Cluster

Cluster: A group of the same or similar elements gathered or occurring closely together; a bunch

I think that, in general, we underestimate the power of the church in the culture and world. I know why we do it. Or at least I think I do. We do it because years of anemic christianity have conditioned us to believe that the gospel doesn't work, that christianity is toothless, and that Jesus is boring to people.

Cloister: A place, especially a monastery or convent, devoted to religious seclusion

Perhaps part of the problem lies with the fact that we've substituted cloisters for clusters. We have created places of religious seclusion hidden behind walls of language, ideology, politics and various other exclusionary bricks that keep outsiders as, well, outsiders.

But if the church is a cluster of viral agents, all infected with the contagion of a life-altering message of faith, hope and love, then imagine the power of such a cluster. If a cluster like that were to be dropped into the middle of a city, community, neighborhood, can you envision the potential for the fabric of that place to change? I can.

The power of the church lies in our message first, but secondarily it lies in our ability to cluster ourselves in places for maximum impact. When Jesus sent out his disciples he seems to have done so two by two. The missional journeys of the early church almost all seem to take place in the context of a group of at least two. Paul and Barnabas. Paul and Silas. Peter and John. Little clusters of infected and infectious men rocketed towards the hearts of communities and cities and began spreading the virus.

I am passionate about the church because the church is the vehicle by which God is seeking to advance his Kingdom. And wherever the church refuses to yield to institutional and hierarchical control, I believe it will thrive. So my hope and prayer is that here would be one of those places. My prayer is that I would be so infectious, so contagious with this message that my cluster would become infected.

I'm crazy enough to believe that we can change the world. I'm crazy enough to believe that we can't be ignored when we speak what's on the heart of God. I'm crazy enough to believe that I will accept persecution, hatred, anger and mockery before I'll accept being overlooked. To quote a line from that video I linked to earlier:

You can quote them, disagree with them,
glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.

Because they change things.
They push the human race forward.

God, even if it's only a footnote in your great story, I want to make my mark. May I this day push the human race forward with all the energy of your Spirit that's at work in me.

Check this out...

I found a link on another blog I frequent (Alex McManus) to this great video (a Macintosh commercial) that I thought was especially powerful and poignant.

Think Different

For any of you looking forward to a post yesterday on the church as a cluster of viral agents, sorry I didn't get that up. I should be able to do that later today.

Your Relationship Network

To take off from yesterday's post, I've been thinking often about our relationship networks. It seems to me that the gospel spreads best along our network of relationships - that it thrives not in settings of institutional control, but in a web of interconnected relationships.

Here's the way I was thinking about it. We've all been infected with a virus on our computers. It's one of the most frustrating experiences in the world as we work to try to rid our machine of that crazy, infectious little bugger. The ironic thing is that often the virus came to us from someone who's in our relationship network - we're on their email list, or we visited a site they recommended, whatever it might be.

The other experience we've also had is that of installing a legitimate program on our computer. At some point we come to this screen that gives us a choice - "I agree" or "I decline". It's called the End User License Agreement. It tells us that we are the end of the line for that particular program. We have purchased it, and with it the privileges associated with the program, and we agree that the privileges of ownership will not be passed on to anyone else, even those in our network of relationships.

I am convinced that the gospel spreads more like a virus than a legitimate program. The life-altering way of following Jesus' footsteps is communicated best when it passes like a virus from user to user, infecting those in our path. And, like a virus, I suspect that one may become infected even without knowing that it's happening.

I believe that there are some people who can't wade through all of the verbiage of the End User License Agreement for the institutionalized version of Christianity. But if it is more viral than legitimate, then I think there is hope. There is hope for the virus to spread - and if you're here, then maybe you are a carrier. And if you are a carrier, then perhaps you can spread it along your network of relationships. The gospel was never meant to be legitimized...don't give in.

Tomorrow, the church as a cluster of viral agents...

Mirac[ordinary]ulous

"They [Peter and the angel] passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate to the street, and this opened to them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him. Peter finally realized what had happened...After a little thought, he went to the house of Mary..."

