God is with us

Christmas time used to be my favorite season when I was a kid. I mean, not a lot of kids have to wait 362 days between opening presents. But when it finally hit, I had my birthday, then three days later Christmas. It was one of my favorite weeks as a kid. But then getting presents wasn't as big of a deal to me. So for a long time, I didn't really like the holiday season. I had to deal with family for extended periods, some of whom I didn't care much for, and I had to miss out on time with my friends. So for a good amount of time I didn't love the holidays.

But for the past few years I have started to really think about what Christmas means. I've started to appreciate all the cliches about the "reason for the season," and all that. Just the other day on my way home from work I was listening to the song "O Come O Come Emmanuel" and thinking about what it really means that God came and made his dwelling with us. Eugene Peterson translates part of John 1 as "the word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood."

So back to the cliche. For the longest time people lived in our world with little or no hope. If there was a God, he wasn't much involved in their lives, or so they thought. For the Israelites, they had lived in disobedience for so long, God had good reason to abandon them. Then in a tiny town in a corner of a Roman province, God was born in the flesh. For me, I believe that this event signaled an actual change in the nature of God. God became something he wasn't before. God was so heartbroken over the condition of humanity that he was willing to become flesh, to learn to talk and walk, to love and to be hurt, to live among the people he so cared for. God knew the only way to reach his prodigal sons and daughters was to journey far from home and live among them. This is the reason for the season.

I was thinking about all of this the other day at work. I work with former drug addicts, alcoholics and homeless men. Sometimes they are a hard group to love. But not so hard when I think about the life of our savior. When I take the time to think about the fact that these are Jesus' precious children and they are the ones he is so passionate about saving.

One of the passages I have been trying to keep in mind as we moved is that short phrase about the word moving into the neighborhood. In the same way that God moved in with us, he is calling us to move in with those in Denver that are hurting. The incarnation is the chief model for ministry and I encourage each of you to ponder that as you begin making plans to move. I believe very strongly that we can make a difference here. I think we can make a difference at Denver Rescue Mission, and in whatever places you all end up working. I am excited to see what happens, and I want to encourage you that God will reward your faithfulness. Its normal and ok to be worried, to be scared and to think it won't be easy. It won't. It hasn't been for us. But, as Dumbledore tells Harry on many occasions "there is a difference between what is easy and what is right."

We are praying that the Kinsers will have enough money while Desiree is finishing her masters. We are praying that God would help provide for Bethany so she can save some for a little pad when she gets here, what else do you guys need? Pray for us, we are hoping Robin can get back into hospice sometime soon. Pray for me, I am thinking I will be a chaplain for the Air National Guard, its a good deal, part time and good ministry opportunities, but I will need to lose 10 to 15 pounds and hope my physical goes well. Pray that God will provide us with a place. I loved what we were able to do with our place at Nexus, and hope we can do something like that here in Denver. Pray that God would provide a musician. Anything else?

The weather outside is frightful

It is currently 4 degrees here in Denver. So, for those of you moving before long, buy coats and scarves and sweaters. I'm sure you can get some great deals early summer right before moving. I love the cold, so I enjoy it, but Robin, not so much. For those of you who don't keep up with college football, Boomer Sooner, my Sooners are going to the National Championship game and the QB just won the Heisman.

Anyway, I just finished my first few days of work, and I really hated it the first two days, but I really like it Friday. I basically drive a truck around town for Denver Rescue Mission. The best thing about it is one of the guys who is in recovery goes with me. We had a great time talking and getting to know one another. I think the best thing for all this is that hopefully some of these guys from the Rescue Mission will come to our church. I would really love us to be in close contact with this group. The guys are of course pretty rough, but I would bet Peter was too.

The other great thing is Robin is meeting a ton of people that could be part of our church. There are a lot of people here that are hungry for a different kind of church. They want a place where they can be themselves and not feel like they are judged. So, I can only imagine how many people we will touch when you all get here and we are all working at different places.

Thanks for sharing those prayer requests, we will keep you guys in our prayers. For us this week, pray that I will learn my route quickly, that I will get in shape quickly (I have to make weight for the Air Guard gig), that I will get all my stuff in soon and that Robin will find a job that she likes better. I am praying that you guys will all get here soon, I can't wait to get started! I am looking around everywhere for ideas about where we can meet, so pray for that too.

Also, I was thinking about doing up a little covenant for the core of our church. Just something we can all agree that we will do certain things and support one another in certain ways. What do you guys think about that? What would you put in it if you could?

Thanksgiving

Sorry for the long delay in posts, the truth is I have been a bit beat down by not having a job. I just didn't want to constantly blog about being beat down. So all that to say, I finally got a job! I will be working for Denver Rescue Mission. It is anything but glamorous, but I will be helping people and working full time. We will have enough to pay our bills and to live well, and that is all I can really ask for. In addition, I think I will try to serve as chaplain for the local Air National Guard. This would be part time, and I can do it in conjunction to the church. It will be a great place to meet and minister and I'm pretty excited about it. So, really, thank you for your prayers, it was a tough couple months, but no one said it would be easy.

Also, we had our first Thanksgiving here. Our friends Chad and Mary came, and some family and friends of theirs, and Robin's sister. It was laid back and we had a really great time. We are so excited about celebrating with all of you next year. We want to also start a tradition of helping at a local shelter or something like that for lunch or breakfast and then getting together to eat dinner together. You are all invited. I don't have much more to say, but one of the things I was really grateful for (and still am) is all of you. Its a big deal to say that you are going to spend your life doing things of eternal significance instead of things that will make your rich or comfortable.

So, please just pray that the Air Guard thing will work out, pray that there will be no scheduling conflicts and that all the little things with it work out well. What can we pray for you for?

Peacefully Disagree...

One of the things I think is incredibly important to any community, is the ability to peacefully disagree. I don't know how many of you check up on my blog, you're not missing much if you don't, but I have just been blogging lately about the controversial topics of politics. Now, I have some opinions that I don't expect you all to share. In fact, I am pretty confident that outside of Robin and Grant, most of you are going to disagree with me on quite a few political issues. Does this mean that we are unfit to start a church together? I sure hope not. But one thing it does is force us to focus on people more than ideas.

We need to be committed to each other more than we are to certain ideas. Some ideas are worth dividing over, but not too many. Here is an unacceptable way to disagree about a certain idea.

Person A: I think such and such is a good thing.
Person B: You obviously do not believe in the bible or the God who wrote it. Repent or you will be judged.
Person A: You obviously hate everything and will go to hell.

Now, that is clearly an oversimplification, but hopefully you can see the basic premise. If someone disagrees with us, that does not automatically mean that they are pagan heathens that hate God and the bible. In fact, they could love God just a much as we do. They just happen to disagree with us. So how do we disagree in a good way?

Person A: I think such and such is a good thing.
Person B: While I know that you area person trying to follow God, I would disagree with your assessment of such and such for this reason.
Person A: That is understandable, let's talk more about this in a nonthreatening, uplifting way.

I realize that is an ideal, and it is rare. But hopefully if we are all building toward that type of idea, we can work together to focus more on our commitment to one another than our politics or whatnot.

