Her morning elegance....

Prophetic imagination....

I'm wrestling with the issues of Prophetic imagination, calling and faithfulness.

God plants talents in us at birth. Those have to be discovered, mined and fashioned to become all that they should be. That takes time , hard work and patience. Then God adds gifts through his Spirit. Those must also be uncovered and nurtured for the body to grow into maturity of life, ministry and mission.

All this work requires prayerful faith. We have gifts and talents and add to those desires and dreams and then by faith we launch out to bring what was inside...outside.

It's a work of prophetic imagination.

It often required us to dailey uphold that work of vision to visibility. We never get there alone...we need many parts to make up the whole...even when it comes to our personal journey.

Together, we watch, listen and prayerfully carry these unfolding elements of our lives and ministries day by day, year by year.

As we work at providing for our families, tending our passions and outworking the purposes of God in our lives...there is often a tension between the present and the not yet...a place of metamorphosis that is full of unfinished longings. Our inner lives and outer works are not fully developed, not what they could be, should be or will be. Much of that fruition, lies in the potency of our prophetic imagination, faith and willingness to work those dreams into fullness. We are tempted to stumbling in our faith, because the work is going to demand that we grow, be stretched, improve and remain faithful.

None of these seeds, small plants or medium plants will grow into the provision and satisfaction we long for, unless we rise to the challenge in greater and greater ways. Who we are...must grow into who we need to be...to see the reality that we see within, emerge. It's not going to be given to us...we must create it through the work and means that God has given us.

The harvest comes to the worker. We have got to plant and wait, and reimagine what can be with what we have. Real faith sees stones and then begins to see ladders that connect heaven and earth. This is the mystery of Jacobs ladder. Many people are asleep on stones and can't see ladders. They never discover that the very place they are at...is the gate to heaven.

The hard truth is....life and possibilities are not about people, place or position...it's about prophetic perspective and patience. Sometimes we move...externally...but most of the time we need to be moved...internally. If we are awake and aware...we probably have all the possibilites around us needed, to create the realities we long for...in time...but it won't come easy.

It will cost us everything...but that will be true, here, there or anywhere. We must choose where we have the most spiritual continuity, capital, support, opportunity, connection and partners. Are there times to start over, yes. But, lives take a long time to build a meaningful base of synergy. I'm where I'm, at because I served lives, a church and a city for almost a decade. That relational capital was in the bank when I launched out. I couldn't have done this without it. It's one of the reasons we have had the history we have had at Jacob's Well. Many folks don't get to walk into such spiritual capital, they start from relational scratch and that's why there is so much ministry turnover, burnout and failure.

Our future hold church plants, expanded services, added staff and many more surprises. I'm creating an inheritance to pass on, it will open doors for some, launch others, meet the needs of some and ignite new realities for dreamers and doers. It is here in this fashioning crux of pressure that we must not let worry or work prevent us from tasting that future.

This is where those who are talkers....are separated from those who are "walkers".

"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." -Jesus (Matt 18:18-20)

The Practice of play....

“Reclaiming an appropriate practice of play is one of the challenges of adulthood . . . playfulness is the fruit of the Spirit, since as a quality of being and a habit of mind and speech, it is inseparable from so many other virtues—receptivity, openness of heart, trust, confidence, grace, even love.”
—Marilyn Chandler McEntyre (Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies)

Because....

Good words for new Pastors....

Pastors aren’t Prophets...advice for those about to assume the pastoral life

2009 Thailand Missions Trip

For he has not ignored or belittled the suffering of the needy.
He has not turned his back on them,
but has listened to their cries for help.
-Psalm 22:24

In December 2009, our church sent a team of folks to the refugee camps on the Thailand/Burma border. As an expression of our continuing journey with the Karen people of Burma. Our relationship with these wonderful people began 5 months after we started our church in June 2006. Little did we know the plans and purposes of God for some Karen people and us; when we moved into East Central to pursue mission and ministry in a working poor neighborhood. Over the years we have witnessed a beautiful work of compassion, mutuality and service unfold. This missions trip is part of our vision to build a relational bridge that extends from our lives here...to their lives there. We anticipate many more "crossings" as we seek to be faithful to a call and a people.

This short video shows the team visiting various refugee camps, people and missions works in Thailand. Our team took video of families here to relatives in the camps....helping soothe the pain of separation and to help families reconnect. Hopefully you can catch a glimpse of the people we have grown to love.

The Burmese military considers the Karen people...their enemies.
Thailand considers the refugees...a problem.
NGO's consider them...a project.
But, God calls them...His people.
We consider them...our brothers and sisters...and friends.