When I read this part of the passage in Acts chapter 12, I immediately fell in love with it. While we glorify the miraculous signs and wonders that occurred as the followers of Jesus spread his message throughouth Jerusalem, Judea and the surrounding areas, I am often taken in by the seemingly insignificant details that make the story so human and therefore so compelling.

Peter is miraculously delivered from prison on the verge of his execution, and the angel walks with him one street past the prison gate and then leaves him to fend for himself. Peter, realizing that this is no dream or vision, is faced with the very real choice of where to go next.

I wonder to whose house I would go first? If I needed to spread news as quickly as possible to as many people as possible, who would be my first contact? It's really a question of my network of relationships, and this passage was a reminder to me that the good news about Jesus spreads best along the lines of our relational networks.

This blog allows me the freedom to communicate literally with people around the country, even the world. I have at the tips of my fingers the potential to network possibly hundreds, even thousands of people to each other and to a web of ideas. If you're reading this, even if we've never met, you are in a way part of my relational network. Hi. How are you?

To answer my previously posed question about where I would go first: I think I would come here. If I wanted friends to know that I had experienced some touch of the divine, and that I was again aware that God is moving on behalf of those who will move with him, then I might be likely to make an entry right here, just to let you know what God was up to.

I love the fact that the angel gave Peter his choice. And it reminds me that God gives us the choice to decide where we will go with what he is doing. So, what's God up to in your life? Are you seeing evidence that he is doing great things for those who will follow him? Where are you going with what he's doing? I'd love to hear about them - they are often more ordinary than you might expect.

I think tomorrow we'll tap a bit more into the idea of networks of relationships. I hope to see you then.

A Week in Review (Friday)

Friday Morning: More StrengthsQuest with Chip Anderson

Chip did some more teaching on our strengths, and how to best use them. He also gave us a great, short tool to process learning. He had us quickly (in one minute) write down the answers to three questions regarding our first session:

1. What was the most important thing I learned?
2. What question still remains?
3. What do I need prayer for?

Nothing huge there, just a simple tool for reflection that I'll try to incorporate with me in the future.

Chip also talked about something he called "Aliveness", touching on the idea that many times in our lives we are not really living, we are either simply existing, or even living in a state where we are emotionally dead. He talked about the kinds of people who tend to drain life from us, and then the kinds of people who seem to be able to penetrate our defenses and touch us at the core of our being.

He called those last kinds of people, "big arrow" people - and the first ones I thought about in that regard were my children. I know that my wife is that for me as well, but my kids don't have any regard for the masks that I can wear at various times in my life - they see me as I truly am. When I look into their young faces, I can see something of myself in them; they touch me deeply. I think I came away from this time with a fresh appreciation for Rita, Jacob and Aislinn; and for the quality that they have added to my life. Those three are absolute gifts from the presence of my heavenly father, gifts that too often receive precious little recognition.

Friday Afternoon: The Character Matrix with Eric Bryant

If you have read the book Uprising, then you have seen the character matrix. It's essentially a tool that Mosaic uses for developing the character of those in ministry and leadership at their church. It basically outlines a path for developing ourselves as people of faith, hope and love in the form of three quests:

1. The Quest for Honor: Takes us from the raw state of pride to humility, then integrity and ultimately to courage.
2. The Quest for Nobility: Takes us from our penchant for greed to gratitude, wholeness and generosity.
3. The Quest for Enlightenment: Moves us from our foolishness through faithfulness, perseverance and finally to wisdom.

The quest for honor speaks about a change in our attitude, the quest for nobility tells the tale of our transformation in our perspective on how we see the world, and the quest for enlightenment involves a remaking of our habits.

Once again, I doubt if there's anything truly profound in all of this, but it was great to see and hear it as a tool for helping shape character. I wholeheartedly affirm the stand that Mosaic has taken - character is more important than talent. I also was struck by how often I find myself closer to the raw states, if you will. I can be extremely proud, foolish and greedy in so many ways. So this time was a powerful reminder that wherever I am in my leadership of the church, character counts most.

