Book#4: Thomas Merton's Essential Writings

This book was not necessarily an easy read because of the format. I often find it difficult to read something like an anthology or collection of someone's writings like this. But I hoped it would be a good introduction to Merton's writings. If that was the goal...mission accomplished.

So far...the themes that I'm really enjoying from Merton would include pilgrimage and contemplation.

Here's a great paragraph towards the end of this collection:

I stand among you as one who offers a small message of hope, that first, there are always people who dare to seek on the margin of society, who are not dependent on social acceptance, not dependent on social routine, and prefer a kind of free-floating existence under a state of risk. And among these people, if they are faithful to their own calling, to their own vocation, and to their own message from God, communication of the deepest level is possible.

Certainly one of the things I'm trying to live out right now is this idea of being faithful to my own calling, vocation, and message.

Book #3: The Call

The way that Guinness talks about primary and secondary callings here makes a lot of sense. I wonder if I'm one of the people he talks about who "fell for the temptation..."?

...that Catholic distortion which elevates the spiritual, contemplative, ministerial life over the 'secular' realm of vocation and work?

The connection he makes between calling and the Caller is profound too. Because our calling is not just something to do but a response to some ONE.

Early in the book he 'pegs' me with this: "People in midlife face it when a mismatch between their gifts and their work reminds them daily that they are square pegs in round holes."

Of course, someone else reminded me recently that a round peg will actually fit in a square hole (and vice versa) as long as the hole is big enough.

That discussion is kind of comical to me because it's the way I've been describing myself recently when it comes to ministry, calling, vocation, etc. The church I am a part of is a great place to be with our family...and the vision is potentially captivating and world changing...but my angst is simply with this concept of 'calling.' Is what I'm doing now in my life the "secondary calling" in which God wants me investing myself?

Here's how he describes calling in one place: "Calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion, dynamism, and direction lived out as a response to his summons and service."

To close, I'll pass on a quote from Oswald Chambers which Os calls attention to...

"The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for Him...The one aim of the call of God is the satisfaction of God, not a call to do something for Him."

2009 Book #2: Culture Making

At long last, I've made it through Andy Crouch's book Culture Making. That's not to say it wasn't an engaging collection of words...I just kept getting distracted by other books or pursuits.

Having heard Andy interviewed a couple of times on the Catalyst podcast, and reading smaller recent articles he had publish I found that I was already familiar with much of the content. I think he does make a good contribution here to the way we need to think about culture.

Basically, he suggests that we tend to have a certain posture when it comes to culture (by the way, even defining such a thing as 'culture' is quite a challenge and occupies 2 or 3 chapters). These include: critique, condemnation, copying, and consuming. Each of these responses to culture can limit. He goes on to explain the idea of approaching culture as artists and gardeners. Culture can be created and cultivated...especially effective when collaborating with God and His purposes in the world.

As he concludes the book, he spends some time talking about calling, a concept I've been giving much thought lately. Add to that an emphasis on the need for community (especially a tight group of 3 who share passions, vision, and dreams). Well, let me just quote one of his final paragraphs for an inspirational conclusion to this post:

So do you want to make culture? Find a community, a small group who can lovingly fuel your dreams and puncture your illusions. Find friends and form a family who are willing to see grace at work in one another's lives, who can discern together which gifts and which crosses each has been called to bear. Find people who have a holy respect for power and a holy willingness to spend their power alongside the powerless. Find some partners in the wild and wonderful world beyond church doors. And the, together, make something of the world.

Pilgrammage...Place...and Merton

A friend recently shared this prayer by Thomas Merton along with a lectio experience of Psalm 84:1-8. It was a powerful evening of listening and reflecting on my journey to a place...a place I cannot really describe... or of which I know the exact location. My interest has been piqued by this brief introduction to Merton who speaks a great deal about the idea of pilgrimmage, journey, and Celtic Christian monasticism.


Here's the prayer:

My Lord God I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that my desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

- Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

P90X Progress

Whenever you're kicking off some kind of fitness routine or plan, the first few days are extremely important. I find that once I get 3-5 days under my belt the desire to keep the streak going keeps increasing.

Then comes the nutrition challenge. Not everyone mentally responds to this change of diet in the same way. For me, once I've gotten into the routine of working out 5-6 days/week...my tendency to jeopardize the progress by eating garbage gradually decreases.

