me. They shout in praise "Hosanna to the Son of David." That term would have shocked most of the hearers into a recognition that Jesus was challenging the political powers that be. Son of David would have conjured up images of a return to the days of old when the kingdom of Israel was at it's height ~ a condition that would require that the Roman Empire be thrown out of that part of the world! Can you imagine the way that the people are stirred up by an image such as this during the beginning of the Passover celebration? Indeed, Matthew says in verse 10, "And when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?" No wonder they take Jesus seriously and want to silence him in the end. Makes me wonder about how sanitized my Jesus often is. I fail to see most of the time that Jesus was down in the nitty gritty aspects of life and that his life and way challenged and changed things. How is Jesus challenging and changing me? How is Jesus working through me to change things in the world? mtd.

Devotional Reading 1

2011-03-11T09:21:00.000-08:00

Many people read the account of the last week of Jesus' life in each of the Gospels, each week between now and Easter, as a spiritual practice. The events of Jesus' last week began with Jesus' entry into Jersulem and ended with his crucifixion and resurrection. Each week we are sending out the specific reference and are inviting you to read and go deeper in your spiritual life.

This week we are inviting you to read the last week of Jesus' life from Matthew 21-28 (that's a little over 1 chapter each day)... If you are interested in reading this on line, here's a link to Bible Gateway

Here are some suggestions:

Set aside a time each day to read a chapter or two - or - one day each week to read the whole section at once.
Pray before you read a simple prayer: eg., "Lord I want to go deeper in your Spirit, so that I can go farther in my faith."
Create an effective environment - eg., light a candle, turn down the lights, get quiet...
Invite your spouse or a good friend or someone you're trying to get to know to join you, and take turns reading
Read a chapter a day or the whole section many times this week
Reflect on what you are reading and keep a journal (or laptop) handy to write down insights and stirrings - You'll be amazed later when you read them!
Share with someone else what insights and stirrings you are having - this keeps the things you see alive and active, and may bless someone.

May the Lord bless your time and open you up to something new!

Setting the Welcome Thermostat - Part 1

2011-02-15T12:41:00.000-08:00

In 2007-2008, a First Congregational Church in Cambridge, Mass, (FCC) designed and implemented a church-wide program on Christian “faith practices” for all of its members, offering them the opportunity to explore the ways in which they were living out their faith through Christian practices such as hospitality, keeping Sabbath, and testimony. Building on this study, in 2008-2009 they initiated a second faith practices program focusing specifically on younger adults. They deployed seminarians toward the purpose of reaching out to the younger adults who had found their way, through various means, to the church. The seminarians each designed a program, implemented the plan, and then reported back to each other and church leaders about what they did and what they learned.

Here’s a summary of some of the issues that emerged through interviews with the program leaders and several of the participants. These tensions, surfaced by the interviews, give helpful food for thought to congregations that seek to engage younger adults.

Tension #1: Flexible, But With High Expectations

One of the basic questions one must ask when considering the faith lives of younger adults is who, exactly, is in this demographic category? In this case it was younger adults who had finished college but not necessarily put down roots. They saw their lives as transitory, not just because they had moved a lot (although they had), but because they had not yet made long-term commitments to a neighborhood, vocation, or in many cases a life partner. They all described the population into which they fall as one that is in flux and not yet peacefully ensconced in a way of life. They spoke of a sense of yearning for meaning and community that they thought they could find in a church. They described having arrived at what one might call a younger adult plateau, where “you’ve done all your ‘firsts’ and you feel a little settled and willing to grow.”

They also spoke of a sense of busyness that made conventional church participation difficult for them. The seminarian who created a program on parenting for younger adult parents bemoaned the fact that many potential participants simply could not make the time to participate. “It seemed to me that people were sincere in their desire, and yet the hurdles were also very real.” All involved agreed that some form of a “ladder” approach to program planning had been essential, where there were different levels of involvement from which participants could choose. Ultimately, program leaders concurred that they had to, as one put it, “be intentional about offering diverse ways of plugging in.”

The Alban Institute, by Sarah B. Drummond, May 2010

Spiritual But Not Religious

2011-02-04T09:49:00.000-08:00

It's common and I think important to recognize that people who are not connected to a local congregation as a context to practice their faith describe themselves as "spiritual but not religious." They see a real dichotomy between these terms. Perhaps, we need to think of “spiritual” and “religious” not so much as polar opposites. Maybe the task before us is to recognize that there is something to cherish in each. So here are some suggestions for what our congregation can do to nurture the “spiritual” in the religious:

1. Ask, what are we offering that explicitly responds to the spiritual needs of those who are searching, questioning and/or want to have meaningful experiences of encounter with God,with others in an atmosphere of dialogue and discovery?

2.Do an audit of your programs and the times that you offer them. Does your schedule make it difficult for different ages and lifestyles to participate? I’ve noticed more and more creative programming in congregations these days. A parents group can be held during a children’s choir rehearsal, adult programs during religious school. Programs like “Messy Church” allow parents and young children to experience liturgy together.

3.Are you an intentionally “practicing congregation”? Have you found ways for those who attend to enter into and cultivate practices that can nurture their spirit and that can deepen over time? Many who seek meditation, yoga or other experiences are seeking to develop a practice that speaks to their whole person. Some of our congregations are reviving centering prayer, experimenting with different ways of doing Torah study, or including service projects as reflective religious practice.

4.Ask, who owns our congregation? Is one generation in charge or do you have a cross-section of generations and perspectives that are allowing you to look at your congregation through multiple lenses?

5.Can you enrich your own offerings by joining with other congregations for some joint programming that you collectively sponsor? When appropriate, can you sponsor interfaith programs that allow the seeker to learn various perspectives on some common human dilemmas and issues (ethics, parenting, dealing with transitions, etc.)

These are only some of the questions that allow us to bridge the dichotomies often created between the “spiritual” and the “religious.” (Adapted from an article from The Alban Institute)

What Obama Prays For

2011-02-03T16:28:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder what the President prayers for? In case you haven't read his comments at the National Prayer Breakfast this morning ... I hope you will!

"Thank you so much. To the co-chairs, Jeff and Ann; to all the members of Congress who are here, the distinguished guests who’ve traveled so far to be here this morning; to Randall for your wonderful stories and powerful prayer; to all who are here providing testimony, thank you so much for having me and Michelle here. We are blessed to be here.
I want to begin by just saying a word to Mark Kelly, who’s here. We have been praying for Mark’s wife, Gabby Giffords, for many days now. But I want Gabby and Mark and their entire family to know that we are with them for the long haul, and God is with them for the long haul. (Applause.)
And even as we pray for Gabby in the aftermath of a tragedy here at home, we're also mindful of the violence that we're now seeing in the Middle East, and we pray that the violence in Egypt will end and that the rights and aspirations of the Egyptian people will be realized and that a better day will dawn over Egypt and throughout the world.
For almost 60 years, going back to President Eisenhower, this gathering has been attended by our President. It’s a tradition that I'm proud to uphold not only as a fellow believer but as an elected leader whose entry into public service was actually through the church. This may come as a surprise, for as some of you know, I did not come from a particularly religious family. My father, who I barely knew -- I only met once for a month in my entire life -- was said to be a non-believer throughout his life.
My mother, whose parents were Baptist and Methodist, grew up with a certain skepticism about organized religion, and she usually only took me to church on Easter and Christmas -- sometimes. And yet my mother was also one of the most spiritual people that I ever knew. She was somebody who was instinctively guided by the Golden Rule and who nagged me constantly about the homespun values of her Kansas upbringing, values like honesty and hard work and kindness and fair play.

And it’s because of her that I came to understand the equal worth of all men and all women, and the imperatives of an ethical life and the necessity to act on your beliefs. And it’s because of her example and guidance that despite the absence of a formal religious upbringing my earliest inspirations for a life of service ended up being the faith leaders of the civil rights movement.

There was, of course, Martin Luther King and the Baptist leaders, the ways in which they helped those who had been subjugated to make a way out of no way, and transform a nation through the force of love. But there were also Catholic leaders like Father Theodore Heshburg, and Jewish leaders like Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Muslim leaders and Hindu leaders. Their call to fix what was broken in our world, a call rooted in faith, is what led me just a few years out of college to sign up as a community organizer for a group of churches on the Southside of Chicago. And it was through that experience working with pastors and laypeople trying to heal the wounds of hurting neighborhoods that I came to know Jesus Christ for myself and embrace Him as my lord and savior. (Applause.)

