Stream of Thought

Laughter

2012-01-23T08:45:00.001-07:00

No need for words on this one.

May your day be blessed with this kind of joy!

Blessings and Curses

2012-01-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

I'm re-learning that the devil takes your hurt and your pain and uses it for evil.
He uses it to destroy your soul. He uses it to undermine your family. He uses it to spread more hurt and pain and evil if you let him.
And so the evil that creeps in that feels so justified because of your hurt keeps working itself through to spread the curse in you and through you. It's no good!

And so how do we break it? Blessings.
(Bless those who persecute you. Don't curse them; pray that God will bless them. Romans 12:14 NLT)

To the one who hurt you -- Bless them.
To the one who left you -- Bless them.
To the one who wounded you -- Bless them.
To the one who slapped you -- Bless them.
To the one who beat you up -- Bless them.
To the one who spoke evil against you -- Bless them.
To the one who ignored you -- Bless them.
To the one who forgot you -- Bless them.
To the one who resents you -- Bless them.
To the one who took from you -- Bless them.
To the one who lied to you -- Bless them.
To the one who (fill in the blank for you) __________ -- Bless them.

My tendency is to sulk, feel bad, think badly and perpetuate the curse.

I've got to stop! Today I choose blessing.

Choose blessing with me. Let's crush the curse together!

⁸ Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. ⁹Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. ¹⁰ For,
   “Whoever would love life
   and see good days
must keep his tongue from evil
   and his lips from deceitful speech.
¹¹ He must turn from evil and do good;
   he must seek peace and pursue it.
¹² For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
   and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”^[a]
¹³ Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? ¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear^[b]; do not be frightened.”^[c] ¹⁵ But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.
1 Peter 3:8-15

What I'm Reading Right Now

2012-01-13T15:03:00.001-07:00

Reading is always fun and these books have been extra fun to dig into.

Barefoot Church, Serving the Least in a Consumer Culture by Brandon Hatmaker

Pastor of a church in Austin that is doing a lot more than just talking about serving people.

Practicing the Way of Jesus, Life Together in the Kingdom of Love by Mark Scandrette

Turned on to this one by Relevant Magazine. Again, a practitioner that has found some cool things about actually following Jesus.

I am a Follower, The Way, Truth and Life of Following Jesus by Leonard Sweet

Len Sweet has been shaping my thoughts for over 15 years. He's always ahead of the curve...always seeing further ahead than most anyone.

The Road to Missional, Journey to the Center of the Church by Michael Frost

This guy pulls no punches in his books, on stage or face to face. Passionate, funny and stinkin' smart.

Buy them, read them and be stretched in your understanding of God and life and the church.

Lonely

2012-01-10T16:25:00.002-07:00

In his book, The Pastor, Eugene Peterson ends with a letter to a young pastor in which he writes,

"...we are part of the same family which of course we are. But also companions in finding our way as pastors in this American culture that,"knew not Joseph" and also doesn't quite know what to make of us. That makes for lonely work...."

I find it fascinating that in a book where he recounts what being a pastor is like that he would end with this line about loneliness. Wouldn't you think that he would end on a more positive note?

But maybe it's the most appropriate ending. Being a pastor could be one of the loneliest professions in the world.

Why?

Well, part of the reason is of their own choosing. Pastors tend to isolate themselves. They build up towers that are impenetrable. They can't be honest about who they really are (they think they have to live up to some crazy standard) and so they have to stay away from close relationships. They've got to hide.

Another reason is that pastors have too many people in their lives. They are so busy in relationship with many that they don't have time to foster close relationships with a few. So they don't really have any friends.

Reason 3: People think their pastor is too busy. They don't call them or ask them out or have them over. Sometimes that is true. Sometimes it's not.

Another one? Relationship with pastors is consumer-driven not family-driven. Most people in the congregation are asking what does this guy (and his family) have to give me? If the pastor delivers then they stay on good terms. If he doesn't then it's easy to say goodbye. A relationship based on a religious exchange of goods won't ever really be a good relationship.

Reason 4: Being a leader, pushing ahead, pushing back on culture, breaking paradigms, asking for more, redirecting, correcting, etc. is something not many people want/accept/receive yet it is part of the pastor's job description.

Here's one more. Some pastors don't think they can have friends. They don't think it's OK because they don't want it to look like they have 'favorites'.

So yeah! There's lots of reasons for the word "lonely" to placed next to the word "pastor."

Pastors -- I'm thinking and praying for you today. Hoping that you'll keep giving yourself away and remain soft-hearted in a world that 'doesn't know what to make of you'.....and that God will surround you with godly people that love you more than what you can offer to them.

Helpful for Recalibration

2012-01-03T16:15:00.000-07:00

THIS book talks about 4 great truths to set you free. I have found they are incredibly helpful in recalibrating my life. See if they work for you!

1. God is great – so I don’t have to be in control

2. God is glorious – so I don’t have to fear others

3. God is good – so I don’t have to look elsewhere

4. God is gracious – so I don’t have to prove myself

Lessons from my 2011 Journal

2011-12-29T04:58:00.000-07:00

Been looking over my 2011 journal over the last couple of weeks. Here are some of the big insights and observations:

Influence and Love go together
My pain and my struggle compared to the pain and struggle of the world at large are incomparable
Figure out what the organism looks like and create the organization to support it
Innovation/Invention is a lonely place
Wear your armor not someone else's
Don't give to man what belongs only to God (in any category)
Repentance is a contant rhythm of the Christian life
God sometimes has to break things to put them back together
You can (and should) still lead when you're hurt or injured
It can always get worse
It can always get better
No one is immune to the big hurts of life.
Everyone needs healing
God has a way of getting you to pray more
I am a son of God
Dying is a good thing
Sometimes you have to grow backwards to grow forwards
Consumeristic Comfort, Safety, Happiness and Stability are always going to be fighting against the Kingdom of God
Satan intimidates (and often he doesn't have to work too hard to do so)
God protects
God blesses
God keeps giving good gifts
God keeps teaching faith -- when you think you've got it down...watch out...another lesson is coming.
Even God's people suffer great defeats
Spiritual parenting is difficult. It must be intentional and serious.
Hunger for God is paramount for the disciple. It launches you into Godly living daily.
Questioning God doesn't go away. We'll always have questions. There's always going to be something we don't understand.
When you get serious about following Jesus you see the best and the worst of the church.
God keeps speaking.....but not at your command. Stay tuned in....He can speak anywhere and at any time.
God loves the son and honors the man you are becoming.
We are not unified but God wants it so badly for us.
Don't short circuit the waiting. God has good things on the other side of it. Persevere...Endure!
Saying "No!" is essential to living your "YES!" -- Find your "YES!"
I need help. There's no way I can do this alone.

More than Enough

2011-12-16T14:34:00.002-07:00

A question that has been bugging me for a while now....

"Aren't there more than enough Christians in our city to make a tangible difference in it?"

You would think that with all the people that believe in God and regularly attend a church and call themselves Christians that our towns would be transformed by now. Wouldn't you?

"Yes?" The answer has got to be "Yes!" right?! Think of the man power, the resources, the relationships, the networks, the sheer influence that one person can have over another.

Ok....I think I'm ready to go from question to statement, then.

"There are more than enough Christians in our (and your) city to make a tangible difference in it."

So why isn't it happening, you ask? I guess we could debate that all day...but let's not worry about that now. Instead.....why not just start doing your part.

Here's how you can get started...

1. Think of God as your best friend/your soul mate and spend time with him in that way every day.
2. Think of other believers as your teammates and keep fighting together for the mission of God.
3. Think of people outside of the Kingdom as your lost mate and look for them like you'd look for your child if they were lost.

Do that (for real) and I bet we make a difference!

Looking forward to an incredible 2012!!

Checking it Twice

2011-12-15T20:12:00.002-07:00

Our girls have been busy putting their Christmas lists together these past few weeks. The television and the catalogs are giving them some great ideas on how they should populate it.
Isn't it amazing how what an influence media has on our kids (on us) at this time of year.
It just doesn't feel quite right.
And so the other day it occurred to me to ask my girls"

"What do you think God would want on your Christmas list?"

I just asked them to ask Him. And you know what?? He had answers for all of them. Answers that honored the most beautiful values of life. It was SO cool!

Do you think God might have something in mind for your list?

Why don't you ask...

Vision

2011-12-07T13:34:00.001-07:00

We just finished a series of Partnership Meetings at Cool River as we prep and look ahead to 2012.

Each year we ask our partners to re-up for another year of belonging, growing, serving and giving.

As most of us prepare for meetings like that we feel the pressure to come up with the next cool thing, the newest program, the bigger and better mission opportunity, and the numbers that we would love to see and produce in the coming year.

The pressure is that we want to keep members. We want to make sure they are inspired and juiced up for another year supporting our organization.

This is not necessarily bad but it could force us to make things up instead of waiting on God for His revelation.

This year at Cool River we are looking forward to a few things.

1. Waiting -- We are in season of waiting for God's revelation. We are looking forward in anticipation to what God is calling us to and how we can best be his people here in Superior.

2. Unity -- We are asking God to make us one and to rally around Him alone. We don't want to rally around an institutional goal. We want to rally around a person. We want to rally around his mission. We want to be able to look each other in the eye and know that we're together because of Christ.

3. Love -- We are embracing what it means to be sons and daughters of God. We want to fully grab onto what it means to be loved by the King of Kings. We want to move with the confidence of being one of His children. He loves us, protects us, guides us, and builds us. He does it! He wants to do it!

And our hope is that as we wait and listen and obey, as we grow and practice unity and as we let the love of God seep into the very core of who we are that we'll become a more authentic and honest church and more authentic and honest disciples.

How's that for vision?!

Want an inside look at the details. Check out our 2012 Partnership Packet HERE.

Thinking out-loud about a more unified church

2011-11-30T16:52:00.000-07:00

I was talking to a friend the other day about church. I'm a pastor....I do that kind of stuff.

In our conversation we talked about how the different churches in a community can be likened to the body of Christ. The local church is seen as a body so should the greater church in a city be seen as a body, too?

We sometimes think that one church serves all purposes but the reality is that local fellowships actually seem to take on a part of the body in a city, or a couple of parts of the body but usually not ALL (even though we certainly try).

So you have one church that is a crusade they help people to get into the door of the Kingdom. They give them a first taste and they are good at getting people baptized.

You have another church that seems to take in everyone that is hurting. They are a magnet for people that need healing and they are good at helping them take their next steps through pain, addiction and loss.

Other churches are good at education. They can teach you everything you need to know about the faith, the Bible and God and they have so many classes that in just a few years you could get a degree from their teaching.

Another church down the way helps people feel God. They are great with the arts and music and helping you find different expressions of experiencing God.

Others are better equipped to handle issues of justice and service and helping the least in the community.

I wonder if maybe it's time to be more honest about who we are and stop trying to be everything to everyone.

If all the churches in a community operated more like a body it could be an amazing thing.

The crusade church gets them in
The hospital church heals them up
The disciple church builds them up
The mission church sends them out
The worship church connects their hearts
The pastors share the load to teach and lead and equip in their areas of most strength.

Could you imagine that? It could be a beautiful, beautiful thing! Wouldn't it?
What do you think?

Zion and Babylon

2011-11-19T20:18:00.001-07:00

Heard this tonight for the first time and just blown away. Conviction and Celebration at the same time. Take a listen. Lyrics below.

Oh great mammon of form and function
Careless consumerist consumption
Dangerous dysfunction
Described as expensive taste
I'm a people disgraced
By what I claim I need
And what I want to waste
I take no account for nothing
If it's not mine
It's a misappropriation of funds
Protect my ninety percent with my guns
Whose side am I on?
Well who's winning?
My kingdom's built with the blood of slaves
Orphans, widows, and homeless graves
I sold their souls just to build my private mansion
Some people say that my time is coming
Kingdom come is the justice running
Down, down, down on me
I'm a poor child, I'm a lost son
I refuse to give my love to anyone,
Fight for the truth,
Or help the weaker ones
Because I love my Babylon
I am a slave, I was never free
I betrayed you for blood money
Oh I bought the world, all is vanity
Oh my Lord I'm your enemy
Come to me, and find your life
Children sing, Zion's in sight
I said don't trade your name for a serial number
Priceless lives were born from under graves
Where I found you
Say, my name ain't yours and yours is not mine
Mine is the Lord, and yours is my child
That's how it's always been
Time to make a change
Leave your home
Give to the poor all that you own
Lose your life, so that you could find it
First will be last when the true world comes
Livin' like a humble fool to overcome
The upside-down wisdom
Of a dying world
Zion's not built with hands
And in this place God will dwell with man
Sick be healed and cripples stand
Sing Allelu
My kingdom's built with the blood of my son
Selfless sacrifice for everyone
Faith, hope, love, and harmony
I said let this world know me by your love
By your love
Oh my child, daughters and sons
I made you in love to overcome
Free as a bird, my flowers in the sun
On your way to Mount Zion
All you slaves, be set free
Come on out child and come on home to me
We will dance, we will rejoiceIf you can hear me then follow my voice

Your Kids Must Know

2011-11-18T16:31:00.001-07:00

Growing up in the church is a bizarre experience if you really think about it.

Your parents make you go to this building where you are then shipped off to a class. In that class they tell you stories about this dude up in Heaven that does lots of things that don't make sense with a bunch of people that don't really want to do what he wants.

Then you go to another room where people sing songs and another guy talks for a really, really long time about the same stuff you learned in class but his words are way too big and his insights way too deep to make a difference. So you draw stuff on the thing they call a bulletin.

The people there are called Christians and you start learning that they are all playing this deeply complicated game of being someone they are not and pretending they believe the stuff in the book. Only a few seem to really, actually believe it enough to live by it.

Along the way, your parents move or they get mad at a sermon or they have a conflict with someone in the church and you find yourself going to another place.

The funny thing is that at the last 'church' and the new one now everyone calls each other brother and sister. Yet...it's totally different than real brothers and sisters. I mean, they don't really even know each other.

Well, all this stuff is called the church -- the classes, the songs, the service, the people that don't really believe. They are all called the church and we tell our kids that. And then a program stops, a teacher leaves, someone who called them brother/sister leaves and our kids sit there wondering, 'what just happened here?" And a little hope is lost. And a little confusion creeps in.

It's important that we teach our children that the church is not a class, a program, a service or casual attenders that only proclaim Jesus with their mouths but not by their actions.

We must teach them that the church is a people who have encountered, experienced & have been filled w/ the love of God & just can't keep that love 2 themselves.

We must teach them that the church is a people that together have died to themselves to allow the life of Christ to flow in and through them. It's a committed and unified body.

That way, when something of the church that is not really the church fails them...they won't be confused, their hope won't be stolen and their little hearts will be protected.

Waiting

2011-11-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

The hardest thing for me to do as a leader is wait.

I don't like to wait. It's no fun!

Yet, time and time again I find myself waiting.

I don't wait because I want to. I wait because God asks me to.

A man from Africa was telling a group of us the other day that if you watch your shadow, it always does what you do. If you move, the shadow moves. If you don't move, the shadow doesn't move. If you move and the shadow doesn't move, then there's a problem. If you don't move and the shadow does move...that's just freaky.

With God things work the same way.
If God moves, you move.
If God doesn't move, you don't move.

And so today I wait to move like a shadow waits for his master to make the least little twitch.
I'm watching.
I'm listening.
I'm anticipating.
I'm ready to move.......as soon as He does.

Lessons from Imagine

2011-11-06T17:20:00.000-07:00

I got the privilege of telling some of the Cool River story at Imagine--A Global Church Planting Conference at NorthWood Church. It was a great experience and a great chance to say thank you to the church and the people that sent me to Colorado.

I wasn't the only one sharing stories and teaching, though. There were pastors and leaders from all over the world sharing how God is moving in their country and what they are learning. Here are some of the best lessons from the weekend. The lessons are simple but profound.

