I've got a burden of love...for a people who became my enemy

"If our convictions lead us to believe there is no hope for those outside our own faith or with no faith..." there is a danger of "treating others as if they know nothing, and we have nothing to learn". "Belief in the uniqueness and finality of Christ allows us a generous desire to share and a humble desire to learn".-Archbishop Rowan Williams , in his address at the Guildford Cathedral titled The Finality of Christ in a Pluralist World

About 12 years ago, I had a burden laid on my heart by the Spirit of God for Muslim people. It manifested itself in a ethos of prayer and study and was leading to thoughts of mission. I genuinely found love growing in my heart for a people I didn't even really know. I knew character both Christians and Culture...but not personhood. God breathed in a tenderness and a vision to see a people not simply a project.

Then 9-11 happened.

That event has messed up this little love affair. Now my internal Christian reality has become at odds with my civil religion.
I have been wrestling with this tension for awhile...and honestly a lot of my war talk, has emerged out of this sifting between love and mission and war and patriotism.

When I read this story below...I resonated deeply with the example of Christ shown by this little Friar.

In 1219 St. Francis and Brother Illuminato accompanied the armies of western Europe to Damietta, Egypt, during the Fifth Crusade. His desire was to speak peacefully with Muslim people about Christianity, even if it mean dying as a martyr. He tried to stop the Crusaders from attacking the Muslims at the Battle of Damietta, but failed. After the defeat of the western armies, he crossed the battle line with Brother Illuminato, was arrested and beaten by Arab soldiers, and eventually was taken to the sultan, Malek al-Kamil. 

Al-Kamil was known as a kind, generous, fair ruler. He was nephew to the great Salah al-Din. At Damietta alone he offered peace to the Crusaders five times, and, according to western accounts, treated defeated Crusaders humanely. His goal was to establish a peaceful coexistence with Christians. 

After an initial attempt by Francis and the sultan to convert the other, both quickly realized that the other already knew and loved God. Francis and Illuminato remained with al-Kamil and his Sufi teacher Fakhr ad-din al-Farisi for as many as twenty days, discussing prayer and the mystical life. When Francis left, al-Kamil gave him an ivory trumpet, which is still preserved in the crypt of the Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi. 

"This encounter, which occurred between September 1 and 26, is a paradigm for interfaith dialog in our time. Despite differences in religion, people of prayer can find common ground in their experiences of God. Dialog demands that we truly listen to the other; but, before we can listen, we must see the other as a precious human being, loved by God. There is no other path to peace in this bloody 21st century. 

Francis and his brothers did not make this trip as part of the battle to regain the Holy Land. Rather, they went in opposition to the mainstream theological and political orthodoxies of the time, to meet the Muslim people, and to live among them as “lesser brothers.” 

Francis and his brothers went to be present among this people who were being portrayed as evil enemies of Christ, and, in his evangelism of presence, Francis found the spirit of God to be alive and at work within the Muslim people, then called “the Saracens”. Francis admired their public, repeated acknowledgment of God and call to prayer, and he appreciated the deep reverence they showed to their holy book, the Qur’an. 

While the main trend of the time was for Christian preachers to deliver strident, inflammatory sermons against Islam, Francis forbade his brothers to take part in these exercises. He demanded that his brothers be present first and foremost, living with and among the Saracens. They were to preach only if they felt that it would “please the Lord.” Francis worked to prevent the brotherhood from becoming embroiled in the grasp for civil and ecclesiastical offices and power, and kept the community’s focus on serving their neighbors for the glory of God only."

The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory,
like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
true from start to finish.
-John 1:14

Just go...

This young woman's story of obeying the call to go serve the least of these in Uganda; is both inspirational and a realistic wake up call to the Joy & Cost of following Jesus. It's worth a read...and it might mess up your life. Read her blog here: http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/

Converted or Killed...?

"But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison...Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" And He said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting." -Acts 8:3 & 9:1-5

Imagine if in our day...God raised up another Middle Eastern force of global missionaries; handpicked from a group of fundamentalist, religious extremists...who are also breathing threats and murder.

