The "I don't want to Cluster Blog" Post!

Wow! What a crazy week it's been. Since my last post 3/4 of my biological family come to visit - not for more than 48 hours, but they came to visit. I had a birthday, and a brush with TB!

Jacob and Justin
My brothers breezed through town last week. They went to Michigan and spent some time with dad, they saw an amazing Tigers Game and went fishing. On their way back to Iowa they stopped by and spent some time with Shari and I. We stayed up 'till 3:30 and had a Taco Bell run sometime after 1:00. It was much fun!

Mom and Donny
Not 36 hours later my mom and my step-dad came for a visit. They came from Minneapolis early Saturday morning, 1:30, and we celebrated my b-day with them and had a great time. They they left early Sunday morning, 8:30!

Coughing Blood!
Well, Sunday morning I woke up with the taste of blood in my mouth. I'm not sure why. Even today I'm not sure why. The doctor said that he has ruled out most anything that it could be and expects that it will just go away. We'll see! I have blood work results that come back today!

Labor Day
I received some money for my birthday and there is only one logical thing to spend money on, books and Noomas!

Here's what I bought!

The Barbarian Way - McManus
Breaking the Missonal Code - Stetzer & Putman
Emergent Worship - Kimball

Nooma #1 - Rain
Nooma #10 - Lump
Nooma #11 - Rhythm

Birthday
Yesterday was my 25th birthday! Halfway to 50. I feel pretty good about that. It was funny because people tried to pick on me because of my age and it became funny because everyone who was picking on me was much older than I am. lol!
Shari treated me very well! Our day was absolutely packed with stuff. We had so much to do:
8:30 - Go in for blood work
9:00-12:00 - Get ready for Youth Group
1:00-4:00 - First aid Class
6:00-9:00 - Youth Group (prep. and clean up)
We ended up celebrating at dinner time. I got to get BW3, Shari got me a few presents (all of which I want and will return nothing - and use everyone of them!)

Well, I've caught you up!

The Missional Church

I have been confronted with this phrase many times since coming back from Poland. This concept isn't new in fact I've been taught it in every church that I've been associated with. I've heard it said, but I really don't know that I've seen it lived out in the hearts and minds of the people. In fact many times I've heard statements completely opposite of the missio dei and it is frightening to me. I found this blog post today and it really got me thinking about how things have got in the way of the missio dei. Here are ten things that we should not expect in a truly missional church.

TEN THINGS ANYONE WHO JOINS IN A TWENTY FIRST CENTURY MISSIONAL CHURCH PLANT SHOULD NOT EXPECT

1.) Should not expect to regularly come to church for just one hour, get what you need for your own personal growth and development, and your kidss needs, and then leave til next Sunday. Expect mission to change your life. Expect however a richer life than you could have ever imagined.

2.) Should not expect that Jesus will fit in with every consumerist capitalist assumption, lifestyle, schedule or accoutrement you may have adopted before coming here. Expect to be freed from a lot of crap you will find out you never needed.

3.) Should not expect to be anonymous, unknown or be able to disappear in this church Body. Expect to be known and loved, supported in a glorious journey.

4.) Should not expect production style excellence all the time on Sunday worship gatherings. Expect organic, simple and authentic beauty.

5.) Should not expect a raucous "light out" youth program that entertains the teenagers, puts on a show that gets the kids "pumped up," all without parental involvement. Instead as the years go by, with our children as part of our life, worship and mission (and when the light shows dim and the cool youth pastor with the spiked hair burns out) expect our youth to have an authentic relationship with God thru Christ that carries them through a lifetime of journey with God.

6.) Should not expect to always "feel good,"or ecstatic on Sunday mornings. Expect that there will ALSO be times of confession, lament, self-examination and just plain silence.

7.) Should not expect a lot of sermons that promise you God will prosper you with "the life you've always wanted" if you'll just believe Him and step out on faith and give some more money for a bigger sanctuary. Expect sustenance for the journey.

8.) Should not expect rapid growth whereby we grow this church from 10 to a thousand in three years. Expect slower organic inefficient growth that engages people's lives where they are at and sees troubled people who would have nothing to do with the gospel marvelously saved.

9.) Should not expect all the meetings to happen in a church building. Expect a lot of the gatherings will be in homes, or sites of mission.

10.) Should not expect arguments over style of music, color of carpet, or even doctrinal outlier issues like dispensationalism. Expect mission to drive the conversation.

O AND BY THE WAY¦ Should not expect that community comes to you. I am sorry but true community in Christ will take some "effort" and a reshuffling of priorities for both you and your kids. Yes I know you want people to come to you and reach out to you and you're hurting and busy. But assuming you are a follower of Christ (this message is not for strangers to the gospel) you must learn that the answer to all those things is to enter into the practices of "being the Body" in Christ, including sitting, eating, sharing and praying together.

Of Rain and Indiana...

So I went to Meijer this morning to pick a couple of things up and it was raining - not really hard, but harder than sprinkling. I didn't remember to wear a jacket or really anything but a t-shirt and I regretted it. The interesting thing is that when I got out of my car no one was wearing a jacket, in fact I saw many people just standing in the rain talking. I thought it was rather odd but decided that I wasn't going to care.

The funny thing is that for my next morning errand I had to run to the bank. Now funny thing is that our bank is natorious for having a very slow drive though. In fact several of the other pastors and I kid about it. I wont go into the drive through unless there is no one in line. Since going to Meijer the rain hadn't picked up or slowed down much, but the one drive through lane that was open had a line of six cars while no one was in the parking lot to go inside.

I found it odd...

Greetings from Georgia

Hello all,

Sorry again for the long delay of updates. Shari and I took a much needed vacation and I was happy to free myself from the internet once again. This vacation has been what we've needed, so we decided to stay an extra day! I'm pumped. I've got a lot to talk about in the coming weeks. I am really hoping to more of an active participant in Robb's Emerging Theological Mosaic discussion that was supposed to only be for the month of June. Which by the way I believe will make an excellent 5 week teaching come next Spring.

As the month of July ends I feel as though I've taken the entire month off. This of course isn't true in the slightest, but I have for the most part been away from my office, desk and chair. It has been wonderfully refreshing to me. I just stared reading a new book yesterday, one that a student recommended, The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Clayborne. It has been nothing but challenging and uncomfortable. I love it! I'm sure that I will blog more about it later.

I've also just put down Harry Potter 7, fascinating! I've come to the realization that fiction is fiction. I know that I will blog more about this at a later time. So here's to the last day of July, we will see you in August!

June in the Books

Well, June 2007 was the best month ever for R&R! I don't think I have ever posted so much. We will see how July goes, being in Poland and all! Thanks to all who read!

May in the books!

So, I have never posted more than I did in the month of May! Kudos to me. I hope your enjoying. What your reading and being pointed towards.