Unfortunately, typical emotional responses to the lack of physical health and motivation only lead to worse nutritional choices. Whenever I'm not working out, taking care of my body, and also engaged in regular spiritual disciplines...my eating habits are horrible.

When I tried this P90X challenge back in August of 2008, we took a family vacation to the lake during the third week and in spite of my good intentions...it kept me from getting real traction and a routine established early on. Then as I got heavy into the marathon training for October...I overdid it and injured both Achilles tendons.

With the boost of being 99% healthy (once you get tendonitis in the Achilles...they never completely recover) and the added incentive of "new year" energy...I suspect there's a good chance I could finally reach my goal of peak physical conditioning by the time I turn 38 in March. :-)

First Post of 2009

And we're back...

I had a goal of reading a book each week in 2008. Didn't even come close.

Trying again in 2009...
Just finished this book, so I'm glad to report that for 2009 I am completely on track with my reading goals! (I'm not buying another deck of cards though.)

I love the title of this book but not so much the subtitle. Should have read "towards a christianity beyond belief" perhaps (reminds me of an old Petra tune). Having heard Pete Rollins in person at the Great Emergence conference in Memphis (december 2009), my interest in reading something from him had been significantly heightened.

"The relationship between fidelity and betrayal in the Judeo-Christian tradition is further complicated in the Scriptures via stories that seem to suggest that one must wrestle with, disagree with, and even disobey God for the sake of retaining one's fidelity to God."

About the Scriptures...

"The text was written not to be approached as an academic document detailing facts about the life of faith but rather as an invitation in to the life of faith."

"To believe that the words are the Word reduces the text to what can be named, describe, and transcribed. To treat it in this way means that we approach the Word as a thing that stands before us to be examined, poked, prodded, and played with. The Word of God, in this reading, thus refers to something, some thing, some set of things."

As I read his ideas and perspectives on the Scriptures, it gave me hope for a more healthy view of the text...even as it affirms the demise of sola scriptura.

As he concludes the book, he speaks of the need for us to form spaces where "transformance art" can take place...where we can celebrate and live into the miraculous yet often subversive and religion-less experience of Christ and Christianity.

Books 17 & 18

While my digestive system is recovering from some kind of 48-hour bug, I was able to extract some great solubles and migrating fines from these to books about coffee.

The "God in a Cup" title was a fascinating glimpse into the world of specialty coffee as the likes of Peter Giuliano (Counter Culture Coffee), Geoff Watts (Intelligentsia), and Duane Sorenson (Stumptown) all search & compete for the highest quality coffee imaginable. This book made me want to buy some coffee from Panama immediately! And go work on my latte art as well.

The second title is a more technical handbook of sorts for the espresso enthusiast. I learned a few good things about "stretching" milk, the science of extraction, and the chemistry of H2O. Speaking of H2O, another way to describe the process of preinfusion in an espresso machine would be "wetting your bed." That takes me back a few years!

Book #16: Salvation On The Small Screen

Nadia Bolz-Weber was a featured speaker at the conference in Memphis (The Great Emergence). A recently ordained Lutheran pastor in the Denver, Nadia is a recovering stand-up comic who has battled through a fundamentalist Christian upbringing as well as a bout with alcohol.

Her witty and raw reflections which opened and closed each main session were often read from this book. The "inspiration" behind Nadia's book was a request from the publisher that she watch 24 hours of non-stop TBN and reflect on the content. So she invited several friends who pop in for 1 or 2-hour segments and support her through the likes of Paula White, Creflo Dollar, Joel Osteen, John Hagee, etc ad infinitum!


As someone who can hardly stomach 30 consecutive minutes of anything on this ultra-'conservative' Evangelically fundamental Christian broadcast...I thoroughly enjoyed the pokes and jabs, but also found (as did Nadia) that there were glimpses of Christ and the Gospel that surprisingly shone through at times.


To learn some more about Nadia, click here.

Book #15: The Great Emergence

I posted a brief review on my Facebook page which you can see here.

In addition to those comments, I would also direct any of you who are Nazarenes to find the group "Emerging Nazarenes" on Facebook and join in the discussions there.

The kinds of transitions and conversations which are happening across all denominational lines within North American Christianity (especially) should suggest to many of us that it's time to re-think some things. It's actually past time...but better late than never, eh?

Book #14 for 2008

Here's the 'review' I posted on visual bookshelf from my Facebook page...