Saul was such a man...and God changed Him from the inside out...and Saul...became known as Paul. Not a murdering religious zealot who would gladly stand over the infidels as they were stoned to death...but Paul, the self sacrificing missionary who would become the Apostle to the Gentiles. Eventually he would give up his own life for the gospel of Jesus, as a martyr for the faith he once persecuted.

But...for there to be a Paul...there also has to be an...Ananias.

In Acts 9:10-19 we have the story of how God used a disciple named Ananias to embrace and empower Paul through forgiveness, prayer and ministry.

At first Ananias was nervous about God’s call to him to reach out to this well known, violent religious fundamentalist. How could God be calling him to cross paths with one of the most violent religious aggressor against the fledgling church?

How could God be calling Ananias to endanger himself?
Would God require Ananias to risk imprisonment and possible death?

Yes.

As a result...God moved through Ananias obedience and Saul’s vision was restored and he was baptized. Out of those baptismal waters...came the Apostle Paul. A new man...with a new heart and charged with a new mission.

I believe that this world needs less people who think with “Bullet’s & Ballots” and more who embrace a mission minded God. The church is charged with finding her Saul’s who are destined to become Paul’s and more than likely the most influential and misisonminded will come from among the most radical and terrifying opponents of Jesus.

Behold...the mission field of God...who will go?


In the last 25 years, more than 100 times as many American Christians have gone to the Middle East to serve their country in a military capacity than have gone to the Middle East to serve the King of kings by proclaiming the gospel of peace!

In North Africa, there is still roughly one missionary for every two million Muslims.
In northern India, it is roughly one missionary for every five million Muslims.
Globally, it averages out to be one missionary for every one million Muslims.


ABCs of Global Missions
World A
Unreached people -- 24% of the world's population -- receive 1/2 of 1% of dollars given to Christian missions

World B
Unevangelized World -- 43% of the world's population -- receives 5% of dollars given to Christian missions

World C
Christian World -- 33% of the world's population -- receives 94.5% of dollars given to Christian missions

Just maybe...if we would have been as zealous for the mission of God among the least reached peoples of this world...we wouldn’t be where we are today, Geo-politically?
Maybe the blood of the innocents lies not on the hands of the military but on the folded and slumbering hands of God’s inactive soldiers of the cross?

Maybe the hope of the planted isn’t in the hands of the Generals but instead in the pews of our churches?

Saul...where are you?

Ananias...where are you?

--------------------------------------------------
Answers to objections to going into Missions by John Piper: here
Strategic World Missions Map to plan your mission: here

Russian mission fields....

These pictures are tragic...they show me that the gospel is needed wherever humanity dwells.

Answers to prayer....

"But you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot because of your fame, you poured out your harlotries on every passer-by who might be willing. -Ezekiel 16:15

I've been to Holland and particularly Amsterdam 6 different times. God laid this city on my heart when I was a teenager serving in a youth ministry under my youth pastor. I've spent thousands of dollars, a stream of tears, a lot of prayer walking shoe leather, countless hours of conversations, teaching and praying for this city. I've always had a spiritual connection to the redemptive purposes of God for this place. I can't explain why, or even point to a lot of stories that could prove it...but when I read this article about shutting down up to maybe half of the prostitution spots in the Red-light District...I was reminded of the effective and powerful prayers of righteous people. Prayers that have added to the impact of the life and witness of those godly bleleivers hammering out the saving works of God in Amsterdam. This piece of art is in the Red light district and really represents the spirit of that spot. I remember talking to a pastor friend there who had been arrested after taking a sledge hammer to this piece...you can kind of see the dents still there. I never took a Hammer to the wickedness there; but I experienced and witnessed mighty blows of the Spirit; Jesus was a visible Savior to some, others were impacted through teaching the word and ministered life via Spirit infused conversations and worship. God is faithful to His word...and if he calls you to go...just go. I did...all by myself, when others thought I was crazy, but God is sometimes crazy....learn that and you just might end up places that you never believed you would be and see things that you never dreamed.

Orphan Fundraiser...rewind.

