Our Why...

i recently watched this TEDx talk and it solidified and deepened so much of my vision for who we are and what we do at campus house.  check out the video for yourself (you will not regret it)...and below it, are some of my reactionary thoughts.

 How Great Leaders Inspire Action


OUR WHY:
It is our vision.  "A Jesus community helping students find their way back to God."  Which is based in the fact that we believe God created a perfect existence, we call Shalom, and placed us as humans, in it.  But Genesis 3 happened, and when it happened, it changed everything.  And Genesis 3 still happens.  The rest of the Story of God, the Bible, is a repeating and continual attempt by God to put His people, His family back together...to restore Shalom...for life to be the way it was intended to be.  And the story is not over...it is not complete...it is still going on today. 

The pathway for this restoration IS complete...that happened when Jesus said, "It is finished"...and followed those words by conquering death.  But we as individuals, as a community and as a world find ourselves in the midst of this process of needing to, and finding our way back to Shalom.  Therefore, church and it's other representations, are not about a place we go or a time we sector off in order to make our lives feel right...feel like Shalom.  It is not about landing us in a better place someday...a place we call heaven.  It is not about a list of do's and don'ts in order to create good people.  It is about journeying back to Shalom, individually and as a community...which is an every moment, all of life...thing.  We exist as a ministry because we believe the world is broken, and that we are broken...not the way it was intended to be and we believe that by doing what we do, we are on a journey and leading others into a journey towards experiencing and restoring Shalom, through what God has done and continues to do.


OUR HOW:
It is through our values.  Belonging. Story. Restoration. Revolution. Creativity. They must guide both what we do and DO NOT DO through the heartbeat of our why.


OUR WHAT:
There are undoubtedly other ways to see our why lived out, but we choose to live it out in a few specific ways.  Weekly worship (we call DIG).  Small groups (we call them Community Groups).  GROW Trips (mission and spiritual development trips).  Service.  Community Events.

Transition...So What's Next...

a little less than a week ago, my wife and i had our first child.

in the birth process, there is a stage called transition. basically it is the home stretch. everything changes for the woman...and in a relatively short amount of time, everything is going to be different...a new baby will enter this world.

for my wife, it was the moment she fairly calmly turned, looked at me, and said, "She's coming." to which i said, "What exactly do you mean."(i was the only one in the room at the time, and if it meant what i thought it meant...it was time for me to do something) And then, in less than 10 minutes, my wife was holding our brand new baby girl in her arms. (and don't worry...i was able to get the midwife...i did not deliver the baby myself)

in some ways, i feel like this idea of "transition" is very analogous to what is taking place at campus house right now.

our women's minister, who is finishing her 8th year on staff, is moving on at the end of this year. it is tough to see her go...and yet it is very right...God has called her and her family to a different place...a place where they can minister as a team and i believe that is absolutely where they need to be.

however, it leaves us, as a ministry in a time of transition...whether we like it or not.

i know that times like this often birth some of the best growing times and lead to places that we have never even dreamed of being.

and yet, i must admit, there is a part of me that wishes we could just continue the way things have been...keep the status quo...not have to think about what is next. which leads to my other temptation...to just pretend like things are not changing and more or less adopt an ignorance is bliss mentality (although, as much as i may like to be, i am not ignorant in this case).

so...i know neither of those approaches are right and i am trying my very best to push ahead and guide our ministry to the next right place. but honestly, it is tough to know what that place is right now. i have my thoughts and my ideas...others have their thoughts and their ideas...how do we decide which are God's thoughts and God's ideas? i know above all else that i want God's direction for this step.

which makes me think about how the story of God is littered with stories of God working in ways that were unimaginable and beyond anyone's wildest dreams. stories of people or armies, defeating people or armies, they had no business fighting, let alone beating. stories of people who were elevated to positions they logically should not have gotten and seemed completely unqualified for. stories of God working in, through, and around people to do things for which there simply is not a YouTube "how to" video. stories where greatness only comes through unprecedented work and toughness. stories where the key ingredient is a long obedience in the same direction...and where God shows up to do more than we could ever ask or imagine.

so what do i take from all of this...

what i know: we are in a time of transition...in a matter of months, things will look different...like it or not.

what it don't know: what the right next step is...what our staff will look like a few months from now.

what i want to cling to: much like the feeling that comes after transition at the end of a long and grueling birth process...God is in the business of delivering more than we can even begin to wrap our minds around...even in our best, most inspired vision casting sessions.


if this turns out even a fraction of how great my daughter did, then i am excited...and i know it will be great in the end.

Something to Eat...

here at campus house...we are incredibly excited about something we have the opportunity to bring to our campus next week...

