Naming things (fb)

Reading Revelation and thinking about the power to name.

The power to name things is the power to control them.  Naming is about authority.  The first task given and the first picture of human beings "reigning" with God is when God gives Adam the power to name things in Genesis 2.  The right exercise of Kingdom authority in naming things is a beautiful thing but... it got messed up in Genesis 3 just like everything else!  What difference does it make?

In our prideful desire to control people and things we (I) love to name things.  We call them "labels" or "categories" but it's how we draw lines of acceptance and blessing.  We name things "liberal" or "conservative" or "rebel" or "shady" or "depressed" or "orthodox" or "evangelical."   What we can't name we can't control and what we can't control scares the hell out of us.

I want to use the Holy Spirit power of naming to bring blessing, connection, unity, and life; not division and fear and shame.

We have done it ourselves - (fb)

Go to the people:
live with them, learn from them
love them
start with what they know 
build with what they have.


But of the best leaders, 
when the job is done,
the task accomplished,
the people will say:
"We have done it ourselves."


Lao Tzu
(Quoted in The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogrataz)

Our strategy for Bloom- beautifully articulated.

City Transformation (fc)

Gatherings (fb)

I can only think of one place in the New Testament that describes, in any detail, what happens when the church gathers.  In that description (1 Cor 14) it is clear that everyone gets to play and that there is a tangible sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Most of the other descriptions refer to churches that meet in homes and/or “the” church of a particular city.  We never see anything that remotely resembles the typical gathering of American Christians.  The only thing I can find in the bible that resembles what we typically do is found in the Old Testament, happens very infrequently, and is characterized by repentance (loud weeping, falling on faces, etc..) followed by celebration (more along the lines of a World Cup final).

So why do we keep doing something that has no precedent in the bible and clearly is not working?  And why do so many say “amen” yet continue to prop up this dinosaur via dollars and attendance?  What if the church was a dynamic lifestyle, gathering in homes and the marketplace and parks and café’s- ooooooh and on rare occasions we could get humongous groups of Jesus’ followers together for repentance and celebration?  

Community and Accountability at work (fb)

The workplace gets most of our hours- in fact, gets most of our BEST hours- the ones where we are awake, alert, focused maybe.  The church spends most of its BEST time at work.  The workplace is a place of accountability but not always a place of great community.  Most local churches are places of community(?) but without accountability.  Community with no accountability is kinda fun but doesn’t produce anything. 

Question.  What if there were a multiplication of workplaces that added community to their existing accountability?  Seems like it would be much easier to bring community to the workplace than to bring a culture of accountability to the local American church.  So what could that look like?

Running (fb)

9:00 min mile I think about running
10:00 min mile I can talk to Jesus
11:00 min mile I can talk to Stacy

What's the best deal?  What's the most foolish option?

Second Coming (FC)

I had a fantasy yesterday- that we are the generation that sees the second coming of Christ.  And I was picturing Mother Theresa and Peter and my grandpa and anticipation was building because they were watching the church become the bride that Jesus said she would become- and they knew the time must be getting close- and suddenly word spreads that the Father has given the word- "go get my kids"- "invite your bride"- and the saints of old just start freaking out with joy that we get to experience the event.  

Worn out for the right reasons (FB)

What wears out modern church leaders:
1.  Fighting the "provider/ client" mentality
2.  Running the "business"

What wore Jesus out:
1.  Fighting demons
2.  Religious people

What gives leaders (including Jesus) energy:
1.  Making disciples
2.  Seeing disciples make disciples

Conclusion:  Give yourself to making disciples, expect resistence from demons and religious people (deal swiftly and authoritatively with both), don't spend two minutes catering to "provider/client" or running the "business."