Lastly, I know some of you are saying "blah blah blah, Chris you have said this before." Yes I have. And I plan on saying it again and again. I think one of the worst things we can do is think that because we disagree that we are unfit to do this thing together. We all agree that God wants to use us in Denver, and we all agree that working together to start a new kind of church is the way. We will disagree on some specifics, but we have to make sure that we always agree on our commitment to one another. Thoughts?

I am starting my teller job on Wed. I'm not excited, but there are two jobs that I have applied for that I would love, so if you could just pray that I am the only applicant I would love that.

The Cost of Discipleship

Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes this in his book "...But now he has come, and his call goes forth. Faith can no longer mean sitting still and waiting- they must rise and follow him. The call frees them from all earthly ties, and binds them to Jesus Christ alone. They must burn their boats and plunge into absolute insecurity in order to learn the demands and gift of Christ. Had Levi stayed at his post, Jesus might have been his present help in trouble, but not the Lord of his whole life... before he can believe, the utterly impossible and ethically irresponsible situation on the waves of the sea must be displayed. The road to faith passes through obedience to the call of Jesus. Unless a definite step is demanded, the call vanishes into thin air, and if men imagine that they can follow Jesus without taking this step, they are deluding themselves..."

I was just sitting here at home being bummed. I was finally offered a job, part time teller at Wells Fargo. But it is a job. I will take it and look for something full time. But I was just sitting here being bummed out, feeling dejected. So I decided to read, something I haven't done since getting a new video game (which is awesome by the way). So I picked up "The Cost of Discipleship" by Bonhoeffer. And it really hit the spot. I was bummed, but now I feel affirmed. Robin and I burned our boats. We plunged into the insecurity of the sea. We haven't washed up to shore yet, but I feel more hopeful. God has given us enough for now, and I believe he will continue.

You may be pretty apprehensive. Its normal. It will be hard sometimes. But I promise you, it will help you to learn what it means to be a disciple. Not everyone who is a disciple is called to come to Denver, but if you are called, God will take care of you. I am hopeful. God has shown a pattern of using those who throw caution to the wind and follow his leading. I see a lot of you that are doing that already. You are moving to a state where you only know Robin and I. You are coming to a church that does not exist yet. You are staking part of your life on the dream that we can make a church that is not perfect, but one that tries to be perfectible. I am so grateful to have people like you coming to join us soon. I am excited for the kind of church we can make together. I believe it will be hard, but a long time from now, we will all look back with a certain pride and know that God used us because we burned our boats, and cast ourselves into the sea, and into the hands of God.

What can I pray for you for this week? I applied for a job at Denver Rescue Mission. It is full time, and it will probably not pay well. But I would love it.

Enough

Robin and I have started going to Einstein Brothers every Sunday morning for a breakfast of bagels. We really love our new little tradition. As we were there today, Robin was telling me about a book she is reading. The short of it is, its about a guy that is working really hard to provide for people who are very poor in the world. Sometimes he will do a presentation and only three people will come, but one will provide enough money to continue his work.

As she was telling me about this, I had to think about our current situation. Robin and I are unemployed, and looking hard for jobs. We have enough money to live on for awhile, but we are still a little worried at times. But I just couldn't help but think about how God provides for the birds and the rest of his creation. He doesn't give them enough to live on for weeks or months or years, he gives them enough for today. God doesn't promise we won't ever worry or think we might not make it, he promises that we will have enough for today. And he has more than provided for us today. I hope we both get jobs this week, but if we don't we have to continue to believe that God knows what he is doing.

I want to write this now, so that when you guys move here you will know I felt the same. I want to give you a little preview of some of the thoughts I think most of us will probably have when we move. You will feel a little isolated. You will realize that your friends and family are a now a long way away. You will think about all the connections you have in Texas that could have gotten you a job in a week or two. You will be sad to leave home. You will be excited to start something new. I have gone back and forth between knowing God would provide soon, to being angry with him for not providing yet. I ask if God brought us here just to drop us sometimes.

Here is the thing about most of those emotions, I think they are pretty normal. I also think that most things worth doing are not easy. I look back to college and remember how hard it was to go to a school 300 miles from home when I knew no one. But after it was over, I met my wife, met some great friends, and met most of you. Without that difficulty, I would be very comfortable living in OKC and living as the same person I was all through highschool. I think seminary was similar. Neither was enjoyable right away, but in the end I was so much better because of it. I think it will be the same here in Denver.

I think there are several reasons God puts us through this. He wants us to grow and to change, and if we stay comfortable that will not happen. God wants us to trust him, and that is hard to do when our wallets and bellys are overflowing. God wants us to sacrifice for him, and that is hard to do when we keep everything for ourselves. I hope this post does a couple things, I hope it gets you to think through what ways God needs to challenge you, what ways you may need to change as you prepare for this journey. I hope it can also encourage you that we feel the same emotions you all probably are.

I really think there were some great comments on the last post. Let me add a little bit about what I think. I think it should be something that is part of everything we do. It can't be programs, but I think it can be disciplines. The first time you invite a stranger from church to eat lunch or dinner with you afterword, it can be scary. The twentieth time in a row, it is habit. I think including new people can be a habit for us, and I hope it is. I think the fact that we will all be kind of strangers in Denver for awhile will reinforce to us the need to help strangers be made at home. Grant, I agree about Rochelle, remind me of that when we start doing core training stuff, because I think we really need to focus on that. Pray for us guys, we need some jobs. I found one that I think I would love, though the pay is not great. I will tell you more about it next week. Please share your thoughts on all this, the comments remind me that you guys are here.

Delicious Egg Sandwiches...

Here is a quick recipe for some delicious egg sandwiches. (Note, these are very bad for you, so you may want to do this after running a marathon or before a week of strenuous exercise)
Ingredients
1 egg
2 strips of bacon
2 pieces of bread
1 slice of cheese
butter
cream cheese
Toast the bread. Put butter on one slice, and cream cheese on the other. Cook the bacon. Place it on the cream cheese side of bread. Fry one egg. After flipping the egg, place the cheese on the egg to melt the cheese. After the yolk is cooked to your preference, remove the egg and place it on top of the bacon. Build your sandwich and enjoy. (If you need more, just make two like me)

Now, I know most of you didn't come here for an egg sandwich recipe, but I just had two and Robin had one and I had to share the joy.

A couple things I have been thinking about this week (and I have a lot of time with no job or activities other than football). Robin and I visited a local church here on Tuesday night. Great time for church. There were definitely some things we liked about the church, and a few we didn't like. I think they probably have an excellent church, but here is my critique. We wouldn't know that just by going to their worship service.

Now, I am like most of you and think that church is a lot more than worship services. I think small groups will be central to us being the church God wants us to be. But, the fact remains that there are people who will just walk in off the street. Robin and I walked in off the street, and we had no idea if this was a friendly church, a rude church or an indifferent church. We didn't know if anyone cared if we were there or not.