But if anyone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help – how can God's love be in that person? -1 John 3:17

We have had a couple from our church serving in some Orphanages in Ethiopia, Africa; as well as adopting a couple teenagers. Since we have been exposed to the needs and situations of children in these circumstances; I felt it would be timely to focus our primary Holiday giving this years as a church, to help in some way. So I thought I would like to see if we can combat the frenetic commercialism by encouraging all of us to come together and offer gifts to raise money to give away to the poorest of the poor. Knowing that so many children who have no parents and no real chance to experience a season of giving, sharing, memories and joy like we all take for granted' motivated me to stir up the gifts among us...the bakers, craft people, the painters, photographers, wood workers, t-shirt makers, chefs and restaurant owners all pitched in and laid out a spread of holy offerings. In fact we were enjoyed a rotation of 3 amazing acoustic musicians during the main event (Destiny Blauer, Kristen Marlo, Evan Denlinger)We are still selling goods through the weekend but so far God has granted us the privilege of presenting $2,800 to some ministries doing solid work for these precious children. I anticipate being able to share a larger number after our multiple services this Sunday but even now, I'm astounded at God's love being expressed in such practical and sacrificial ways among us. The church gets such a bad rap these days, its awesome to be able to witness Jesus in and among us, doing good work in simple ways.One of the real fun parts of the evening was a concert after the main event with Raw Nerve, my son's metal band. After the most excellent Mr. Trevor opened up with some urban rythems and rhymes...Raw nerve shredded the room with some sonic screams of ear splitting, head banging, music for a cause...our neighborhood has not idea what is being unleashed upon them.

A huge thank you to all who made this event happen...together, we are all making a difference here and for eternity.

Thanksgiving Community Feast....

We hosted our 2nd Thanksgiving Community Feast on November 26th at the Jacob's Well Community Resource Center. Under General Shirley Reed (Aka Grandma) and the CRC directors Jim and Linda Carney as well as a bunch of volunteers; the event turned out to be a huge success. You can view picture of the dinner: Here.

Our goal as a church is to develop a regular shared meal schedule in the CRC. With the growing economic challenges, we are seeing an opportunity to recapture the simplicity of biblical community...in particular, sharing resources, in this case...eating together. Not feeding the homeless per say, but eating together. Choosing to create a table that many different people from any background can sit and share with one another in a meal, conversation, life, joys and pains. Setting a table not out of charity but out of community. We are working at caring for one another in this church and neighborhood. Finding practical ways to nurture relationships within and without the church community. Choosing to maintain the dignity of anyone who needs help be it economic, physical, relational, emotional or spiritual.

The joy of the Thanksgiving Feast for me as a pastor, was seeing a family eating together with strangers at the table...and my prayer is that in time, those strangers will become friends...and then brothers or sisters. But even if that doesn't take place...the church should be living this way, and the times we are in are pushing us towards a more Christian community.

Below is a quote that I think goes for the jugular but is needed to move us towards the reality of shared life vs just ministering to people in a clinical way:

"The vision of Jesus is not spread through organizational structures, but through touch, breath, shared life. It is spread through people who have discovered love… I believe that the great tragedy of the church is not that rich Christians do not care about the poor, but that they do not know the poor. Yet if we are called to live the new community for which Christ was crucified, we cannot remain strangers to one another. Jesus demands that we live in a very different way Charity… functions to keep the wealthy sane. Tithes, tax-exempt donations, and short-term mission trips, while they accomplish some good, also function as outlets that allow wealthy Christians to pay off their consciences while avoiding a revolution of lifestyle. People do their time in a social program or distribute food and clothes through organizations which take their excess. That way, they never actually have to face the poor and give their clothes, their food, their beds. Wealthy Christians never actually have to be with poor people, with Christ in disguise. Instead of living out this alternative vision, the church has been content to be a broker between the rich and the poor. Both those trapped in poverty and those trapped in riches view the church as a distribution center, a place where the poor come to get stuff and the rich come to dump stuff. No radical new community is formed… In that model, the power structure has not budged. The power has merely changed hands". -Shane Claiborne

Here I stand...