Q: How is the church growing to hundreds of thousands overseas?
- We listen and obey
- People have to die to themselves
- Unity
- Prayer
- Patience
- Love
- Give God a chance to do something
- Discipline
- House churches
- The Holy Spirit
- Fresh wine skins
- Expressing absolute faith
- Find where God is working and join him there
- Find the demons and drive them out
- Fasting
- Never be discouraged

* People have to see authentic passion for Christ
* Jesus has to be the head -- Don't cut off the head
* The church is a body/a community -- not an individual
* Me dead - that's what people need to see
* You can't impress God
* God is still opening doors.
* Even if it's a small door -- go though it.
* Don't trash, exalt!
* Learn to hear the word of God - Teach people to hear the word of God
* Make your theology simple enough that people can understand it
* Commonalities in all great commissions -- the holy spirit and the nations
* Let perseverance finish it's work
* The dreamer has to die for the dream to live
* How much patience should we have with disciples? -- How much patience do you have when your kids don't obey?
* The city is not the only place God is interested in. Find ministry in the obscure places.
* The Kingdom is a small to big endeavor.
* The purpose of the body is to express the will and desire of the head
* 1 Cor 4 -- Everyone brings/contributes something to the party
* We don't build community -- we enter into it.
* You can't be alive to get into the church -- you have to die.
* Two deaths 1. Jesus' -- 2. ours
* The Spirit is wild.
* 2 Cor 5:14 -- the love of God compels us -- that's all -- You don't know love, you won't be compelled.
* Love moves you to go against everything even kidnapping, threats, knives, beatings and death
* Stop complaining!!! -- you don't have 35 emails threatening your life in your inbox
* Belief without Jesus is just religion
* Do not work on your own strength
* To know his full power comes from knowing your identity as his son/daughter
* The problem is our lack of obedience
* Following God is not complicated -- Stop making it that way.
* Illustration: Your shadow follows you. If shadow doesn't move, you've got a problem. -- We follow Jesus. If we don't move, you've got a problem.
* Don't force it. Let HIM do it.

Not every battle the same

2011-11-01T16:25:00.000-06:00

2 Samuel 5:17-25

* David is finally King over the whole Kingdom (Judah and Israel)

* Philistines decide to throw a welcoming party by attacking him....twice.

I love this brief little passage.

In it David is up against two battles that seem pretty straight forward.

He is a military genius and has fought in many of these skirmishes.

YET...for EACH one, he goes to the Lord for guidance and direction.

For the first battle, God simply gives him the green light. Go! David does and wins.

For the second battle, God has a more elaborate plan. David listens and obeys and wins again.

Now he could have just assumed he should fight the second battle just like the first but he didn't. After all, he did win. He could have assumed he could have fought the first battle with similar strategies as other past battles. But he didn't. He could have said a quick prayer and done it his way. He could have gotten all his advisors together (no reason to believe he didn't) and took their advice and went with that. He could have done a hundred things as the King and MIlitary Leader.

But what he did was not assume that every battle is the same.

What he did was to go to God each time.

What he did was to trust God for the marching orders.

We are in battles every day and some of them look very familiar.

Fight the temptation to fight them all the same way.

Go to God first and ask for His guidance....obey it....and find His victory!

Sacrilege

2011-10-27T10:43:00.000-06:00

"Here's a big light bulb every apprentice must see: if you live like Jesus, people will love you! They should also be intimidated by your holiness, perplexed by your faithfulness, and convicted by your righteousness. But for sure you will be loved because you treat them as Jesus would treat them."

This is just one of the hundreds of wonderful thoughts and ideas in a new book called Sacrilege: Finding LIfe in the Unorthodox ways of Jesus by Hugh Halter.

I've read Hugh's other books -- The Tangible Kingdom which refreshed my paradigms of church, And: The gathered and scattered church which helped to flesh out new wineskins for being the church. They were both books that I read every word and pondered on them for days beyond many of the books I read.

Sacrilege was no different. It held me throughout as it affirmed some of the feelings I've had for a long time and then challenged me beyond them.

This is an incredible book full of laugh-out-loud moments, deeply thoughtful comments, and a ton of soothing "Ahhhhhh!" moments, too. It is absolutely accessible for any one trying to find and follow Jesus yet it is also so intelligently written that it will grip the theologian type as well. (btw: by "grip" I mean it's going to grip you every which way you can imagine...so get ready)

But all of those things aside, here's the main thing this book gifted me with: Freedom.

I felt such a freedom to live like Jesus.
I felt such a freedom to be myself in the way God created me and in the way He is forming me.
And....I felt a freedom to lead like Jesus. Bold, loving, true.

Highly recommend this one.
Thanks Hugh for another gem.

Loved by God -- Loved by man

2011-10-18T15:10:00.000-06:00

One of the ways I feel God's love is when he corrects me or disciplines me.

11 My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline

and do not resent his rebuke,

12 because the LORD disciplines those he loves,

as a father the son he delights in.

Proverbs 3:11-12

(Read Hebrews 12:1-12 for more)

I'm encouraged when he shows me something I need to work on. I'm excited that he cares about me so much he would not leave me the way I am but encourage me to be more.....more like him.

I trust God to do that for me.

I trust him to be doing that for you, too.

And our response to His leadership shows our love for Him.

I also feel loved when people that love me challenge me...although it's a little more tricky.

If I'm really going to receive their words....

* There has to be a lot of love built up

* There has to be a high level of trust between us

* There has to be honest curiosity and interest in my life before the challenge

* There has to be grace and mercy

* There has to be evidence that the person wants me to be a better me and not just conform to their preferences of who I should be.

* I have to have a strong sense that this person is for me and with me.

When all of that stuff aligns there is a beauty to the challenge no matter how painful it might be.

Who are the people in your life that can really push on you?

Well done my good and PRODUCTIVE servant

2011-10-12T12:11:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite stories of the Bible is the one about the guys that were given talents (Matt. 25/Luke 19). You know, there were three guys and they were given different amounts of 'talents' (money). And so one guy takes his and works it and doubles the talents. One other guy does the same, only with less than the first. And the third, having only 1, doesn't do anything with it.

The first two are rewarded! "Way to go dudes. You have done good with the stuff I gave you. Here's some more for you to play with."

The third guy gets a good tongue lashing and is sent out to hang out with some people that spend their days gnashing their teeth. Doesn't sound like fun.

I like that story because it gives me license to DO.

I like that story because it gives me a good idea of what God likes.

I like that story because it gives me a good score card to make God happy.

And so I get busy doing good things for God.

The only problem is that I've changed Jesus' words around on him.

The words of reward at the end come at me this way:

"Well done my good and PRODUCTIVE servant."

But he says, "Well done my good and FAITHFUL servant."

He didn't like the third guy because he wasn't faithful -- not because of what he did or did not produce. He just wanted him to look at it like an opportunity for the Kingdom instead of something to hide, something to leave behind, something that wouldn't affect his life at all.

And so what happens to me -- I become a slave to the scriptures and to doing.

What a privilege and honor it is to DO for God but how quickly can it become shackles.

And so the mantra -- I'm in charge of faithfulness, God is in charge of results -- is one that moves through my bones all the time.

And so the reminder -- God loves me no matter what and no matter how badly I botch it up -- is one that has to be let loose in my head and heart and soul like a virus...left to infect every cell in my body.

Only out of a deep place of love (the love of the Father toward us and our love for Him) can healthy doing emerge.

Here's to Love!

And BTW -- Check out Ben Pasley's article on Orphans, Slaves and Sons to dive into this more.

http://www.benpasley.com/2008/11/orphans-slaves-sons/

Lessons from Sentralized

2011-10-07T13:42:00.001-06:00

Got to spend some time in Kansas City a couple of weeks ago with some of the frontmen of the missional movement. Funny thing is that they all pretty much push aside the labels and call is following Jesus. I love that about them.
Missional only means to be sent.
Incarnational only means to be like Jesus.
If we could just figure those two things out, there might be some world changing going on.
Instead we've become primarily churches full of Pharisees that like to talk about Jesus a lot and walk out the door agreeing with each other, "But let's not really do all that."

Anyway -- here's some of my primary lessons from the time together with these guys at Sentralized. There is no order or rhythm to these....so take them as stand alone lessons. Let your mind and heart soak and wonder over them.

* If pastors/shepherds know their sheep and sheep know their pastor/shepherds -- then is the guy that talks to you on Sundays your pastor?

* What does the reign of God look like? In your life? In your community? In your church?

* Pay attention to the 5-fold ministry (Ephesians 4:11-13). Most of our churches are only made up of two of the five (pastors and teachers) So what happened to apostles, evangelists and prophets?

* Christology determines Missiology determines Ecclesiology

* Christianity minus Christ equals religion

* Romance your city. Listen to it. Love it. Be Loyal to it. (stay!)

* The church has become a mutation of the original DNA God meant for it.

* I don't believe you believe in the resurrection. Why? Because you don't believe in dying.

* Your family might be your greatest idol

* Looking for a whole community in only one person is messed up.

* Be educated. As a Christian leader you should be in the know about what is happening in our world and in many domains of society (politics, medicine, health, education, etc)

* Train, Encourage, Equip

* Motivate, Mobilize, Multiply

* You can't go to church -- It's a theological impossibility. You are the church.

* What does your church naturally applaud? Is that good? bad? complete? incomplete?

* We've let go of adaptability and innovation. Create!

* Increase self-awareness -- what are your biases?

* Find mentors and coaches. Essential.

* Breakthrough and Building are the rhythms of church. (modalic, sodalic)

* If losing is gaining and dying is living -- then what are we doing to die?

* The church has become the object of its own affections

* Prophesy to these bones. Prophesy to the breath. (Ezekiel 37)

There was much more there and then add the lunches and dinners with these guys/gals and it was just a spectacular time. http://www.sentralizedconference.com/

Give, Give, Give.....Take!

2011-09-29T00:17:00.002-06:00

I've been giving much more of myself this year than I thought I would have to.

It's not that I have an aversion to giving. It's what I do and I like it.

I give myself to teaching and leading and coaching and counseling and visiting and talking and dreaming and hoping and thinking and studying and provoking and serving and catalyzing and engaging and networking and developing and crying and laughing and talking and listening and researching and wondering and challenging and loving and probably a bunch more stuff than that.

I share my life as a pastor and shepherd to Cool River Church -- a community of Jesus followers in Superior, CO.

I share my life as a missionary and ambassador in the town I live in serving on committees and boards, manning bouncy castles, emceeing events and engaging with people all along the way...giving my life and my faith.

I share my life as a developer of Christian leaders encouraging and sharing and leading and networking. This year on top of my Colorado connections I served leaders in Nevada, Virginia, Texas, Idaho, Florida and Texas again.

I really love what I do.....but you can't just give and give and give and never take....never fuel up again.

So this weekend I'm headed to Kansas City to hang out with some phenomenal people that are leading the way on what it means to be a disciple, what it takes to make disciples and how disciples gather and scatter to make a beautiful church. It's going to be a lot of fun 'taking' from these men and women. Check out all the goodies I'll be feasting on below....

www.sentralizedconference.com

Plastic Army Men

2011-09-22T11:54:00.003-06:00

What kind of disciple is your church producing?

A huge question for the church in a post-Christian context.

You see, what we've been producing for the last however many years resembles those really cool plastic army men we used to play with.

I remember setting them all up--hundreds of them--all around my bedroom. It would take me hours to do it. And then in a matter of a few minutes I took 'em out. Pillows were giant bombs. Rubber bands were lasers. I even used the army men themselves to knock some of the other ones over. It was massive and total annihilation. I loved it.

It's kind of sad that when I look at Christians today they remind me of the plastic army men that I used to play with. (OK....I still play with them sometimes....but don't tell any body.)

This disciple that we have produced from our churches and our programs and our discipleship were able to stand up in a time when there was no resistance. But now that the tides are changing and their world is not Christian anymore...they are just being picked off left and right by not much more than rubber bands.

The question : Are the programs, systems, classes, groups, etc that we are offering as a church -- are they making plastic army men? Are we setting up people to look nice and shiny and even tough-looking but when the craziness of being a disciple hits or a trial comes or they are challenged to actually live up to their mission they just can't handle it and they just tip over with just a little flick?

This is THE question for the American church right now. What kind of disciple are we producing? What are we reproducing? And....Who are we? Are we ourselves plastic army men and so then that's all we can really reproduce? What are we letting "Christians" get away with? Where are we compromising? What are we willing to lose? How far are we willing to die?

Pillow Bomb just went off! Time to get some time with God and ask some big questions leaders, followers, disciples.....

Sabbath...Again!

2011-09-20T20:16:00.000-06:00

Sabbath. It's not something we do once and then we're done. It's something that happens again and again. That's how it was designed. That was its intent. Sabbath is a steady rhythm that makes you remember and rethink and renew and reengage with the Almighty!

This week we Sabbathed again by jumping into God's creation head first. The pics can only give you a glimpse of the beauty we experienced mainly because the real beauty was unseen...emerging in our hearts and souls and minds as we danced with God and each other in His playground.

We passed streams.

Walked over log bridges.

Saw Mitchell Lake

Took some rest.

Posed for pics

Posed some more....

And we walked and walked and walked

And found little gems along the way

And finally 3 miles up the mountain we made it to Blue Lake (elevation 11,355')

Which was well worth the trip

And then back down we went

Passing all kinds of beauty

Thanking God along the way for the trip

And just before it was over.....we bumped into these guys.

They were just a few yards away...eating and watching as we watched them.

We had a blast and thanked God we didn't see any mountain lions.

Men Are All Alike

2011-09-14T09:23:00.000-06:00

I've been watching Mad Men, the show about the ad agency. I'm new to the show and have been instantly hooked. I just didn't know why until about my 6th episode.

It hit me straight in the face. I know Don Draper, the main character.

Don Draper is me.
Don Draper is the me that I hate.
Don Draper is the persona of the man in me who God is trying to get rid of.
And Don Draper is typical of the persona that many men are trapped in today...the man that is not who God wants them to be.

* Don doesn't know himself -- He is 5 different guys in one body and he really has no idea which one is really him.
* Don has secrets -- lots of them. There is no one who really knows him. There is a facade of relationships but there is nothing really there.
* Don is living a compartmentalized life -- He keeps everything neatly separated so that one life doesn't meet the other.
* Don satisfies his cravings as he wishes with no thoughts of consequences -- there's an entitlement there. I'll do whatever I want. It's my life. I don't care.
* He is sad. What he does know is that this is not the way its supposed to be.

And this kind of life is a trap, a rut, a endless cycle of pain and hurt and hiding. It was not meant to be. This is the kind of life that should be fought against. This is our battle -- to rise up against this man in us -- to stand up and not let him take over. To fight FOR the man that God intended and dreamed about.

The man of God knows himself through Christ. His identity is rooted and defined in that relationship.
The man of God has friends that know him--who he is honest with and they are honest with him. These friends challenge him to be a man of God.
The man of God sees his life as integrated and understands that his heart and soul and faith are intertwined in all that he does. He understands healthy boundaries between work and home but he is the same man at both places.
The man of God has self control. He knows that there are certain things that are not to be indulged in. He knows that he has commitments and responsibility to others. He knows that there are things that tangle you up like a vine and choke the very life out of you. This sin is meant to destroy.... slowly usually. It does catch up with you. It catches up with your relationships. You're not 'man enough' to avoid the consequences.
The man of God has joy. He knows the story of God and how it intersects his story. He knows the bigger picture. He understands what brings true happiness. He knows that the Lord will bring him abundant life.

Men -- our society, our cities, our churches, our homes, our lives cannot survive our Don Draper life. Grow up! Stand up! Be a Man.

Celebrating Amy!

2011-08-25T17:08:00.000-06:00

Today I'm celebrating Amy's birthday and just wanted to share the love with you.

There are no words to fully let you know what it means to have a godly woman by my side but what I can tell you is that the blessings of that fact show up daily! My wife is a beauty, a treasure, a gift, a promise, a peace, a steadiness, a strength, a love, a jewel, a blessing. And in all of her roles beyond 'wife' she amazes me!

And she's a good kisser, too!