I understand we want people to connect at small groups or whatever we call them. But, I want people that come to our worship services to leave our service knowing what we are all about. I want people to come in and feel like we want them to come back. How do we do this? I have some ideas, but I want to hear from you all first. So my question, how do we convey to people that just come to worship services what we are all about? If we are a tight community, how do we show people that they can be important too? Which people have to take part in this? How do we help people that may just come off the street be comfortable? How do we make sure we don't miss people?

Its ok if you can't or don't have the time to answer all of those, but I would like some feedback on what we as the core of Refuge can do initially to help be that kind of church. Please keep us in your prayers, Robin has an interview this week, and sometimes I feel like no one will ever want to interview me. God has helped us thus far, and I don't see him letting us drop, but I'm praying that he might help us sooner rather than later. We are so excited to see you all, come visit if you want, and I am excited with what God will do through us in this city!

Checkin in.

Hey people. Its Sunday, and we are enjoying that we can sleep in on Sundays again. We look forward to you all being able to do the same. It is 41 degrees here in Denver, which is great, especially since we got our heater working. It was freaking cold last night though... If you are worried about me since my beloved Sooners lost yesterday, I appreciate the prayers, but I'm doing ok. At least we didn't lose to some crap team this time.

Anyway, we are adjusting to life here. We love lots of things about the city, and don't love a few things. We don't love that we don't have jobs yet, but we both have a couple solid leads. We are hoping to get something this coming week. So if you could pray for that, we would really appreciate it. I have a couple applications at CCU, and Robin has a couple at nursing homes. God has really taken care of us thus far, and so we don't have any good reason to doubt him now, but it does get worrying sometimes. We have met some really great people, and have noticed that there are a lot of places where people just go to hang out, and are open to talking to strangers. I hope that we can start doing some sort of home group or something soon, and maybe that will eventually lead to a core group for when the rest of you get here. We miss some things about Texas, namely the close friends, I don't miss lots of Texas fans giving me crap...

Anyway, let us know when you want to come visit us, let us know. We have a nice little upstairs for visitors to stay in. So say a prayer for us, and we will say one for you. Let me know if there is anything I can do for those of you moving before long. It will sneak up on you and you will be here before you know it.

Here I am.

I got to Denver on Mon night, it was a beating of a drive. I woke up at 5 and drove straight through, because of construction and some stupid traffic, I got here at 7 Denver time. That is 15 hours of fun. I listened to a book on CD most of the way, but that didn't make it a good drive, merely tolerable.

Our apartment is great, I love the town so far. The drivers are crazy, but I feel like they make up for it by have a sweet town. I have spent a lot of time with my friends Chad and Mary. They moved up last spring completely independent of us. They are great people and I am glad not to be completely alone here. Hopefully we can make some connections and begin to find a core group of people.

Other than that, our furniture got delivered fine, the power is on, but the AC doesn't work, so that's a bummer. Again, I love it here, but am really missing Robin. She will be here Friday night, and Tanner and Jessica will hang out until Sunday. Hope you are all doing well, and I will keep you updated here and on my blog. Pray for us that we will find jobs quickly and that God will continue to take care of us as I know he will.

Mmmm, Dublins...

As you all know, we are heading out to the promised land sometime next week. I will be going on Monday to scout the land of milk and honey, and Robin will follow with Jessica and Tanner helping, to complete the conquest. We are pretty excited. The title comes from the fact that my path will go through Dublin. I am going to wake up at 5 AM on Monday, stop in Dublin to pick up a 24 pack, and stop only for food and gas after that. Should be fun.

A few things I have been thinking through as all this is going on, and maybe it can help you all when you make your moves.

The first thing that is really hitting me is God's strange provision. God does not behave like a genie in a bottle or something and just show up and give us our wish. But, he also promises that in the same way the birds of the air and flowers of the field are taken care of, we will be too. And we have been. We don't know where it is going to come from, but we have had several random acts of kind generosity extended to us. We have had people pay more than we asked for furniture, we had some friends take us to ice cream and give us a check for 100 bucks the other night, and today after I played basketball with some old guys, a man grabbed me on the way out and handed me a hundred dollar bill. Its really strange. We didn't ask anyone of them, but each was the presence of God to us by giving us some money. For me, sometimes it is hard to let people do things like that for me, I want to be a "rugged individual" because I am a good American, but that is not the way of the kingdom. We have to let people give to us at times, because that is God's plan. We are so grateful to have such wonderful friends at a time like this. So for you guys that are moving too eventually, it may seem like the money won't be there, but I think you might be surprised what God can and will do.

The second thing is that getting a job is pretty overwhelming sometimes. We both go through fazes when we are upset and feel like we will end up destitute on the streets, and we both go through fazes when we are upbeat because we know that God holds the future. The good news is that we haven't both been really down at the same time yet. Keep your heads up people! It may seem like you aren't getting a job immediately, but just know that God's work is the right place to be. (Plus our whole economy is about to crash down anyway, so we will all just be poor together, find some abandoned farm and eek out an existence there, while we learn to knit our own cloths and generate power somehow to play video games, jk)

The last thing is that I know that as long as I have a few things in life I will be just fine. Robin and a few friends, and enough food to eat and water to drink. A place to sleep and a change of boxers. This has taken a really weird tangent, but I just want to try to reassure everyone, God has promised to look out for us. For Robin and I, help has come from the strangest places (I forgot to mention that a large payment was made to our credit card, and we have no idea how it was made, now that could just be an error which will eventually be fixed, or it could be God providing in yet another strange way). I get hope from strange things, like the fact that we have a good place to live and that they gave us our first month for free... Anyway, we are praying for all of you, as you are hopefully praying for us. I will keep you up to date about our lives on this blog and my personal blog, so please keep in touch. Plan trips to come see us, to come find places to live and places to work.

Last, I want to leave you with something that was prayed for me today. The guys I play basketball with prayed that God would change the city of Denver through us. That is my prayer too. I pray that we will be the light in the darkness and that we would be the ones that are the presence of Christ to a wounded world.

Tumbleweeds

Not much going on at the moment, so that is why I haven't updated too much. We have found a place to live and have started getting all our stuff together for it. For as much as people make out of cost of living in Denver, I think it will be pretty comparable to Dallas or Houston. The average gas/electricity for our particular apt for a month is $93. Not too shabby. We got cable and internet for about 70 a month, so all in all, we will be paying about what we would expect in any big city. So try not to freak out.

We are both trying to get jobs now. I am considering the possibility of working for the post office or something like that. I applied for a ministry job at a nursing home, so if you think about it, pray that I would get it. I don't have much else to tell you or for us to think about. Things are getting closer and I am excited. Hope you are all doing well.

The happiest season of all...

I am talking, of course, about football season. If you do not share my love, I feel sorry for you... and maybe you feel sorry for me. Anyway, wanted to give everyone a few updates about what is going on, and see what you think.

We met together last Saturday at Tanner and Jessica's place and we had a great time. We had some delicious spaghetti and Dr. Pepper. Then there were some primary things we talked about.

The first is we tossed some names around. It looks like "Refuge Community Church" was the consensus favorite of everyone at the meeting. That isn't set in stone, but I like it and so I think it will be our working name for awhile. There were some other great ideas, and I think we should continue to toss them around, but for now I think Refuge works well. I liked "Levi's table" and "Koinonia" so I was thinking we could find a way to integrate those into ministries at the church. Like maybe we can call seeker Bible studies "Levi's table" or something, and church fellowship times "Koinonia" or something. Anyway, something to think about.

