playing with God

Early this week Kelly and I had one of those days, one of those days when the reality and stress of it all seemed like too much. I had a job interview that went all day and felt pretty fried after, Kelly had potentially a new job that she lost out on due to a miscommunication, the kids had been sick specifically Morgan but we were holding out taking her to the doctor because of lack of health insurance, and the financial strain seemed at its breaking point. So to say the least there was a lot of tears shed that night wondering what the answers were going to be. Kelly even cried out at one point "Tell God I don't want to play anymore!"
The next evening as I got the mail I noticed a letter addressed to me and Kelly and I without a return address. Intrigued I opened it and saw a note that said "Hope this helps" signed " a family from eastern hills" and inside was a bank check larger than any pay check i have ever received. God is so good and I thank Him so much for taking care of my family and for whoever felt moved to help us out as well. I guess they call this living by faith, it is hard and it hurts at times, but at no other time is God so real. So thank you God for playing even if at times we feel like giving up and throwing in the towel.

What if...?

So last night turned out pretty sweet. Wasn't sure if anyone was going to show up but in true epic fashion within a couple min of 8 it looked like we had 30 some people. I will let you know the next time and place. But on to today's thought..

What if we built a church backwards? What if we built it inside out?
You see Jesus talks alot about how to act as a follower of Him. What our lifestyle should embody, things like serving others, compassion for those in need, the ability to reach those that the religious have marginalized. He said the 2 most important commands involve loving God and your neighbor. Then He tells a story to the church leaders that your neighbor isn't someone that looks, dresses, or acts like you. Your neighbor is the person that makes you uncomfortable, that you lock your door when they walk by your car.
I guess the question posed is this, To live this life that Jesus called us to live and impact the world the way Jesus did, is the most effective mode to build a big building on a suburban street corner? Does this effectively get at this serving and compassion for the world, that Jesus calls our number one priority? I don't think so, I think we need to "build" a church around compassion and service, to the community and the world. We then create ways to disciple and teach those that are being transformed as they come along side and continue to help serve. And last but not least we get together from time to time to gather and worship together in celebration. I know I know I know what your thinking, but Jim that isn't how a church starts, you have to have this worship service that everyone shows up at on a convenient suburban corner, then once "everyone" starts coming to that you institute this program called small groups, (make sure every leader is a member of the church), and last but not least you do these things called outreach projects and missions trips. Yeah I know I guess you're right thats the way your "supposed" to do it, not all backwards and inside out...
but..
What if...

The Details...

O.K so this is the deal. We are having a little get together at my house. It is open to anyone from anywhere, so you and all your friends are invited. Just some worship and word, and time to hangout see old friends and maybe make new ones. I really have no idea how many or who is going to show up. I am not advertising or doing some comprehensive marketing campaign. This is just a little grass roots movement of people who love God and other people. It is going to be spread through word of mouth and this blog. So this is where you come in, the casual reader of this blog. If you are planning on coming sunday, if you could post under the comment section letting me know that would be great. You may have to create a username for this blog site if you already haven't (it takes like a min). Also if you are inviting anyone or know of someone else coming that might not frequent this blog let me know that as well. I am just trying to get a rough idea of how many might be showing up. Alright back to the details.

Time - Worship starting around 8 pm (you can come whenever you want and leave whenever you want)

Date- Sunday July 23

Place = My crib, 37 Schlemmer Rd. Lancaster, 14086 (use mapquest if you don't know where i live)

Bring - Lawn chair or blankets (it is supposed to be nice sunday) smore stuff for the bonfire following.

see ya sunday.
jim

Triathlons- Doing what God calls you to do.

Last year I got a dumb idea. I have lots of these. The difference between me and most people is that I somehow get around to doing these ideas. Well in my quest to get into shape I decided to train and compete in a triathlon, I did 2 of these last summer. It was so uncomfortable and grueling that I thought I would try to convert some others into doing some this summer, in steps Terry and Erik. Well the first triathlon of the year was July 1st, "A Tri in the Buff" down in Evangola state park. Erik and Terry had been training and I had been thinking about training, well 1 week before the race I pulled my groin playing basketball. It wasn't like I just stretched it a little, but I pulled it to the point that I couldn't jog one step and it turned black and blue. I was hoping this would be a good excuse for me to pull out. But the reality is that I couldn't, I had asked others to join me in this endeavor. I had talked it up, talked about how great and fun it was, how it would get you into shape.
For the last couple of years I have talked about what a church for the future could look like, how we could impact wny and the world for Christ. I have had lots of conversations with many many people about this. I have vision casted, and rallied and talked up what this kind of ministry could look like. Well I guess the reality is that it's time we race. I don't know if I have trained as much as I should or that I know what it's going to look like. What I do know is that you get no where by standing still, I want to move forward.
Well I did the triathlon, I limped through it. It wasn't pretty but I crossed the finish line. I am ready for anyone that has a similar vision of the future of the church to start running this race, not sure where it's going... but hopefully that will become clearer.


ps- Starting line is Sunday july 22 at my house in the evening, outside, I will post more official details in the next few days.
pps- sean's leading worship

My 2 cents about Christianity and Night Photography

I just read Sean Read's latest post (see side bar, Dangerous Wonder) and started to post my comment, all of a sudden my comment started getting longer and longer. I guess that's what happens when you haven't blogged in a while. So I picked up my comment and decided to post it on my page for all to see, and to keep from posting a way to long comment on Sean's blog. So I would encourage you to read Sean's post before reading mine, it might make more sense.

Sean,

Good topic, I am have been doing the same investigation recently. I have been rereading Acts this past week with a critical eye to the look and attributes of the early church. I am coming to the conclusion that I have been asking slightly the wrong question about church and christianity. I have changed my focus from asking "What is the Church and Christianity?" to "What does the church do?" Christianity and the church is a movement, it's fluid, it's evolving, it's organic, and it is not built within the constraints of our limited human knowledge and wisdom. It was created by the author of all who calls Himself "I am". It is beautifully simple and elegantly complex, all in the same breath. Little kids can understand it completely in a moment, while the most intelligent can be baffled for a lifetime. I feel sometimes we spend to much time trying to define this thing called Christianity and the Church. It reminds me of the time I wanted to take a picture of the night sky, the stars were perfect that night, sky was clear, the moon just a sliver, and a constant array of shooting stars created a mind blowing tapestry. I spent so much time trying to get the aperture and shutter speed just right, hoping to capture the majestic essence of what I was seeing. The problem was, when I got the pictures developed they looked nothing like that amazing sky, didn't even come close to doing it any kind of justice. If I would have showed anyone the picture they would have had very little idea of what I was trying to portray. You see that sky was dynamic, it had movement and depth that couldn't be contained (at least by my camera). The best thing would have been to not waste my time with my stupid little camera but to grab a blanket and lay out under that night sky and just bask in its mystery, in all its entirety. Instead of trying to show a picture to someone and describe what I saw, I need to bring that person out the very next night, and have them lay next to me, staring at the reality of that same night sky. I feel in the past I have put too much undo pressure on my self when it comes to trying to figure out God, Christianity and how to have non-believers understand it all. I think I often doubt God, and his power, and His glory, all that truly makes the blind see. You see all I am called to do is lay the blanket out, and ask a friend to lay beside me and look at that indescribable night sky. I think that's the definition of revival.