...it's called...Something to Eat...

click here to check it out...

DIG Followw-up...2 Samuel 19-21...

last night we looked at the difference between keeping the peace and creating shalom...

...the difference between being reactive and being proactive...

what do you think the difference is between keeping the peace and creating shalom?

what do you think that difference looks like in your life?

Relational Lessons from the Life of David...

last night we entered into 2 samuel 15, 16, 17 & 18. it was an epic amount of text...however to creatively and deeply entered into that much text, we encountered it through a rather amazing (if i might say so myself) radio show.

you can listen to the entire teaching here...or you can download it on iTunes here.

we talked about how relationship was and is at the core foundational level of creation. and we looked at how this section in the life of david points to three specific pieces of this relational foundation.

to continue the thinking...here is another bit i have been kicking around about the relational core of creation.

exodus 34:6-7 says:
"And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, 'The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.'"

(the context for these verses is that moses is receiving the ten commandments from the Lord for a second time because, while he was receiving them the first time, the people built and started worshiping a golden calf, and in his anger and disbelief upon discovering their actions, he threw down and broke the original tablets.)

i think many people hear the final phrase of those two verses and think, "how could a loving God punish not only the person who has done wrong, but also the generations to follow".

i wonder if where this thinking gets skewed is we assume that the punishment that is falling on the future generations is some sort of a proactive punishment by God. i don't think it is proactive at all. rather, i think it is a testament, again, to the fact that relationship is at the core foundation of creation. it is in the dna of creation. and therefore God has chosen, and we should be thankful he has, to continue working within the confines of relationship.

it seems harsh to punish future generations. however, i firmly believe that God desires deeply to not punish future generations, but the reality is, if sin is allowed to go unaddressed, it will affect future generations, and that punishment will go on. it is nothing God directly does, it is simply a result of His relational creation. and we need His creation to be relational. however, we can't have our cake and eat it too. but sometimes we think we can...or at least we think we should be able to.

Tabula Rasa...

...is, according to wikipedia, the epistemological theory that individuals are born without built-in mental content and that their knowledge comes from experience and perception.

it is a fascinating concept in so many ways. today i am fascinated by the origin of the word.

again from wikipedia...the term in latin equates to the english "blank slate" but comes from the roman tabula or wax tablet, used for notes, which was blanked by heating the wax and then smoothing it to give a tabula rasa.

i guess it was the first etch-a-sketch...

the origin of tabula rasa, or blank slate, is a perfect illustration of my philosophy of ministry.

there are few people here in the mid-western united stated (where i am a campus minister) that have simply not heard of this guy named Jesus. who know nothing about christianity and the church. the more prevalent problem is people who need to be brought back to "tabula rasa".

many people have been formed by thoughts and ideas that have been passed down generationally, either through a biological family or a church family, giving them a skewed understanding of Jesus and christianity.

colossians 2:8 says, "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ."

in this culture and society, human tradition has a tendency to win out over the ways of Christ. and so, much of the time, i feel like my role is to help people "heat up the wax" to return to the state of being a blank slate, to tabula rasa. because at that point, Christ can get a hold of them and as i love to say, "can mess them up in the best way imaginable".

i believe, in this world of informational overload, that in many different areas of our lives and at many different times, we will be greatly benefited from allowing ourselves to be brought by God to "tabula rasa" so that He can rewrite our "programming" to what He desires.

may we all allow there to be areas of our hearts that are like wax that God heats up and wipes clean.

colossians 2:9-10 says, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ,"

It's Been Far Too Long...

it seems as if it was forever ago that i last wrote. it has been far too long.

during this lull, i have been incredibly humbled to hear that there are people out there that have actually missed my writing. in one sense that seems crazy to me, and in another sense, i am incredibly honored. and so to you folks, thanks for reading and thanks for getting on my case about writing again. this return to blogging is partially for you.

but more than that, i know that entering into this space is incredibly good for me. it is good for me to be challenged to think and process in a different way. and it is good for me to engage in the process of "unpacking" thoughts. i know it betters me as a person, a minister, a husband, and i believe it will better me as a father.

so in many senses, even if no one was reading this, it would be good for me and be something that i should do...something i need to do. so honestly, in many ways this return to writing is for myself. and yet, it is not just for me, because i realize that what this activity does inside of me has a huge impact on those that surround me. and...if it happens to challenge those of you reading in the process, i cherish that as icing on the cake.

at any rate, i'm back!

that said, i want to tweak my approach to what i am actually writing. the monday, thursday routine got to be far too confining. i will still try to write follow-up thoughts to the wednesday teachings at campus house. other than that, i plan to allow the space to be much more free flowing...writing about where i am and what i am thinking.