Now, that was over 20 years ago. And like all of us, my faith journey has had its twists and turns. It hasn’t always been a straight line. I have thanked God for the joys of parenthood and Michelle’s willingness to put up with me. (Laughter.) In the wake of failures and disappointments I've questioned what God had in store for me and been reminded that God’s plans for us may not always match our own short-sighted desires.

And let me tell you, these past two years, they have deepened my faith. (Laughter and applause.) The presidency has a funny way of making a person feel the need to pray. (Laughter.) Abe Lincoln said, as many of you know, “I have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that I had no place else to go.” (Laughter.)

Fortunately, I'm not alone in my prayers. Pastor friends like Joel Hunter and T.D. Jakes come over to the Oval Office every once in a while to pray with me and pray for the nation. The chapel at Camp David has provided consistent respite and fellowship. The director of our Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnership’s office, Joshua DuBois -- young minister himself -- he starts my morning off with meditations from Scripture.

Most of all, I've got friends around the country -- some who I know, some who I don’t know, but I know their friends who are out there praying for me. One of them is an old friend named Kaye Wilson. In our family we call her Momma Kaye. And she happens to be Malia and Sasha’s godmother. And she has organized prayer circles for me all around the country. She started small with her own Bible study group, but once I started running for President and she heard what they were saying about me on cable, she felt the need to pray harder. (Laughter.) By the time I was elected President, she says, “I just couldn’t keep up on my own.” (Laughter.) “I was having to pray eight, nine times a day just for you.” (Laughter.) So she enlisted help from around the country.

It’s also comforting to know that people are praying for you who don’t always agree with you. Tom Coburn, for example, is here. He is not only a dear friend but also a brother in Christ. We came into the Senate at the same time. Even though we are on opposite sides of a whole bunch of issues, part of what has bound us together is a shared faith, a recognition that we pray to and serve the same God. And I keep praying that God will show him the light and he will vote with me once in a while. (Laughter.) It’s going to happen, Tom. (Laughter.) A ray of light is going to beam down. (Laughter.)

My Christian faith then has been a sustaining force for me over these last few years. All the more so, when Michelle and I hear our faith questioned from time to time, we are reminded that ultimately what matters is not what other people say about us but whether we're being true to our conscience and true to our God. “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.”
As I travel across the country folks often ask me what is it that I pray for. And like most of you, my prayers sometimes are general: Lord, give me the strength to meet the challenges of my office. Sometimes they’re specific: Lord, give me patience as I watch Malia go to her first dance -- (laughter) -- where there will be boys. (Laughter.) Lord, have that skirt get longer as she travels to that dance. (Laughter.)
But while I petition God for a whole range of things, there are a few common themes that do recur. The first category of prayer comes out of the urgency of the Old Testament prophets and the Gospel itself. I pray for my ability to help those who are struggling. Christian tradition teaches that one day the world will be turned right side up and everything will return as it should be. But until that day, we're called to work on behalf of a God that chose justice and mercy and compassion to the most vulnerable.
We've seen a lot of hardship these past two years. Not a day passes when I don't get a letter from somebody or meet someone who’s out of work or lost their home or without health care. The story Randall told about his father -- that's a story that a whole lot of Americans have gone through over these past couple of years.
Sometimes I can't help right away. Sometimes what I can do to try to improve the economy or to curb foreclosures or to help deal with the health care system -- sometimes it seems so distant and so remote, so profoundly inadequate to the enormity of the need. And it is my faith, then, that biblical injunction to serve the least of these, that keeps me going and that keeps me from being overwhelmed. It’s faith that reminds me that despite being just one very imperfect man, I can still help whoever I can, however I can, wherever I can, for as long as I can, and that somehow God will buttress these efforts.
It also helps to know that none of us are alone in answering this call. It’s being taken up each and every day by so many of you -- back home, your churches, your temples and synagogues, your fellow congregants -- so many faith groups across this great country of ours.
I came upon a group recently called “charity: water,” a group that supports clean water projects overseas. This is a project that was started by a former nightclub promoter named Scott Harrison who grew weary of living only for himself and feeling like he wasn’t following Christ as well as he should.
And because of Scott’s good work, “charity: water” has helped 1.7 million people get access to clean water. And in the next 10 years, he plans to make clean water accessible to a hundred million more. That’s the kind of promoting we need more of, and that’s the kind of faith that moves mountains. And there’s stories like that scattered across this room of people who’ve taken it upon themselves to make a difference.

Now, sometimes faith groups can do the work of caring for the least of these on their own; sometimes they need a partner, whether it’s in business or government. And that’s why my administration has taken a fresh look at the way we organize with faith groups, the way we work with faith groups through our Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

And through that office, we’re expanding the way faith groups can partner with our government. We’re helping them feed more kids who otherwise would go hungry. We’re helping fatherhood groups get dads the support they need to be there for their children. We’re working with non-profits to improve the lives of people around the world. And we’re doing it in ways that are aligned with our constitutional principles. And in this work, we intend to expand it in the days ahead, rooted in the notions of partnership and justice and the imperatives to help the poor.

Of course there are some needs that require more resources than faith groups have at their disposal. There’s only so much a church can do to help all the families in need -- all those who need help making a mortgage payment, or avoiding foreclosure, or making sure their child can go to college. There’s only so much that a nonprofit can do to help a community rebuild in the wake of disaster. There’s only so much the private sector will do to help folks who are desperately sick get the care that they need.
And that's why I continue to believe that in a caring and in a just society, government must have a role to play; that our values, our love and our charity must find expression not just in our families, not just in our places of work and our places of worship, but also in our government and in our politics.

Over the past two years, the nature of these obligations, the proper role of government has obviously been the subject of enormous controversy. And the debates have been fierce as one side’s version of compassion and community may be interpreted by the other side as an oppressive and irresponsible expansion of the state or an unacceptable restriction on individual freedom.

That's why a second recurring theme in my prayers is a prayer for humility. Now, God answered this prayer for me early on by having me marry Michelle. (Laughter and applause.) Because whether it’s reminding me of a chore undone, or questioning the wisdom of watching my third football game in a row on Sunday, she keeps me humble. (Laughter.)

But in this life of politics when debates have become so bitterly polarized, and changes in the media lead so many of us just to listen to those who reinforce our existing biases, it’s useful to go back to Scripture to remind ourselves that none of has all the answers -- none of us, no matter what our political party or our station in life.

The full breadth of human knowledge is like a grain of sand in God’s hands. And there are some mysteries in this world we cannot fully comprehend. As it’s written in Job, “God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways. He does great things beyond our understandings.”

The challenge I find then is to balance this uncertainty, this humility, with the need to fight for deeply held convictions, to be open to other points of view but firm in our core principles. And I pray for this wisdom every day.

I pray that God will show me and all of us the limits of our understanding, and open our ears and our hearts to our brothers and sisters with different points of view; that such reminders of our shared hopes and our shared dreams and our shared limitations as children of God will reveal the way forward that we can travel together.

And the last recurring theme, one that binds all prayers together, is that I might walk closer with God and make that walk my first and most important task.

In our own lives it’s easy to be consumed by our daily worries and our daily concerns. And it is even easier at a time when everybody is busy, everybody is stressed, and everybody -- our culture is obsessed with wealth and power and celebrity. And often it takes a brush with hardship or tragedy to shake us out of that, to remind us of what matters most.

We see an aging parent wither under a long illness, or we lose a daughter or a husband in Afghanistan, we watch a gunman open fire in a supermarket -- and we remember how fleeting life can be. And we ask ourselves how have we treated others, whether we’ve told our family and friends how much we love them. And it’s in these moments, when we feel most intensely our mortality and our own flaws and the sins of the world, that we most desperately seek to touch the face of God.

So my prayer this morning is that we might seek His face not only in those moments, but each and every day; that every day as we go through the hustle and bustle of our lives, whether it’s in Washington or Hollywood or anywhere in between, that we might every so often rise above the here and now, and kneel before the Eternal; that we might remember, Kaye, the fact that those who wait on the Lord will soar on wings like eagles, and they will run and not be weary, and they will walk and not faint.

When I wake in the morning, I wait on the Lord, and I ask Him to give me the strength to do right by our country and its people. And when I go to bed at night I wait on the Lord, and I ask Him to forgive me my sins, and look after my family and the American people, and make me an instrument of His will.

I say these prayers hoping they will be answered, and I say these prayers knowing that I must work and must sacrifice and must serve to see them answered. But I also say these prayers knowing that the act of prayer itself is a source of strength. It’s a reminder that our time on Earth is not just about us; that when we open ourselves to the possibility that God might have a larger purpose for our lives, there’s a chance that somehow, in ways that we may never fully know, God will use us well.

May the Lord bless you and keep you, and may He bless this country that we love. (Applause.)