"This is probably one of those "must read" titles for Christian leaders and pastor types who want to re-think ecclesiology. One of Alan's great points here is that Christology should inform Theology which should then shape our Ecclesiology (how we DO church). His emphasis on the "Apostolic Genius" which provides the foundation for any Jesus movement...inspires you to dig into this 5-fold gift paradigm for ministry. Part of this core concept the author is presenting revolves around his term "mDNA" and these five elements: missional-incarnational impulse, apostolic environment, disciple making organic systems, and communitas. For me the great "take-aways" from the book would be: -pursuing ministry from an iincarnational-missional perspective rather than the typical attractional model -we have to overcome varying amounts of cultural distance to reach different groups of people. Most churches only reach out to people in the first category who are most like themselves -Differentiation between "community" and "communitas." Communitas is formed through a shared experience of ordeal or suffering which more deeply connects people to the mission."

How to Journey with your Spouse

For a new post regarding the Emergent thing and the question of authority, I will take another day or two to read and prepare.

In the meantime, I am curious about how the rest of you have navigated these grand questions and transitions within the context of your marriages or other close relationships (for those enjoying the gift of celibacy at the moment).

Perhaps the mistake I have made over the past few years has been NOT to invite Deb along for many of the conversations, experiences, and relationships which have been such a rich part of my journey. But I think Deb would be the first to admit that many of these conversations have not piqued her interest enough to assert herself in that direction.

But we now find ourselves at a crossroads of such which has significant repercussions for our marriage and our whole family. It's no longer just some little peripheral conversation in which I occasionally engage. So as we discussed this topic (post-Great Emergence conference) I suggested that we engage in a book together which will provide a frame of reference for her to engage the conversation a little more fully.

Any recommendations as to the particular book or books we should read together? (From those who have tried this approach)

Emergent Christianity and Holiness

I want to launch off a comment from my good friend Kimberly on that last post since it's a question I would expect from many in my tribe (the Church of the Nazarene). And since my parents, grandparents, and great grandparents would/did all call themselves Nazarenes...it causes me to approach this question respectfully and thoughtfully.

For those who may be joining this conversation from other traditions and streams of Christianity, I welcome your insights on holiness and hope for some great comments from you regarding the way in which sanctification is discussed in your traditions.

As most Nazarenes would understand and describe holiness...sanctification is a second experience of grace, following salvation (initial sanctification) at which point a person usually becomes aware of a continued tendency towards sin. Sanctification is often taught and preached as a point of full surrender in one's relationship with God. My assumption then, is that when Nazarenes look for the "holiness" component within emergent Christianity or some other tradition or Christian experience, they are looking for the urge towards a holy life as opposed to an approach that seems to tolerate certain kinds or amounts of sin. (Any Nazarenes feel free to add to or correction my perceptions here)

Here's a look at the article of faith which describes this experience from the Nazarene manual:

13. We believe that entire sanctification is that act of God, subsequent to regeneration, by which believers are made free from original sin, or depravity, and brought into a state of entire devotement to God, and the holy obedience of love made perfect.

It is wrought by the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and comprehends in one experience the cleansing of the heart from sin and the abiding, indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, empowering the believer for life and service.

Entire sanctification is provided by the blood of Jesus, is wrought instantaneously by faith, preceded by entire consecration; and to this work and state of grace the Holy Spirit bears witness.

This experience is also known by various terms representing its different phases, such as "Christian perfection," "perfect love," "heart purity," "the baptism with the Holy Spirit," "the fullness of the blessing," and "Christian holiness."

14. We believe that there is a marked distinction between a pure heart and a mature character. The former is obtained in an instant, the result of entire sanctification; the latter is the result of growth in grace.

We believe that the grace of entire sanctification includes the impulse to grow in grace. However, this impulse must be consciously nurtured, and careful attention given to the requisites and processes of spiritual development and improvement in Christlikeness of character and personality. Without such purposeful endeavor one’s witness may be impaired and the grace itself frustrated and ultimately lost.

Scriptural support for this doctrine of sanctification usually come out of Acts 2:1-4; Romans 12:1-2; Colossians 3:1-17; 1 Thess 4:7-8 along with many others...especially anything like "be holy" or "be sanctified"

Now this is not to be confused with being sancti-FRIED...as in love, peace, and chicken grease. That's totally different!

Sorry for the brief moment of linguistic levity. Back to our discussion of holiness and emerging Christianity...where is it? Does holy living and the doctrine of sanctification find amicable space within this movement?