When I think of her, I think of Proverbs 31:

10 A wife of noble character who can find?

She is worth far more than rubies.

11 Her husband has full confidence in her

and lacks nothing of value.

26 She speaks with wisdom,

and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

28 Her children arise and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her:

30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

31 Give her the reward she has earned,

and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY!

Rites of Passage

2011-08-11T09:38:00.000-06:00

My first born turned 12 yesterday.
It's her last year of childhood -- the bridge into her teenage years -- a rite of passage of sorts.
So last night I took her on a date to celebrate the transition.
We ate dinner together, went on a walk, stopped for dessert.....it was a fabulous evening with her.
But it was so much more than that.
It was a night to reflect, to talk, to ask questions, to pave some road, to inspire, to think to dream.
We talked about life and family and following Christ. We talked about changes and relationship and the process of maturity and leaving. We talked about the good times and we looked back at bad times. We talked about what makes us come alive and what scares us.
It was an intentional time of relationship building with my daughter but in a different space than the first 11 years. She's growing up, I'm growing older. Our relationship is changing. And it's good.

Parents--your kids need you to help them navigate this life. Give them all of you. Give them the best of you. Share with them all of your lessons. Share with them the words and experiences that will provide a launching pad for them toward a great life. Don't lie, Don't hold back, Don't sugar-coar, Don't do be anything to them now that you wouldn't want them to be in the future themselves.

Emma - You are a precious jewel, a great prize. You are a gift from God to me and to our family. I'm so proud to be your dad. I'm here for you no matter what!

FIGHT for your marriage

2011-08-09T11:09:00.000-06:00

We all know that marriage doesn't work unless you work really hard at it.

The moment you let up...the moment you sweep things under the rug...the moment you decide to slack...your marriage will take a hit.

In pre-marital counseling I always tell couples, "The definition of marriage is 'hard work'" And I believe it to my core. You've got to fight for it.

And sometimes you have to FIGHT for it.

Amy and I find ourselves working hard and fighting for our marriage all the time...and every so often we have to FIGHT for it. We literally have to have a good fight for the things that matter.

We fight about communication

We fight about what marriage is

We fight about what marriage is not

We fight about how to raise kids

We fight about character and integrity

We fight about roles

We fight about sinful patterns from our past

We fight about sin

We fight! Literally, we get into very intense conversation about these things...and more.

At times our own views get in the way but what we're trying to get to is what God's thoughts on the issue are.

*****If you're fighting to get your way....it's NOT going to work....you've got to fight for God's ways!*****

If Amy sees that I'm straying off course....she'll call me on it.

If I sense she is doing the same....I'll get a little crazy.

And we do it....we FIGHT hard....we pay that cost......BECAUSE WE LOVE EACH OTHER.

We want the best for each other.

We want to be the best for each other.

We want to be the best for our kids.

We want to have stories of the many incredible years we spent together.

We want our kids to have a heritage of unity and commitment.

We want to honor God in our marriage and family.

It's an art to get into these kinds of fights....but if you can actually go there in LOVE. I 100% want you to go have it out with your spouse right now.....in a good way!

Keep fighting for what matters!

Way too easy, Way too much

2011-08-04T06:03:00.001-06:00

I was watching one of those shows the other day about Navy Seals and the training they go through. It was crazy. They were doing some impossible things just in case it happened to them in real life. They risked their lives in practice "just in case."

Some would call that stupid. But every person who has made it through the training and lived because of it in real life combat would say it was essential, important, critical.

Compare and Contrast that with church life and disciple training these days.

We don't make it hard. We try to make it easier and easier for people to be a part of church.

We don't keep things away. We keep giving people more and more to make their experience more satisfying and full.

And then we send them out to real life and they get slaughtered....or even worse they slaughter others in their family, at their work, etc.

Matt Smay said a few days back:
People don’t need most of the stuff we give them. In fact, there seems to be a direct correlation between providing too much and the immaturity that develops when people are given the chance to overindulge.

Maybe there is something to making it hard that we should be paying attention to.

Wasn't there someone else that said, "Grace is free...but it's no cheap." OR "Grace is free but it will cost you everything."

Keep thinking and praying friends.

I'm Lowering my Expectations for K-Love & WayFM

2011-08-03T05:31:00.002-06:00

For the past few years my intake of mainstream "Christian" music has decreased.

Every once in a while, though, I'll turn back to one of those stations to see if there's anything that will capture my heart.

With high expectation I turn the dial and I'll listen for a while.

Soon after I have to turn the dial again because what I was looking for isn't there.

And then it dawned on me. My expectations for Christian music are too high.

When I listen to hip-hop, techno, rock, jazz or country my expectation aren't that high and I'm often surprised at how much I like this song or that. But with Christian music I expect the words to say something, the music to mean something and I'm often disappointed. Shallow thoughts, weak vocabulary, lack of originality.

So...I finally made a decision the other day. Those guys/gals are probably doing the best they can and the producers and record companies may be getting in the way of truly inspiring stuff SO......I'm lowering my expectations for Christian music. There...done! I think I'll save myself some stress over it now.

Hopefully next time I get the courage to flip over there I'll get wowed.

Church Leaders: Who is your Master?

2011-07-29T15:23:00.001-06:00

As you might imagine, I have a lot of pastor friends.

In that bunch there are some really sharp guys that I admire and yeah...there are some guys that don't impress me that much (but I'm sure lots of guys don't think I'm all that, either).

In both groups -- I've noticed something through the years that makes me really sad and sometimes mad.

Everyone of these guys love God and teach the Scriptures.

Everyone of these guys help people understand and grasp how to live in the ways of Jesus.

But some of them, even though they say all the right things and think they're following Jesus, really aren't. Something else is much more powerful in their lives. Something else has their true allegiance. Jesus is simply not their Master.

And it's easy to tell....

Some guys bow to their denominations. The denomination tells them what to do and how to do it. As long as you are staying within the company boundaries in word and deed you're cool. But say something out of line, do something out of step and watch out. They talk a good game but still bow down.

Some guys bow to money. The cash is determining their steps not the Spirit. This is common and powerful, especially when you have a family to feed. Or when you see so many around you that have so many more 'toys' than you do.

Some guys bow to ego. Their preferences, their way, their theology, their doctrine, their style, their "I" doesn't allow for questions, further exploration or even listening to anyone else, let alone God. Their plan, paradigm, and perspective is their Master.

Some guys bow to sin. They can't lead, they can't move, they can't speak because to do so would be to expose themselves. So they hide as best they can and lead timidly because they are being beaten down by their sin.

Some guys bow to fear. Fear is their master. At every turn, every decision, every relational conflict, every step fear rushes in and makes them bow.

Some guys bow to comfort and happiness. If there's pain involved there is no way they are going that route. They can't jump into risk, adventure or journey and settle for lesser stories that keep them safe.

In every case the influence of the men and women of God is diminished. And it makes me sad. It makes me mad. (especially when it happens to me)

So...the questions must continuously be asked...

Who/What is my master today?

Who/What is controlling my words?

Who/What is directing my steps?

Who/What is setting my goals and vision?

Who/What am I bowing to?

All I can tell you leader, is that you better find out....because who you are bowing down to is who you are leading others to bow to as well.

Praying for me and for you and for all of us that lead.

You're a Coward!

2011-07-25T14:03:00.000-06:00

Courage is easy to spot.

Courage is hard to find.

Here are some things courageous people do:
* They stick to their word.
* They follow through with their responsibilities
* They press on when the going gets tough
* They don't allow 'comfort' and 'happy' to get in the way of their values or mission.
* They speak honestly and forthrightly
* They face the music when they make a mistake
* They stand up humbly when criticized
* They make good on their commitments
* They stand by their family and friends especially when it gets tough
* They use their strength for good and never for harm or shame

Cowards:

* use words to manipulate and intimidate
* say they'll do something but leave you high and dry
* leave when the going gets tough
* let all kinds of things get in the way of their stated values and mission.
* beat around the bush and never tell you what they really mean
* make lots and lots of excuses
* talk badly about the critics but never face them
* don't stand by their friends and family
* use their strength to stay on top....their pride wins every time.

Now Think....

* What in your life screams out courage?
* What in your life screams out coward?

* What would you add to the courage and coward lists?

TOS 4th of July Celebration

2011-07-07T17:07:00.000-06:00

This is a little taste of our town. Great work by Brandon Lied.
You'll get to see me getting pelted by candy while I was MCing the parade (at the 2:21 mark) and some of the AMAZING volunteers that came from Living Hope Baptist Church in Bowling Green, KY (toward the end flipping pancakes) that came to help us pull this event off. The group also helped to teach classes for kids, shared testimonies at the Cool River gathering, built a retaining wall and trails in the town, and blessed lots of people here. So proud to have been associated with them this past week.

Give up?

2011-06-07T10:23:00.001-06:00

I have a friend that says that if you're in church planting you're going to want to quit every day.

I don't know that I have realized that reality but there are definitely times that I wish I had chosen an easier path.

Some seasons it feels like you're one of those Old Testament prophets. God told them to preach. God also told them the people wouldn't respond. And God told them to keep preaching anyway. Doesn't that sound ridiculous?

The prophets were misunderstood, persecuted, beaten and faced death. Yet they didn't give up.

This doesn't mean of course that God couldn't say, "ok, you can stop now," but it probably does mean that there is a little more resiliency required than we're accustomed to when it comes to accomplishing the things of God.

This day someone will question your motives, disagree with your theology, push back on your leadership, tear you down with words, misinterpret what you said, talk about you behind your back, try to make you out to be someone you're not, make judgments about your character, your motives, your lifestyle and your family.

It will be easy to give up. But maybe you shouldn't just yet.

Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:3

Give 'em what they want

2011-06-06T08:04:00.001-06:00

We are consumers to the core.

Well-trained in the art, we expect that everywhere we go we'll get exactly what we want.

Church is no exception. The pastor, the staff, the programming, the Scriptures and Jesus himself must conform to our ideas. If they don't we complain to the manager and demand a refund and a public apology as we exit to find the church that will give us what we want.

That's why maybe the best gift the church has to offer is that it DOESN'T give you what you want.

Welcome Challenging Times

2011-06-04T13:30:00.000-06:00

from Sarah Young's Jesus Calling--Enjoying Peace in His Presence

Welcome challenging times as opportunities to trust Me. You have Me beside you and My Spirit within you, so no set of circumstances is too much for you to handle. When the path before you is dotted with difficulties, beware of measuring your strength against those challenges. That calculation is certain to riddle you with anxiety. Without Me, you wouldn't make it past the first hurdle!

The way to walk through demanding days is to grip my hand tightly and stay in close communication with Me. Let your thoughts and spoken words be richly flavored with trust and thankfulness. Regardless of the day's problems, I can keep you in perfect peace as you stay close to Me.

James 1:2; Philippians 4:13; Isaiah 26:3

Quote

2011-06-02T08:53:00.038-06:00

You can't build a church on consumers. They will desert you at a moment's notice because they have no commitments beyond their own needs.

Alan Hirsch talking about the difference between consumer Christians and disciples.

Check out the video where the quote came from HERE and let me know what you think.

Very interesting. My first thought -- Well, you actually can build a church on consumers but what kind of church is it? Or what kind of church does it become? Or what kind of christians/disciples does it produce? Those seem to be the bigger questions.

Best Time to Encourage Your Pastor? Now! (PT.3)

2011-05-31T10:39:00.000-06:00

Here's another way you can encourage your pastor:

Remember him when he might be at his lowest points.

Of course that can be tricky if you are not particularly close to your pastor. You can't know when it really hits him. Hopefully, he/she is letting you know honestly what's happening in his life from the front....but that may/may not happen.

But here's one time that I've noticed can cause the most fluctuation of emotion for pastors -- a few hours before/after a gathering.

Pastors work all week long toward pulling off a gathering. They pray and prepare and pray and read and write and pray and think and research and work with leaders and plan and so forth. There is so much energy that goes into this. And right before a gathering all of that energy and emotion is all pent up, ready to be released. Then the gathering comes and goes. This is a great time to come along your pastor and encourage him. This is not the time to burden him with any additional matters. I know it's easy to grab him, but it's not the best time to add to his plate....trust me. Schedule that out for Wednesday. Really....he'll be better for it....and you will be getting the best part of him then, too.

After the gathering there is both joy and heartache for the pastor.

There is joy because:
The family is together
The Word of God is shared
Worship fills a room
Believers are encouraged
Believers are serving each other
Non-believers are given more to think and talk through
You get to see the investment of people in each other

But there is also heartache because of the same things.
The family is not together -- many find it so easy to come or not to come.
The family is together but they don't act like family toward one another
The Word of God is shared but it falls on soil that is hard, or rocky or thorny
The Worship is not received because of preferences in style or volume or who is leading or not leading.
The Believers are encouraged to complain
The Non-believers are not engaged in meaningful conversation
Nobody gives, they only take.
Everything stays in that room. It all ends there.
We agree that it was a good Sunday but we won't do anything about it.

And so for pastors the beauty and the mess of the Kingdom is fully present on any given Sunday and because of that there is both joy and heartache.

People of God -- encourage your pastor!
Don't do it like usual, "nice sermon pastor" and leave it at that.
Encourage him by letting him know what you learned.
Encourage him by actually doing/practicing what he preached. Let him know how it went.
Encourage him by sharing what you experienced with someone else.
Encourage him by finding all the beauty of the gathering and not focusing in on what you didn't like. Encourage him because the weight of what he is doing is heavy, the struggle to help you mature in Christ is real, the suffering and the sacrifice on both a practical and spiritual level is intense.
He/She needs your encouragement.

Best Time to Encourage Your Pastor? Now. (PT2)

2011-05-25T19:08:00.002-06:00

Here's another way to encourage your pastor: Remember that he's human and Treat him that way.

It's easy to put pastors up on a pedestal, to make them something they're not, to set expectations so high that they'll end up disappointing you over and over again, to think they are part robot or something. But pastors are just people. They're just as messed up as you are and maybe worse. They have all the cares and challenges of life. They worry about the same things. They hope for the same a great family and a purposeful life. And then on top of that they take on a job that only God can do but everyone expects them to do themselves which is crazy all in itself.

Your pastor has to eat, has to rest, has to poop (yep...I said it), has to spend time with his kids, has to cultivate his marriage, has to go to the doctor, has to pick up kids from practice, has to call his parents, has to take out the garbage, has to clean up puke, has to walk the dog, has to ..... you get the picture right?

And he feels like you feel. He gets hurt and gets mad and gets sad and gets happy and gets scared and gets excited and gets flustered and gets jealous and gets envious and gets exhausted and ....you get the picture right?

So....why not encourage your pastor by treating him like a real person. How? Just think of all the ways you'd like to be treated: Loved, Respected, Spoken to with Honesty, Encouraged, Helped when needed, Accepted, Heard, Checked up on, Invited to an expensive steak dinner with really good wine and cheesecake.

I do realize that the pastor is called and says 'yes' to a very important call and there are some very important responsibilities that go with it but I hope that today you'll think of your pastor as simply human and that you'll pray for him as such and next time you see him you'll treat him as such. I bet that will encourage him..... I know it would encourage me.

Best Time to Encourage Your Pastor? Now! (PT.1)

2011-05-24T07:02:00.000-06:00

Leading a church is an awesome (in both senses of the word) task. I'm lucky to be a pastor. I'm privileged to get to do what I do. I also feel the weight of being a spiritual father trying to parent people along in the ways of Jesus.

Here's how Paul explained it in 1 Thessalonians 2

Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, ⁸ so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. ⁹ Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. ¹⁰ You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. ¹¹ For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, ¹² encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

It's not the easiest job to be a parent to your own kids let alone a bunch of adults that already have their minds made up about most things. :-) Paul had a tough job and every missionary and pastor after him does as well.

With such weight on the life of a pastor (and his family) it is crucial for us to love them well.

Over the next few blogs I want to share a few things you could do to encourage your pastor. Here's the first two:

1. Read my last BLOG and do it.

2. Pray for him/her right NOW.

More to come soon....stay tuned....