A Momentous Conversation

2011-01-14T08:48:00.000-08:00

When I was in Cambridge England traveling on a bus, I sat next to a man and offered him a piece of the Cadbury chocolate bar I was eating. He accepted. We fell into a conversation (really more like him pontificating) that was a moment that impacted me a great deal.

Once he learned that I was in England to "test" my calling to ministry and enter seminary, he began pontificating about why no reasonable person could ever believe in any notion of "G-O-D," as he put it. The cornerstone of his argument was that there were 257 current wars happening right then in the world that were wars that were essentially taking place in the name of some form of "G-O-D." He was quite loud and animated and we were both sitting in the front of the bus. His language was also very "colorful" which brought about the chastisement of the bus driver who told us in good British fashion to "mind our language; some of the passengers are complaining."

Frankly, being a relatively new Christian at the time on a trip out of the country for the first time, I was terribly intimidated and at a loss for words. It wasn't until much later, that I formed all the answers to his questioning and visualized him falling to his needs in a great spiritual awakening, and apologizing for being so blind and wrong, thanking me for the reasoned and inspirational insight that he had never thought of before. Ah, hindsight is not only 20/20, but hindsight makes us look so good!

I still think of that experience often, and if truth be told it framed a lot of my seminary experience. It recently came back to me again while reading Thomas Merton's, Seven Storey Mountain. Here is a quote from the book that I simply share for thought and prayer in the context of this past event in my life, for whatever it is worth:

"It is only the infinite mercy and love of God that has prevented us from tearing ourselves to pieces and destroying His entire creation long ago. People seem to think that it is in some way a proof that no merciful God exists, if we have so many wars. On the contrary, consider how in spite of centuries of sin and greed and lust and cruelty and hatred and avarice and oppression and injustice, spawned and bred by the free wills of men, the human race can still recover, each time, and can still produce man and women who overcome evil with good, hatred with love, greed with charity, lust and cruelty with sanctity. How could all this be possible without the merciful love of God, pouring out His grace upon us? Can there be any doubt where wars come from and where peace comes from, when the children of this world, excluding God from their peace conferences, only manage to bring about greater and greater wars the more they talk about peace?"
— Thomas Merton (The Seven Storey Mountain)

God's Scouts!

2010-12-07T22:20:00.000-08:00

The message Sunday focused on Isaiah 52:8 from the MSG version which says

How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of the messenger bringing good news,
Breaking the news that all's well,
proclaiming good times, announcing salvation,
telling Zion, "Your God reigns!"
Voices! Listen! Your scouts are shouting, thunderclap shouts,
shouting in joyful unison.
They see with their own eyes
God coming back to Zion.

In that message, I played around with the image of a scout. A sports scout, for instance, has a plan to recruit athletes to be a part of their program. Coaches depend on good scouts to work an effective plan to reach athletes who will become part of the program.

Simply put, one way that we can see ourselves as the people of God, is as God's scouts. Sunday, I invited you to be intentional, to scout out the places and the people in your life where you can have an deep impact for the purposes of God - love, reconciliation, care and justice. Here's what a plan might look like: Identify a few people. Seek the Lord on their behalf and pay attention to the Spirit's leading. Invest in them authentically. And then take a risk and dare to love deeply and sacrificially. I encourage you to be invitational and bring someone to FCC, so that someone new may have a chance to experience a vital relationship with Jesus.

Acts 2 Vision and Healthcare

2010-11-05T08:15:00.000-07:00

My wife, Dawn, works for the Weekley Family YMCA as Wellness and Marketing Director. Today, she attended the Houston Wellness Association meeting that was held in partnership with Harris Co Healthcare Alliance (1).

The main focus of the meeting was Healthcare Reform. Here are some of the highlights she shared with me:

There are 1 million uninsured in Houston, 6 million in Texas
80% of the 1 million uninsured in Houston fall below the federal poverty level
Healthcare spending represents 17% of the GNP
This week's election could result in a mandate against Healthcare Reform
1/2 of Healthcare Reform is funded by Medicare cuts
Healthcare Reform is rolling out in phases. Phase I (the phase we are currently in) deals mostly with compliance issues
A major topic of interest is how "Pay or Play" will effect employers and employees
The financial system for funding Healthcare Reform is unsustainable. The deficit is too high and Medicare is the largest single threat to the federal budget
Issues never dealt with in the original legislation include illegal immigrants and patients that cannot afford to pay (the law states that medical facilities must provide treatment regardless of someone's ability to pay)
The current health insurance market and regulatory structure has resulted in coverage predominantly for healthy (and wealthy) people
Texas has the highest rate of uninsured in the nation. 25.7% of the population, >30% of which are in Houston
Most industry leaders believe current Fee for Service payment system is ineffective and agree payment reform should include financial incentives that reward "Right Behaviors"

All in all, pretty interesting stuff. The challenge, of course, is to filter the information through our Acts 2 Vision of bringing people into vital relationship with Jesus. How can FCC address the 1 million people who are affected by the issues? How do we serve those who have no access to healthcare? I would really love the creative, Holy Spirit feedback of your initial thoughts on that.

1 The speakers were Courtney Stubblefield from Towers Watson (a consult agency that deals with employee benefits, risk management and other employment related issues), Chris Schultz from Air Liquide (a global business that is a relatively large employer that has many clients in the medical community) and John Hawkins with Texas Hospital Association.

Fight For Not Against Your Marriage

2010-11-02T17:36:00.000-07:00

First Christian Church, where I pastor, is deeply committed to ministry to the whole family. We have taken on creating a bold future of ministry to families at every stage of life and experience. One of the hardest seasons in life is soon after the wedding, within the first 7 years of marriage. These are the years when a couple is learning about and growing with each other, when careers are often factoring into large life decisions and when children often first come into the picture.

As John Eldredge, author of Wild at Heart, will tell you: You can fake it at work. You can fake it at church. But you can’t fake it in your marriage.

A lot of people get into marriage and feel like they’re doing something wrong when it turns out to be harder than they expected. They feel embarrassed about struggling—especially when they haven’t been married very long.

“As Christian couples, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to have the model marriage,” said John’s wife Stasi, who teamed up with him to write Captivating for women. “When things are rough, we feel that we should hide that and parade the good stuff without addressing the bad.”

Read the rest of the article:
http://www.daveramsey.com/article/how-to-fight-emforem-each-other-not-against/lifeandmoney_church/?ectid=fpucnl.1110_23

Faithwalking

2010-10-29T05:11:00.000-07:00

This week I attended a Faithwalking Retreat at the Northwest Forest Conference Center outside of Houston. This is the second time I have done FW and was invited this time to prepare for helping to lead future FW retreats. FW is a learning opportunity like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. Like a lot of retreats it can become something that you do and then put away thus becoming a great experience for 48 hours that doesn’t really reap benefits otherwise. The challenge is to stay “in action” with the tools I’m acquiring.

The tools I’m acquiring to stay “in action” have mostly to do with getting real honest about the way I “be” in the systems that I inhabit. For me—like anyone—the systems are my family, the church I pastor (or attend) and other places where a community exists made up of people who know my name and recognize me. In each of these places I have a way of being that either inhibits or fosters the future that I want, the future that God hopes will come to pass in and through me.

Jesus said something that is recorded in John’s gospel that I think gives hope to everyone who is stuck in patterns that lead us to despair about ever being different or ever experiencing the wholeness that God has in mind for us: I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father (John 14:12). For me this has less to do with “turning water into wine.” It has everything to do with learning to live a life that is whole and full in such a way that the future that God wants for your life and for the world comes to reality.

In large part FW is about becoming present to the things in one’s life that keep you stuck in patterns that are hurtful, or debilitating, or sinful. In essence, it’s about becoming present to your habitual disobedience where following Jesus is concerned. Identifying those things—and really being honest and authentic about it—becomes a beginning point for a person to experience the abundant life Jesus promised for those who followed him.

I am thankful that I am a part of a community of people made up of many who provide the grace for people to be in process on stuff like this, for their pastor to be in process. I covet your prayers (as I also pray for you) that God would complete the work God has begun in me.

Jesus Asks: Could you not Keep Watch?

2010-08-20T09:43:00.000-07:00

Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." Matthew 26:36

Most of us don’t ever think of Jesus being overwhelmed. I wonder why that is? Jesus describes his very human response to being in a critical moment: “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” Most of us never think of Jesus being overwhelmed, because most of us have grown up with an image of Jesus as a man who had it all together. Confident. Always the right word, always knew just what to do – whether it was placing a little child in front of him to teach his disciples something about the kingdom of God or clearing out the temple in violent protest of the abuses of the House of God. We have a difficult time picturing Jesus anything other than just having it all together. But here it is: Jesus says he is overwhelmed. I wonder why most of us never think of Jesus being overwhelmed?