Second, we talked some about leadership in the church. I think most of you have looked some at bylaws, but basically the plan is to do away with committees and elders and whatnot, and just have deacons. I think this will take some red-tape out of it all, and will also help us to be able to have high standards for our leadership. We can talk more about that later.

Then the last big thing we discussed was the fact that we cannot be a church running around aimlessly, trying to fulfill every desire at once. There are a lot of large groups we would really like to reach, such as gay/lesbian, homeless, college students, and single mothers. However, those are pretty different groups. We need to be intentional about which groups we really try to reach first. I think we talked about trying to really reach out to college students and singles at first. If we can somehow help those groups feel needed and wanted, then they will also be good groups to use in ministries to those other groups. This is not set in stone either, but I think we need to beware of trying to do too many good things at once, and sucking at them. For those of you that were there, what do you think or remember?

For the rest of you, what are your thoughts? The proverb of the week: Proverbs 11.2 "When pride comes, then comes disgrace; but wisdom is with the humble."

Colorado crazies!

Haha. I know that's a ridiculous title, but it just popped into my head. Anyway, as most of you know, Robin and I recently decided to just sell and or give away most everything we own. If we can't fit it into our two compact cars, we are gonna get rid of it. So, if you are in need of something, we may be getting rid of it. I have a lot of books, if you guys that are coming this weekend would like to rifle through them and pick some out, they will be free for one night only! We have some furniture, a fairly nice TV, 32" for 100 bucks, and a nice TV stand, one year old originally 200 bucks, now on sale for 50. And some DVDs that I would probably just give away. So let me know if you have been envying our couch or blender or something.

Now that I have shamelessly peddled our stuff on the blog... about the meeting on Saturday. There are a few things I would like us to discuss in some detail, and I may think of a few more before then, but I wanted to give you the head's up now.

Church name: this would make some things easier for all of us, so that instead of just saying Denver, we could say the actual name. There have been some suggestions, and some ideas. Grant likes "Levi's Table" Robin likes "Refuge" I have tossed around "Hesed" (which is the Hebrew word for covenant love) and there are probably some more that I am forgetting. Let me encourage you to really try to think of some original ideas and we can toss some around at the meeting. I would like to try to have a name by January or so.

Leadership: This will be an ongoing discussion, but I think it is something we should try to really get a hold on quickly and work together to have a healthy leadership in our church. This is a place a lot of churches and church starts specifically fail.

Reaching the Lost: We need to come to the table together and try to have a good strategy (I hate the word) for reaching those who do not know Christ. We need to be a church on a mission. In addition to that, we need to be sure that we do not have two hundred different missions going on at the same time. We need to pick a few things, especially at first, and do them well.

Those are the three major things right now, I will have a few more by Saturday. Any thoughts?
Proverbs 15.7 "Better is a little with fear of the Lord, than great treasure and trouble without it."

MISC.

Hey everyone, gosh, its been three weeks, sorry about that. I promise I wasn't just waiting on comments to post a new blog. I turned in my last assignment for seminary yesterday and went to youth camp the week before last, so it has been a little busy, but also I have just been a bit beat down with that stuff and I got a little cold last week. Anyway, I know you all don't set your watches by my blog posts, but I do want to be more consistent.

Those were some great thoughts on the last post though. Jessica, you blogged exactly how you are supposed to. We just want a way we can exchange ideas and that is what you did, so if it feels like rambling, you are probably doing it right. And I know exactly how you feel about serving somewhere when you feel called elsewhere later, it is tough. And I really agree with you about helping young couples to strengthen their relationships. I would really love to have regular marriage retreats at our church. I think it will be really good for those of us who are still young and will also help older couples to strengthen relationships.

Tanner, I really like the way you are thinking about things like that. I hope we can have some "seeker Bible studies" at some point. Right now I am kind of thinking of having one once a month. Andy told me there is a really good book about them so I think I will try to find it soon and work on that. It would be a really good ministry in Boulder, I agree with you on that. I also think finding a way to serve the homeless would be really great.

Bethany, I hope you are feeling better. I think the part about habit is true in a lot of our lives. I get comfortable doing the same thing every day, and then when I know I want and need change it gets tough sometimes. Also, I am really excited you have friends that may think about coming too. Especially if one is a musician. I have been praying that God will send us a musician soon, because it would be really good to have one or two around....

Anyway, I met with Dr. Cook and we talked some about our training plan. He said it was really ambitious, but we may want to extend the time period. I agree with that. I think we can get overwhelmed because I put a lot in there. If you haven't had a chance to look it over, just let me know and I will email it to you. If there is something you want to add in, just let me know. Some things I really want to do is to think through some issues well in advance so that we won't be surprised or caught off guard if and when they occur, so if you think of somethings, post em on here.

I have also talked with Andy quite a bit about focusing really hard on the first few months when Robin and I move. I really want to try to get a core group of native Denver people to join our vision when we get there, so I think it will be really important for us to work hard when we move and find connections with people. If we could have 15-20 people in addition to you guys who will be moving next summer, then I think we would have a really great beginning core of people. So pray for that. There are also some people that I have talked to who are thinking about coming and are not sure. Pray that God will guide all those who are considering it. I think it would be wonderful if all the people I have talked to come, but I also know if they are not passionate about this, then they could be miserable. And the last thing I would ask you all to pray for is some church to give us their old facilities. I am praying that either a church has outgrown facilities and will be moving, or that the church is dying and wants to give their facilities to a new work of God in the area.

I hope you are all getting some good rest and doing some good reading. I would recommend "They like Jesus but not the Church" if you don't have anything right now. Great book. Let me know if you need anything, and if you have any thoughts on this stuff.

Is this thing on?

Seriously, where is everyone? Well, last week I put together a tentative core training plan. Sounds kind of intense, but I don't think it will be. I think it should be a really good time for us to sit down as a community and figure out whats going on in our world, what we believe and what we want to do. I plan on us getting into that next fall, 2009. Obviously projections don't always work out, so I know we will have to adjust it.

Last week I read "Sexual Ethics" by Stan Grenz. It wasn't really a delight to read, but it was good. I think his attitudes can really help us to minister to the homosexual community. I was also thinking I want us to have a really strong singles ministry. I think that is a group that is really under-appreciated by many churches today. One thing I have also been thinking through is a ministry to parents that we try to give them time every month or every couple weeks to be by themselves. I know it is hard these days to get that chance, but I think it would really help strengthen marriages and I think that is something I want us to be about as a church.

Basically, I laid out five major purposes that I think we should have as a church. I know these aren't ground breaking, but I think they are the Biblical purposes for the church. Mission is the main one, all the rest fall under it. By mission I mean helping the world to know Christ and helping the church to know him better. Service, worship, community and discipleship are the other four. I think you can see how they fall under mission but are distinct in their own right. I think most would agree that those should be the main purposes of church. What do you guys think? I want us to try to make everything we do be represented by those things. So, something like a parent's night out ministry could fall under community, because the couple is developing community and the kids and the people watching them are developing community. It could also fall under service because it is a service to the families to have a strong marital bond. Anyway, I could go on but you get it. We can express this in another way, that is just the way I am thinking about it right now, hopefully it evolves some and becomes better. You guys have any thoughts on all that?