"Whatever is not from faith is sin."
- Romans 14:23

The reason I voted Third Party was the result of hours and hours of work; a reflection of chasing an inner butterfly, a voice, a dream...conscience. It's the result of a convergence of issues of christian mission, political frustration, eschatology and love . I am coming to new conclusions that influence and direct me towards places and positions that have been deep in me but not fully formulated or formed. The church and this nation are in deep need of fresh chrysalis. These voting Issues have unearthed matters of conscience and conviction that have been under the surface. These subconscious tensions have been rubbing against my heart until I finally started owning them.

This has been no trivial work to me. It's work that originates in my pursuit to live and walk as Jesus walked:

"The one who says that he abides in him must live the same way he himself lived." -1 John 2:6

I feel I have seriously, carefully and honestly laid out that struggle here, not with sound bites and video alone, which unfortunately, I feel is the limit of most peoples interest. Rarely do we take time to examine the girth of the iceberg below the surface of the water...but don't be mislead to the size of the matter by the mere tip that protrudes from the surface.

My posts hopefully hint at the direction one must search for themselves to hammer out the issues if they desire. I know that not everyone cares or is concerned and that many are already convinced of these various matters. But for some, like me, these are broad and serious matters that require more thought, prayer, study and mental work to be done.

I knew that I had serious conscience conflict with war, interventionism, a bully foreign policy stance, preemptive acts of war, constitutional side stepping, Big government fiscal policies, lack of real change in regards to the growing poverty gap, issues surrounding the pro-life positions on killing, the growing powers or worship of the executive office vs the constitutionally designed legislative counterbalance established by the founding Fathers. In this political season I thought Obama spoke to some of the issues better than Mcain did...but Mcain spoke to other issues better than Obama. For me, matters of conscience were divided along party lines...I couldn't put both of my feet on one platform for the first time in my life.

I struggled with what to do until the day I voted and in the end...I felt conscience and sincerity required me to vote according to principle and conscience. For me to do otherwise would be, as the above scripture says...."sin".

"Each of us at various periods of life is confronted with certain moral questions that need to be solved. It takes a great deal of effort to attend to them and to seek answers. In every labor, especially at the beginning, there is a time when the work is painfully difficult, when we are tempted to give up. Physical work is painful at first, mental work still more. As Lessing says: "People are inclined to cease to think at the point at which thought begins to be difficult; but it is just there, I would add, that thinking begins to be fruitful."
-Leo Tolstoy

I think many of the issues I wrestled with are at the roots of why Mcain lost. It's a shame when the voice of new creation, opportunity, vision, hope, peace, new dreams, restoration, industry, faith, empowerment is nolonger found in the mouth of the church. I think it's a cop out for the church to disdainfully point a pessimistic, judgemental finger at sincere people wanting a better future for themselves and their families. To our shame, most of these pontifications are fired off from our self indulgent, palaces of praise built off the devoured houses of widows (see Mark 12:41-44 and Luke 20:45-47 and 21:1-4 vs. II Corinthians 8:5-15)

I hear the beleaguered droning of the Christians saying: "It's the churches role to serve the poor not the governments role" Really? How well are we practically doing that? How are our churches really working for justice? I think the church in general, stands naked in her uproar and the people are simply looking for real answers and leadership.


If you were in real financial need who is going to help you? The local spiritual moose lodge?

We desperately need to reclaim a right to speak.

The reason most people ignored all the christian warnings is because until we move from condemnation of gays, murderers, and money spenders...we sound hollow. We need more actions to back our moral authority. The religious right looks silly stomping her feet in anger and pouting. Maybe if she spoke less and did more, people would follow her and not opt out by the droves week by week.

I see all of this as a great time of challenge the church will proactively seize or lazily condemn.


Photo by Troy Thompson

Should I go...or should I stay...now?

Find out how many "nations" are in your town....at this site. Pretty cool.

A powerful dream...

"Then through the hymn came another sound like the pain of a million broken hearts wrung out in one full drop, one sob. And a horror of great darkness was upon me, for I knew what it was-the Cry of the Blood..." -Amy Carmichael, Read the whole dream here.