Here’s what I think…most of us never think of Jesus being overwhelmed, because most of us are overwhelmed in our life about the wrong things.

Now, I want to be careful: People struggle with cancer – that’s overwhelming. People deal with the loss of a loved one – that’s overwhelming. People wrestle with things like clinical depression and a host of other things – that can be overwhelming especially without some help. But think about it for a minute. Why do most people feel overwhelmed most of the time? The load at work… School work due and research needing to be done… Children that need to be raised… One thing that occupies much of our time is relationships, and all their many dynamics. Seems like we cannot go a day without thinking about some aspect of our relationships. Money.

Most of us are overwhelmed by things that would never have overwhelmed Jesus. And so, it’s hard for us to picture Jesus ever being overwhelmed, because we’re mostly overwhelmed by the wrong things. The fact of the matter is, and this is a difficult thing to say because we are all dealing with lots, we could use a healthy dose of perspective, a clearer sense of what is ultimately important…

This summer we took a family vacation - I, my wife and four kids, 15 down to 7. Believe it or not, it was really a wonderful time! One of the reasons it was so great is because we totally disconnected – no cell phones and no email, no Facebook and no Twitter. And I regained something. I regained a sense of how enjoyable my children are to me. I went into that time about ready to wring their freakin necks (if you're not a parent, you won't understand that). We talked and listened to each other for long periods of time – and I regained something; they’re just, you know, really great kids...I had forgotten that in the midst of pulling out my hair on a daily basis!! Sometimes we need a healthy dose of perspective to re-set ourselves to what is most important in our lives with each other – but also, I think, what is most important with a loving God who is out for our very best, all the time.

In the context of himself being overwhelmed, Jesus asks his disciples (and us) a question that re-sets us to a new perspective, I think. He asks: “Could you not keep watch with me for one hour?” The question is a rather sharp one, comes with a little edge. Peter, James and John had fallen asleep at a critical moment in the Garden of Gethsemane, in the last hours of Jesus’ life, and there Jesus is waking them up with the question, “Couldn’t you keep watch with me for one hour?”

We could all use, to some degree, a healthy dose of perspective, a clearer sense of what is ultimately important, couldn’t we? Because most of us, most of the time, are overwhelmed by the wrong things. So, let’s get a little perspective on this moment in the life of Jesus that has overwhelmed him and that sets the context for this question that Jesus asks.

A lot has happened in a rather short period of time. And by a lot, I mean a lot of BIG things, huge, earth-changing, ultimate things. The ultimate forces of evil have set in the minds of the religious leaders a plot to kill Jesus, to kill God in the flesh, to kill the One they have been waiting for, for as long as anyone can remember. How could things get so twisted and backwards? But sometimes they do. The ultimate forces of evil are set to kill the ultimate One came to love the world and save us from the worst of ourselves. Jesus has only recently said as much in word and in deed in the Upper Room with his disciples when he took a loaf of bread and broke it and said this is my body broken for you – my body given so that you may have life.

A lot has happened in a short period of time. Judas the Betrayer has solidified his betrayal by agreeing to single Jesus out for arrest that will lead to crucifixion and death and eventually resurrection. And now that the Supper is finished and the moment of arrest is soon upon him, Jesus leads his disciples out near to the Mount of Olives, to a garden called Gethsemane to pray, to pull an all-nighter, to be watchful and ready…because it’s all about to come down and come down hard.

And as they enter into the garden, he separates Peter, James and John from the other disciples – something Jesus did at times – and said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Be diligent and aware. Watch well, for evil is upon us and ready to overrun us. And Jesus goes off to pray alone and he asks his heavenly Father as authentic a question as he could ask – “Please, Father, let this cup pass from me…”, by which Jesus meant that if it was at all possible that he be released from his ultimate purpose of giving his life in agony for the sins of the world, that he be released from having to love so much, so deeply, and so completely. “Please let this cup pass from me.” Jesus prays. “Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Jesus has reached a critical moment.

That’s the struggle, isn’t it? “Please let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as you will.” Promises made to God to do whatever God asks, to go where God leads, to embrace a vision that God lays out before us. And yet we come to those critical moments, moments that often make or break us, make or break the ultimate promises we’ve made – at the very least in our baptisms. And in this world, those moments are incredibly difficult and often beyond anything that we ever expected or imagined…that’s in part what makes them so difficult. Jesus clearly sees himself in such a moment. The disciples are clearly themselves in such a moment – though they may not see that so clearly. And I’m guessing that each of us finds ourselves in moments where our ultimate commitments to Jesus are put to the ultimate test.

And in those moments, Jesus calls us to “Stay here and keep watch with me.” So…Listen...Let me just ask...How are you doing?

You see, what’s behind Jesus’ question, “Could you not keep watch with me for one hour?” is the simply question that each of us has to ask honestly and answer as authentically as we possibly can, “How am I doing?”

I believe people are watching, and people are witnessing the followers of Jesus living their faith and people are desperately wanting to see them fulfill the promises they’ve made to follow Jesus no matter what. Watching the followers of Jesus to see if they will take hold of the proverbial Cup and drink… Watching the followers of Jesus to see if they too are willing to let it be about God’s will and not their own… Watching to see if they are also willing to love so much, so deeply, and so completely that they are willing even to give their lives.

Jesus says to the disciples: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." That statement by Jesus, I believe, is a moment of compassion for his disciples (and us). Jesus understands our weaknesses, because he was also weak… He was also on the edge of not being able to go through with what God has called him to do. And yet he will. And in the authority and power of his resurrection, he still calls us to do likewise when our times come.

This question Jesus asks us should take Christians, at least, in a specific direction, a direction that will gift us with regaining something. It should take us to reflect on the ultimate commitments that we have made in our baptisms. In our baptisms we declared our allegiance to Jesus.

Recently, a group gathered at our home for supper on a Friday night and had a delightful time talking about their upcoming baptisms on Sunday. One of the things that was expressed was: That once baptized there was the worry and fear that those being baptized would not be perfect. I thought it was a great thing to bring up for a person going into her baptism. We talked about that for a while. None of us are perfect, we said. None of us will always get it right. All of us will have seasons when we do well, and seasons when we don’t. And if anyone understands that, certainly it would be Jesus.

But part of the thing I wanted them to know is that we Christians are truly part of a community called the Church that helps us do the best we can, that helps us to get what we believe right, that helps us to remain people of integrity to what we have promised God we would be.

So, I invite you to remember our own baptism. For some, that might have come when you were an infant and was followed up by confirmation classes. For some, your baptism was a conscious decision that involved a willing movement toward God in faith that Jesus is the Son of the Living God. For some, you were baptized by immersion. For others, you were sprinkled. It may have happened in a river, or a church, or at the baptismal font. But however it happened, remember your baptism. Remember who you promise God you would be.

For, whatever you are dealing with, wherever you are in your walk with God, whatever past has defined you, whatever present rules over you, whatever future vies for your attention, whatever idols seek your allegiance, you are ultimately most real and most completely you, most true to the image of God, your Creator, in baptism.

Lebron James and Faithfulness

2010-08-13T06:15:00.000-07:00

I don’t know everything that went on behind the scenes of the LeBron James Decision Day Special last month. I’m not sure of all the things that led up to this (forgive me if you’re a fan) "circus". I’d bet a lot of money that a lot of money was made by someone. And I don’t know, maybe LeBron, or rather LBJ as he’s popularly called, is donating whatever he made on the event to the neediest of the needy. Or maybe he agreed to this -forgive me again – "fiasco" only after calling sponsors to give what they made for some – what? – greater purpose (For God’s sake, anything!). I guess, ultimately, I don’t know. But at least on the surface of things and judging by the Twitter commentary (which is clearly the bastion of truthful commentary), it sure appears to be incredibly Me-First.

And maybe that shouldn’t be surprising. I also don’t know what ultimate commitments LBJ has made in his life that might claim him in some way to be different.

I don’t know (actually in this case, I think I do know), something real specific that Jesus said hit me hard during that week of the LBJ Decision Day Special. And I've been thinking about it for a while since. The question Jesus asks that hit me hard was this: Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? (Mt 6:25). Hmmm.

It’s a question that Jesus asked in the Sermon on the Mount. He asks the question right after teaching about some important things: Giving to the needy, Prayer and Fasting and Storing the right treasure in the right place. It’s right after that, as if Jesus knows what we are thinking after hearing this demanding word, that Jesus gets to the topic of Fear, spoken in the tattered tones of worry, anxiety and stress. Jesus’ word about Fear is a summary point after all the demanding living he has just called his followers to adopt, living that if we really, really did adopt as the shape of our existence ought to scare the living daylights out of us!