We are trying to get together in August. Anyone up for that?

Proverb of the week: "Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." Proverbs 3.3

August and Everything After

Hey guys, sorry about the delay in updating. I wanted to leave the trip story on a little longer, but then when I planned on updating on Friday, the week caught up to me. Anyway, first thing is first, lets try to have a get-together in August. I have said on facebook that we are good to go for any Friday or Saturday except the 2nd or the 15th. I prefer a Saturday, but if Friday is best for everyone else then that will work. I will have some things to discuss, and we can hopefully make some solid plans at this meeting.

I read "Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places," by Eugene Peterson this past week. It was an excellent book, I would highly recommend it. It gets a bit wordy, and it reads more like a sermon than a book, but I would recommend it nonetheless. It is basically saying that Christ plays in each of us that have trusted and decided to follow him. There are three different ways he looks at how Christ plays, in creation, in history and in community. The first two we can observe but not really participate in. Christ playing in community, however, we can have a direct hand in. Part of our job as a church, I believe, is to help people be a part of a community. That community can help them to become what they were born to be. Peterson states the need like this "Life was at stake- their lives, their souls, their souls in community. People can live correctly and behave rightly and worship politely and still live badly- live anemically, live individualistically self-enclosed lives, live bored and insipid and trivial lives." Hopefully we can help people move beyond trivial lives to lives that matter. Lives that effect the universe, the lives of others. Christ promised we would do greater things than he did, and we can. This is part of my prayer for our church.

I hope you can all join us in August. It should be a good time. Does anyone have anything they need prayer for? I wrote some tentative bylaws/constitution and emailed it to some of you, if you did not get one and would like to look at it, let me know. It is open to change, so don't think that is the only way everything will go. I know it seems a ways off, but we can begin building community here and now, through this blog, through email and facebook. Not ideal, but it is a start. I look forward to eating, drinking and making a difference for the kingdom with all of you. The proverb of the week is Proverbs 18.1 "the one who lives alone is self-indulgent, showing contempt for all who have sound judgment."

4 people, one minivan, 2500 miles and two hotels

We just got back about two hours ago from the road trip. Some idiot (probably me) turned our AC off before we left so it is really hot in here. So since I won't be able to sleep, I figured I would give the rest of you a trip recap while it was fresh on my mind.

We headed out from Waco at about 6 am on Friday. We were pretty worn out, but the new Weezer album kept me company while Robin slept on the way to Bethany's house. We got in there at about 8.30 and after a brief stop at the golden arches for some health food, we were on our way. I took the first shift, because I like to get the worst over with mostly. So I drove us from Dallas to the motherland (Oklahoma City to the layman) where we stopped for a bite of lunch. We all discovered soon that the land between Oklahoma City and Denver is both humongous and desolate, I hate Kansas.

We finally got into Denver at around 10 or so and made our way to our hotel. If it could be called that. Tanner and I went into the Homestead Suite lobby and began the process of checking in. The woman was busy yelling at someone and telling them that she herself had just gotten in and didn't know why her room door was hanging open. I tried to not laugh too much, but it was pretty funny. After the whole ordeal, we finally got to our rooms. There we discovered that instead of a queen sized bed in each room, we had just one double sized bed. This wasn't acceptable, so I called the front desk. The informed me that the beds were queen, and to make a long story short, I spent more than an hour holding on the hotwire phone line and we moved on to a motel 6, they left the light on for us.

As we began checking in at the motel 6, by this time it was at least midnight, maybe closer to 1 am, the police showed up. The clerk told us he would be right back and proceeded to help the officers, who had showed up just in time apparently. We never found out what happened, but I like to believe we just missed a huge gang fight. Anyway, we finally got to bed late that night, and ended up in a bad hotel thanks to hotwire and my not double checking everything. Note to all of us, be sure to always double check everything.

The next day I woke up a few hours before everyone else because I am such a poor sleeper, so I took the opportunity to drive around a bit. Let me tell you all, the town is beautiful. Just being able to look at the mountains directly ahead of you as you drive down streets is wonderful. The grass was green on each side and a blue bird perched on my shoulder as I drank my coffee, except the part about the blue bird. Anyway, everyone eventually got up and we set about exploring our future home.

The first thing I noticed was how many people just hang out outside during their Saturday mornings. People were bicycling, running, and walking dogs. The first part of our trip was to just look around downtown. We saw the art museum, looked at all the cool architecture, and ate at a cool Philly Cheesesteak place Tanner suggested. It was delicious.

After lunch we decided to go check out the mountains, we drove around and found a little town called Golden just to the West of Denver. Golden was a quaint little town with wonderful architecture and a Coors plant. So we decided that since we were going to plant a church here, we had to take a tour of the Coors plant. It was pretty fascinating actually. They offered us free beer, but we didn't have much. We were all pretty worn out after this, so we went to dinner and then to a coffee shop and chilled for the evening. Tanner and I watched some crazy movie with the Rock and I played my DS.

The next day we started by going to the Red Rocks amphitheatre. This was the coolest part of the trip to me. Willie Nelson apparently prefers this venue to all others in the world, and I can see why. We stayed there awhile, and ton of crazies were there running the stairs and stuff, pretty hardcore since we were all wiped out from walking up once.... Anyway, we eventually got some lunch and went downtown again. This time we checked out the 16th street mall, which was also huge. So big they have a bus that takes people back and forth. This was only after a parking machine stole Tanner's money, it hated Texans...

We ate at a really cool diner and then headed to Boulder. Boulder was really cool. It is full of young people and life. They were having a Jewish festival in the downtown at the time, so I enjoyed seeing the Hebrew shirts etc. This will be a great place for us to hang out, meet people and stuff like that. Then a man from the "Truthians" gave Tanner a brochure about why Jesus is Satan, and I almost talked to him about it all, but really decided against it. Maybe once I live there I can meet some Truthians... Anyway, we headed to the hotel before dinner again.

We got up at 5.15 this morning and headed out. Now I am worn out, as I am sure anyone who tried to read all of that is. I will post pictures soon. Those of you who came, please add your impressions, etc.

The Challenge of Jesus

This past week I read a book called "The Challenge of Jesus" by NT Wright. Basically it was all about how we can affirm who Jesus was an is in our post-modern world. Wright does a very good job of being balanced. He affirms that we should and can affirm the historicity of Jesus Christ, but also that we have to contextualize the story as we retell it. It cannot look the same in every culture.

I don't have a ton to say about all that, maybe because I'm pretty worn out right now. But I did want to check in. Bethany, Robin, Tanner and I are going to Denver this coming weekend. I am really pumped about it. I will give you all updates as we get back. I will post sometime this week before we go. Then pretty soon I will email my book reviews and the other stuff I have been working on. Peace upon you all. Pray for great things.