My initial reaction to this question is that you will find holiness to the extent that you find Christ in emergent Christianity. And for those not tapped in to the voices and conversations of emerging Christians should be aware that the trajectory is indeed towards Christ. And to be honest, I see a greater emphasis on Christ within Emerging Christianity than I've seen in thirty years of Nazarene camps, bible quizzing, NYC's, and Nazarene colleges. That's not meant so much as an insult to my tradition as it is an affirmation of the grace I see at work within Emergent expressions. To be fair, Nazarene campuses are probably where I see a good bit of hope within our denomination because that is where ideas are most abundant in our denomination along with the places where those engaged in ministry to students are present.

The great struggle for Nazarenes as they encounter emergent Christianity in its various forms is going to center around external factors, questionable behaviors, legalistic perspectives, and a basic absence of "holiness." One of the healthy things I observed among emergents while in Memphis was an unencumbered sense of authenticity. When people who are passionately in love with God are also passionately honest...creative...real...and humble...the Gospel is incarnated in a potent way.

I respect the tradition of holiness from which I have emerged.

And I admire anyone who pursues holiness of heart and life while being vulnerably genuine in the process. I believe that God does call us to live holy lives...set apart and empowered by the Holy Spirit. I also happen to believe that someone caught up in a lifestyle of consumerism grieves the heart of God as much as someone in a homosexual relationship. The Christian who wields their tongue like a dagger against others is in much more spiritual jeopardy than someone who wets it with Warsteiner. And the fact that we even try to measure sin and behaviors like this reveals our inadequacy to even speak about holiness in terms of anything other than what God does and who God is.

This is an important conversation for sure...and would welcome anymore "Naz-mergents" out there to wade into the frigid waters.

My Great Emergence

Occasionally, it becomes necessary for us to spend some time trying to articulate and translate what seems to be happening within. This is just such a time. My hunch is that this will take several posts over the next few days and perhaps weeks. Instigating this attempt at sharing my story would most recently have to be my experience at The Great Emergence conference in Memphis this past weekend.
(click the image to the right to view a brief you tube video)

I traveled to the conference with a group of about ten friends from the Greater Cincinnati area along with a new friend from Louisville. We overnighted at the Gen X Inn just east of downtown Memphis. Although the name of the establishment was a bit peculiar, we found the accommodations more than adequate and I have no complaints except for the crunchy bananas (pictured behind my buddy, Aaron).

Enough about fruit texture...the conference was like a spiritual retreat for me. An emphasis on attending to "Divine Hours" created a spiritual rhythm to the schedule which provided, for me ,much needed interaction with God's Word, the Holy Spirit, and the shared experience of many Christians past and present. For those who aren't familiar with the concept, read this quick description. Along with the readings and prayers we shared some great times of corporate worship which stretched me in terms of style and liturgical approach.

Besides the spiritual refreshment which came my way over the weekend, a staggering amount of content, church history, and many other categories of information came flooding through the various presenters, conversations with peers, in addition to the main presentations from Phyllis. Perhaps the most cage-rattling component to this piece of the conference was the discussion of our basis for authority. During the time of the reformation in the early 16th century, the overriding sense of authority shifted from the papacy to the scriptures and the stage was set for sola scriptura. After about 500 years of viewing God, Christianity, and our world through this lens, it appears that the lens (or it least a filter) is changing.

I will hold off on discussing more of the actual content in future posts (such as the quadrant categories of Christianity, the Jerusalem-Antioch conversation, science-faith interplay, etc) and will shift now to some thoughts on personal application and "so what?" kinds of comments. These questions are the ones I most anticipate in the next few days and of course some of the most difficult statements to articulate. I want to discuss three points of application here and will begin with the most basic...personal impact...then to theological impact...and finally to ministerial or ecclesiastical impact.

Personal Impact: As I already mentioned, the personal impact of not just this conference, but the 3 to 4-year transition I've been experiencing in my spiritual life is quite a deep one. For several years now I have begun to discover and explore several problems in the ways in which I've been spiritually formed over the years and how I learned to relate to God. When you're raised in a conservative evangelical context (especially one which emphasizes behaviors and externals) I believe one of two things typically happens. As someone at the conference said, you either live in such a way as not to piss God off too much because of your humanity OR you perfect religious performance to a degree that certainly assures you of being one of God's favorites.

My guess is that I've erred on the side of being overly impressed with my own religious performance and building most of my relationship with God apart from being truly intimately connected with Him. In the past few years, I had to come to grips with the bankrupt nature of this kind of religion. As various struggles involving anger, depression, anxiety, addictions, etc have emerged, the necessary foundation of authentic trust and intimacy with God was not sufficiently in place.