The best gift you could give your pastor

2011-05-16T23:04:00.000-06:00

There are so many things that I hear pastors wish they would receive from the people in their churches.

1. More commitment
2. Better attendance/Increased attendance at worship services
3. Increased and/or Steady giving
4. Volunteering to help share the load of the church's ministry
5. Going to them when you have an issue instead of talking behind their back
6. To every so often treat them simply as a person instead of as a pastor
7. A real vacation
8. A genuine thank-you
9. Less whining.
10. A private jet and a lifetime supply of their favorite beverage

Any one of those would make most pastor types do cartwheels up and down the aisles on a Sunday morning.

But there's something else that is a greater gift. It could embody some of the elements above but not necessarily.

The best gift you could give your pastor is to be a disciple among your local church.
To actually Love God with all your heart and follow him steadfastly.
To love the people of the church and to jump into their lives intently.
To love folks outside of the Kingdom and to share your life and faith with them.

If you did that....you would bless your pastor, you would bless your church and you would bless the Kingdom of God.

So many people ask me where I'd like for them to plug in. I used to go through the usual list of ministries of the church. And yes...those are all still important. We can't do it all without people chipping in a little time, effort and energy in so many areas. However, I find myself saying these days something like this, "The greatest thing you could do for me and for this church is to live your Christian life as authentically and passionately as possible among us. If you're doing that then everything else we're looking for and hoping for for the church and the Kingdom will take care of itself."

If we all actually loved God, hear his words and obey them.....could you imagine? We would be right smack in the middle of what God wanted for our lives, we would be at the edge of faith, we would be experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit, we would be feeling the exhilaration and joy of following him, we would be living for something so much bigger than ourselves.

If we all actually loved each other, took responsibility for each other, too care of each other....could you imagine? We would be connected, we would be loved, we would be known, our needs would be taken care of, we would be a real team on a real mission, we would be fighting for each other, going to bat for each other, standing in the gap for each other, cheering for one another, not giving up on each other.

If we all actually loved our neighbors and coworkers enough to carve out time for them to share our lives with them, to help them out, to be available for a conversation, to just bless them in one way or another....could you imagine? people would be blessed, people would find forgiveness, people would find salvation, people would be released from their sin, people would find meaning and purpose and hope and life.

I know what that would be like for me....it would be like the best gift I'd ever received. I'd be in Heaven! I would be blessed. If you know what I want for my birthday, for Christmas, for my anniversary at the church, for pastor appreciation day, for any and every holiday you could get me something -- that's it. I just want you to follow Jesus with me and with the rest of us in our local community of faith.

Eternity NOW!

2011-05-03T10:46:00.000-06:00

I've always been amazed how the Kingdom of God is both here & now and there & then. There's so much we're looking forward to when this earth passes away but there is so much of the Kingdom to be experienced now. There are these "rumors of another world" as Philip Yancey calls them. There are these times when the Kingdom of God breaks through on this side of eternity and it's like we're experiencing Eternity Now.

That's how our Sabbath journey has been. A bunch of little snap shots and glimpses of what eternity might be like.

* Watching the kids play -- really play -- and just lose themselves in the joy of it.

* The eyes of my little girls lighting up when their prayers are answered or when they all of the sudden grasp something about Jesus they didn't before.

* The bike rides when time fades away and there is no agenda, no to-do list, no hurrying.

* The unscheduled nap that lasts until it's done and not when the alarm goes off.

* The power of the Scriptures as they are read out-loud.

* The savor of good food and good drink enjoyed with friends

* The warmth of a fire and the occasional glare at the stars high above.

* The eyes of a stranger receiving food that is needed

* Wisdom coming from a child's mouth

* Tears that unexpectedly fill your eyes when you realize the miracle of your family

* Victory over sin -- little wins and big wins are both heavenly!

* Spending time with believers that are the real deal and aren't playing games with God.

Eternity is HERE. Eternity is NOW. It's all around us. And I can't wait for when Eternity is FULL ON forever.

Thank you God.

More on Wiki Leadership and Collective Knowledge

2011-04-28T09:50:00.000-06:00

Here's a great reply to the other day's blog "Lessons from an Atheist" Too good to just let it sit in the comments section. Read and Enjoy. Thanks Matt Koschamann.

Hey Kevin,

I read your blog about "lessons from and atheist" you posted the other day on facebook. Great stuff. Seems to me that the church has a lot to say about collective knowledge. After all, the canonization of scripture, the early creeds, and the early church councils were all collective (and political) processes that resulted in the emergence of collective knowledge. Of course we believe these processes were inspired and guided by God, but they were collective nonetheless. Above all, the church is supposed to be about "life together" (e.g., Bonhoeffer), and much of what we "come to know" is the result of collective processes.

And despite the advantages of wiki-type knowledge, there are are definitely disadvantages. Without strong guiding principles and methods it is easy for collective forms of knowledge to merely reflect the "lowest common denominator." And we all know how fleeting and misleading some forms of collective knowledge can be...just consider the never-ending opinion polls about presidential candidates, politics, etc. Collective forms of knowledge can also become hegemonic and oppressive as the "tyranny of the majority" can drown out alternative voices. Thank goodness we had "authoritative" voices to speak against the "collective" knowledge of the Jim Crow South.

So the issue is usually not collective vs. authoritative knowledge (though sometimes it is that), but instead the processes and methods that produce collective knowledge. Wikipedia isn't successful because it's a knowledge free-for-all...they actually have strong standards and norms for knowledge production, and members of knowledge communities who adamantly cultivate and protect that knowledge. Just go on a popular Wikipedia site and change some information and see how quickly it gets changed back...or how quickly someone requests a citation or explanation for your change.

To answer your friend's question: a world that values collective knowledge should be even more attracted to God's Kingdom...a community of faith that does "life together" with eternal norms and values to guide the collective processes that shape our epistemic commitments.

Keep having great conversations!

Matt

Lessons from an Atheist

2011-04-25T21:44:00.000-06:00

I got to meet Rod Collins, author of Leadership in a Wiki World, the other day. We spent a couple of hours together talking about a world that is changing so rapidly and the new forms of leadership that are quickly emerging.

Our discussion took us through a lot of subjects: collaboration, teams, leadership, communication and structure/organization just to name a few. It was fascinating and it gave me some very strategic next steps for our church.

He was also quick to tell me that he was a devout atheist. I actually admire atheists for they have much more faith than I do. It takes a greater deal of faith to believe in no higher power whatsoever. And as a side note... I'm definitely much more impressed by atheists than agnostics for sure -- those guys/gals are just lazy. They don't want to do intellectual work to come up with an answer.

Usually when an atheist figures out I'm a Christian the conversations don't go much further. When values are misaligned at that level it's hard I guess.

Rod was different, however. He actually agreed to the meeting. He was honest about his faith position. And he shared with me freely (and I mean that in both variations of meaning) all that he had learned from his research.

Oh......and there was one other topic that hit the table that was very intriguing to him--the question of "what will the church be like in a world that values collective knowledge more than one authoritative person or reference?"

I was intrigued by it as well and we're obviously seeing it happening -- the church is being defined and shaped more by what the masses want and expect rather than what the Scriptures portray. All of the terms of the Bible are being defined by what is most agreeable to the collective -- disciple, heaven, church, Jesus, salvation, sin, etc., all left up to the collective knowledge that leans toward comfort and happiness as a base level understanding. What does that says about the future of the church in America? I guess we can only speculate but I bet it's not too difficult for you to draw out some conclusions. Again -- a fascinating conversation.

Well -- all of this to say that there are some definite lessons we can all learn from people that have rejected faith and God altogether. Many of us grew up with an us vs. them mentality that would have made interactions like this non-existent. Hopefully that's changing more and more.

Rod - you're probably not going to come by my blog any time soon, but like I said after our meeting, I'm so thankful to have met you and I'm honored by your generous gift to me and to the church. I'm praying that many of my Christian friends find your kind of generosity....which, by the way, I believe was the kind of generosity Jesus exemplified. I hope that meeting with me gave you a little more faith in faith.

Keep learning everybody -- from everybody!

Working for Nothing?

2011-04-11T23:41:00.000-06:00

I was sitting with a church planter the other day and we were swapping stories of the cool things that have happened in our ministries. It was such an encouraging time with him but it was hard to celebrate.

Why? Something was getting in the way.

The stories of life change, life transformation, salvation, freedom, connections, community, love, charity, spiritual growth, city engagement, etc. were trumped by the number of people that attended the weekly worship gathering.

We both came from a culture that has great receptivity to worship gatherings, where you can fill a room pretty quick if you have a few elements right.

And now we find ourselves in a missionary environment where there aren't enough Christians to fill up worship services and so it seems at times that you're 'working for nothing.'

Friends from other churches put pressure on -- "What's going on out there?!"
Denominations/sending churches put pressure on -- "When are you going to make our investment pay off?!"
Christians put some pressure on -- "When are we going to be as big as/or grow like ______ Church?"

And so the great things that are happening are overshadowed by numbers at a worship gathering.

Now....numbers at a worship gathering aren't bad. That's not what I'm saying.
But when all the joy is sucked out of a pastor when the numbers aren't right....that's messed up.

A couple of thoughts:
* Church Planters/Pastors -- If you are not hitting the numbers you (or anyone else) wants ask yourself again why you are where you are. Is this about the church or is it about a people you are called to? Is this about filling up a room or filing up the kingdom? Why are these numbers to important? Why are they making you twitch? Are you in a ripe church planting environment or are you in a missionary city (they're different, you know)?

* Supporters, church members, denominations, networks -- Encourage, support, and love your church planters. Rejoice and Celebrate the great things that are happening. (IE in our context when someone opens up a Bible for the first time it's a HUGE victory) If your guy is in a missionary area then support him like a missionary. His needs are different. You can make a difference in his/her ministry. They need you more than you could ever think. Find out what will really help them and DO IT!

Final thought for church planters/pastors in crazy hard places:
You are NOT working for nothing. Everything you do and have done has meant something to the Kingdom. It's a Plus-1. It's moved the needle. It's made a difference. It matters. We're grateful for you. Thank you for giving your self to this work. Thank you for sacrificing for every inch. Thank you for being where you are with the people that God has called you to. Thanks for not giving up. Keep being creative, keep doing the things that will actually reach the people of your community, keep doing whatever it takes to make the Kingdom of God flourish. We need your kingdom influence where you are.

New? Not really!

2011-04-07T16:45:00.000-06:00

I was talking to a buddy the other day and we were both amazed at how nothing that we label as "new" in the church is really new.

We keep on tweaking existing paradigms and they seem new but they're really the same thing just dressed up differently. My friend calls them "airbrushed wineskins."

The reason we dress things up is because we are hoping for different results....different outcomes. And so we tweak the order of the gathering, we tweak the music we play, we tweak the leaders that lead, we tweak the structure, we tweak the process, and we keep tweaking and sometimes it does produce a little difference. But for the most part it doesn't.

In the church world the goal -- I believe -- is to Love God and Love People. We do those things well and we all of the sudden see a changed lives, changed communities and a changed world.

So far that's helped us to achieve a little change and a little impact and so a little tweaking here and there is cool because we can see a little bit of change. And a little bit of change in a dark world is really, really bright.

But what if you wanted to go brighter? What if there's still more that we haven't tapped into?

What if you wanted to go from coverts to disciples?
What if you wanted to go from church to Kingdom movement?
What if you wanted to go from behavior modification to life transformation?
What if you wanted to go from community impact to community transformation?

Oh....well then now you're going to have to talk and think about creating something new...something different enough that might move the needle significantly further than we have moved it before.

Risky? Yes.
Scary? Yes.
Possible? Yes.

Stuck

2011-04-06T12:42:00.000-06:00

I'm in the middle of a recalibrating period in my life and also leading Cool River to do the same.

The idea is that we just can't assume that just because we've been doing things one way for a while that God doesn't want us to rethink, reinvent, and redirect. We should continue to seek Him and ask Him for his ways for us.

Through this journey as I've asked God to help me sort through all that is happening and all the opportunities in front of us. It's been an exciting journey. There's so many things that God is speaking into us.

But...... along the way I've found myself stuck at times. Which is weird. Why does that happen? Isn't this supposed to be the cool, God inspired, green light, go do it, kind of stuff?!

Well if something is broken -- go fix it, right?

Since I'm a vision guy and my primary gifting is not organizational I thought that my problem was organizational so I sought help from my organizational friends.

That has helped in some incredible ways and we continue going down that road.....but even with that organizational piece in place still some stuckness remained.

And then one of my friends said something profound to me -- "Stuck comes from Fear"

Hmmm.....Interesting!

So off I dove into fear-land.

We spent some time identifying fears...mine particularly.

* Failure -- Can we pull this off? Can jumping out in faith over and over again actually work?
* Disappointment -- Whatever we decide there are some people that won't be happy...and then I'll be disappointed
* Settling -- Not reaching God's dream or highest potential for myself or my church
* Provision- -- How will the resources play out for the church and my family?

And in the journey I was amazed how the fear really was the problem.
As fears were dealt with, they were also removed as I was reminded of God's truth concerning each fear.
And then I started to see and feel COURAGE and CONFIDENCE increase and all of the sudden there was FLOW and FREEDOM.

We've all got fears that make us stuck. And today I'm praying for you -- that you'll be able to identify your fears, realize God's truth about them and find your flow again.

More New Blogs Coming....

2011-03-31T14:39:00.000-06:00

Sometimes the only way I can motivate myself to write down all that is rolling around in my head is to give myself some deadlines or some outside expectations. So this is really just my way of keeping myself on-task.

Here are a few new blogs that will be rolling out soon!

* Stuck -- What happens when you get stuck, blocked, paralyzed? Where does that come from? How do you get unstuck? How do you break through?

* Creating vs. Tweaking -- We are really good at tweaking but how are we at creating? What's really different or unique about the way we're doing things? What is worth tweaking and what's worth creating? Why do we settle for tweaks that don't really make a difference? And more...

* Working for Nothing -- How do you track your progress when there aren't any measurable metrics? How do you substantiate your success when there is nothing tangible to point to? If there is no fruit is your job still worth it?

* Learning from a Devout Atheist -- Some notes from a meeting with Rod Collins - author of Leadership in a Wiki World

* Eternity Here -- A little blog updating you on our Sabbath journey. It's like experiencing Eternity here.

HEY...AND I'M CURIOUS...IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO BLOG ABOUT?

Tribes - We Need You to Lead Us

2011-03-24T14:45:00.000-06:00

A few of my favorite quotes from Seth Godin's Tribes.

Tribes need leadership.

Tribes are about faith--about belief in an idea and in a community.

Leaders make a ruckus.

Great leaders create movements by empowering the tribe to communicate.

Most organizations spend their time marketing to the crowd. Smart organizations assemble the tribe.

The most important tribes are bored with yesterday and demand tomorrow.

Fans, true fans, are hard to find and precious. Just a few can change everything. What they demand, though, is generosity and bravery.

Organizations that destroy the status quo win.

The organizations of the future are filled with smart, fast, flexible people on a mission.

....fear is still there, but it's drowned out by a different story.

We choose not to be remarkable because we're worried about criticism.

It's nice to get paid. It's essential to believe.

Leadership is scarce because few people are willing to go through the discomfort required to lead.

A curious person embraces the tension between his religion and something new, wrestles with it and through it, and then decides whether to embrace the new idea or reject it.

...trying to lead everyone results in leading no one in particular.

The only thing holding you back from becoming the kind of person who changes things is this: lack of faith. Faith that you can do it. Faith that it's worth doing. Faith that failure won't destroy you.

When you fall in love with the system, you lose the ability to grow.

Initiating is really and truly difficult, and that's what leaders do. They see something others are ignoring and they jump on it.

...soldiers realize that it's war that makes generals.

So the time to jump was yesterday. Too late. Okay, how about today?

The only thinking that makes people and organizations great is their willingness to be not great along the way. The desire to fail on the way to reaching a bigger goal is the untold secret of success.

...if you insist on playing today's games by yesterday's rules, you're stuck.