Saving the world is sexy...

"I’m very concerned about the continual influence of consumerism Christianity and a Christianity that is very self-centered. Even in some of the social justice initiatives that I see, I wonder at times if it’s really about social change and kingdom advancement or if it’s about the sense of accomplishment and adventure one gets from the experience." -Efrem Smith

"Take care! Don't do your good deeds publicly, to be admired,
because then you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.
-Matthew 6:1

There is a reality to the Christian life that is only found after you have drained through all the foamy filler at the top of the glass. Much of the first blush of life in God is an innocent, yet still self focused act of indulging self. Now granted it is a "religious self" but after all the tired churchy platitudes are scraped off your bumper and self righteous goody goodyness is finally exhausted...in the end you discover that "you" were still at the center. This is especially true with those of us who are drawn towards "ministry to the poor" in whatever form it takes. There is a genuine compassion that can fuel a madness to become Jesus incarnate, a danger of falling into the error trying to "Bring Jesus down" (Romans 10:6). It's a noble endeavor to want to help alleviate suffering of your neighbor as Jesus taught us to do in His parable of the Good Samaritan. But it becomes almost idolatry to move from simple charity to ending World Hunger, Sickness & Disease, Social Evils, War, Poverty, AIDS, Global Warming, Deforestation and whatever other sin is in the sights of the current Philanthropy Band Wagon.

The "Messiah-complex" is becoming so huge that at any moment I am sure we will come to realize that we don't need Jesus to ever return because we will soon discover that....we can save the planet!

How many teats can we grow until we realize there will always be one more greedy mouth sucking off the breast of charity?
And quite frankly most of us want it to be that way...because we "feel good" being that sow who's getting all the attention. In fact we secretly hope to be on the cover of "O", Rollingstone or Christianity Today as the newly christened and publicly worshipped, hot new multi-breasted goddess of the hour.

But the truth is, we soon discover that we are not called to change the world...as much as testify to a change in our world. Now granted that change is one that ushers love into the center of our lives but not in a self serving way. It's the whole point of doing works of service in secret...an act that unfortunately is not in vogue today. We have celebrity's of charity all over. You see their names in lights, on the covers of their books with their smiling faces and testimonies of how they are changing the world. They sit in plush couches on TV or in the Pulpits pontificating about their plans and strategies to turn the planet back into eden in less time than it takes to publish their next book.

The really lazy people are yearning to worship "Heros" and the more dysfunctional are trying to become the hero.
It's that motivation that is fueling so much of our works of mission today. I stop and wonder if the truth is just that we are really a bunch of empty people frantically trying to fill that inner void with our chronic do gooding.

It's seeming like more and more vanity and chasing after the wind.

Thursday Show

Warning: this is a small venue with hardcore, loud music. Also, understand that this isn't a churchy thing, its a music thing. That means there will be all kinds of people with all kinds of ideas about life, God and truth. Expect the content to be reflective of all of that. I encourage my son to play music, speak about life, live out his faith in the world in a way that reflects who he really is and just let God be glorified in the excellence, the honesty and the music. There are challenges and opportunities on this path....but that's real life. I am proud of his hard work, commitment to skill through hours and hours of practice; and his faithfulness in trying to be light that shines, but doesn't blind. For those about to rock...I salute you!

Son of Jonah...

Son of Jonah,
Turn your eyes to the sea
Bend your ear to the call of voices,
murmuring their prayers on incoming breeze,
Step onto the ships as they hoist their sails,
Let Me unfurl your heart, open your mind,
This good news isn’t just for thee,
Be thrown into the hungry waters,
Abandon yourself to providence,
Die, so that your may be born again.

Son of Jonah,
Descend into the depths of this watery grave,
Ride the waves down, down, down into the abyss,
Journey to the beginning, to the hidden roots of the earth,
In the very bowels of hell, be entangled in the cords of death...of life.
Let Me cut you away from the dark womb,
Arise, ascend, resurrect again.
Be born out of the waters and let Me visit the cities again...through you.