[These statements should not lead anyone to believe that I am ungrateful for my spiritual/Christian heritage or for the positive influence of the Nazarene tradition. We are all shaped by various stories which are all, in and of themselves, insufficient compared to the grandest Story we hope to live, love, and journey towards.]

Another piece of the personal impact has to do with being okay in my own skin. As I shared from a panel of participants in front of the 300 or so conference attendees…the last three attempts of being on staff in ministry has felt like a continuous effort to pound a round peg into a square hole. And I continually wonder if God has a plan (or allowance) for me to engage in a form of ministry which perfectly matches an authentic expression of my passions and myself.

Theological Impact: This discussion is going to take some more time to sort out. For now I think it will suffice to say that if Phyllis is correct about the dismantling of sola scripture over that past 150 years…it fits with my own sense of where God is moving (an emphasis on Christ, i.e. solus Christus). Many will misinterpret my voice, as well as the voice of countless others within this “emergent” movement, but for too long the Scriptures have been used as a weapon or as some sort of divine trump card to manipulate, control, or otherwise abuse all the people God is so desperately trying to love back to himself.

Ecclesiastical Impact: So here’s the one I really have to be careful with since I find myself employed by the church. Although I don’t have a clear ‘next step’ in this area just yet, my heightened sense of disdain for the institutional church will ultimately lead me to a precipice of choice. When I reach this ledge of loyalty to my tribe or to the church as a local system of religious experience, I will indeed have to make a choice in terms of what shape life and ministry will take for my family and myself over the next few decades (God willing) of my life. When I reach a decision in these regards…I’ll let you know. ;-)

To wrap up this post for the time being, I better just make it clear for any who find themselves reading this for the wrong reasons. I am purposefully identifying and aligning myself with a vast group of other “emerging” Christians because I wholeheartedly believe that Christianity is certainly changing. The thought scares me that someone branded me as a “young Luther” while I was in Memphis. For starters, I have no visions of that kind of grandeur. I also don’t care for the Lutheresque implications of being hunted down for inquisition by religious leaders of the day. But I also don’t want to miss what God is doing because I’m too damn proud of the religious reputation I’ve built for myself over the past thirty years.

More Blogging: Queen/King of Spades

I mainly get my fix through microblogging on Twitter and Facebook these days, but there's something I miss about the discipline of blogging here.

One of the things I enjoyed posting on occasionally was my reading progress. I've finished a couple of books recently...


The one here by Peter Block on Community has been a great affirmation of the trajectory of my life and ministry. It is a very hopeful book which attempts to focus on the possibilities of community. Weaving some of Putnam's terminology and material on social capital in with a strong case for the power of the small group to transform, I believe this book is a must for anyone trying to build a sense of community in their organization or attempting to repair and restore a sense of community somewhere.


The other book is my introduction to the world of triathlons. Having finished my first marathon, I'm excited to expand my goals to a multi-sport approach. I 'm a little too A.D.D. to train for one thing all the time. Cycling was one of my first passions when I began pursuing endurance events...so now I just need to kick up the swim phase without having a "stroke."

I'm debating adding some ink to my aging carcass. Not sure why...just feels like a physically and spiritually motivated statement of determination and identification.

A Season of Post-lessness

For whatever reason...I'm going through a season of 'post-lessness.' I'm sure it has a lot to do with the time it takes to maintain so many different social spaces online.

There's also my new effort to leave a more formal and thoughtful set of writings about my life and journey the old-fashioned pen & paper.

Facebook is becoming the predominant place of posting...along with my microblogging attempts through Twitter.

So maybe I'll see you over there.

Keeping 9/11 in Perspective

It was one of those moments where you'll never forget where you were at...what you were doing...how you first heard the news.

I was in Houston at a leadership gathering for Nazarene youth workers.

We dismissed the session with a time of prayer and went to our rooms to watch the footage...over and over...and wait for the fate of the second tower.

As horrible as that tragedy was, it's interesting to compare it to others across the globe which have claimed the same number of lives many times over. Natural disasters such as the Tsunami...the earthquake in China...the disaster of Myanmar. Not to mention the more criminal and morally inane acts of war and terrorism which claim dozens of lives on a daily basis in some parts of the world. The genocidal violence which has wiped out hundreds of thousands in Africa over the past two decades.