Change almost never fails because it's too early. It almost always fails because it's too late.

Being charismatic doesn't make you a leader. Being a leader makes you charismatic.

Listen, really listen. Then decide and move on.

Remarkable vision and genuine insight are always met with resistance. AND when you start to make progress, your efforts are met with even more resistance.

Part of leadership (a big part of it, actually) is the ability to stick with a dream for a long time. Long enough that the critics realize that you're going to get there one way or another...so they follow.

I can tell you this: leaders have nothing in common.....Actually, they do have one thing in common. Every tribe leader I've ever met shares one thing: the decision to lead.

The very nature of leadership is that you're not doing what's been done before. If you were, you'd be following, not leading.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE?

The Future of Cool River Church

2011-03-18T07:00:00.001-06:00

My first dreams of Cool River Church had to do with a menu of opportunities for people to engage God.
Worship Gatherings
Small Groups
Topical Seminars
Outdoor Adventures of all kinds
Community Service
Global Engagement
Neighborhood Parties
Bible Classes
Children's experiences (and training and encouragement for parents)
And a smattering of ministries and activities initiated by the Cool River community.

(all important, all valued, all needed)

I envisioned that one day you might be able to walk into a Sunday morning experience and also have a menu-type atmosphere. In one room you could get the typical message and in another a debate and in another an interactive computer experience and in another a conversation...all on the same topic....you just got to choose the way you would like to digest the information that day.

As it turned out we became more of a traditional style church. Worship services on Sunday mornings, small groups offered, Sunday school type children's ministry, etc. with a little of the other stuff mixed in. We figured stability would be found in the patterns that most churches modeled for us.

What did that do for us?
Well, not much of what we wanted.

It felt a lot like this blog I wrote the other day: ARE YOU WEARING THE RIGHT CLOTHES?

What's interesting is that now it looks like God is taking us back to the original idea. (Funny...how God gives us things and we second guess them and then somewhere along the way we figure out that it was really from God after all)

The idea is that the Kingdom experience should be much more custom designed and built than "one-size fits all."

The church would help you enjoy a balanced diet of the three most important practices in the Christian life (communion, community, mission) but not monopolize your time so much that you could not respond to God to do your own Kingdom stuff, too. What this is, is just an attempt to look for a more natural rhythm of gathering and scattering.

Now -- need some organizational gurus to help me put it all together.

Final Four

2011-03-16T13:17:00.003-06:00

Every year -- Two Brackets -- Head and Heart -- Love March Madness!

HEAD HEART

Sweet 16 Sweet 16
Ohio State v. Kentucky Villanova v. Kentucky
Syracuse v. Washington Syracuse v. Washington
Duke v. Texas Tennessee v. Arizona
UConn v. Penn State UConn v. No. Colorado
Kansas v. Louisville Illinois v. Louisville
Georgetown v. Notre Dame Georgetown v. Florida State
Pittsburgh v. Kansas State Pitt v. Wisconsin
BYU v. Florida St. Johns v. Florida

Elite 8 Elite 8
Ohio State v. Washington Kentucky v. Washington
Duke v. UConn Arizona v. UConn
Kansas v. Notre Dame Louisville v. Florida St.
Pitt vs Florida Wisconsin v. Florida

Final Four Final Four
Ohio State v. UConn Kentucky v. UConn
Kansas v. Pitt Louisville v. Florida

Champ Game Champ Game
UConn v. Kansas Kentucky v. Louisville

Champion Champion
Kansas Kentucky

Clearing Trees - Making Paths - Creating Flow

2011-03-13T05:53:00.001-06:00

What would it look like to clear trees between our churches and provide better access between local bodies so that we could begin to see a flow, a togetherness, a connection with the extended family?

~~It would be amazing and yet I have serious doubts it could ever happen. But...let's dream about it anyway.~~

Questions that need to be answered:

1. What do our churches do really well? What's our unique giftedness as a church?
2. How can your church serve the other churches? What can you give/share/provide to the entire body?
3. What do you lack? What do you need? Where are the gaps in your ministry?
4. What other questions can you think of?

Biggest Barriers:

1. Pastors -- people in the pews don't care about the cross-pollination but their pastors do. Why?
2. Money -- when people don't have a central place to give, they may not give at all or they may give all over the place and then what happens to the stability of each individual church?
3. What other barriers can you think of?

Sweet Possibilities:

1. Greater unity -- people know we're in this together but we don't act like it and it doesn't 'feel" like it.
2. Greater encouragement -- when we are truly together there is a greater level of encouragement among all believers
3. Greater impact -- if we think our church can accomplish much together then what could the whole body do together in a community?
4. What other possibilities can you think of?

So I need some help with this one:

**HOW CAN WE MAKE THIS A REALITY?
**HOW CAN WE BUST THROUGH THESE BARRIERS?
**IS ANYONE DOING THIS THAT YOU KNOW OF - BEYOND PARTNERING FOR A PROJECT OR GATHERING FOR A BIG WORSHIP SERVICE?

Church Planting FAIL

2011-03-11T07:01:00.001-07:00

Here's a nice recipe for failing as a church starter...

Poor Communication -- Talk to people like people. Treat adults with respect. Give all the information that is needed. Expect feedback and talk things through.

Tasks over People -- This is a people gig. If you're only in it to accomplish something instead of building someone then think twice about doing this.

No Real Relationships -- If you call people friends... If you call people family.... Treat them as such. Don't use words that you can't live up to.

Lack of Follow Through -- If you say you're going to do something...do it!

Pride -- Who do you think you are anyway? Who died and made you king? Get over yourself already.

Not Listening -- Turn your ears on. Ask for clarification. Don't assume.

Lack of Wisdom -- There's a huge difference between knowledge and wisdom. Just because you know your Bible and know a lot of theology doesn't mean you are wise.

Lack of Maturity -- same as the last one.

No Emotional Intelligence -- Learning how to handle difficult circumstances, people, blow ups, problems, people is huge, huge, huge. If you can't do it authentically you're sunk.

Lack of Authenticity -- Please be real/honest and don't make up stuff just to make everyone feel better.

WHAT WOULD YOU ADD TO THE LIST????

Forcing God to Give You What You Want

2011-03-09T07:13:00.039-07:00

Remember the story of the people of Israel wanting a real, human king? (1 Samuel 8)

I can imagine it....

"We want a king!"

"But you already have a king. God is your King!"

"We want a king!"

"But a human king will not work out the way you think it will."

"We want a king!"

And so God said, "let them have their king."

And if you keep reading through 1 Samuel you find out that it didn't work out.

It didn't go well.

God gave them exactly what they wanted.

And it was awful.

Have you ever wanted something so bad you forced God into giving it to you?

He will, you know....give you what you want...allow you to have what you think you need.

But in the end it may not go as you thought.

The people of Israel learned a huge lesson through a huge mistake.

And finally they humbled themselves and surrendered to God ways.

"So are you ready for me to pick your king?" God said.

"Yes Lord. We're ready for you to call the shots. We're ready to listen in. We're ready to go your way. Give us your king."

So here are some important questions on this:

1. Do we pick our leaders like the Israelites picked theirs?

2. What is the process of God telling us who our leaders should be?

3. How do we listen in?

4. Are we patient enough to wait for God's leader?

5. What's the difference between Saul (the people's choice) and David (God's choice)?

6. What are the implications on hiring church staff?

7. What do we do when we get what we want and it doesn't work out?

Are you sure you want to be a church planter?

2011-03-07T04:00:00.022-07:00

I was talking to Eric Swanson the other day over email about church planting and church planters and what it takes to start churches here in Boulder County. He simply asked if I had any thoughts about the subject and I shot back a quick response. To my surprise he proceeded to read the email to a whole group of leaders and church planters a few nights later at his house.

So.....if he thought it was good enough to read....maybe it's good enough to post. You be the judge. (Remember these are comments about our specific context/culture in Boulder County...but who knows, it might be helpful where you're at.)

* this is a missionary culture, not a church planting culture

* 2 years of funding is not anywhere close to enough to getting traction here -- it's a good start.

* If you need more time to get going here, then spreading the resources out seems like the better idea.

* church planters have to love the people much more than the idea of church planting or church.

* the idea here is more kingdom building than it is church planting. (see previous post for more on that one)

* in the south pastors have authority, Here pastors have to work 10 times as hard just to gain acceptance into the conversation

* culture is different -- if they can't handle liberal democrats as their friends then it's going to be tough

* you have to decide to stay for your kingdom influence to be felt here. there are so many guys that would have done great here if they had just stayed past the 2 yr funding mark.

* how tough are they? can they take hits? 'cause they're coming. the guys that last can take a punch....and then another.

* you've got to trade your team -- they've got to be willing to leave their (fill in the U) sweatshirt at home and buy and proudly wear a CU one.

* not one church planter has believed any of this stuff -- until they experienced it....and then usually it's too late.

Don't Plant a Church!

2011-03-04T15:57:00.000-07:00

Last night a few kingdom leaders representing the greater "church of Boulder" gathered for some good food and some good drink to welcome a new crew of men and women to Boulder.

This crew, called The Well, is coming to Boulder to live among and freely extend the Kingdom of God to the people here. It was a lot of fun to listen to them talk and feel the enthusiasm for each other and for the work ahead.

As we talked you could also hear the collective wisdom of the seasoned leaders in the room who have given their lives to this place over the last several years. And the wisdom could probably be boiled down to this: "Don't Plant a Church!"

How's that for a welcome?! Maybe I should unpack that a little.

There are so many church plants that are not making it precisely because they are trying to plant/start a church. Yeah! It's true.

These church planters/churches are constrained to a certain type of organization that produces a specific type of metric within a narrow time frame (most church planters are funded for about 2 years to get their churches up and running)

So what's wrong with that? Maybe nothing.....maybe everything.

Who are we to say that God is going to work in a certain way, produce a certain thing and make it flourish in a certain time frame?

It doesn't make sense.

I wonder what God is thinking about this way of thinking?

And what's worse is that hundreds and thousands of high capacity kingdom influencers are dismissed, discarded and sent to depression each year because they couldn't "cut it" starting a church.

For some of those guys it takes months and years to heal up if ever.

Their families are devastated.

Their supporters shake their heads.

Their followers are stunned that they're leaving.

The reputation of the church is tarnished by another "failed" attempt.

SO WHAT DO WE DO?

How about seeding Kingdom Influencers to Cultivate Kingdom Culture?

Building Kingdom Culture doesn't mean we stop planting churches. What is does is help us put our priorities in their rightful place as we're getting started.

1. Kingdom -- living and moving in the midst of existing culture and sharing your life and faith and gospel and love.

2. Disciple -- helping people enter into Kingdom life and rhythm through a relationship with Christ.

3. Church -- gathering those who have decided to follow Jesus to spur one another toward love a good deeds.

The church-first approach presupposes that you have a good business plan executor to make it happen within budget and time requirements. But even if you succeed there, the jury is still out whether you created a community wrapped up in Kingdom culture.

Why not start with a Kingdom culture and let IT build the church?

All, I know is that it's sad to see so many men and women get chewed up and spit out by church planting and we've got to figure out better ways to utilize these kingdom influencers.

Maybe it's time that we stop planting churches!

(Side note: Ramin Razavi at Origins Church has some fantastic and even more developed thoughts and language about this. You should get together with him if you really want to have a good conversation on the subject.)

And BTW -- Looks like the folks from The Well get this! Excited for them to be here with us!

Shrink

2011-02-25T05:51:00.002-07:00

I went to Starbucks the other day....in Estes Park.

The place was packed and a table opened up so I quickly claimed it by putting my backpack on it.

As I walked to the counter to order my white chocolate mocha I saw a lady coming by looking for a place to sit.

Everything in me wanted to look away but I couldn't and I offered her the seat across from me at the table. "You can sit with me if you'd like." I turned to make my order.

When I turned back around it turns out she took me up on my offer.

I had planned for a nice day of getting things done...but now I had a new friend to talk to.

Oh well, Ok. Here we go. "Hi. My name is Kevin. It's really busy in here today, isn't it?"

After a few pleasantries we found out we had faith in common and we shared with each other about our lives and what was happening currently. I told her about some of the changes and challenges we were facing.

And then you know what she did? She busted out the Gideon story. (Judges 7)

You may know the story -- God doesn't like it that Gideon's army is big so he asks him to shrink it. From 32,000 he takes it to 10.000. And God still doesn't like it so he tells Gideon to shrink it again. And so they go from 10,000 to 300 on the second pass. And then God is happy. He's going to send these 300 men to fight against a huge army (12 The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.) Crazy, huh?!

And what was worse is that she was using the story to tell me about what God might be doing with our church. And I was like, "Really!? Gideon?! Couldn't you pick another story? A better story? A story that didn't talk about shrinkage?!"

But no...that was her story and that was her story to me and then I was depressed for the rest of the day.....and maybe excited, too. Because at the end of that story the men of Gideon kicked some major butt.

Anyway....here's what I'm getting at. In a country that everything has to keep moving up and to the right...growing, moving, gaining energy and momentum, getting big and bad. Where leaders are made into superstars and celebrities and where churches get ranked in magazines as the fastest growing or the biggest in the nation......could it be possible that God wants the opposite for some of us?

Could it be possible that God would want to shrink some of our churches in order to make them more effective in their mission? Hmmmm?!?!?!

I don't like the idea of shrinking. I really don't. But if God wants it to happen....I should be excited, right? If we're more effective, I should be jumping up and down, right? The answer is yes even though my stomach hurts right now.

Are you wearing the right clothes?

2011-02-24T06:01:00.004-07:00

When an organism and its organization don't match there is trouble. Organisms and their organization should fit together. That's what I talked about on the last blog. You can check out the whole thing HERE.

Here's some more on that subject....

You remember the story of David and Goliath, don't you?

Young David shows up at a battle scene but no one is fighting. He asks what's going on and finds out that a big dude named Goliath is intimidating everyone. But David has none of it. He says that if no one else will fight Goliath...he will.

Saul (the king) tries to talk him out of it but David won't budge. So the king decides that if David is going to go get himself killed then at least he can give him his first-rate kingly armor to protect him and his own personal royal sword to fight with.

David agrees and puts it on and then he walks around like a robot for a few minutes and tells Saul, "You know what man. I don't think this is going to work." So he takes off the armor and returns the sword. He opts instead for his own clothes and his own weapons (a staff and a sling). And then he marches out to Goliath and kicks his butt. Awesome!

You know....there are times when the armor that has worked for others is not going to work for you. You might look good, it may make you feel good, everyone else will think you are definitely going to win but in the end you know you're just walking around like a robot...you're clunky and stiff and slow and no giants are going to fall.

Every leader has to figure out the clothes that are going to help him run fast, fight well and conquer giants. And.....let's not forget about the church! Every church has to figure out what clothes and weapons help them accomplish their mission best, too.

Are you wearing the right clothes? Is your church? Do you have the guts to tell someone that the armor you are wearing is not going to work?

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us..." Hebrews 12:1

The NEW Org. v. Org.

2011-02-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

I talk a lot about organism and organization.

I explain to folks that the church is unique in that it is both a living thing and an organized entity.

This unique nature of the church sometimes feels like pulling two ropes together that are coming from opposite sides and are pulling back toward their origin creating great tension.

That great tension demands a great deal of energy to keep the two ropes tight in the middle.

Both sides want something from you and what's worse is that it seems these two ropes don't want to play together.

For some churches the tension is too much on the organizational side so they abandon organization and become amoeba type churches with not much direction or vision or movement.

For other churches the tension of organism is too much and they let go of that side and become these machines that resemble more of the industrial models of a business.

For me....neither of these is a true picture of the church. Again, the church is supposed to be BOTH organism and organization.

So what's going on here? What's the answer? Is there ever relief from the tension?

Consider a tree.
A tree is an organism.
Take a closer look and you see the organism has organization -- roots, trunk, branches, leaves, veins.
You take a step back again and what do you see? The tree, the organism.
But, now you know that this organism has an intricate organization.
The organism and the organization are in harmony with one another, not at war.
The organization supports and helps the organism to flourish.