Texts Under Negotiation

I have been reading a book called "Texts Under Negotiation" by Walter Brueggemann, and his name will be on the spelling exam later. It was pretty good. It was short, so that was a bonus, but he basically was talking about how in our postmodern world, we do not have to try to cram every scripture into one theology. He thinks we should let them all speak for themselves, on equal weight and equal footing. Part of his reason for this is that he is an Old Testament guy, and the OT often gets relegated to secondary for Christians.

However, I do have a few problems. It seems like while we should let each scripture speak, we also have to be logical. Something cannot be a square circle, as I like to tell my youth from time to time. This is the tightrope I think we are all going to have to walk. In our postmodern, pluralistic world, everyone will like to say that "all truth is equal" or "that is true for you but not for me" and that is just not always right. Perception goes a long way to determining reality, but not all the way. Just because we cannot find objective truth, does not mean it does not exist. I am not sure how we can go about reconciling all of this, maybe that is just something we will have to trust the Holy Spirit to do. What do you guys think?

We are set for Denver trip, I am contemplating getting a handheld video game to pass some of the time, I would recommend we think of things to do in our long ride... Pray for me I am preaching at our church this Sunday and next, and I am really excited and really not wanting to do it. (A common feeling when I go to preach). Does anyone have prayer needs? I look forward to our journey together and I know that this is of God, because when people ask me to explain it its kind of hard, but I know its right. Nice run-on sentence too.
Proverb of the week: "A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich." Proverbs 10.4

The Gospel in a Pluralist Society

Hey guys. I finished "unChristian" and really enjoyed it. David, I think I agree with Andy when he initially told me that it really goes well with "They like Jesus but not the Church" by Kimball. I got a bit bogged down in all the numbers Kinnaman had, but I think he has some really great points also. I think the best thing he did was point to such a rampant problem that we as the church in the United States must confront. The book I am reading now has some really good answers to that.

This week I have been reading "The Gospel in a Pluralist Society" by Lesslie Newbigin, he is British so that explains why he misspelled his first name... but anyway it is really good. He is talking about how we can go about telling people in our society that Jesus is the only way. We are very much in a world today in which it is not popular to tell people that their way is not the way to God. But that is very much the message in the Bible.

To fill everyone in, I have also been meeting with Andy for my mentoring program, and we have been working on talking through some of the things that may be problems for us. So far, I think the largest that we have identified is leadership, and integrating new people into the life of the church. We are going to need some way to run our church, to make decisions, and I think everyone needs some access to that. This is probably something we will need to discuss and talk through next time we all get together, but it is also something we all need to be thinking about. It should never just be the pastor making every decision, nor should it be that everyone has to have a vote about whether we will mow the lawn next week, or something trivial like that.

As far as the scouting trip to Denver, where is everyone at on that? We have 5 for sures, and two more slots, we need to know soon who is in and out. We also need to know if we are going to be gone for 4 days or just 3. Robin and I are down with either, and like I said some of the great people from our current church have offered a free place to stay if we want to take them up on it. I'm ok with whatever.

Proverbs 6-8 "Go to the ant, you lazybones; consider its ways and be wise. Without having any chief or officer or ruler, it prepares its food in summer, and gathers its sustenance in harvest." Be praying also that God would send us musicians. We need people able to lead in worship for our gatherings. Please be praying for one another, and for me. It is always welcome. Chris

unChristian

Hey guys. I have started my mentoring experience this week, so I will be reading books and also doing some things for the church. I will post each week sometime between Tuesday and Thursday for at least the next ten weeks or so.

This week my reading is a book called "unChristian" by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. So far, this book is basically talking about why there are so many people our age and our generation who not only reject church and the gospel, but reject Christians as well. They refer to our generation and the one directly before or after (depending on when you were born) the "Mosaics" (born 1984-2002) and the "Busters" (born 1965 and 1983). I'm not too fond of the name, but they make some pretty good points. I will summarize what I have read so far, then when I write my book review I will email it to those of you who want to read that.

Basically, there are two entire generations that see very little need for church. Which I can see very clearly in my own current youth group. If you have an friends who are not Christians, you will know exactly what I'm talking about. We have got to figure out who to repair the terrible image people have of Christians, and more importantly of Christ. At the same time, we must continue to seek the gospel and be true to the Bible. How do you guys think we can work on this? What do you think is the most important thing to people our age and a little older and younger?

Also, we are planning a scouting trip to Denver for June 13-15 or maybe a day longer. What do you guys think, 3 or 4 days? It is a ten hour trip, which is a lot in one day. We also have people at our church that own a cabin place around Amarillo, who would put us up and feed us for a night or two on our way or on our way back. I think what we could do is stay there one night on the way, then one night on the way back, and jsut get a hotel for one night in Denver. That would split up the travel time and also save a bit of money by only paying for one nights rent. What you guys wanna do? I think Bethany is also working on procuring for us a minivan to use, hows that going? I think there are seven seats in it, so with Robin, me, Bethany, Erin and Tanner in for sure, that leaves two seats left, let me know if you want to come.

The Inner Ring

hey party people. Sorry for the delay between posts, its crunch time in the semester, and Robin and I got addicted to the American Office somewhere in there. So anyway, sorry.

Just to confirm, we are on for a week from Saturday. May 3, Bethany and Erin's, be there! We are having tacos, I think. And we are going to have a great time. David and Desiree we would love it if you guys could make it too. Bethany, I need to get directions, so we will be in contact.

One of the things I have been mulling over is something that C.S. Lewis writes about, called the "inner ring." He writes at one point, and this is a paraphrase, that the craving for the inner ring is something that can make a man who is not yet very bad do very bad things. Basically, the idea of the inner ring is that you are an insider. Think about it for a minute. There are all sorts of ways that people try to make themselves an "insider." It can take the form of what clothes you wear (think about "goths" that insist they are against conformity, but strangely all look alike) or it can take the form of the way people vote (only republicans get to heaven) or what foods you like (ewww, mushrooms?). There are all sorts of ways we try to put ourselves in the inner ring. Donald Miller describes this in "Searching for God knows What" when he talks about the lifeboat. What people do you want in the lifeboat with you? Who would you save?

This will be a problem at our church. We all went to Howard Payne. We all have known each other for a few years. We have spent significant time in Texas. There are things we will tend to talk about that sometimes outsiders will not get. I think part of our goal is to explode the idea of the "inner ring." To begin to truly live and allow "outsiders" to become "insiders" at our church. To help people to see that they have a place. It will take us being deliberate and taking time, and being uncomfortable. For instance, there is a new guy at our current church. He is really strange. He loves all kinds of martial arts. And he stares a bit. But where should he be accepted, where should he be cared about? Church. Now I am not advocating Robin hang out with him, but I do think that I should try to get to know him at church and things like that.

A good biblical example is the mixture of the disciples. How do you think they responded when Jesus called Levi, or Matthew the tax collector? Here was someone who was a traitor, someone who took their money and spent it how he wished, and now Jesus was calling him too?!! Something to think about. The Proverb that I would like us to meditate on this week is Proverbs 10.19 "When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but the prudent are restrained in speech." We are looking forward to seeing everyone, post your prayer requests, and pray for us, we are getting a new car tomorrow or Saturday, I will no longer have that cursed gas guzzling truck!