Son of Jonah
Bow in prayer, rise to the journey,
Extend your hand and touch the dead,
Eat the birds and consume the beasts,
Embrace the descending harvest,
rise, son of Jonah, rise and eat.

(Eric Blauer, 5.4.08)

I saw...what I saw.

song by Sara Groves
This song is so moving to me, the lyrics are so deep, especially the last few lines...man, this messed me up. I've been wrestling with the weight of eternity lately and the realization that our days are so few.
"We will have all of eternity to boast about the victories won on the earth, but we have only a few hours left in which to win them ." -author unknown

Bloody pits on a snowy day...

Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who performed great exploits. He struck down two of Moab's best men. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear. Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he too was as famous as the three mighty men. He was held in greater honor than any of the Thirty, but he was not included among the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard. -2 Samuel 23:20-23

It can't be done. I've heard this often said...it castrates vision and hamstrings dreamers. It's the same kind of small minded thinking that Jesus rebuked the disciples about when they couldn't drive out a devil that had tormented, terrorized and almost destroyed a helpless child in Mark 9:14-29. Matthew records that in the same private discussion, Jesus chastised them for "the littleness of their faith" (Matt. 17:19-21).

Small thinking is at the root of much of the stagnant, powerless, storyless christianity that plagues many churches and too many Christian's lives. We've got no guts! Where are the Benaiah's? Those vision driven men and women who will hunt down a lion and dare to face him even in a pit on a snowy day! Not the most opportune situation I would imagine. Not great odds, not very sensible, thought out, wise or leveraged to his advantage. But there is a madness common to those who dare to follow God. Yes, an illogical bravery that teeters on insanity that leads them into bloody pits on a snowy day. What comes over a man to put everything on the line? What stirs in his blood to awaken him to risk everything for the chance to gain something that can only be grasped by those willing to lose it all?

The older you get, the more comfortable churches become...this spirit is often driven out by those who have forgotten the lure of such exploits. Neurological studies have shown that over the course of time, there is a cognitive shift from right-brain to left-brain. And if we don't find a way to stop the shift, memory overtakes imagination. We stop creating the future and start repeating the past. We stop innovating and start imitating. We stop doing ministry out of imagination and start doing ministry out of memory.

Other's mumble about not being called...

"Not called!" did you say?
"Not heard the call." I think you should say.
Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face...whose mercy you have professed to obey...and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world. -William Booth

The times call for wildmen and women who will venture out of the cocoons of complacency and risk what they can not keep to gain what they can not lose.

Speaking about refugees and Burma at Gonzaga University

I was blessed to speak at the "Community and Populations as Clients class at Gonzaga University's Department of Nursing this week. I have been assisting a group of graduating nurses with a project in our neighborhood. They have developed a Over The Counter Drug booklet for the karen refugees that identifies and explains simple products to help them self medicate basic issues. We had it translated into Karen and will be available for use to the refugee community here in Spokane. They had to present the project to the class in a presentation and I was invited to speak and show my brother Matt's film "Prayer of Peace". It was a great opportunity to speak about how to use nursing to help underprivileged people in our own community and challenge them to take those gifts internationally and work for Justice. My brother's film was a perfect tool to use for such a message. The medical teams and nurses he spotlights in the film were perfect. I was moved yet again, to see how God is at work in so many ways and in places we would never have imagined.

Valentine's Day Outreach...

The Valentines Day outreach to Union Gospel Mission’s Women’s Crisis Shelter and our neighborhood was a success. Members of Jacob’s Well donated roses, chocolate and balloons for 36 Valentine’s Day gift packages. A team of three young women and myself delivered the gifts first to 24 women and their children at the UGM shelter; they were very touched and warmly received the gifts. We then delivered them to 12 homes in our neighborhood that have widows, handicapped, elderly or shut in’s and one Muslim refugee family. We included a card that expressed the truth about God’s love for each of them and an invitation to come and worship with us. It was a easy project but expressed a lot of love.

Church in a subway...