2009 Thailand Mission Trip

Prayer as mission....

Everyday as prayer....

Beauty is the creator of the universe...

"For the world is not painted, or adorned, but is from the beginning beautiful; and God has not made some beautiful things, but Beauty is the creator of the universe." -Ralph W. Emerson

With the teasings of Spring being felt around here, I thought I would spark some fresh imaginings of gardening. We have a wonderful church community garden that is going to burst with life this year. Here are a few resources to get the enthusiasm flowing.

To Garden with God Manual

Spirituality of Gardening Seminar

And here is one of my favorite little books on how a garden can help nurture community in urban life.

Three cups of tea...please

What an amazing man and mission....one of the best and most hopeful things I have heard about Afghanistan. May his tribe increase. My favorite moment: The Taliban playing on the school playground swing set....violence is truly the fruit of a failed imagination.

http://castroller.com/podcasts/BillMoyersJournal/1415219

The Conscientious Objector review

Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation. -Psalm 91:14-16

I'm not a big fan of quoting scripture in war...but, if ever it seemed appropriate, this verse fits the story retold above. I watched this documentary last night and have to say, it was one of the most moving stories of faith and war, I've seen. The story of a courageous Seventh Day Adventist man who chooses to serve his country in WW2 without a gun.

It's an inspiring story that shows the cost and the witness of one man's attempt to reconcile his faith and duty to country. It's full of miracles and moving testimony from WW2 veterans who served together with Desmond Doss. This is a must see film, if the issues of faith, violence, patriotism and duty matter to you.

Your Kingdom....come

Hallelujah....

"What is a saint?

A saint is someone who has achieved a very remote human possibility. It is impossible to say what that possibility is because it is beyond our imagination. I think it has something to do with the energy of boundless love. Contact with this energy results in the exercise and experience of a strange kind of balance in the chaos of existence. A saint does not dissolve the chaos; if he did the world would have changed long ago.

I do not think that a saint dissolves the chaos even for himself, for there is something arrogant and warlike in the notion of a man even attempting to set the universe in order by himself. It is a kind of tortured balance that is his glory. He rides the snow drifts like an escaped ski. His course is the caress of the hill. His track is a drawing of the snow in a moment of its particular arrangement with wind and rock. Something in him so loves the world (because he was instructed to do so) that he gives himself completely to the laws of gravity and chance.

Far from flying with the angels, he traces with the fidelity of a seismograph needle the state of the solid bloody landscape. His house is dangerous and finite, but he is totally at home in the world. He can love the shape of human beings, the fine and twisted shapes of their hearts. It is good to have among us such men, such balancing monsters of love."

- Leonard Cohen, in the intro to the novel, Beautiful Losers (1966)

"Christian" music...?

Can a tree be a "Christian" tree?

Listen and ponder...here

...Till we are made the joyful partakers

Ecstasy and delight are essential to the believer's soul and they promote sanctification. We were not meant to live without spiritual exhilaration, and the Christian who goes for a long time without the experience of heart-warming will soon find himself tempted to have his emotions satisfied from earthly things and not, as he ought, from the Spirit of God.

The soul is so constituted that it craves fulfillment from things outside itself and will embrace earthly joys for satisfaction when it cannot reach spiritual ones. The believer is in spiritual danger if he allows himself to go for any length of time without tasting the love of Christ and savoring the felt comforts of a Savior's presence. When Christ ceases to fill the heart with satisfaction, our souls will go in silent search of other lovers.

By the enjoyment of the love of Christ in the heart of a believer, we mean an experience of the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us (Rom. 5:5) because the Lord has made himself accessible to us in the means of grace, it is our duty and privilege to seek this experience from Him in these means till we are made the joyful partakers of it.

John Flavel (1630-1691)

Some straight talk from a man who drank too much...

Alone...in the desert

"Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert..." -Luke 4:1

Being in the desert alone.

We as people need to experience the fasting of relationships. We need seasons, moments or days to just be alone. People can become familiar and often can be taken for granted. In our daily lives, we are constantly immersed in a public life and if we are not conscious, a private life, a truly contemplative and prayerful life; can be squeezed to the margins if we don't fight to maintain healthy rhythms of togetherness and separateness.

Sin constantly works at eroding healthy boundaries...we allow people too much place in our souls (mind, will or emotions) or we barricade them out as we nourish bitterness, anger or unforgiving resentment. We can choose to examine our relationships in the desert because we have a pause to think, to pray and to breathe. The absence of them...can enlighten us to our true feelings and sins...and we can choose to respond appropriately to that revelation.