Friday Night: Brazilian Churrascaria

All of us, including Alex's wife Niza and son Lucas, visited a restaurant known as a churrascaria. Here we essentially stuffed our faces with large amounts of meat of all kinds; beef, chicken and pork. The food was unbelievable, and the company was fantastic. It was astounding to see the friendships that had developed so well in just a matter of a week. The first Sunday we all ate together in the process of getting to know each other. Five days later I felt so much a part of this group of friends. Each one of these guys was a unique gift from God to this group, and I hope that we'll continue the friendships that began over that week.

Rode to and from the churrascaria with The Octavio, Dale and Eric. The ride home was frightening simply because three of us were laughing so hard that I thought Octavio was going to lose control of the vehicle. I think at one point Dale was asking us to stop because he was physically in pain. I know this last comment has an audience of only two, but it still hurts me here, here, and here when I think about that ride home!

A Week in Review (Thursday)

Thursday Morning and Afternoon: Origins

The morning session was with Alex McManus, who gave a rousing talk on the idea of relevance to culture. Here are some of the gleanings:

• Responding to Jesus is like having a conversation with the future
• Relevance to culture must begin from the starting point of relevance to Jesus, because if we are relevant to Jesus, then we are in fact relevant to the future, not just the present
• We are creating the future that Jesus sees out of our conversations with him
• You are talking to a man from the future in Jesus, and you are either crazy, or the world desperately needs to hear what you have to say (That, my friends, is an awesome and inspiring thought)
• We must live out what we hear Jesus telling us that the world must be
• How can we observe the shifts in culture and seek to meet them?
• The world is plural - out of that situation, people will seek to take advantage of it for their own benefit even if it comes by the domination of others
• The world is spiritual - and we are supposed to be interpreters of spiritual experiences
• We need to tap into the mystical side of our experience with Christ - our understanding of God comes from our immersion into God - we are often taught to hide that mystical understanding behind church language and culture, but if we can strip our language and practice down to the essentials, we will go a long way toward meeting our culture in its needy place

I actually debated leaving after the first session in the morning to take off and have some time with my wife while we were out there, but we decided to stay - I am so glad we did. The highlight of the conference portion of my time away came in Erwin's morning session on the Barbarian Way. He took us through Acts 27 (story of Paul's shipwreck on the way to Rome) and he really, really drove it home for us. He talked about how the theme for Mosaic for the past year has been "Crash: Prepare for Impact". He shared some anecdotes along the way of how that theme has played out for their church recently - some very cool stuff. BTW, if you haven't either read The Barbarian Way, or heard Erwin's talk from a couple of years ago on this topic I would encourage you to find a way to do it, it's well worth it. So, here are my impressions of what was shared:

• Get rid of whatever weighs you down and holds you back
• When strong winds blow against you, you can't hold on to everything
• You have to be willing to lose even the things that you think you need to survive
• What must I get rid of in order to fully follow the mission of Jesus to the places he is taking me? (This one I'll be pondering and acting on for some time, I surmise...)
• Focus on the primary objective
• We will crash, but we will also live, Paul says - God is going to accomplish his desire no matter what it takes to do so - Paul knew he was going to make it to Rome, he knew it so deeply that he was almost unafraid of the storm
• It's easy to lose our focus when the wind is blowing all around us and everything looks bleak
• Bind yourself to the success of the whole
• It's not about saving yourself as a leader, but about calling the community you serve to a higher standard and way of living and loving
• We need to stop jumping into the life rafts we call churches
• Serve as a catalyst for hope
• Eliminate retreat as an option
• Prepare for impact

As you can see, my notes once again tailed off as I was caught praying and dreaming about what would happen in me and for me as a result of my experience in this conference and mentoring process.

Thursday Night - Debrief (finally!)

Spent some time with both Erwin and Alex just walking through what we were taking away from this experience. It was a well-needed time of contemplation for me, and inspirational to think about where I might go with the things I was seeing and hearing. I came away with the burning desire to advance this revolution even at the cost of my life. I hope you can hear the passion in my words, because there is no doubt that this must happen in me and in the church I lead.

Awakening a Spiritual Revolution of faith, hope, and love!