But for those who continue to suffer from the loss of husband, wife, father, mother, brother, sister, or friend...we remember in prayer today especially.

Celebration of Discipline

I've read this book at least three times I think...and when a friend recently mentioned that he was digging into the chapter on meditation...I was prompted to open it up once again.

So I took Foster out on the kayak at Stonelick Lake yesterday along with a bottle of water and paddled out to the middle and propped myself on a tree that was reaching up out of the water.

As I re-read the chapter out loud, I was challenged by the basic assumption that Christian meditation leads to repentance...obedience...faithfulness. It is not an academic exercise or simply an effort to relieve stress. The many times that "mediatation" is used in the Scriptures...it is connected with transformation and obedience.

One reference that stands out is the admonition in Psalm 1 ...

1 Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

Another idea that jumps out at me from this passage is that this individual yields fruit in season...and does not wither.

I am presently struggling a bit with my calling and my ministry context. My perception is that fruit is somewhat sparse at the moment. But do I understand the concept of "seasons?" Or do I really live according to 'chairos' (God's timing) rather than 'chronos' (our segmented version of time)? Am I just feeling a bit withered? Spiritual malnourishment?

Not sure...but I need to be more intentional with some time for meditation and prayer...not from a dutiful or obligatory sense...but because I'm passionately loving and being loved by God.

Book 11: Jack of Spades

Talk about a quick and engaging little book! I recently became aware of Francis Chan's ministry, writing, and online presence. I remember someone telling me about his Just Stop and Think video (which you can view here). At the time, I failed to track it down online or follow up on the recommendation at all. Then as I was reading this title yesterday, Chan encourages you early in the book to go to the website and view a few different things.

I thought it was really a great reading experience with the combined media resources online.

As he sums up the book, it's a call to a high view of God which results in a high-octane response to God...a Crazy Love. Any response less than that might be something we should classify as sub-Christian instead of settling for some anemic form of just-get-by Christianity.

His discussion of "Lukewarm Christians" (which he determines is oxymoronic) is especially challenging but necessary.

I read the book quite easily yesterday so it's not a difficult or long reading commitment. But it will certainly challenge you to evaluate your level of spiritual commitment. If you have the option, I would encourage you to use the online chapter introductions and other media resources along the way...quite excellent.

Loving the Beans

I just enjoy everything about coffee. The flavor. The aroma. The ambience. The story behind the bean.


And I think that story is one of the things that makes coffee such great tool for thinking missionally...globally...sustainably...responsibly.




Recently, I've been researching some of the non-profit cafes around the country who are providing a combined experience of coffee, community, music, art, culture, and in some cases...Christ.

This is a great one I'd love to visit in Seattle...the Qcafe...affiliated with Quest Church in Seattle.

Eugene Cho is the pastor of Quest Church there and has a great blog I've been reading lately too. You can check that out here. We've been playing phone tag like crazy too as I've been trying to talk to him about the cafe and how the dream/space developed.

One of the challenges I'm facing in life & ministry right now is determining what the greatest passion of my life is? What is the "sweet spot" of God's call on my life and what kind of adjustments would it take to get there? Sacrifice? Comfort? Risk?

Ten of Spades: The Insider

This book was given to me by a friend and neighbor (literal) as one of those “Read this and let me know what you think” deals.

Well, it took me a little while to get to it, but this is one of those books that really resonates with where the journey has been taking me lately. The basic premise is pretty simple…that the Kingdom of God and the Gospel has its most profound impact when it is lived within the context of everyday life and the existing relationships we have within our world.

Unfortunately, Christians are often encouraged directly or indirectly to pull away from their social context and become “outsiders” to those who need Christ the most. In an attempt to connect believers with a new set of relationships (supposedly for some discipleship which rarely happens) we sacrifice our identity as “insiders.”

Quoting from a chapter entitled “The Insider’s Role in Missions”…

“Insiders are at the heart of God’s pursuit of the nations. They are essential to what he wants to do. Yet, in many churches and missions efforts they face resistance and disapproval rather than support. They are made to feel they are somehow disloyal because of the time and space they give their unbelieving friends. What they need instead is affirmation, equipping, and resourcing—and lots of it.”

For those who may want to better understand how live ‘Kingdomly’ in your everyday world along with those who want to influence others to become ‘insiders’ Petersen and Shamy have some great practical chapters on how to do that…especially the idea of simply inviting someone to journey through Scripture with you.