Same with the church.
It's an organism first and foremost.
But for the organism to thrive it needs organization.
But not just any kind of organization.....it needs organization that matches it, supports it and makes it flourish.
It needs the right kind of organization.

The problem with many of our churches is that the organization doesn't match the organism. We say we are creating new churches for a new culture and a new context but we keep using the old organizational patterns and systems. It's all we've ever known so we keep shoving that kind of organization into new organisms. And the new organism keeps rejecting the old organization.

If we are going to reinvent the church organism it's going to demand a reinvention of church organization.

So leaders, throw your seminary notes away....put your church planting books aside. We need new language, we need new diagrams, we need new systems, we need new forms, we need new organisms, we need new organization and you're just the generation to figure this out.

Ready, Set....Go!

NEW Blogs Coming Soon!!

2011-02-16T22:37:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a few new blogs for you. Here's what you can look forward to:

Organism vs. Organization -- Is there a war between organism and organization? What kind of organisms are we growing? What kind of organization does your organism need? Is there a one size fits all organization/structure/system? What if the organization for your organism hasn't been created yet?

Running Fast -- What kind of clothes do you need to run fast? Are you wearing fast clothes or at least clothes that will help you move freely? What does that mean for the church? Does the church wear clothes that hinder or help her run fast? What kind of clothes slow her down?

Shrink -- Would God ever want to shrink your church? Would he be happy if it grew in reverse? Oh, please don't talk about Gideon!

Church Planting vs. Kingdom Building -- Is there a difference? Does it matter? Is one better than the other? What are the implications of making one or the other your main goal?

We want a king -- Have you ever wanted something so bad you forced God into giving it to you?

Analysis of a failed church planter -- What are the biggest killers of kingdom movement and flow? What will short-circuit your kingdom impact faster than anything else? What can neutralize your gifting?

Clearing Trees -- What would it look like to clear trees between our churches to provide better access between local bodies so that we could begin to see a flow, a togetherness, a connection with the extended family? I'm not talking about a network, a denomination or satellite campuses but something entirely different.

Vision, Courageous Leadership and Multiplication -- What I think I think about the future of Cool River Church.

God has been filling me up with all kinds of things that I can't wait to share with you. I hope you are challenged by the next few writings.

Shalom --

Kevin

PUSH (again)

2011-02-07T20:17:00.000-07:00

At Cool River we're moving through a time of prayer, reflection, evaluation as we chart a course for our next season of ministry. It's forced me to go back to foundational ideas, thoughts, theology, philosophies that launched me to start Cool River in the first place.

In the process a friend sent me a blog that reminded me of the "push" it takes to do what I do. Here it is. I hope it moves you like it did me.

A couple of questions have been burning in my heart for the past several months...

How far should you push a church to be about the mission of God?

How far should you push a disciple to live out the Kingdom of God?

These questions bring up another batch...

How much sacrifice should you ask for?

How much selflessness should you strive for?

How much authentic community is enough?

How much investment in people outside of the faith is appropriate?

How much time should be spent in an intimate and interactive relationship with God?

And then the questions that get us to the heart of the matter.

How much did Jesus push?

How much did the early disciples push?

What was their limit of commitment?

And those questions bring me to huge (and scary) reality:

Jesus laid down his life

The disciples laid down their life

The commitment limit was death

So...should we still push for this type of commitment?

Atheists would say, 'you are crazy.'

Church growth experts would say, 'yeah, you've got to preach it....but only a couple times a year'

American Christians would say, 'I've got too much going on and too much to give up for that kind of commitment. I'm overextended as it is.'

Jesus would say, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross every day and follow me."

Jesus pushes us to commitment

Jesus pushes us to the Kingdom

Jesus pushes us to the least of these

Jesus pushes us to give our lives away

Jesus pushes us to deep community

Jesus pushes us to the lost

Jesus pushes us to celebrate and feast with him

Jesus pushes us into tension

Jesus pushes us to love

Jesus pushes us to share

Jesus pushes us to die

Jesus pushed!

We should push.

When I finished reading it I was like, "Wow! Awesome! That's good stuff!" Then I clicked to see who wrote it. Funny.....it turns out it was me back in May of 2010. http://kevincolon.blogspot.com/2010/05/push.html And....it turns out that living and leading in the Kingdom is not about one push but several pushes over a long period of time. I'm so thankful for the reminder to push and I'm hoping that today you are encouraged once again to push yourself. All together now.....

Multi-Hat Pastors

2011-02-03T14:31:00.000-07:00

Steve Cuss is a new pastor friend (Discovery Church in Broomfield) of mine who is starting a group for muli-hat pastors. The name says it all, it's a group for leaders who have lots of different responsibilities in their ministry. Some of these guys are solo, others have partial staff around them, all of them are doing much more than they ever thought. It'll be fun to jump in to that conversation cause it turns out I am one of those guys....From one day to the next my tasks and responsibilities and callings go in a hundred different directions.

Counseling one moment

Strategizing the next

Preparing to teach

Leading and event

Meeting, encouraging and training church planters

Working on financial matters

Administration and organization

Prayer

Helping people through conflict

Bailing someone out of prison

Helping another make sense of God

Training Leaders

Putting out fires

Writing a blog

Addressing an emergency in the community

Building bridges with our community

Preparing for a small group

Discipling a leader

Cleaning up a coffee spill in our meeting space.

Comforting someone moving through pain or loss

Writing a letter or a communications piece or a blurb for an upcoming event

Answering emails of all kinds

Reading books that I might not otherwise read so I can understand another's point of view.

Researching endlessly and in various forms to find out more complete answers to theological questions.

Giving my opinion in making this decision or that

Helping a pastor find a place for his church to baptize people

Listening to someone pitch an idea

Working with other churches to do big kingdom things

Fixing the paper-jam in the printer

Praying some more.

And I'm sure there's more I can't think of now....or something new that I've never encountered that will happen before the day is over. It's wild like that.

My job is so broad and it takes me in so many different directions from one minute to the next.

It's exciting and challenging and thrilling and maddening all at the same time.

So how do I stay sane?

* The Father/Son/Holy Spirit -- there's no other fuel that will work for this kind of job

* Great people in the church pulling their weight -- in an organization like this everyone has to do their part and probably a little bit more.

* Great people in our church praying and supporting me and encouraging me to keep leading every day. Can't tell you how much this means.

* Great staff people -- you need some folks that are bleeding with you every day to get it done. In our setting we have a few part timers that take so much off of my plate so I can concentrate on the other things on my plate.

* Other multi-hat pastors that share their best practices, their deepest hurts and their strongest prayers with me.
* Other older, elder pastors who share their insight and wisdom and love and experience.

* The Scriptures that keep speaking into my life every day.

* Reading -- finding everything I can to learn and grow and shake out of ruts.

* Elders -- people who are in the trenches with me, who know everything and who want the best for me and the church

* My family -- My wife and my girls are a constant source of joy and energy. They keep me moving.

Here's to the multi-hat pastor! You're a unique breed! Keep at it!

Cool River's biggest challenge

2011-02-02T06:26:00.027-07:00

A couple of days ago I wrote about some of the reasons I love our church. Go check it out if you haven't yet.

Today, I want to tell you about our greatest challenge.

We know what God wants from us.
We all can look at the Scriptures and agree together what the elements of a healthy, biblical church are.
We realize the cost and the sacrifice and the surrender it takes to follow Jesus.
We all want to honor God with our lives and in our church.

So what's out biggest challenge: Going from Knowledge and Desire to Action and Reality.

It's actually every Christian's biggest and daily challenge--how we actually live up to what God wants from us -- how we actually live out love, grace, courage, honesty, authenticity, the one-anothers, relationship, trust, faith, etc, etc, etc. And...how we live them out at deeper levels as God grows us through each season of our life.

Our individual faithfulness to this challenge will determine our collective faithfulness. No doubt about it.

Let's keep praying for each other. "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deed" Hebrews 10:24

8 more reasons why I love Cool River Church

2011-01-31T06:58:00.001-07:00

A long while ago I wrote about the things I love about Cool River HERE and HERE.

Today I'm revisiting the topic because the love for my church has been growing more lately.

Here's a few more reasons I love Cool River Church...

We're not perfect and it's OK.

We're willing to keep working on our imperfections.

We're willing to stop the routine to follow what God is doing among us.

We can still be distracted by our personal agendas but we recognize when God when He shows up and adjust.

We're getting more open and honest and real with each other.

We're wiling to talk about our struggles and concerns not to beat each other up but because we actually care.

We've got leaders among us who love God and are willing to do whatever it takes to follow Him.

We've got more to learn, more steps to take, more challenges to tackle, more tough conversations ahead, more struggles, more conflict, more big questions, more who knows what.....but we're up for it.

Next time: "Cool River's biggest challenge"

Happy Birthday Bob!

2011-01-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

Bob -- I'm getting close to 40 which means you've got to be about 130-something or maybe closer to 50. :-)

I met you when I was 22. I was a year out of college, had just made it to Southwestern Seminary and you popped into Dr. Fish's class to fill in. Didn't get to meet you after class, but on my way to lunch later that day, you were sitting on a bench on campus, eating jelly beans. I sat down and introduced myself. You gave me one jelly bean.

My life took a turn that day.

The next Sunday I went to NorthWood, the Sunday after that I 'joined' the church, a month after that I was working with Randy as an intern, 6 months after that I was on staff as the youth pastor at NorthWood learning things that would mold and shape my life and ministry.

Now, almost 15 years later I'm still moving in those ways.

I have to check myself each day to make sure that Jesus is Enough.

I lead Cool River with the idea that the church is the missionary.

I'm always thinking locally and globally -- Glocal -- they're so intertwined.

I remind myself that I have to be faithful with the one, two, or three talents God gave me.

I stay steady where I am at because Kingdom influence is felt over time, not when you move around too much. "There used to be a day when pastors stayed and politicians moved around. Now politicians stay and pastors move around." You taught me the lesson of 'staying.'

When things get tough I hear the words....'one step in front of the other' and 'keep moving them chunky legs' It's good to know this journey only takes one step at a time some days.

I desire transformation in my life and in the lives of those I lead. I don't want to stay the same.

When I meet people I'm interested about the domains they are engaged in as a way to mobilize them into Kingdom work.

Bob -- your influence goes far beyond you and I'm extremely thankful for the way you have influenced my life. Thanks for investing so much in me through these years.

Hope you have an incredible birthday!

All of life explained in one trek

2011-01-18T17:01:00.000-07:00

This past Sabbath I took off with one thought in mind -- I wanted to follow Jesus in every decision I made that day.

I got in the car and tried to figure out which way God wanted me to go. I made it up to Boulder thinking I was going to Nederland and then I felt like I should turn left and then right and then straight, straight, straight until I got to a dead end with a sign pointing me in both directions.

I asked, "which way God"
He said, "you pick."
I picked left and kept going until that road deadened at the trail head for the Dakota Ridge trail.
I stopped. I got out of the car. I thought about getting in the car and driving some more.
I got out my phone and researched the trail. "Difficult." is what the guide said.
About that time an old man came running by and headed up the trail. He was jogging steadily and then more carefully as he got to all the mud and ice on the trail.

"I want you to take the trail, Kevin," I felt God say.
"But I'm hurting and sore" (I worked out hard the night before) I said.
"Exactly!"
"Ok, I said with tears welling up in my eyes,"
I had an idea already of what He was trying to teach me.

The path was muddy and icy and quickly got more and more difficult, more steep.
Up, up, up I went. My legs aching.
I was going fast...trying to get to the top.
And God reminded me of the man from before -- he was going one step at a time -- he wasn't concerned about speed. He was just moving, climbing, steadily.
And so I continued, this time more slowly, stopping often to look and listen and enjoy the journey....to enjoy the pain which now invited my lungs to the party.

I made it to the top and there was another trail. Sanitas. It went to the left and to the right.
I didn't know which way to go. I didn't know how much longer it would be. I asked God. No answer.
A young couple was there -- I asked them, but they didn't know.
An older couple was there -- I asked them and they described the trails in both directions.
I ventured on.
A hundred yards later....I started second guessing my decision.
Common Kevin....how hard can this be? Make a decision. Take a step. Go!
But I couldn't. I was just there....standing still.
And God whispered, "Be still and know that I am God."

Grabbed the phone. Searched the Psalms for the verse. Psalm 46. Read it HERE.
I read and cried as God gripped my soul with the words.
And then my gaze went up to the top of the mountain. The harder path. And I had to go there. I had to get up and get moving.

Straight up I went.
Moving steadily but also stopping and admiring what was around me.
People were going past in both directions.
They would pass by say hello, say goodbye.
Then I was alone.
I lost the trail.
I bouldered for a while.
Thought I was going to die. (didn't tell my wife about that one)
Found the trail again.
Breathed a sigh of relief.
An hour and a half later I was finally at the top.
I cherished it.
I drank it up.
And it filled me.

But how long can you stay at the top. Answer: Not forever.
And I knew what was next.
Another journey.
Another trek.
I started down.
Found the trail I lost before....ended up to be nasty and icy....even more dangerous than my bouldering.
Saw the old man again.
I nodded at him, thanking him in my head for the lessons he taught me without saying a word.

Got to the bottom.
Legs are hurting more than ever.

Blisters on my feet.

That was definitely more than I bargained for.....more than I was prepared for.
But....
I'm so glad for the journey.(and by the way, this is just the condensed version)
I'm so glad for the lessons.
I'm so thankful for my God.

The trek this day was called Dakota Ridge Trail (from Hawthorne) to Sanitas Trail to Mount Sanitas summit (and back).
My trek every day is called LIFE.
So different and yet so the same.

Walk, Stop, Listen, Walk, Stop, Listen, Ask, Pray, Read, Walk, Stop, Listen, Read, Dream, Gaze, walk, hurt, walk, climb, steep, flat, up, down, walk, run, grab, lose, win, cry, reach the top, stay a while, watch the journey of others, start again, walk, read, rest, listen, walk, smile, enjoy, drink deeply, again, again, again.

Perspective

2011-01-15T06:00:00.001-07:00

Part 4 of a Shepherding Series

There's always more ways to see things in life and we have to keep looking for perspective. And once you've had some time to go through a storm, a hit, a shock, a whatever....once you've done your best to walk through it and think through it and feel the feelings associated with it.....perspective hits.

You think about the man who is caught in slavery today. He may never know freedom.
You think about the woman who hopes of finding food for her family.
You think about the parent who has lost his child.
You think about the little girl that is being sexually abused.

And you realize...my stuff does not even compare to the tragedies that are happening every day all around the world.....not even close. And although our 'tough time' may still force us into feelings that mess with our hearts and souls, having some perspective sure does help along the way.

Three Hats

2011-01-14T05:28:00.001-07:00

Part 3 of a Shepherding Series

I wear three hats primarily with our staff.
1. Pastor
2. Friend
3. Boss

Each hat is different yet the lines blur from time to time.

The toughest assignment when staff are planning to leave the organization is how to be faithful to each of those hats.

As a pastor you want to guide and direct and shepherd.
As a friend you want to listen and be there and support.
As a boss you want to do the right thing for the organization and its next steps.

Can you feel the tension? It doesn't feel like you can win because it seems like all of the sudden you are faced with goals that seem at odds with each other. Yet, again, you have to be faithful to all the hats.

And.....I imagine that the church feels similar (not the same) tension with the roles, hats and relationships they hold with staff people.

So how do you do it? How do you move well through it? How can you come out on the other side and feel like you did the best you could? Here's what I'm learning. Move into it....

With a lot of conversation. Talk it through the whole way through. Be open to feedback and push back. Keep talking.
With a lot of support. Get people around you that have the best interest in mind of everyone involved. The people that are don't understand the tension and are picking sides strongly won't help you much.
With a lot of prayer. You have to keep checking in with the Holy Spirit to check your movements, words and decisions.
With a lot of humility. You have to keep checking yourself to make sure your motives and heart are right.
With a lot trust. You can't control the feelings, thoughts, words, actions of any other party involved so you have to keep trusting God that He will be deeply involved in the spiritual work.