Concert sauvage dans le métro !
by lapapsprod

Plant seeds and sing songs.

an altar stained with blood

"So the churches throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase. Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions...Peter went up on a housetop to pray...and fell into a trance...while peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him: "Behold three men are looking for you...-Acts 9:31-32 & 10:9,10 & 19

It is often when we have just grown comfortable, begun to enjoy the blessings of prosperity, peace and comfort that are the very results of our faithful service and God's gracious blessings and work among us that we run into the call of the Spirit.

Peter was confronted by a disturbing dream on a rooftop overlooking the area. In this dream he was commanded to eat a host of unclean animals. Something that was unthinkable to a good Jew. Something that was outside "his comfort zone". A call to do something that others would abhor, that others would questions, that others would resist. It was against all they had grown up knowing. It was not religiously appropriate. It was wrong. Peter could lose all the wonderful perks that a traveling apostle might get if he engaged in such barbarian like behavior. What would the good leaders think, if they saw Peter feasting on forbidden food?

What a quandary he was in...of course he resisted, refused and repelled.
Don't we all...when God's call comes to us and disturbs our religious nests of comfort and goodness. We are quick to proclaim how mysterious God's ways are until He speaks in such raw and unconventional ways.

In order for Peter to move to the next level of outreach and ministry...God called him to kill something.
Something always has to die in order to move. Something has to be killed in order to see the next field of harvest. Someone has to rise up and take the knife to their traditions, their thinking, their plans, their own way of thinking and kill it.

Mission almost always requires an altar stained with blood.

The only person that should or can go...should be the one who will obey the call to die.
To let go of the past, no matter how wonderful it has been. let go of the known in order to embrace those who are unknown.

God had three men arriving to meet Peter but God had to meet him first in the butcher block called the prayer closet. Where God slays our limitations that keep the gospel from continually moving forward, out and beyond. Too many prayer closets become locked and the people in them end up suffocating on the fumes of their own words. God wants to unleash a missionary force of men and women who have rose up and killed whatever God says to slay and emerge ready to go...ready to embrace the unclean animals that the Lord has destined to fill with His life transforming Spirit. The church will be born in the stables of our filthy streets again and again...if Peter will come to the rooftop and pray. If Peter will dare to pick up the knife again...and if Peter will choose to eat what before...he would have rejected.

Daring days indeed...

Come to us...or go to them?

Simply a great short presentation of why being on mission day to day with purpose versus aiming at attracting occasionally is more biblical in my opinion. I dont think this means there is never anything that is "attractional" in the ministry of the church body but it has to do with an underlying value and way of thinking outreach.

When people come to our church and ask us if we do evangelism or have an evangelism program...I point to the people first and say..."we are purposing to raise up evangelists not an evangelistic program...missionaries not a missions program" It really isn't just semantics. Of course there are challenging points to this way of thinking.

-You end up having to trust the people not the program. Programs are far more containable, controllable and consistent. We can micromanage programs but people are in constant flux.

-Trusting God to be God in His church, means you are not God anymore. That really strikes at the root of our desire to look good, together or like we have everything figured out. People want charts, maps, travel books about everything...if you give them a compass and say we are simply heading East...they scratch their head. They are not used to being told "any-road is good, just go in that direction". They want to be told what road, where to turn, what city, when do I turn left, etc. The church has created dependent believers that are always waiting for fear of doing something "out of God's will"...its religious bondage.

-It means having faith in God's word in a way that runs counter to the way the world or business runs. We are taught by world and by deed and example that the great, the best, the good looking, the talented, the strong, the smart and the rich make things of value happen. This is a dis-empowering model that basically cuts out most of us. So we end up with a lot of programs run by a few people that end up getting puffed up and then burned out. God's way is more about what do you have in your house vs. wait until the qualified or the abundance or the gifted come to your house.

-Then of course...people are always more sinful, slower, hardhearted and hardheaded, more picky, fussy, lazy, undisciplined, prayerless, quirky, bitchy, anal and tight fisted than a program. It's tough work walking with people, discipling people, watching them rise and fall, love and betray you. Running church life from behind a desk and a pulpit vs from behind people is a big differance. One says "come and see" and another says...."go and meet".

One is about me and the other is about them.