A Week in Review (Wednesday)

Wednesday Morning and Afternoon: Origins

We had two morning sessions with Alex and Erwin again, followed by afternoon breakout sessions. For the afternoon I was working with the other guys from the IMN to take guests through the soul environments we talked about yesterday.

Here are my thoughts from Alex's morning session (a great one IMO):

• We should become a movement of people following the wind of God and his Spirit - proclaiming that the Kingdom of God has come near - he reminded that Jesus came to earth proclaiming the message of the kingdom of God's nearness
• The call to follow Jesus is not the call to become Christians but to become fully human beings - Jesus is not the ultimate Christian, but the ultimate human being
• I thought this was a profound statement and tied in with some of my thinking relative to our language of Christianity - does our way of living demand that people find new ways of expressing who we are, rather than just dismissing us as those "obnoxious christians"?
• Jesus came and fully gave life and loved us to the extreme - he calls us to do the same - the mission is love enacted, our love for him and love for the world will not allow us to do nothing
• If we as followers of Jesus do nothing for the mission these are the things that will likely happen:
• The devaluing of human freedom - we will become people who will express gratitude simply to be tolerated, living in a society where power and fear rule the day
• The debasing of human sexuality - in this he was not simply talking about homosexuality (in fact he didn't mention it) but talked about the dehumanizing effects of sexuality unrestrained
• The debunking of human uniqueness - if the greatest threat to humanity is human evil, then the way to turn the tide is for fully alive humans to live and speak about the unique ability to, in cooperation with the Spirit of God, produce goodness in the world - I was reminded of the verse in Romans that we would not be overcome by evil, but rather overcome evil with good

I'm noticing a pattern here in my notes - I didn't take a lot of notes when Erwin was talking, so for the second session I actually have very little in the way of notes. It can be summed up in this statement: "What is important to God? What reflects the heart of God with clarity and authenticity?" I guess I probably spent much of his time reflecting on those words and their application to my life and church. I'll spend more time doing the same because I think it's a really important question.

Wednesday Evening: Mosaic Alliance Dinner/Dessert

This was a great experience as we had an awesome dinner served on the top floor of our hotel, overlooking (on three fronts) the city of Los Angeles. We met some new people and had some really great conversations.

The highlight for me was getting to meet the girlfriend of one of the members of our cohort. She came late to the dinner, but immediately my wife began including her in the conversation and the flow of the night. I was amazed once again at how great my wife is in those kinds of situations - it reminded me of her unique ability to relate to all kinds of people and include them in a group almost effortlessly. I think there was a bond forged there that will hopefully last much longer than just that night.

I left the conversation a little early, in fact. After four straight days of almost non-stop interaction with people, my introverted side was in serious need of recharging. In fact, I began to blog that night, but didn't get all the way through my post. I was reminded in very practical ways that while I enjoy the company of others, when I'm in situations where I'm constantly surrounded by people, I really do crave some time alone. My wife, on the other hand, was being energized by the interaction with others. It's so interesting to see how God has put us together, and uses us together despite our differences.

So, that was Wednesday, and I guess that brings us almost to the half way point. If you've stayed with me this far, thanks!

A Week in Review (Tuesday)

Tuesday Morning and Afternoon - Soul Environments with Eric Bryant

Eric is part of the leadership team at Mosaic, and he walked us through the core values of Mosaic. These are detailed in the book An Unstoppable Force, and were highlighted throughout the Origins experience.

• Wind: Mission is why the church exists
• This is Mosaic's way of saying that the primary element of any church's life should be the mission of being and making disciples.
• Every follower of Jesus is commissioned
• The church of Jesus Christ is a movement
• Water: Love is the context for all mission
• This is their way of expressing the reality that by baptism we are all immersed into the one body of Christ, by His Spirit, moving together for the good of the world
• Every follower of Jesus Christ is part of a community
• The church is relational
• Wood: Structure must always submit to Spirit
• This value and environment speaks of the ability to celebrate the diversity in the body of Christ, and see that each person, as indwelt by the Holy Spirit, helps to shape the structure of the church - the Spirit of God dwells in people, not programs
• Every follower of Jesus Christ is uniquely connected
• The church is empowering
• Fire: Relevance to culture is not optional
• The transcendent glory of the living God is meant to be incarnated in our flesh and bones so that as we commune with Him, we are in a position to speak to the world from his heart
• Every follower of Jesus celebrates communion with God
• The church is incarnational
• Earth: Creativity is the natural result of Spirituality
• God has placed in each human being a remarkable potential, and when the Spirit of God begins to shape and form that potential in the character of Christ, the result is a creative, generative, good life
• Every follower of Jesus forms Christlike character
• The church is transformational