In this way, Jesus pits Faith over against Fear (not Doubt, by the way). And part of what we realize is that Faith releases the floodgates of opportunity whereas fear shuts it all down. I can’t help but think the LBJ missed the opportunity with his Decision Day Special, but again, I don’t know everything.

One important thing got stirred up in me as I reflected on Jesus’ question, Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? It’s important for us to see LBJ’s special like we’re looking into a mirror and seeing ourselves, albeit perhaps (and I mean perhaps) to a lesser degree. As I did that, what I see reflected back to me when I look into the LBJ mirror is a person named Michael Dunn who is Me-First in so many areas of my life. I mean, more often than not, I cannot even get it right with my family. And my guess is that what’s true of me is true of every one of us who gathers at a table in Faith that runs so completely counter to Me-First, a table where the words of Jesus reverberate through the centuries, This is my body…given…for you…whenever…remember what I have done.

Jesus poses a question for us to ponder, I guess, but probably more importantly, for us to answer. LBJ notwithstanding.

O Me of Little Faith

2010-07-27T07:10:00.000-07:00

People – good, well-meaning, faithful people, people of all colors and stripes and flavors – cannot go through the course of their lives and NOT have experiences that lead them to ask the hard questions of God. Questions that get birthed in moments of trial and tragedy, or in the midst of fear and trauma that call God into question and even demand an answer are all part and parcel to one thing that all people have in common: We’re human. Being human means that we will all at times in the course of our lives want to grab God by the lapels of God’s robes and shake out answers that will enable us to get past whatever we are dealing with at the moment. Can anyone say, "Job"?

But as much as that is true, it is equally true that often we are stopped short in the middle of the journey before the questions that God asks us. Again, Can you say, "Job"? Ultimately that is part of what it means to be human, too, isn't it? If God is God, to stand in the stillness of mis-understanding and confusion, and listen. "Where...were...you...when...I, God...made...everything?" Frankly, I can't stand it when God pulls that card, God's ace in the hole.

One of those questions I've been pondering this week that came from the lips of the Lord himself is this: "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord' and do not do what I say?" (Luke 6:46). Who does Jesus think he is? Relationships in a post-modern world aren't built for such bold assertions, such brazen claims and judgments about right living. We are far too...what? Maybe you can say it to yourself better than I can write it.

The question Jesus asks is really messing me over. I know it is getting at something that will interrupt my established and comfortable patterns of behavior. Maybe if I just let it pass, don't try to answer it, or look too closely at what it may be tinkering with in my soul, I can skirt around it without enduring the wounds dealing with it will inevitably open up. And I know that wounds will open up, some old and some new. I know this because of what Jesus taught, in this case, just before he asks this blasted question.

How does this grab you, tiger? (I hear that in my dad's voice, BTW) "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray..." Okay, that's enough! Son of a...gun!

Try this: "Don't judge, and you will not be judged. Don't condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive...Give..." Cerrraap!

More reality, that I deny to be real: "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit." If you only knew! Man! If you only knew.

You know, I stand before this question, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?" and blatantly say in response, "Look, I like my life fine, Lord, thank you very much!" But I am really trying not to be fooled. I like my secure life and secure way of being in the world, but facing up to Jesus' word reminds me that it isn't secure at all. It's just that I don't want to take the risks involved in doing it differently, by which I mean, doing it the way Jesus says. It requires too much. What's that really outdated and outmoded word? It requires too much...Submission. Yep. That's it.

I take some measure of comfort, though. This question, which has a very clear and obvious response even though we deny it for ourselves, comes with a promise; a promise from someone who knows what he's talking about and who has the authority to fulfill it, having died on a cross and conquored the grave: That if we respond appropriately to the question, we'll find the solid ground we seek. O me of little faith.

The Gospel According to Levi’s

2010-07-13T15:11:00.000-07:00

by Jenni Fairbanks

I always heard as a child that it was important to dress in our Sunday best for church because Holy God deserves our very best…even in the clothes we choose to wear to worship. As a young tomboy the only time I would be caught in a dress was either because it was Sunday morning or because it was picture day at school. I knew my grandmother would complain if I didn’t wear a dress.

My mother was raised on a farm in Spur, Texas, and on the farm denim was the dress code of convenience and affordability. Her opportunities to wear anything but denim were very much coveted, so she did not understand when her two daughters wanted to wear only denim. It was a new era and complete shift in the cultural norm for her.

Jeans are my favorite. Always have been. Always will be. Jeans can be dressed down after a long day of work or dressed up for a night out on the town with friends. And, oh how finding the perfect pair is bliss!

My husband and I met at a really great church in Dallas several years ago. We worshiped on Sunday nights, and the space was filled with dimmed lights, candles, old cushy couches, and fantastic art created by many of the congregants. The setting made me feel an incredible sense of comfort on many levels and helped me to posture myself to receive God’s love and peace in a way I had never encountered before. And, we wore jeans.

Every Sunday, I looked forward to sharing worship with our church and having the opportunity to let the intensity of my life go for a period…and my clothes helped my mental mind do just that. I worked as a hospital chaplain throughout the week, and my work was intense. I was a professional in a professional setting wearing professional clothes and being pastor. Sunday evening was my turn to be “pastored.” I could come to church and sit, engage, worship and encounter Holy God, and my jeans were an expression of worship. I wanted and needed to be authentic in the presence of God.

Jesus models for us what it means to love our neighbor as ourselves and to value all people no matter what circumstances encircle them. Propriety and conformity rarely describe the ministry of Jesus. As the fullness of life wraps all of us in many joys and pains, space for authenticity is essential. God calls us to be ourselves fully and to love and share peace together with one another.

Now my current place of worship may not include dim lights, an array of pillar candles, comfy old couches and such, but I carry with me that sacred worship revelation. So, I wear my jeans. I don’t intend to be offensive to anyone. I am not seeking to be disrespectful in any way. I am simply doing my best to be authentic in the presence of Holy God…and my favorite pair of jeans helps me do just that.

What I learned from reading the Bible in a year

2010-06-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

by Judi Van Horn, elder FCC:

I started pondering what I learned in reading the Bible in a Year. When we were asked during the worship service last month, I hadn’t given it a lot of thought. I was still in the “I did it and it was finally over” mode. As time goes on and things come up, I can look back and put what I read into my daily life.

As you know, 2009 was rather stress-filled – major reorganization at Baker Hughes and not knowing what job, if any I would have, then learning the new job; moving Marcell (my mother) into Memory Care and watching her continued decline; and moving myself – this was a good stress, but still full of angst in making the decision and then getting rid of many things that held memories. I remember feeling stressed, but never anything overwhelming. I was reading daily about people whose lives encompassed so much more.

The last couple of days, I’ve put some of this in context with FCC and the worship service and have these thoughts:

In most instances, these people did not have a temple or church to worship in, yet their faith flourished.

o Abraham – picked up and moved whenever God told him to, trusted in God to the point of willingness to sacrifice his child.
o Joseph – sold as a slave and growing into a prominent role in Egypt – always trusting God
o Ruth – her mother-in-law’s faith was so strong in a foreign land that it inspired Ruth to return with her to Naomi’s homeland and trust in Naomi’s God
o Jeptha’s daughter – her father made a pledge to God and she willingly complied
o Paul – traveled many places starting churches, but never really had one of his own
o All of the early Christians in the Bible – they met in people’s homes, under dangerous conditions, and their faith grew.

I’ve learned from reading the Bible that, like the home, the church is not the building or the furniture or the liturgy. The church is the people. I have heard us say a benediction many times, "We know, O Lord, that we do not leave the church, but leave as the church". When I focus on that, then that's when I get the most in worship that feeds my soul. Just wanted to share.

Judi Van Horn

A Partnership with Kidventure!

2010-05-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

Beginning Tuesday, June 1, FCC is excited to see that Kidventure will be utilizing our building to run their camping program for the next 10 weeks, throughout the entire summer. Kidventure has a tremendous track record of professionalism where it comes to relating to kids and families. They are well-known in the community and have worked hard to gain people’s confidence through care and hard work.

What a perfect match! FCC’s vision is about bringing people into vital relationship with Jesus Christ and one of the key points in our vision is ministry to the entire spectrum of the family. With Kidventure present in our building, this brings before us another chance to reach children and families. Their presence and activity gives us a chance to serve and touch the lives of people we otherwise would not know.