Change...

Its been awhile since I have truly been inspired in class. But yesterday I was. Instead of meeting at school. we met at a place called "World Cup Cafe." It is a part of Mission Waco here in town. The cafe itself was really cool. They had a map of the world in tile over the bar, and they sold a ton of fair trade stuff around. It is right in the middle of a really poor neighborhood, and part of their goal is to help transform the neighborhood by keeping some of the money there. They have changed it enough that there are no longer prostitutes all around, and that the old movie theater that used to show pornography now is used by Mission Waco to have concerts for local youth. What a change! I was just thinking that they are really ministering to whole people there. A man shared with us how he used to be a drug and alcohol addict, but now with the help of Mission Waco was helping others to overcome their addictions. He had been clean for five years. He was working as one of the cooks at the cafe.
Not everything is easy, but it is very rewarding. The people there have seen a lot of change. I think these are things we can emulate. Not exactly as they do it, but look for ways we can minister to whole people. Try to find ways to help people out of addiction and the depths. I know we can't know for sure what the community will need until we get there, but we can certainly be thinking before then.

David and Desiree Miller are checking us out now, so we need to stop gossiping about them... really though, they are thinking about coming with us, so they are checking out the blog now. Hope you guys will welcome them. Just so everyone knows, we are planning a get together on May 3. We can meet at Bethany and Erin's in Garland, and just talk about fears and excitements again. If you want me to bring stuff to talk about I can, but I thought it went pretty well the last time. Let me know. Bethany, just leave a comment and let me know what you need people to bring, what you want to have, etc. We can then hook it up.

Due to popular demand, I will start posting proverbs again. We do need some wisdom after all. Proverbs 23:4,5 "Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to desist. When your eyes light upon it, it is gone; for suddenly it takes wings to itself, flying like an eagle toward heaven."

Easter eve

The thing that really excites me about Easter this year, is that the next time I celebrate Easter, I will probably be living in Denver. We will hopefully either be in or looking for a house. I will be done with my master's degree. But I don't want to overlook this Easter. Easter is by far our most important holiday. This is the time we remember not only the crucifixion, but the resurrection which makes the crucifixion our hope.

I am near the end of my last semester of class, and as I have told you before, I will be doing what is called "mentoring" over the summer. Part of what I will be doing is some stuff for Denver. I will be working on our basic polity, our "training plan," our tentative plans for many different things. I am going to need you guys help though. I am supposed to have a "lay committee" during mentoring. They are supposed to help me figure out if I suck as a minister or not. My mentoring is already a lot different than everyone else's, but I still need something similar to a lay committee. Here is where you guys can help. I need email addresses, I need you to check this blog, and actually comment, and I need feedback. This will not only help my mentoring (and me to finally graduate) I think it will help our church. If you are not 100% on coming to Denver, that is fine. Any of you who check this blog mean a lot to me anyway, so your input will be valuable. This way, I can email you updates, bylaws, etc. and you can help me make them better. It won't be a lot of work, if any, just some reading. So, if you want to be part of that, either leave your email here, or send it to me, my email is here on this site. Seriously, it will help a lot.

As far as other stuff goes. The plan right now is to get together, at Bethany and Erin's, either April 26 or May 3. If both work for everyone, I would prefer the May date. If someone cannot make the May date, the April will work for us too. Bethany has said she has been praying that God would guide her as to when to move. We also need prayer for that. I think asking God to provide financially for the move would be a big help too, since moving is not cheap. Tanner and Jessica have a wedding coming up, so they could probably use some prayer. Grant is working about 10 jobs right now, and Desiree is about to start graduate work. What about the rest of you clowns? You have prayer requests? I really, really get more excited every day. I am praying that God will provide and guide each of you, by name, unless I don't know you. If there is anything I am missing or forgetting, let me know.

Sorry for the long delay between posts, it has been a pretty crazy couple of weeks. We are on Spring Break this week, so of course I have crammed a ton of stuff to do into one week. We took time to change the youth room I inherited. It was institutional white, now it is cooler. Hopefully.

I appreciate the thoughts on the last post, it is not easy to think of your own crucifixion.

For those of you who made it to the little get-together a few weeks ago, what a great time. For those that couldn't make it, we missed you, but we want to do it again either in late April or early May. Any dates work best for anyone? Some of the things we talked about were just that we were all a bit scared by this whole thing, but the good thing was that we will all be in it together. We talked about frustration with churches we are in, and things we really enjoy about them. Overall, I would say it was really positive to get together like that.

So, when would everyone like to try it again, where would everyone like to meet, and does anyone have any concerns? Keep praying for each other, keep seeking God for guidance and courage. I am excited about our future and look forward to working on the kingdom together.

What is a disciple?

I am taking a class now called "Discipleship in the New Testament" we talk about... thats right, discipleship. Right now we are walking through the book of Mark and looking at what was meant by discipleship there. It is really pretty amazing stuff.

Today we were talking about what it really means to follow Jesus, surprise surprise, and we came to the place where Jesus begins telling his disciples about what is going to happen to him. They, of course, mention that his talk is not becoming of a Messiah, so he should cut it out. Then he mentions again, that he must be crucified, and Peter rebukes him. Why were the disciples so upset by Jesus talking this way?

I think it is because they understood something that we often times do not. They understood that if this is how their Messiah would be treated, then they, if they continued to follow him, must also give up their lives. That was just not something they really were all about at the moment.

The gospels are so great to read because there is always someone you can identify with. The disciples are idiots, they don't want Jesus to be crucified because they don't want to pick up their own cross. We are idiots because we just want Jesus' crucifixion to stay in 30 AD. If Jesus is the one we follow, we must be willing to give up our lives. Let me encourage you all, moving to Denver, moving away from loved ones and giving up secure jobs, towns where you know your way around, places where everybody knows your name will be difficult. But, if you are called to do this thing, God will be faithful. This is the path we walk, the way of the cross. I think in our culture it is much more subtle. We will not be persecuted, but we may be broke for awhile. We will not be crucified, but we may be lonely. We will not be made to stand trial, but we may suffer through trials.
For you, taking up your cross may mean not coming to Denver, I don't know. I hope very much that you are listening, struggling, and talking with God though. Dr. Gloer is fond of saying, when driving at night, he can't see all the way to Dallas, but he can see as far as his headlights go, and that is enough. God may not have made it all clear yet, but again, pray. I am praying for you, mostly that you will all come, but also that God would guide you. What do you need prayer for now? What part of taking up your cross scares you right now? How can we help?

Change the World!

I think the great hope we have is that we will change the world. We have to believe that. The world we are in is full of depression, greed, sin and suffering. We know that our world seems to be going down the pipes, but I think some of the great hope we have is that we really can change the world.

Really.

We can change the world.

We can make a difference. We can bring the light of Christ to those who have lived in oppression and darkness. Our great hope is that Jesus died and rose from the grave, and we can follow him, someday soon. What changes do you see the world needs?