Tuesday Evening - Sessions 1 & 2 of Origins

In the first session Alex McManus issued us a challenge to remember how we had arrived here. We arrived because we had heard the primal calling of Jesus: "Come, follow me." From the very center of the universe, its creator and sustainer has called us into this moment, for this time, to follow him. Jesus' words come to us into history from eternity, and resonate with us at the deepest levels. From that resonance we understand that we don't have to live our life for ourselves, we don't have to be simply consumers, but producers of the good. In these moments of supreme importance, the superficial things can and must be left behind so that we can resonate more clearly and more deeply with the words of Jesus to live for something greater than ourselves.

In the second session I took no notes - I've heard Erwin's talk on this subject several times, so I tried to absorb it differently than by scratching out notes. The essence of the talk is that Christianity is intended to be a movement of people who will live by faith, be known by love, and be a voice of hope. It sounds simple, but this New Testament triad really is fundamental to the mission of Jesus in the world. Like I said, I've heard it before, now I guess it's a matter of applying what I've heard (always the difficult part, no?)

A Week in Review (Monday)

Well, since I failed in my earnest attempt at blogging diligence while out in LA, I'll give you a recap from the week that was.

Monday Morning and Afternoon:

Monday we had a long day with Chip Anderson, who took us through something called StrengthsQuest - an approach to education and leadership that focuses on strengths as opposed to deficit remediation. A radical concept that I found very insightful. Here are a couple of the thoughts I pulled from this day:

• Most theories of psychology and personality are based on studying illness rather than health
• Most psychometric tests stem from the false assumption that the best way to make improvements is to focus on overcoming your weaknesses
• Imagine the possibilities of followers of Jesus who are using all of their strengths to serve him and advance his Kingdom in the world

All of us (there were 14 involved in the group) really resonated with Chip's presentation. Add that to my thoughts from Erwin's message on Sunday at Mosaic about the parable of the talents, and there was a potent mix for me to think on. God has invested strengths in each of us, and he expects us to use them with excellence.

For what it's worth, here are the five strengths the assessment identified in me. Feel free to interact with me on these and let me know if you see these to be accurate or not (that should be fun ;)

1. Responsibility: Takes psychological ownership of everything he does. Will maintain relationships by following through with whatever has been assigned. People like this generate trust.
2. Belief: Has very strong values that form the filter for everything he does. The closer he is to moving in those core beliefs, the more energy he will have for the task.
3. Connectedness: The ability to see the interrelatedness of people and things. He will look to help people connect to each other, and be able to connect the dots from their past to their future.
4. Intellection: (This was the one with which I identfied most) He loves to think, loves to stretch his mental muscles. He may have the feeling that there is a committee meeting happening in his head as he turns over ideas in his mind.
5. Input: A natural curiosity for information, ideas, etc. He may often be viewed as a procrastinator, but is often just seeking more information before beginning the project.

Monday Evening:

This was a Q&A time with Erwin McManus, lead pastor of Mosaic. We (the International Mentoring Network cohort) were joined by students from the Doctor of Ministry program at Bethel Seminary for this time. Erwin fielded all kinds of questions, so what you'll read here will probably be the things that I found most applicable/interesting.