We are all tremendously excited. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be some adjustments and chaos for a number of our existing ministries. Ministry is always a little messy, chaotic and sacrificial whenever there is intentional effort to expand and reach out. I’m grateful for a church body that is open and willing to embrace people where they are.

Pentecost Vision

2010-05-21T08:50:00.000-07:00

In Acts 2, we have a description of the church in its earliest manifestation. What an exciting, inspiring way of life that we see there.

Acts 2 is Our Vision text. A vision text for a church is that scripture that God has drawn us toward, which is serving as a guide to God’s preferred future for us. Several years ago, we came together as a group of Christians to really look hard at what God was calling us to do, and more important what God was calling us to be. Because this text in Acts 2 is really describing a way of life, more than it is describing a thing to do. A way of living and being with each other and with the world, rather than a list of instructions about what we are supposed to do. Our vision as a church in the 21st century is the vision of the early church that we see in Acts 2 - Inviting and bringing people into a vital relationship with Jesus Christ. This is the life the Spirit brings!

42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Our vision, then, is to invite and bring people into a vital relationship with Jesus Christ… What an incredible vision of the church! People so totally devoted to God that their life together was charged with the Spirit’s power. Believers loved each other with a radical kind of love. They took off their masks and shared their lives with one another. They laughed and cried and played and sang and served together in authentic Christian fellowship. Those who had more shared freely with those who had less until socioeconomic barriers melted away. People related together in ways that bridged gender and racial chasms, and celebrated cultural differences. And God added to their numbers day by day those who were being saved!

2010-05-19T18:10:00.000-07:00

Hey,

Got a riddle for ya!

What is dressed casually, arm and arm with a friend new to FCC, feeling the Spirit's movement and passion, present this Sunday for worship...and red all over?

"YOU!"...

...This coming Sunday, at the Pentecost Celebration Worship and Community Meal! (we were calling it a picnic, but you thought that was "hokie", not like this riddle, which is not hokie at all)

Remember to bring a side dish and a friend to introduce to FCC, dress in picnic attire, and be prepared to celebrate and have some fun! We'll be celebrating some stories about our Acts 2 Vision. We'll be acknowleging the children and youth in our Faith Factory and Xtreme Disciples programs. And lastly, holding a carwash in the parking lot that will help raise funds for our Xtreme Youth.

Pentecost Picnic: IMPACT 150

2010-05-12T13:16:00.000-07:00

Hello my friends!
Sunday, May 23rd...you know what's happening, right? Just remember a fabulous grillin' picnic, attend worship in picnic attire, and IMPACT 150 - an easy way for us to impact the lives of 150 new people by introducing them to FCC! You've said you like what's happening at FCC, so bring someone with you May 23rd and share the love!

Cupbearer to the King

2010-05-03T07:36:00.000-07:00

Nehehimah has just prayed a kind of prayer that is self-disclosure at its most honest (Neh 1: 5-11). Most of us wouldn't want to have anyone see us so real, especially in those moments when we are open before God when no one else is around.

After this prayer, a really incredible prayer, Nehemiah tells us what he does. In verse 11 he says – I was cupbearer to the king. He was cupbearer to the king...hmmm. Something about him telling us in this moment, after this prayer, seems to indicate a flair for the dramatic. Or perhaps the dramatic news of the terrible state of God's Holy City has turned a light on in him that opens him up to an old thing in his life but with new eyes. What is Nehemiah’s purpose in telling us so succinctly that he was the cupbearer to the king? I wonder about that. Nehemiah seems to want us to see the opportunity in that – kind of like Esther who had close proximity to the King in her story. Is Nehemiah presented with the same opportunity and responsibility?

This is an important piece to Nehemiah’s assessment and discernment of what God is doing in his life. What opportunities does Nehemiah have that no one else has? This is a necessary ingredient and often a critical mistake that people make. God’s providence is such that He places us in strategic environments, where we can reach people, touch people unlike anyone else. Or another way to see it, the places and relationships we find near us, our spheres of influence “call” us into some action that will propel the purpose and mission of Jesus in the world.

In 2009 121 new families came to FCC for the first time – that’s a lot of people God has placed in our proximity, that’s a lot of opportunity God has brought to us. All signs point to the same or more in 2010. But what about on a personal level? Who is in my life (your life) and circles in whom I can invest God’s love? What opportunities do I simply fail to see that could serve to expand the mission and purpose of Jesus in the world?

Nehemiah was cupbearer to the king. Where are you a "cupbearer to the king?" What opportunities do you have that few other people have? What would "success" (as Nehemiah prayed) look like for you to make the most of a relationship for the growth of God's kingdom?

Nehemiah's Prayer

2010-03-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

Nehemiah has just come to a startling revelation in the king's service in Babylon. His brother is fresh from the Land of Judah, the homeland, the Promised Land that once flowed richly with milk and honey with fresh news about the state of things there: The city is in "great trouble and disgrace." A vision of a re-newed city with secure walls begins to form in Nehemiah and with all he can muster he knows that he must approach the king and request a leave of absence from the king's service. No small thing. He has been in a place of weeping and mourning for his heart is truly broken - for the land of promise, for the whole people, for himself.

Before entering the king's presence with such a heavy heart and a heavier request, Nehemiah offers a prayer. It's an interesting one, and perhaps suggests a framework for our own way of praying, if not in every circumstance, at least in such similar moments. You can read it for yourself in Nehemiah 1:5-10. Here's what I see for whatever it is worth:

1. Affirmation of God’s love – "Great, Awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love..."
2. Request for God to be attentive – "let you ear be attentive and your eyes open… "
3. Confession of sins – for himself but for the sins of the whole nation, the whole people
4. Recalling of the Promise of God (to Moses) – Remember what you said to Moses?
5. Another Request for God to be attentive: Let your ear be attentive…
6. Request – “Give you servant success – today, specificly – “in the presence of this man.”

A Growing Hunger Growing Inside of Me

2010-02-18T08:12:00.000-08:00

Here’s a quote that has really made me think about how I am to people who haven't embraced Jesus...

Behind the prescriptions and prognostications, behind the doubts and defeatism, beyond the debates about emerging churches and postmodern contexts is something that I think pleases Jesus: hunger. Hunger for deeper, wider and higher community that genuinely and organically transforms the communities we belong to and the ones that surround us. I see hunger for something beyond the individualized, self-absorbed, bloated faith that is common fair for most churches.

I have come to realize, especially as I lie down to sleep at night under warm blankets on a cold night and pray a prayer of thanks to God, that I am part of a church that is often part of the problem for why people feel less than compelled to embrace a relationship with Jesus. Please don’t get me wrong. I love the Church and believe that it is loved by Jesus with all its failings and shortcomings. And I believe that the church exists as a sign of Jesus’ kingdom (don’t have time to explain that one completely right now – even if I could). But sometimes I think – and I understand this to be truth for me – that we are a little too comfortable and settled. And let me put that back in the first person – I’m too comfortable and settled. And that’s why I think I am part of the problem.

If you want to know what is growing inside of me, as a person and a follower of Jesus, let me say it this way: Hunger. For me the growing hunger that is growing inside of me is for the shape of my life to take on more the same shape of the life of Jesus. Now that scares the “be-Jesus” out of me more than a little bit. It actually freaks me out! Because that means some things have to change in me – and some of that I can see and some of that, I’m sure, I cannot yet see. But if I were to put it into a humongous nutshell, I’d say that the large thing that needs to change in me is to become a person who can take on what Jesus did – a cross. (The fatalism that suddenly creeps in for me right now as I write that statement is that I fail miserably trying to take on the shape of the cross for my closest relationships.)

If I were to put the growing hunger growing inside of me more specifically, then I would say that it is a hunger to let nothing of my present life stand in the way of connecting more people to the Jesus I am learning more about. If you are a non-believer reading this piece, I want you to hear that I’m really striving to create a space for genuine searching. Part of the reason for that is, even though I have chosen to be a follower of Jesus and signed on the proverbial dotted line, I’m still genuinely searching, too.

I think what that quote has gotten me to thinking about is that I hear a kindred spirit. I, too, am hungering for “deeper, wider and higher community that genuinely and organically transforms the communities we belong to and the ones that surround us.” I'm blessed to be a part of a church, that may not get it all right all the time, but has a growing hunger for the same thing. I'm blessed.

And so, I’m willing – and praying as I lie down to sleep at night under warm blankets on a cold night and pray a prayer of thanks, to take some risks to make that happen. If you’re hungry, I invite you to join me.