The above song, captures the heart of what it means to live out the gospel. May it's message, though in a style that might not be everyone's cup of tea...it's message, if lived....would bring healing to many.

Devils...in the church?

"Jesus ministry' to the oppressed is two-fold: truth and power.
Power without truth does not bring lasting deliverance.
And truth without power doesn't reach within the soul,
to bring about change."

This Sunday we will continue our teaching through Luke. Interesting observation about the first two "church services" Jesus preached in:

-First one: religious racists try to throw him off a cliff after He says God loves the whole world, not just them.
-Second: A church attendee manifests a demon, resulting in an exorcisim.

Wow...religious communities are tough places to do kingdom ministry. I can see why Jesus started cleaning house there first...if this is the condition of Gods people, imagine what outside the doors is like? You got to heal the body before it can save the world. Do you want to see God move in His church in Truth & Power?

Then be prepared to face...stones & satan.

This is a subject that many folks don't want to broach...it seems too spooky or voodooish for good old working class people to address. But...as we make our way into the ministry of Jesus in Luke...we've already encountered Satan himself and how demons and those who are possessed by devils by chapter 5. It appears we don't get the choice...you want Jesus...you must deal with devils....and those who are victims of possession and oppression.

It adds new light on the almost 12 different passages in the same chapters that speak of being "full or filled" with the Holy Spirit. In light of the demonic powers and possessions described....I can see why Jesus said His disciples should wait for "Power from on High" before entering a life of mission.

So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." -Jesus (Acts 1:6+)

Soldiers of Conscience

I watched this last night. I thought it was one of the best, balanced and brutal dialogues about war and killing, pacifism and patriotism that I have seen. I am thinking about showing it as part of our Christ & Culture nights.

Pastoral Shells....

The contemporary pastor is little more than “a quivering mass of availability" -Stanley Hauerwas

A friend gave these me these two little Turtles to remind me of the challenge to live a healthy life of vulnerability and protection. To balance the danger of being too exposed or too withdrawn. A visual icon of the dance of this dangerous pastoral life....wounded and wounding...healed and healing...Word and wordless...truthful and mystery...loving and hating...death and life.

Finding the rhythms...in the tensions is a spiritual work of nuance...like a guitar string that needs to be taunt to be in tune...but not to tight, as to snap.

Pastoral life, is a call and a choice, to embedded oneself into the lives of many people...and yet, one has to always keep oneself rooted first and foremost...God-ward in-order to be faithful and fruitful...man-ward.

Learning to respond to the Spirit and not always to the need is a tough discipline to learn. I was reminded and relived to see this delicate but profound discipline exhibited in the ministry life of Jesus.
When Lazarus was sick and Jesus after hearing the news...stayed a few days longer, instead of rushing off to "be present"...and poor 'Rus died. The repercussions and relational sting of that action can be heard in the voice of Jesus's friend, who didn't understand Jesus' seeming lack of concern and care. He didn't appear to be performing His pastoral duties.

“Lord, if you had been here...my brother would not have died” ( John 11:21, 32)

I find a measure of reprieve in the fact that Jesus didn't feel the need to react...He chose to respond...when it was time. Jesus was not to interested in being thrust into the role of "fixer dude" like when the wine ran out at the wedding in Cana:

"On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." "Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come." -John 2:1-4

Ministry life is packed full of folks telling you what is wrong with this or that...the multitude of needs is always being presented to you as if you should be doing something about everything.

Rarely do people recognize that the very fact that they "see a need" probably means they are being prompted by the Spirit to "meet" that need...or simply pray. I often find myself in the soul draining crush that comes between the confusion of actual ministry and the messiah complex. I often want to...but can't...I may need to but for whatever reason...I am unable to.

There are many moments when the need has overreached the means....both internally and externally and I am forced to retreat into the shell, either for self protection or regeneration. This process is most facilitated for me by leaving; I just have to get away to disengage and breathe. Restoration of soul is usually renewed by finding a place of solitude or isolation either literally or relationally.

In the morning he went to a place where he could be alone.
The crowds searched for him.
When they came to him, they tried to keep him from leaving.
-Luke 4:42

The tension in life isn't about leaving...it's about reprieving...because "they" will always find you....which isn't a bad thing, what is bad...is how you handle those encounters, day in and day out.

"I never want people to say he/she was always there for me....because if they can say that, it means I wasn't living a balanced life."-T. Levert


Are you tired?
Worn out?
Burned out on religion?
Come to Me.
Get away with Me and you'll recover your life.
I'll show you how to take a real rest.
Walk with Me and work with Me—watch how I do it.
Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.
I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.
Keep company with Me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
-Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30)