• Since Mosaic is known nationally as a creative church community, Erwin talked about how creativity is expressed throughout their body
• He warned us about the excessive focus on the Sunday service - those are not the only times for creativity to be expressed
• He also encouraged us to layer the opportunities for creativity, and make room for believers to engage non-believers in creative efforts together
• He talked about the desire to maximize human capacity, to free people to be the people God dreams of

• He also fielded a question on the process of transitioning a church (something he did as The Church on Brady became Mosaic)
• You will disenfranchise some people when you make significant changes in the life of the church - be willing to deal with that
• For effective evangelism you must have the cultural pliability to absorb new believers - when your structure is so rigid, new believers (if there are any) will not be received well
• Be willing to lose your job (always a favorite line to hear....)
• Move clearly - as the leader, you must move with clarity!
• The final question I took notes on was my own - How do you create the team necessary to lead the church?
• Lead the right people to Christ - Who are the people in your community that you are actively seeking to bring into relationship with Jesus?
• If you're going to reach your community, who do you need on your team? Then go find them in the community, not in another church!
• See the uniqueness of people - help people see who they are created to be, and then help them move towards it with you

It was, is and will be Good

Second full day of International Mentoring Network and the beginning of the Origins Conference here in Los Angeles brought a deepening of the conversations begun over the last two days.

Here's something that Erwin McManus said in his message on Sunday that I've been trying to chew on for the last couple of days. It's partially digested, so if it's a little messy, I guess I'll beg your patience.

Human beings were created not simply to reflect the goodness of God, but to actively advance the goodness of God in the world.

I've been thinking even before this conference about the word "good", and how we use it, and even abuse it in some of our language. In evangelical circles it has become almost passe to make the distinction between being saved by grace through faith and not by good works. We've made this distinction especially in areas where it's been important to tell Roman Catholics that their good works will never be enough to get them into heaven.

The amazing thing is that good works are exactly the things that God has been doing from the very beginning of the world. God created everything we see, and called it good. God created human beings and called it very good. God has created us for good works that he has birthed in the recesses of the distant past. In Peter's words in Acts 10, Jesus went around doing good and healing all the oppressed. Jesus himself when confronted with someone calling him "good" pointed to the reality that only God is truly good.

But if we were created not simply to reflect God's goodness but instead to advance God's goodness, then doesn't that change our approach? Don't we have to stop simply trusting in our correct beliefs and thoughts and constructs about God and instead engage ourselves in the mission of God to birth his goodness in the world?

I can think about the possibilities of just a single good work done in the name of Christ for the Kingdom of God to affect the course of one life. And if that good work is multiplied through the lives of those who then choose the good and refuse the evil, then the movement of God grows and extends its reach further.

I believe that good is more powerful than evil. CS Lewis said, "Badness cannot succeed in being bad in the same way in which goodness is good. Goodness is, so to speak, itself. Badness is only spoiled goodness." Goodness is good because God is good. And if you or I can succeed in advancing the goodness of God in word or deed, we will succeed in bringing into the world something that is true, something that will resound through the portals of time, into the future.

God created, and it was good.
God is creating, and it is good.
What will the future hold? Its goodness will be generated by men and women who take seriously their call to create a future filled with goodness. Will you?

What a Difference a Day Makes

Hi friends. Those of you looking to follow the journey while I'm out in LA, welcome to the inaugural West Coast blog entry.

There's a group of about 12 or 14 of us here who are part of an emerging revolution. There are 12 or 14 of us who are looking to create the future that God has been dreaming to birth. There's something that's moving under the surface that may even be inexpressible at this moment that is going to find its way to the surface, and when it does, it's going to erupt in such powerful and profound ways that the church as we know it will not be able to contain.

We met today with a guy named Chip Anderson. A guy who is an absolute wealth of wisdom and understanding, and who was willing to take some of his precious time to pour out from that wealth onto people like me. His whole perspective on life and ministry comes from a shift in our approach that makes such a huge difference in how we live and minister. Here's the question he posed to us, and I'll in turn pose it to you:

What if the church stopped focusing on deficit remediation and instead focused on building its strengths?

What if you saw yourself the way God sees you, with all your God-given strengths, and you spent the rest of your life living to create the future of God's dreams?

What would emerge from a group of people who would cut the tether that binds them to mediocrity and engage the world with all of the passion, all of the drive, and all of the energy that God could possibly give us to revolutionize the world?