Hey, I Like Me

2010-02-11T09:01:00.000-08:00

I’ve been learning a lot about myself recently. It comes with the territory when you are a pastor leading congregational transformation in a church made up of leaders who are successfully reversing nearly 50 years of decline. Engaging such work and ministry, I learn things that I like about myself and also things that make me cringe. Lately, if you don’t mind me saying, mostly what I am learning has been more on the side of what I like. It’s been a nice feeling. (Think Dell Griffith: “I like me.”)

As I noted in my previous post, I have been reading a most helpful book called Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times, by Peter Steinke. The book has come at an interesting time, since our leadership is dialoguing about transitions (read: changes) in worship to reach, frankly, a different demographic (read: people who are not already coming to church). As you can imagine, given a generation of the church’s wars around worship, such a dialogue runs the potential of being highly charged with emotion (read: it can easily get ugly).

And here is where Steinke’s book has helped. Given that the “field” we are entering into in this dialogue on worship is a hugely emotional one, Steinke has reminded me that my presence as a leader can detract or enhance the process. Maybe another way of saying this is: How I lead has the potential to give life to the process – or not.

Three things are really important for me to keep in mind as I engage leaders in this dialogue and help move us toward our congregation’s shared vision of bringing more people into a vital relationship with Jesus. Moving closer to the shared vision is – I believe this is true – the positive outcome that we are all hoping for. And so, the first thing for me to keep in mind is to function in my role as a leader from “principled” ground. Steinke says it this way, “A positive outcome will emerge if the leader’s presence and functioning are centered in principle.” The question I need to be asking myself regularly is this: Am I making choices based on principle or am I choosing based on expediency?

The second thing is to manage myself well in the midst of a “field” that is charged with intensity and the expressions of strong opinions. How I respond to the anxiety directly impacts the nature of the outcome. That doesn’t mean that everything is dependent on me, but it does mean that I can foster a spirit of creativity in others or shut that down real quickly, leaving a field characterized by chaos.

The third thing for me to keep in mind is about making sure I am taking a thoughtful position in the matter. Or maybe another way to put it is to take a stand. Not that I have a corner on the market for what God is doing, but taking a stand does allow for us all to have a place to start, a point of orientation for dialogue. Ultimately, the stand we take on any number of things in the church is best done looking into an eternal mission and a clear vision. The decisions we make are best made when they are a reflection of our best thinking about accomplishing the vision and mission of Jesus.

What I am learning about myself in leading out in this process of transitioning worship is that my instincts have been good. And I’ll have to admit, that’s been a nice thing to learn.

Leadership in Anxious Times

2010-01-26T09:10:00.000-08:00

I’ve started what looks like a really helpful book entitled, “Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times”, by Peter Steinke. It is a book obviously written for congregational leaders, but the insights are readily helpful for a lot of settings and our personal relationships.

One section talks about how most congregations react to anxiety. Anxiety is a natural part of life and congregations whenever a God-sized vision has taken hold of an individual or a group of people (Think Nehemiah the cupbearer before the king shaking in his boots and praying hard, 2:2-3). Living into the vision almost always means trying on different mental models for how things operate and exist.

Right now, our Advisory Team and one of our Visionpath Teams are dialoguing quite a lot about worship. We have tried hard to keep from locking into a false dichotomy of Traditional versus Contemporary Style. A much deeper, more significant basis is taking hold and capturing our imaginations; namely, letting the Spirit open us to the notion of not letting anything stand in the way of connecting people to Jesus and one another in more effective ways. But as you can imagine, as the dialogue expands to more and more groups in our congregation, so expands the level of anxiety.

The reaction to that increasing level of anxiety is automatic, gut level and quite normal. Strange as it may seem, often congregations have a hard time “seeing” their problems. Hey, I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know – we ALL have problems! We have a strong tendency to react in such a way that denies we have troubles. Not recognizing a problem is an anxious defense mechanism. Another related reaction in anxious times is “Simplifying”. We say things like, “That just happens,” or “Things were worse before.” We often try to shine up what is already being done, but not deal effectively with deeper level issues and needs.

Another common reaction is “Ignoring”, we drift away from active participation, or even give up our membership and go elsewhere. Hey, it happens. I’m never happy about it, but it happens. The problem is that the opportunity for learning and change disappears. We can also react by “freezing,” by letting ourselves get stopped and stuck. Since action might trigger opposition, we delay and delay. Ever been there? I have. Ever done that? Sure enough, I have.

There’s no judgment in this – all that these reactions say is “Hey, we’re human.” It’s a basic part of the human equation. But we can learn this about ourselves and acknowledge it, and once that is done, we now have the capability to manage ourselves well in the midst of the anxiety that inevitably comes when people latch onto a God-sized vision.

I’m enjoying the book, so I’m betting there will be more to come. Until then…

Worship begins with the Right Question

2009-12-09T06:41:00.001-08:00

I genuinely believe that authentic worship meets people's needs because people need to worship. I admit that sounds like a little circular reasoning. But my point is this: Worshiping God is not simply a good thing to do; it is a necessary thing to do in order to be human. When all the clutter is cleared away from our lives, we human beings not only need to engage in corporate worship; we truly want to worship in communion with others.

So, what does that mean for planners of worship? One important thing it means for worship planners is that we do not make worship meaningful; worship is already meaningful. In other words, we don't manufacture worship that meets people's needs; authentic worship already meets people's needs. Another thing this means for planners of worship is that while worship will meet people's needs and thus will be attractive to people, not everything that attracts people to the sanctuay is authentic worship.

I also believe that worship is what happens when people become aware that they are in the presence of the living God. Worship is a lot like falling in love. When someone falls heads over heels for another, adoration flows naturally from the lover toward the loved one. This adoration is not primarily about anything else. Indeed, in the presence of the loved one, the lover cannot help but adore, and apart from the beloved, nothing can provoke adoration - not perfume, soft music, dim lights or wine and roses.

So what's the right question then when we worship planners contemplate the plan for worship? Here's what I would say about that: Rather than making a list of human tastes and desires and then trying to figure out how to pound the pegs of worship into those holes, we work from the other direction. How does authentic worship evoke from us what is genuinely human and satisfies our deepest longings? That's the right question.

Drawn from, Tom Long, Beyond the Worship Wars: Building Vital and Faithful Worship, The Alban Institute, 2001.

Follow Me - Becoming a Little Jesus

2009-12-08T06:55:00.000-08:00

Following Jesus involves more than simply accepting Jesus as your Savior via some prayer of commitment, no matter how sincere that prayer might be. In order to follow Jesus you must also emulate him, using his life as a pattern for your own. We call this emulation becoming a "little Jesus."

When we call ourselves little Jesuses, we aren't claiming to be able to walk on water or die for the sins of the world. No, being a little Jesus means that we adopt the values embodied in Jesus' life and teaching. Only Jesus was able to feed thousands with small amounts of bread and fish, but as little Jesuses we can embrace the values of hospitality and generosity. We might not be able to preach to the multitudes, but we can commit to speaking truth to lies. We can't die for anyone's sins, but we can embrace selflessness, sacrifice, and suffering.

We hope to see a conspiracy of little Jesuses unleashed all over the world, transforming their communities the way Jesus transformed his.

From: ReJesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church, by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch (Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson Publishers, 2009), page, 6.

Nehemiah Weeping?

2009-12-01T06:55:00.000-08:00

Nehemiah 1
1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
3 They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire."
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept...

Nehemiah heard from his brother about the state of the walls of Jerusalem and those who survived the exile. The walls are crumbled and the gates have been burned. Once he heard this, Nehemiah mourned and wept. I imagine that this wasn’t only because of the walls, some dumb old walls. But the accumulation of all that the walls and everything else that was lost meant for understanding the larger picture of one’s relationship with God. Jerusalem, the Land, all of this and more were indications of God’s blessing, or in this case the lack of God’s blessing. That something was tragically broken about himself, and because he is part of the people of God, that something was tragically broken about them. It all came to bear on Nehemiah. Everything just lays overwhelmingly heavy on him. Man, have I felt like that. But it makes me wonder – is my heart broken, really broken when I look closely at the state of the church, the state of First Christian Church. Are we really making a difference? And that’s not really it. But do I grieve, I mean really grieve, that FCC , in the words of Nehemiah's brother, is in "great trouble and disgrace"? Do any of us really?

Revolutionaries of Hope

2009-11-24T09:08:00.000-08:00

I’ve spent the morning preparing my first message for Advent. I struggle with this every year. And I’ve come to the conclusion just now that it’s a good thing I do. I’m far too prone to majorly miss the point of this season. Two things seem to happen. Either the expectation of deep transformation, the kind of change in my life, in the church and in the world that is really necessary seems absolutely unachievable. An underlying, powerful pessimism takes hold of every word, thought and endeavor. I can’t help feeling a little like Mr. McGoo (Remember him? Probably not.) whose persistent, monotone refrain to everything was always, “It’ll never work.” How in the world will the world ever be different than it is right now as is seems to spiral down in every way.