Let's keep moving well.

Just Business? No, not really.

2011-01-11T07:37:00.020-07:00

Part 2 of a Shepherding Series

This past summer Cool River took one of the biggest steps we've taken as a church by raising the money and hiring a new associate pastor. This past Sunday at our gathering we announced that he was leaving.

Not the most fun of days at Cool River.

Now, I've been in these situations before and it's been pretty much business. You hire someone, things don't work out and they move on and you hire someone else and that's that. It's a job and you just fill the hole. It's just business and you do what businesses do....you keep chugging along. Easy right? Well, not really...not for Cool River.

The range of emotions from the congregation has been all over the place--Sadness, Anger, Disappointment, Bewilderment, Grieving, Indifference.

On one hand I'm really bummed for our church. All the energy and time and resources that we've put into this have not panned out and we find ourselves back at the beginning....or so it seems. (realistically we're a lot further along)

But I've got to be honest with you....as I write this I'm also feeling another emotion....I feel glad....maybe even happy. It doesn't make sense does it? But let me tell you why I'm feeling this way...

It turns out that everything we have been working for -- a community of people that love each other and are working together in a common mission to love God and love people -- is actually happening.

The reason we feel all these feelings is because we actually care.

We care for the church.

We care for our community.
We care for each other.

And I can't help it. It makes me happy! It makes me feel proud of our church for actually allowing the feelings to happen and to actually walk through them rather than sweep them under the rug.

So it's not business as usual. No way! When this kind of thing happens it matters and you can't just fly through it like nothing happened and everything is cool. That just wouldn't be right. That would make us less than human....we'd be heartless machines that don't give a rip.

The authentic reality is that I'm hurt and sad and disappointed like many people at Cool River, but when I have a chance to stop for a moment and really see what's happening from a different vantage point, I realize that we're on to something here. We're maybe tapping into what real Christian community is. And that makes me glad. It makes me happy. It makes me proud to be associated with this church....even though it's hard.

Thanks Cool River for caring. Amy and I love you so much and are honored to go through this journey with you. Let's walk through this with all integrity and love. And let's keep praying together for our next steps as we move ahead.

Feel Free to Feel

2011-01-09T23:58:00.003-07:00

Part 1 of a Shepherding Series

Your kid smiles at you and you feel happy.
Your wife kisses you and you feel love.
Your friend sends you an encouraging note and you feel hope.

It happens on the not so happy, loving, hopeful side, too. When things don't quite turn out the way you thought....all the emotions on the other side emerge.

And it's OK.

Here's a blog to simply say, "Feel free to Feel!" Move honestly and authentically through your emotions instead of hiding them away.

Sabbatical Lessons -- FAMILY

2010-12-22T04:59:00.002-07:00

Ok...last installment on the Sabbatical Lessons series. Now, let's talk about family. Here's what God impressed on us.

We are not super human -- We try to do too much. We try to be super human in every aspect of our lives. We keep moving toward perfection and it robs us of our peace. You've got to choose one or the other. And here's a hint -- you can never achieve perfection.

Our drive toward being superhuman will spill over into your family -- The pressure and tension we feel about getting everything done, accomplishing much and producing lots and lots spills over into the lives of our kids. They are caught up in the roller coaster ride, they feel the stress of it, they take on the tension, they learn the behaviors we model. Your pace matters.

Make room for really honest conversation -- Because we're flying through life with no stops, we don't really have time to listen to each other. Wives tell their husbands things over and over again -- things that are really important -- but we can't hear them because we're moving too fast, we've got something else to get to. Wives do the same. The pressure of keeping everything in order makes the ears dull.
We've got to take time to have important conversations.....to really listen to each other. Don't wait until it's too late and the other person just gives up.

Give your family a bigger story -- We say yes to so many things. We don't know what to say 'no' to. You know why? Because we don't have a vision, a dream a compelling story for our families. Here's something you should do. Sit down with God and your family and dream a little. Write down the dream, write down what God wants your family to look like, what God dreams for you to experience and enjoy. And then have the courage to make the hard decisions to make it happen.

Leave room to watch God's dream unfold -- Margin is the biggest gift you can give to your family and yourself. Create room to be able to watch what God is doing. We miss so many moments because we're too busy. You CAN change that. Stop and smell the roses that are your spouse and your kids. Even the little moments become huge, miraculous events.

In the middle of living the dream....Keep parenting. It's working! -- Someone asked me what the most surprising thing of our time away was. The answer, "My kids are not as spoiled as I thought they were!" In the middle of working hard, wondering if my lessons were working, disciplining my children over and over and over and over and over and over again.....something was actually happening. It was working! It IS working. Parents -- Keep doing your thing. Keep raising the bar and asking your kids to live up to higher values and higher living. Don't give up. Keep training and teaching and fighting. One day you'll turn around to your spouse and say, "Wow! I guess we did do something right!"

Sabbatical Lessons -- FAITH/CHURCH

2010-12-20T04:59:00.001-07:00

Here are some more lessons from our time away. This time, let's talk about faith and the church

The church can do anything -- The ability of the church is greater than you think. The collective body of Christ, no matter how big in its local expression, can do huge things for the kingdom. Keep tackling big kingdom assignments. It's been so much fun to watch Cool River do SO much with so little.

Churches can get tired -- People get tired and burned out which means the church as a whole can get that way too. And when we're tired we get cranky and snippy and complain-y and blame-y. As soon as you start sensing fatigue in the church, do what you must to rest, relieve and recuperate. As a church, look around, take up the slack, encourage each other, help out where you can, share the load, step in where you can.

Sometimes we can't receive God's blessing or the hope of his blessing because we're hurting too badly -- EXODUS 6:9 says, "Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but theydid not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery."
There are so many people hurting these days and if you are feeling like no one is getting anywhere, not listening to God, not responding to him....maybe it's because they're really hurt and beat up. Keep loving them, keep encouraging them, keep praying for God to show up, keep praying for them to be healed, keep praying for God to break through.

We don't like to be taught or challenged -- We like to do things our own way. The only way we can grow is to commit to making our heart soft. Maybe if that was the goal of every believer -- making our hearts soft -- God would have a lot more success with us and we would see the fruit and the beauty of his life in ours.

You CAN live in the ways of Jesus -- I love DEUT 30:11-14 11 "For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
IT IS POSSIBLE to live in the ways of Jesus. Don't ever think it's not. Go for it.

You CAN live a holy life and you CAN stop sinning -- Here's another great verse: PSALM 101:1-4 1I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O LORD, I will make music. 2 I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house; 3 I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. 4 A perverse heart shall be far from me; I willknow nothing of evil.
I had a big sin in my life that Amy helped me to identify during our time away. I had to choose to leave it behind and no longer let it be a part of my life. Men and women -- you CAN move toward holiness with God's help. You CAN leave sin behind. Make the choice. Let God do his work.

God keeps giving us the strength we need -- PSALM 138:3 "ON THE DAY I CALLED YOU ANSWERED ME; MY STRENGTH OF SOUL YOU INCREASED."
He won't let you down. Your strength is one shout away. Keep asking for it.

Courage Takes Courage -- DEUT 20:1-4 1 "When you go out to war against your enemies, and seehorses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. 2 And when you draw near to the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people 3 and shall say to them, 'Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, 4 for the LORD your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.'
Doing courageous things takes courage. You'll need it every time. The hits are coming, the conflict is coming....step up, fight hard, rely on God.

Sabbatical Lessons -- LIFE

2010-12-17T14:45:00.002-07:00

Sabbatical was everything it was supposed to be -- restful, refreshing, refueling and refining. I loved the extended time away with my family and we're al the better for it.

I've been speaking about the lessons that God made clear to me during the time away at Cool River. You can listen to them....HERE.

Pay attention to your life -- you've got to stop and take a look at what's really happening to you. If you don't take regular assessments of your overall health you're setting yourself up to crash and burn.

Pace yourself for a marathon, not a sprint -- Beyond the regular check up, set a pace for yourself and your family that will actually help you last a lifetime. What if God wants to use you ALL the years of your life and not just 10.

Love yourself for God's sake -- Loving yourself and taking care of yourself is a Godly endeavor. He created you, you are a wonderful creation, one of his masterpieces.....maybe you should treat yourself a little better.

Don't die to the wrong things -- We sacrifice a lot. We give up a lot. Especially for God. But what if you are dying to things that you were never meant to die to.....to things that God gave you as a gift to bring you life.

Find your joy (and go back to it often) -- What juices you up, gives you life? It might be something dumb to other people but crucial for you to stay fully alive.

Fight off joy-killers -- Stupid things, stupid people, stupid circumstances, stupid thoughts will try and try again to take your joy away. Stop worrying about stupid things. Stand up against them and let them know they will NOT steal your joy.

SAY TUNED FOR LESSONS ON FAITH/CHURCH AND FAMILY COMING UP NEXT WEEK.

Fun in the Snow

2010-11-27T20:39:00.000-07:00

Part of our Sabbatical was spent in the mountains of our beautiful state.

Here are some pics from the fun in the snow!

The Cabin

Going up to in the treehouse.

Made it to the top of the treehouse.

Snowball Fight!

Ta da!

Let's go sledding!

Weeeeeeee!

Wooooooo hoooooooo!

Let's do it again!!!!

Why do I have to carry all the sleds up the hill?

Snow bunny!

Climbing Trees.

The Snow Turkey. Check out the icicle tail.

My fav pics from our family trip to Vietnam

2010-11-20T11:24:00.002-07:00

CLICK ON THE PICS TO ENLARGE.

Always have to make a stop at Al Fresco's. MMM. MMM.

First day in Hanoi with some beautiful women.

A day at the zoo with the Chau family.

Throwing rocks at the lake in Bac Ha.

My sweetie.

Trekking through the fields of Vietnam.

Following a farmer.

Still Trekking.

A litte rest.

Picking stickers out of clothes. Olivia couldn't go on covered in them.

Walking in the corn.

School in Thai Giang Pho.

Biking through the coutnryside Vietnamese style. Olivia in the front and Emma in the back (see the helmet?)

Our buddy Nam Hanh.

My Vietnamese family.

Amy's least favorite pic -- one of my favs. Kids playing in the nasty dirt.

I can't get enough of this one. Can't believe Amy and the girls went across this without hesitation. Brave!

Shopping in Hanoi zaps your energy.

Out to dinner with Binh and family.

Out to dinner with Tan (GVI staff).

Cyclo rides through downtown Hanoi.

Last day wtih the Chau girls at the Ethno museum.

The Next Christians by Gabe Lyons

2010-11-14T02:20:00.000-07:00

I read The Next Christians: The Good News about the End of Christian America by Gabe Lyons this past week. It's a powerful read about the future of Christianity. Here are some of my take aways from the book. I hope they will entice you to buy it and read it for yourself.

1. The truth of America is that it is in a post-Christian era. Some parts of the country have felt it much more than others but soon everyone will feel it strongly. This is encouraging though. "Could the end of Christian America become the stirring of something beautiful?" (p.28) I certainly hope so.

2. Christian Interaction with current culture is either separatist or cultural (blenders). We either cut ourselves off from culture or blend in too much. Lyons explains these two categories so well. He props up some mirrors for us to look ourselves in the face.

3. A third category is emerging -- Restorers. "Their mission is to infuse the world with beauty, grace, justice and love.....they thoughtfully engage." (p.47) They see the Gospel as a the whole story of God and can't divorce the elements of Creation and Restoration from the Fall and Redemption. "For the next Christians, the ought is the prism through which they see their mission. This includes sharing the Gospel so that men and women might enter into a relationship with God, but it also goes beyond that. In the good garden there was no sickness or evil or pain. So these Christians set out to identify hurts, sickness, darkness, and evil and then show up as a force of help, healing and goodness. They have purposed to loose the strings of brokenness and set free God's intention." (p. 63)

4. The best part of the book is the description of the restorers. It gives us an idea of the kind of disciples that are needed for the next era of Christianity.

"The six characteristics that set apart the next Christians are that they are:

* Provoked, but not offended (they engage like Jesus did without worrying about what others (especially Christian insiders) think)

* Creators, not critics (they don't hold up picket signs, they create solutions that restore original truth, beauty, love and grace)

* Called, not employed (they use their vocation to impact the world for Christ.)

* Grounded, not distracted (they are grounded in their faith and spiritual disciplines. Lyons adds that the Restorers engage deeply in Scripture, Sabbath, Fasting, Embodiment and Prayer -- you'll have to read to get these. It's very good)

* In community, not alone (no lone rangers. these people fight to be in community especially in cultures that value individualism. It was interesting to me that the key ingredients of community for this group are 1) relational intimacy 2) proximity and permanence 3) Serving together 4) Participation in the wider world -- again, you'll have to read this. very, very good....especially proximity and permanence -- we've got to choose to stay, close together.

* Countercultural, not 'relevant'" (these guys and gals lead into restoration no matter what the cost, they don't care what others think. they keep engaging in Christian ways sharing their lives and their faith while displaying life in the ways of Jesus which is radically 'other' than the way we do life.

Lyons takes the next chapters to break these down with real life examples. Amazing stuff.

5. One last one. I loved this quote.

"The church remains the epicenter of what is possible. It's the most uniquely positioned channel of cultural influence when it's operating on all cylinders. No other institution regularly convenes people who work within the other six channels (media, education, arts, business, government, social) of culture on a weekly basis. On any given Sunday in the church, leaders from all seven channels join together to pray, worship, learn and socialize in one place. Then they are sent out, dispersed to support one another and to work within the sphere of society God has gifted and called them to in order to carry out his restoration work." (p121)

What an exciting future is ahead! I can't wait to see it happen!

There's so much that is substantive in this book. Leaders, Christians and non-Christians would all benefit and be encouraged by this work.

Overcome

2010-11-04T18:01:00.000-06:00

Amy and I have been dreaming of bringing our girls to Vietnam for a long, long time now.

As we've been traveling today, first to San Fran and then to Taipei I've found myself catching still-shots of the experience already.

The girls eyes are wide open. They are capturing so much already and we have only been on the airplanes. It's so much fun to watch as they are already experiencing so many things. Culture, food, language, traveling.

I've always wanted my children to have a global perspective and that dream is coming true.

And so here I am...in an airport in Taipei, Taiwan....overcome with emotion for what I know is going to be a life-changing trip for my girls. They'll never be the same.

A Time to Rest (part 5)

2010-10-31T22:45:00.002-06:00

So, if you've been keeping up with the blogs lately you know that I'm taking off for a time of rest....a sabbatical. It's time to push pause and take a break and breathe deeply and rest. It's going to be fun. Check out the last few blogs if you haven't done so.

When it comes to sabbatical I really don't know what to expect since this is my first time. I suppose it will be more than I expect it to be and less, too. I'm ready for anything and open for God to do whatever he wants with me.

There are two things that I want to go find while I'm gone, though.

1. I want to find JOY at a greater level
2. I want to find FREEDOM at a greater level.

I've taught on Joy and Freedom for years. I think that I have a good grasp on what those things are and yet there is a very real and pressing feeling in my heart that I can and should experience more of both. I believe that God wants me to learn about each of these at greater and deeper levels.

It's not that my life is not joyful (I've got a long list of things and people that give me joy)... it's that with God JOY is infinite so there's a lot further we could go with it and there is a lot more to it than I can comprehend at this point in the journey. I simply don't want to settle for the level of joy that I've experienced. I want to experience joy even more. I want to enjoy my life, my wife, my kids, my church, my friends, my family, my outings, my work, my everything more. May seem like a selfish request but since joy is a fruit of the spirit....I'm just asking for a little miracle grow to make that thing nice and plump and juicy in my life.

Then there's freedom. I want to find freedom from anxiety and worry. I'm figuring out I'm a worry wart. I am always preoccupied with the sense that if I relax something bad is going to happen. I'm always looking all around, thinking about every possible variable of what could happen in every circumstance and relationship in my life and I think if keep focused on it and thinking on it that I'll somehow be able to take care of it before something bad happens. (I hate being human!)