Robin and I are excited some of you are coming to visit in a week and a half, and I appreciate the update Bethany, the rest of you slackers need to post an update. Love you guys and pray for you by name every night. Peace and joy to you.

Family Systems

Hopefully, our church will be a lot like a family in Denver. There are obvious reasons for that, most people really love their family, family know the truth about you, family are those people you can really count on. But what I am talking about this time is a little different.

When does a person become a family? When there is more than one committed right? So when Robin and I got married, we became a family, we were now a small family. When we have our first child, we will no longer be the same family. But we will also not be completely different. We will be the same people, but the family dynamic is not the same. That child will never know what it is like to be in a family of two, until the child gets married. Now imagine we have another child, that child becomes a part of a new, different family. The old family traits are still there, but by being born the family has changed, it has grown, but the dynamic will be different. The second child will not know what it is like to be the only child, and the older will have to adjust to accommodate the younger. Many times this leads to some resentment on the elder's side. Many times the middle child is constantly stuck in the land of its not fair, I know because I am one. This happens if the children don't adjust and change.

Now, how should a church be like that? I think, and this especially applies to us as we will be a small, young church, we have to adjust to new parts of our family. We have to no longer be the same church that we were before. Our character as a church should remain, our direction shouldn't change, but maybe we can adjust how we go about it. If you had a job, but someone comes on who can lighten your load some and is gifted and enjoys doing that particular job, maybe it will be time to move over and adjust the family. This is why Jesus told the disciples the parable of the workers in the vineyard. He knew that they would often resent the latecomers, and he knows that we might too. We have an obligation to help these people to be a part of our family. How can we do that in practical ways? What else do we need to do that is like a family?

What is going on with you guys? Give me some updates, let me know you are doing ok. We are looking forward, there are nights that I can't sleep because I'm so excited, and its still more than a year away. Please pray, and I continue to pray that God would provide us a meeting place, hopefully a free building, but it may be much less. Remember also to watch LOST tomorrow night!

Odds and ends

Ok people, this is not going to be anything profound, but just wanted to get some things together and such. Tanner and Jessica are planning on coming into Waco on Feb 23, I think Erin and Bethany may be able to come, and I assume Grant and Desiree will be in town, so any of you other jokers think you can come in? Tyler, Brandon, dunno who else has been lurking, but basically, I think we can just eat together, Robin wants to make enchiladas, and just talk, nothing formal or anything like that. Would be fun and would give us all a chance to maybe talk in person.

Also, I am doing what is called "mentoring" over the summer. Basically, I have worked it out to work on Denver stuff and get class credit for it, pretty sweet. So, a few things that I plan on doing are by-laws, constitution and basic gameplan. Probably more, but I will let you all know. So here is where you guys can come in. If you would like me to email that stuff to you guys as I am finishing it, I would love additional input. Basically, I will just do the basic stuff, and it will all need to be ratified so that you can all have a say in how it looks. Mostly, this is just stuff we need to have done and will give me an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone type of deal. So, here is what I need, you guys to email me your addresses and also to let me know if you can help some over the summer, not sure what else we'll need. I also plan on visiting some other churches, so if you want to visit a church and let everyone know what you think, you know take notes and such, let me know. Anyway, appreciate you guys and keep praying that God would provide for us, its much closer than when Tyler first put up this blog!

No offense or anything, but...

How often do we hear that phrase, immediately followed by something that could not be taken any other way? "No offense or anything, but this food sucks." "No offense or anything, but you really need a haircut." "No offense or anything, but your ministry is dragging the whole church down."

When we get started, each of us will have roles to play. Each of us will also have jobs to do. Each of us will come up short sometimes. I will drop the ball on a sermon or two, that is a fact. But we should not accept it as something that should happen often. One thing I think we really need to work at together, is the art of thinking together. Each of us will have responsibilities, but maybe someone will have some good ideas to help you with yours. And maybe you will have some good ideas for someone else.

We need to work together to ensure that we are open to constructive criticism, and also constructive at giving criticism. "Criticism" often gets a bad name. We should not shy away from helping each other to improve what we do. If there is something about my sermons that drive you crazy, or I say "um" too much or something like that, I hope we can find a way for you to tell me. Do not walk up and say "No offense or anything, but I slept all the way through that one. That was a snoozer!" I am confident we are all going to Denver because we want have an excellent community, and I think we can each help everyone else in some ways. What do you think about all this? Is there a good way to offer some help to you? How can we work together at this to help be excellent together?

Forgiveness

Robin and I have started helping with the youth at a friend's church here in Waco. We are pretty excited about it, good to be back in a church for a few months until we move. Anyway, as side note, it is by far the most welcoming, kind group of people I have ever been around. One thing I want us to think about is how we can become like that.

But onto to main topic. We talked about forgiveness in the youth Sunday School, and the old guy that led the group told a very sad story. He said that when his daughter was young, a teen aged boy came over to his house and molested her. He was obviously still in some pain about this, but he talked about how he thought for awhile that when the boy got out of jail, he would go and kill him.

Eventually, he ended up on his face in his bedroom, praying for that boy. He talked about how God was helping him still to learn how to forgive, and so I started thinking about forgiveness too. What is so astounding about forgiveness is not what it does for the one who is forgiven, but what it does for the one who forgives. Bitterness eats at us on the inside, it tears away our humanity, it threatens to turn us into something less than human, and in the process tempts us to think of others as less human. As a church, we must help one another to forgive. Let me encourage you now, God wants you to forgive for your sake.

Maybe not much to comment on this time around, but again, if there is something you would like to talk about go ahead and mention it and I'll come up with something. Let me tell you all some of the things I am praying for, they may or may not happen, but maybe you can join me. I am praying that God will provide us a building. That some church would be closing its doors, or some other business and that they would just want to give it to us. I am praying that we would all be ready to move at around the same time. I am praying that God will provide jobs for each of us, places we can be salt and light in the world. I am praying that we find a way to be united as God wants us to. What about you guys? As I mentioned before, we want everyone to come into town for some Saturday afternoon, we can cook dinner and just catch up, nothing official, but maybe dream a bit and encourage one another.

Politics

Maybe this will draw Tyler back in... or Brandon. Right now we are in the midst of a huge campaign, the primaries are being decided and such. I personally think that there is no one that we as a church should absolutely support. I think each has some pros and some cons, personally, I really like Barack Obama. But here is what I'm getting at. It is ok if one of you doesn't like him or anyone I do like. I think as a church it is important for us to try to be informed on the issues, to encourage people to vote or to make their voices heard, but also to be sure that we do not try to say that "Jesus would vote for Huckabee" or something foolish like that.

Many have horrible feelings toward church because church often over steps the boundaries and begins to try to elect "God's man" or whatever. I guess, this is kind of hard to get at, what I'm wondering is, what role do you all think we should play in these types of things? Should we try to make all the candidates known, and their stances on issues so that our people can be informed, should we just ignore politics all together? This is complicated, and I don't expect us to figure it out completely, but I do think it is something we should try to come to agreement on. Hopefully we can agree to disagree on candidates, while finding some common ground about how to talk about politics. What do you guys think?