I have a feeling (and you can shrug it off as that if you wish) that I've seen the future. I believe (and you can call it west-coast wishful thinking if you will) that the goodness of God is about to be expressed in ways that are going to astonish us. I have a feeling that I've caught a glimpse of the fiery rim of a sun rising over a near horizon. And even if it's just a feeling, if it's just an indescribable sense, then I'm going to run with it. Do you want to run with me?

Run to the sun!

Coming Soon...

Recently my brother gently queried me on my recent lack of blogging, asking me if I was taking a "blogging sabbatical." In fact I am not taking a sabbatical, as I told him, because a sabbatical to me infers a period of time for reflection and growth and what has been happening to me has been much more frenetic than that.

I'm getting ready to leave tomorrow (Saturday) morning for a conference in Los Angeles (Origins). I'm going as part of my recent involvement in something called The International Mentoring Network.

While in LA, I'll be meeting with several new companions that are also part of this network. They are revolutionaries (see last post...) and I'm looking forward to the way that this will help me advance the Kingdom of God in my own life and in this corner of the world. I'll be traveling with a good friend, Dale, and will also be joined by the lovely Rita (that's my wife in case you're wondering...) for 5 of the days we'll be in LA.

Last week while meeting with some other revolutionary friends, I committed myself to the daily discipline of blogging my thoughts and ideas relative to this experience. While my recent track record has been less than stellar, I'm going to do my best to keep the promise. I'll also be attempting to work in some pictures from LA into the blog, just to give you the feel for what's happening out there. All of you East Coasters will have to do your best to restrain your obvious jealousy!

That said, I hope those of you who keep tabs on this space on a regular basis will check in periodically over the next week or so to catch up on what's happening. Feel free to post snappy comments or "gentle queries" if you notice that I'm not keeping my promise - it'll help me!

Revolution

Had a great dinner yesterday with superduper, his lovely wife Kate and their beautiful daugher Abigael. We were tossing around ideas about God, church, family and life in general. We were having church around the dinner table, and I felt the presence of God there with us as we talked. It's funny how I can work so hard to feel God's presence at times, work so diligently to create the place where I can meet him, then he surprises me by showing up in such ordinary and profound ways.

At one point we were talking about our churches, those particular expressions of the universal church that have sprung up in our locale, and we were discussing this apparent perception of the northeast as some sort of spiritual desert. It's true, church-wise you can find quite a few areas of the country that are more hip, more trendy, more churched, more a part of the church culture. But at the same time I think you'd be hard pressed to find a place that is more poised to have a spiritual revolution tip (I've been reading this great little book called The Tipping Point) in our midst.

I won't speak for anyone else in the room that night, but as we talked I had this great sense of anticipation at what God is going to do through spiritual friendships like this. I'll never compare myself intellectually, socially, or possibly spiritually to the founders of the American experiment, but I wonder if they had similar inklings as they would meet each other from time to time and discuss the issues of the day. I wonder if the spark in their eyes might have inspired the thoughts and dreams that shaped the future. And I wonder if people like me, with great friends like mine, might be able to tip a revolution that would shake the world.

I'm aware, and maybe you're thinking it - "There's already a spiritual revolution." I agree, and yet in the midst of that spiritual revolution I find the tragic, almost palpable absence of true Christianity. But when the way of Jesus is fleshed out in the life of his followers, revolution must ensue. No matter what is extended to contain it, no matter what is forced upon its advance, it must proceed.

Yesterday in my sermon from the book of Acts, I was talking about this group of Jesus' followers who made their way from Jerusalem to Antioch, the city of third imortance in the Roman Empire. This group went breaking the rules, preaching the good news about Jesus to the gentiles and offending the sensibilities of some of their more provincial Jewish counterparts. As they lived in Antioch, the culture had to find a new name for them - they called them Christians. I have a feeling that the name "christian" has been so overused and misunderstood that it has almost no value to those who claim to be one or those who claim not to be.

What if we were to follow the way of Jesus in such a revolutionary way that the culture, the community and the world at large would be forced to find a new name for us? What would they call us? What would we want to be called? I think our words and actions will have much to do with the names we are given - my only hope is that the names will be reflective of a penchant for grace, goodness, peace and justice.