That’s one thing that happens when I struggle with an Advent message. The other thing that happens flows in a different direction: No expectations, or expectations that are really small and inconsequential. Maybe you could call it expectation that misses the point or Advent turned into a time to prepare for the celebration of Jesus’ birthday; which, judging by the money I spend giving presents to others, probably isn’t about Jesus’ birthday at all. Something is drastically missing. Why do we have a season like this celebrating the birth of Jesus and living in expectation that Jesus will come again?

Isaiah has confronted me today. Chapter 61:1-4, 6-8 shapes quite a world. The prophet says it to a people ripped apart and captive in a hostile land. The prophet says stuff like: “The Lord has called me to preach good news to the poor…to bind up the broken hearted…to proclaim freedom to the captives…and release for the prisoner.” Jesus used the text in Luke 4 at the opening of his public ministry to describe the heart of his work. This is a world shifting, earth shattering transformation that is being promised. And it is utterly ridiculous because God promises this to people who live ripped from their homeland and everything they knew to be secure, right and promised. It’s promised to us who waffle between pessimism and irrelevance.

Our Christmases are so tame in comparison! What we expect to happen to us, to the church, to the world so short-sighted. God promises huge things, far reaching transformation in all the places that really matter, in places that any person with any sense of how out of whack the world really is can readily see if they just look around to see it.

Why do we have a season like this celebrating the birth of Jesus and living in expectation that Jesus will come again?

Because God is a God of justice, who identified with the poor and oppressed, and came to earth to bring the kingdom of God against the forces of evil that keep people captive in poverty and oppression. You’ve heard it before. It’s not about Santa Claus and spending a lot of money on presents. Christmas is about a revolution, a foundation-shaking revolution that we are invited to join. A lot of things will have to change in me for me to join in the way Jesus wants me to join.

Legacy Stewardship

2009-10-29T08:56:00.000-07:00

Most of us never deliberately attempt to learn much about the full scope and scale of our influence. Our legacy is something we think of only at the end of our tenure at a firm, or when we're on the cusp of retirement. But what would it look like if we began to think about the legacy we want to leave early in our lives.

Such thinking forces us to ask important questions: What is most important to me? What do I want my children to emulate about me? What contribution do I want to make that will last well beyond my death? How do I need to live today so that tomorrow’s future will be better for my neighbor?

What's more, when we do look back, we often measure success in terms of how I helped increase market share, or what size house I lived in, or the car that I drove. Legacy thinking causes us to grasp things that transcend the physical world, but which have a deep impact on it. What investment am I going to make in my children, in my community, in the social systems that keep people in poverty or homeless or abused?

Legacy thinking forces the connection with the decisions that are before you daily right now, and the behaviors you engage in today, tomorrow, and next week.

Elton Trueblood (not John) once wrote about the meaning of life: “People have made at least a start at understanding the meaning of life when they plant shade trees under which they know full well they will never sit.” When you think about what lasting impression you will make in the world and the worlds of those who are close to you in your life, then you act today in ways that you know will benefit generations in the future. The Apostle Paul hints at this when he says in 1 Corinthians 3, “I planted the seed, and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.” (the God part helps us keep an appropriate humility).

Everyone’s life tells a story and it’s that story that will go on for generations to come. It's a story that you write yourself. Every paragraph is penned by your own hand. What does your story say about you?

When we think about our financial stewardship – stewarding the financial resources that God entrusts to us – thinking in terms of the legacy you want to leave can enable you to see more clearly the priorities that must be set for today. Remember that your legacy as a Christ follower is not about how much money you had or what you owned, these things will fade away in time. It's about the impact you make in Jesus’ name on the lives of others (whether positive or negative).

I’ll leave you with something I read recently, "You can't do anything about the length of your life but you can do something about its width and depth"

Embracing Unity, Acting out Jesus' prayer

2009-10-23T07:45:00.001-07:00

You can perhaps tell a lot about someone by listening to the prayers she prays. Not the public ones. Too often we pray in public with what other people have in mind. We pray in public - and this is not to judge - trying to sound good. It's the prayers that someone prayers when no one else but God is around to listen. That's when you can perhaps tell the most about someone. Wouldn't you agree?

Because it's in those moments that the inner desires and hopes of every one of us gets expressed. Or maybe it's in those moments of personal intimacy with God that our deepest longings take shape ... interesting... that's not something that I have thought of before.

What did Jesus pray? Wouldn't it be huge to know Jesus's actual prayers? What he said to God? What of his heart he poured out as his deepest longing and perhaps as an expression of his greatest need because he wasn't able to make it happen on his own? Hmmm...To be a fly on the wall when Jesus prayed?

Well, we have a few recorded in the gospels. By some counts nine. There is perhaps the one that is best known - the Lord's prayer, "Our Father, who is in heaven..." And there is the one he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane in the darkness before the darkness, "Father, take this cup from me..." And of course, there are the ones he prayed in his greatest pain on the cross, "Why have you forsaken me? Forgive them, for they know not what they do. Into your hands I commit my spirit." They reveal so much, don't they?

If Jesus' prayers, like our own, reveal his deepest longest and most urgent needs, look at one in John 17. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Abba, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me."

When you live with others in community, a community like Christians who form "church", you have to ask yourselves the question: Am I embracing unity with others who may be very different than me? Do I behave in ways that foster a spirit of oneness? How am I a fulfillment in my actions of Jesus' prayer, "...that all of them may be one"?

Encountering God, Experiencing His Grace

2009-10-22T07:44:00.000-07:00

Several Sundays ago we began a new emphasis in worship called "A Search for Vitality." We have become a church which has grown more intentional about implementing the things that we hope will lead to our Acts 2 Vision becoming reality: Bringing people into a vital relationship with Jesus. The series of messages are based on Isaiah 6, Isaiah's powerful and moving vision of God. It's in that moment that Isaiah's cries out, "I am ruined!!" Every encounter with God's holiness leads to a profound sense of our shortcomings and failings...it simply cannot be any other way in God's presence.

But contrary to our expectations of being pulverized, every time without fail God responds to such acknowledgement with grace and compassion. It's not always a painless process. The heavenly being in that story touches the lips of Isaiah with a live coal from the altar. But it is really the touch of grace. God's grace is further displayed when God asks of Isaiah, "Whom shall I send." God doesn't want to destroy us. God wants to use us.

In the first message, "Encountering God's Holiness," based on Isaiah's powerful and moving vision of God in Isaiah 6, I invited people to participate in a spiritual discipline for four weeks. Here's how it works: If people want to participate, they simply turn in their name and email. Once or twice each week for the next four weeks, I send out an email to this group and once they receive it they take 60 seconds to stop and get present to God - to encounter God's holiness.

As they get present to God's presence in their lives in that moment, people simply pray, "Lord, here I am. What do you want me to see...hear...do? How do you want me to relate to the person near me...the person far from me? What are you calling me to understand about myself and my life?"

As we get present with God - encounter God's holiness - we look for things that we "don't know that we don't know". That is the realm where transformation begins to take place. We experience transformation when we move what we "don't know that we don't know" into the area of what we do know.

As people have shared their experience, it has been truly exciting to see people get present to God in the midst of the ordinary routine of their lives and to see how God is speaking into their lives through Jesus.

Spiritually Yearning, Institutionally Alienated

2009-09-29T09:37:00.000-07:00

I'm re-reading Thomas Bandy's book, "Christian Chaos: Revolutionizing the Congregation." The book is a nice diagnostic analysis of the church who confronts the issues of control and power that limit its effectiveness and move with excitement into the age of ravaging ad exciting change. He notes in the second section how the new "Gentile mission" are those who yearn for a deep spirituality, but who are also those who are alienated by the institutional church. As I think about that I am grateful that the text that guides our vision comes out of Acts 2, and Peter's sermon on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was released in a new and powerful way. Our Acts 2 Vision is to bring people into a vital relationship with Jesus. To make that vision a true reality will require a body of believers who are willing to embrace deeper and deeper levels of change. It will require a community of disciples who are willing to look within themselves and ask, What will need to change in me for our congregation to reach people authentically with the gospel? If Bandy is correct, then a thorough re-reading of Acts should help us understand more clearly our role in bringing people into vital relationship with Jesus.

2009-09-22T20:47:00.000-07:00

What the world values the least, Jesus embraces as a priority. I've been thinking about that a lot. How should that change my priorities?