I want to come back with a deeper trust in God to take care of me and everything around me. I want to come back with a strong confidence that God really is in control and my worrying is not going to help any at all.

That's it ....JOY and FREEDOM....and whatever else God wants for me.

Pray for me and for my family, OK? We are so excited about our time of rest. Can't wait to come back and share with you all that God did with us.

We love you Cool River and family and friends all around the world. Thanks for all your love for us.

Kevin, Amy, Emma, Claire and Olivia

A Time to Rest (part 4)

2010-10-30T22:28:00.001-06:00

Have you ever been on a roller coaster?

You get started, it's a long uphill climb. You feel the weight of everything you are pulling up with you. You get to the top and your heart starts racing as the coaster starts it's move downward. Swoosh! There you go. And everything starts becoming a blur....you pick up speed....around a corner, you feel the force....around a loop, you're having fun. You know the speed, you feel the momentum, you experience the thrills and chills of the ride. And then you come around the last corner and down the last straight-away and all of the speed and force and energy comes to a forced stop. Your body goes flying forward and you brace yourself. Good thing that thing has good brakes!

I think that's what church planting has been up to this point. And now as we are nearing our first extended stop it's like I'm noticing how much energy, effort, weight, and speed that has been with us. As we are stopping, it is all thrusting my body forward. I feel the entire weight of what Cool River has been. Crazy huh?!?

And crazier still, I didn't even know. The thrill and the speed was such a non-stop, captivating ride that I was oblivious of what it was really taking to move the car around the track. I was having too much fun. There were so many things flying by. There was another curve, another drop, another loop coming that I had to be ready for. I didn't have time to think about the last one. Crazy huh?!?

Life can be a wild roller coaster ride for all of us.

Taking time to rest is essential not only for ramping up to go again but also for enjoying the ride in the first place.

I'm looking forward to pushing pause, resting, and taking time to appreciate the amazing ride that Cool River has been. And I'm looking forward to coming back to ride again.....but maybe with some more stops along the way instead of riding over and over again without stopping. That just causes puking! :-)

A Time to Rest (part 3)

2010-10-29T22:54:00.006-06:00

I'm not Super-Human.

Ok...that's a 'duh' statement but isn't it funny how we slip into believing we are. And even knowing the fact that I'm not super-human full well doesn't stop me from trying to be. We are funny creatures, aren't we?

So...yeah....I'm not super human (and neither are you, btw). Which means that I can't go, go, go and expect to make it for the long haul (and neither can you). We all need to push pause, hit stop, take time to rest.

I've had some hints along the way that I wasn't superhuman like when I tried to dip my mom dancing tango and she fell on my leg and broke my fibula and tibia. (totally my fault....just poor form...I was only 7...I was merely learning the dance at the time). OR the time I was playing baseball with some buddies with a croquet ball and the white striped, black ball came flying in and busted my head open. (totally my fault....turns out you shouldn't play baseball with a croquet ball...but I was only 17 and we didn't have a baseball available).

More recently I have found that I'm not superhuman by trying to keep a pace of life that just isn't sustainable without rest (among many other clues that I'm not superhuman but I won't bore you with the list. It's way, way too long and getting longer). Working hard and giving it your all is not the problem....it's that we don't stop, we don't rest and we kill ourselves and our families along the way....without even knowing it. (It's almost like a roller coaster...but that's next time's blog).

I remember the first time I wrote "I am tired" in my journal.
I remember the first time Amy looked at me and said, "Kevin, you look tired."
I was realizing it but I didn't want to believe it. You see.....I really thought I could keep going. I still have something in me that says, "keep running....faster....faster.....it's ok....it's good....and people will think you are cool because of it."
I'm finally getting a clue that voice is not God's.
His voice says, "Kevin. Yes...give it all you've got buddy...but take me up on some advice....stop regularly.....breathe.....let me give you rest.....take care of yourself....don't be fooled into thinking you're superhuman.....trust the rhythm of rest I've set before you....that's part of obeying me, too."

Psalm 23:2-3

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, ³ he restores my soul.

Sounds good, doesn't it?

A Time to Rest (part 2)

2010-10-28T22:01:00.006-06:00

I'm going on a Sabbatical starting November 1, 2010. And it's probably about time.

Amy and I moved to Colorado the summer of 2002 in June. I’ll never forget that day. The only person in town we knew (Gene Binder, pastor of Cornerstone Church) and a group of college students he rounded up came to help us unload the truck at the Horizon’s Apartments. A little later that day a couple from Cornerstone brought over a bag of groceries for us to get started. Emma was getting ready to turn 3. Claire was about 7 months. Olivia would come a little over a year later.

I met my first neighbor that day. He was at the pool. He needed a bathroom. I offered ours. My first act of service. I was proud.

After that, I got to work right away. Meeting people. Making connections with the town. Attending the chamber of commerce events. Volunteering wherever I could. Getting a job in the after-school program. Grilling out and giving away burgers just to connect with folks. Playing poker at the pool with a guy who had "pain" tattooed across his back. You know, the kind of work church planters do.

And little by little, as I built relationships and sharing my story, people started to resonate with this idea about a church in Superior, Colorado. A few of them Christians and some not. Both good to have around early on.

Jayson and Wendy Ayers were the first to take us up on the dream. Wendy's brother Curtis Andrus was around back then. And Jamie Condo. Troy and Amy Hadeen soon followed. Craig McLatchey, Jim and Sue Kincaid, Steve and Jessica Mertz were all in that first small group. And Danny and Karen Gibson joined us, too. We were studying the book of Mark back in those days and since we were all at different places spiritually it made for some amazing conversation. I was in Heaven....finally doing what God had told me to do. This was the beginning of Cool River.

That conversation over the book of Mark started in December of 2002.

Preview services started in February of 2003. (We did 4 of them)

We did nothing but serve our town in the summer of 2003.

Weekly gatherings began in October of 2003.

And over all that time we've tried really hard to listen to God and follow Him every step of the way.

We've tried this and that and that and this and have done plenty wrong and some right and have laughed and cried and everything in between. We've seen people come and go. We've seen people stay and stay. We've had some good years. We've had some bad years. I've led well, led poorly, led backwards, led sideways, but I keep leading. If something doesn't work I try something else. If something works I try something else. I just keep trying and trying. Always hoping to find the "IT" of ministry and instead HE finds me and says again, "Just follow me and you'll be OK kid," So I keep following. And He keeps leading me to some great stuff...Himself mostly. And so that's where I keep trying to lead people to....to Him....over and over again until they quit thinking that they have to come to me for anything.

Now it’s 8 1/2 years later and there is a community of faith in Superior, Colorado called Cool River. It’s filled with amazing people who are exploring God, seeking faith, asking hard questions, struggling with the tensions of the Kingdom of God and moving through the transformation of their souls as we try to Love God and Love People. And me....I'm right there with them. Learning just as much or more. Loving every minute of it.

It's been a great 8 1/2 years.

8 1/2 years of good work. 8 1/2 years of sacrifice. 8 1/2 years of feeling every emotion in the book as deeply as you can feel it. 8 1/2 years of pushing, pushing, pushing. 8 1/2 years of messages. 8 1/2 years of conversations. 8 1/2 years of non stop mission. 8 1/2 years of praying. 8 1/2 years of early mornings and late nights. 8 1/2 years of introducing people to Jesus. 8 1/2 years of creating God-awareness. 8 1/2 years of serving. 8 1/2 years of volunteering. 8 1/2 years of parties. 8 1/2 years of hellos. 8 1/2 years of goodbyes. 8 1/2 years of living in the tension of leading and organism that is also an organization. 8 1/2 years of trying to be a super pastor, super friend, super mentor, super coach, super counselor, super dad, super husband, super preacher, super leader, super facilitator, super connector, super networker, super mobilizer, super evangelist, super discipler, super bridge-builder and a super me.

It's been a great 8 1/2 years and you know what I learned in these 8 1/2 years????? I'M NOT SUPER HUMAN!

I'll tell you about that next time. I'm not super enough to post on it right now.

A Time of Rest (part 1)

2010-10-27T21:44:00.001-06:00

I'm going on my first ever Sabbatical starting Nov. 1.

In the strictest sense of the word a sabbatical is an extended time of rest. In more recent times, sabbaticals are used for an extended time away from work to achieve something (write a book, do some research, take a course) but that defeats the whole purpose of sabbatical. It's not sabbatical unless you rest. And rest doesn't mean resting from something to pick up something else. In other words, if you don't rest on sabbatical....you have failed.

Well anyway -- I'm doing the rest sabbatical not the other one. And for you that don't like it, how about this: I'm going away to achieve rest. How's that? Feel better? I'll work really, really, really hard to rest. (actually for me....that's probably more true than I'd wish to admit.)

For me rest will be difficult. I don't do rest well. I'm to distracted. I can't sit still. I need to be doing something, talking to someone, checking my email, working on a message, setting up a meeting.

However, there is a deep sense in my heart and soul that I need this. You just can't run hard for 8 1/2 years straight without taking a break and you certainly can't run for 16 years or 40 years without regularly stopping to take a breath. In my brain that makes sense but every other part of me feels like I should keep running. I guess that's part of the DNA of a church starter.

It's a good thing that some good friends and a good wife finally said, "It's time to rest, Kevin." And so I am.

Here's what rest will look like for me this time. It begins with a two-week adventure to Vietnam with my whole family. We've actually been preparing and saving for 6 years for this. It's a dream come true to be able to share one of my favorite places with Amy and the girls. Just me, them and some chicken fried rice. :-) I've gone to Vietnam to work many, many times. This time is all about enjoying it all very, very slowly.

After that we come back for a week to a cabin in in the Rockies to enjoying the snow and the pines and the fresh air.

Finally, on the fourth week, I fly out to visit my favorite Puerto Rican food restaurant -- My mom's house. I'm looking forward to enjoying being with her, my grandmother and my sister and her family.

It's going to be great.

***Stay tuned for a little more on my sabbatical in the next few days. Look for blogs on: -- how we got here -- what I'm hoping to get out of sabbatical -- how I found out I wasn't super human -- and maybe a blog about chimichangas. You won't want to miss it.***

Building stuff for God

2010-10-11T08:20:00.000-06:00

The closing chapters of Exodus give us a very detailed and elaborate picture of the construction of the tabernacle (a place for the presence of God to reside and for God to be worshipped).

Like all good building projects it was well prepped, well funded and well build by skillful laborers. But there was something different about this place.

1. The preparations and plans came from God (Exodus 25-30)

2. The funds came from people whom God stirred to give (Exodus 35:4-9; 20-29) They people gave freely and willingly and they ended up having to stop them because they were giving too much. (36:2-7)

3. The labor was infused by the Spirit of God. The laborers were filled with the Spirit. (Exodus 31:3; 35:30-35; 36-39)

It makes me think of our own building....

---Do we get the plans from God?

---Once He speaks, do we give generously, willingly, freely and abundantly to it?

---Did we allow His Spirit to fill us for the work or are we doing it under our own power?

Here's how Exodus ends:

Exodus 40:34-38

³⁴ Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. ³⁵ Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. ³⁶ In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; ³⁷ but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. ³⁸ So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels.

God was pleased. The people are pleased. They kept recognizing God as their leader and would not move unless He moved.

Prayer: Lord -- may I be led by your presence and glory. May I always be listening and watching, ready to move my heart, my resources, my time and my efforts for You and Your plans.

Top Takeaways/Questions from Missio

2010-09-30T09:26:00.000-06:00

Got to spend a couple of days at the Missio Intensive with Hugh Halter, Matt Smay and Bob Logan (yeah...that was a cool surprise!) This was a time of training, conversation, challenge and inspiration about being a disciple and making disciples. If you want to learn more about all of this check out www.missio.us or read The Tangible Kingdom and And--The gathered and scattered church.

Here are my top 13 personal take-aways and questions from the two days. Hope it messes with you.

1. I love my city -- I've always realized but seldom verbalize that it takes a huge love for a people and a city for you to give your life to it. I live in more broadly in Boulder, CO and more specifically in Superior, CO. It's a quirky place (but what place isn't?) and God has given me a huge love for it. So much so that when people start messing with Boulder, beat it down with words....I'm offended. I love my city.

2. There's no way I can lead people to be a disciple unless I'm a disciple. I can teach the best sermons. I can do the best trainings. But unless people see it in me none of that will matter. I love what Bob Logan said, "You don't think your way into a new way of acting. You act your way into a new way of thinking."

3. The best way to make disciples is to be with them. You cannot make a disciple from far away. It's got to be an intentional, life-on-life movement. As you do life...dates, marriage, family, work, service, benevolence, playing, whatever....you have to get the people you're discipling to come with. As you go, you teach and train and disciple.

4. If I don't give my time to leaders how can I expect them to give time to the people they are discipling? We can get busy doing a lot of stuff but are we spending our time on the right things?

5. God put a vision in my heart a long time ago that there would be a "pastor" (an intentional, courageous, purposeful, loving, serving, giving, authentic, available Kingdom person) on every street in Superior. I think he fanned the flame for that vision these two days. God let us see it.

6. Communion, Community and Mission (the core practices and lifestyle of the Kingdom life) are the grids by which we should train, evaluate and measure effectiveness in the life of ourselves, disciples, leaders and the church as a whole.

7. Communion, Community and Mission should be our filter as we make decisions about direction, spending money, starting a programs/system, etc. If it moves us toward a more vibrant practice of the three then YES. If it moves us away from it...NO.

8. There are two decisions every person must make. A. Belief -- do you believe the gospel? B. Death -- are you willing to die for it?

9. Sentness is near -- everyone of us have someone close that needs the Kingdom of God. We can't help but to run into our sentness. Now what will we do about it?

10. A disciple is a non-consumer, a non-individual, a non-materialist, a non-religious person.

11. Consumerism can only exist if you allow it to exist.

12. If all the money was gone, would our church exist?

13. What will your church be known for in 100 years? What are you handing down to the next generation?

First and 10 (Commandments)

2010-09-21T08:46:00.000-06:00

God gave ten commandments, a standard for living with him and with people. If you want to know how to love God and love people, this is a great place to start.
Some will say that these are the rules we are judged on so you better follow them. This is all we have.
Some will say that these are the rules that can't be kept so just keep asking God to forgive you.
Some will agree with me and say -- these rules were meant to be kept, you can't keep them on your own and thus they reveal your need for a Savior, so latch on to God and let him live his life through you and you will see the commandments lived out in you life.

Exodus 20 -- My (non-scholarly) version

I'm God. You're only alive because of me....So listen up!

#1. You think there are others like me....but there's not. I'm it. I'm the ONE. Put me first and you'll be OK.

#2. You'll probably try to make up little gods to worship...but just so you know....that's not cool. It won't work for you. Nothing compares...so don't go there. And if you do....I'm not gonna like it. Really. And I'll let you know. I will judge you and your kids. But if you want to engage in a love relationship, I'm in. That invitation extends to a thousand generations.

#3. By the way....respect my name. It matters to me. You don't want anyone going around slandering your name, dragging it through the mud, right? Well, don't do that to me either, OK?

#4. You should rest. You need it. Just trust me on this one. 6 days for you. 1 day for me. Do it.

#5. Your parents are important. Respect them. Honor them. I'll bless you for this one.

#6. Respect life. I made it. I think it's amazing. Please, let me decide who lives and dies. That's simply not your job.

#7. Respect marriage. Men...keep your hands to yourself and your pants on. Women...leave that other woman's man alone. Seriously....do you really think this is helping anything?!

#8. Respect property....especially the property that is not yours.

#9. Respect truth. Be people of truth always.

#10. Be OK with what you have. Don't play the comparisons game. Keeping up with the Jones' in any way, shape or form is just dumb.

Now, you may be scared with this list. You may be scared of me. But you don't have to be. I want you to honor me and respect me and that's why I gave you this list. I want you to live a holy life, a life without sin, a life of love for me and for people. Trust me. I've got your best interests in mind. I want you to live an amazing life and I'll show you how to do that every step of the way.

Lord -- may we honor you with our lives.