The Narrow Road (fb)

from Wimber tonight - he is dropping bombs...


"The economy of the Kingdom of God is quite simple.  Every new step into the Kingdom costs us everything we have gained to date.  Every time we cross a new threshold, it costs us everything we now have.  Every new step may cost us the reputation and security we have accumulated up to that point.  It costs us our life...If there is anything that characterizes Christian maturity it is a willingness to become a beginner again for Jesus Christ."  


May I say again I do love Him with all my heart - resolved that the best days in Jesus are always in the future not in the past- and accepting that the journey to intimacy is the continual embrace of becoming a child again.  He is the treasure worth buying the farm for.

"You're a prophet and a dreamer" (fb)

"You're a prophet and a dreamer" - translated, "There is a label that explains your behavior- that makes sense of why you'd want to leave our club- that frees us from examining the system we continue to prop up"


Here is an interview with someone who gets it and holds it with grace and humility.  The contrast is striking.



What's Next for Francis Chan? A Conversation with Mark Driscoll and Joshua Harris from Ben Peays on Vimeo.

A little Thursday am Wimber (fb)

I was recently asked to list my "heroes, from the past or today, who you most admire and desire to emulate."  The late John Wimber made the short list.  I never met him but I love him - love how he loved the Church - how he made people feel empowered and encouraged- all the people.  I love how his humble and obedient heart freed others to take risks.  He was a rock n roller turned Jesus freak.  A revivalist who was the catalytic figure in worldwide revival in the late 80's and early 90's - most Americans have never heard of him, most Brits have and consider him a spiritual father of their movement.  He made life with Jesus simple, fun and full of power.


A few zingers from the intro of Everyone Gets to Play - the second compilation of John Wimber writings.  Just started this morning- the type of book best read devotionally - sipped not gulped- so I look forward to some pearls over the next few weeks.


"I can either get a tent and have a huge revival where I can do this by myself, or I can release it to the people, and equip them to play." - Wimber


"I had good teaching, but John Wimber and company had good fruit" - Bill Johnson


"John came with his ministry and left it with us" - David Pytches


"I realized that sometimes there is no way to explain obedience and sacrifice to God to those who do not see the Pearl." - Wimber

What really changes things? (fb)

Do things need to change?  What things?  …poverty?  Racism?  Systemic injustice?  Ugly buildings?  Vulnerable communities?  The availability of Orange Julius?

What really changes things?  Government?  Getting better at getting more people to come to more meetings?  Political leaders?  Grassroots movements?  Ideas?  Technology?  Love?

Just returned from a few days in NYC spending time with guys in business, church, and non-profit who dream of transformed cities- guys who think lots about what really changes things.  And it’s so fun to be with people like that – people who don’t just think about it but are doing things about it.  They are doing amazing things in their worlds. 

A couple of editorial thoughts upon reflection…

First, the structures that are in place are massively inadequate to sustain real change.  What do you mean?   Well…like….what we call “church” for the most part wouldn’t know what to do if tens of thousands suddenly said Yes.  But the same is true for all of our structures – banking, health care, education, government – most of our institutions are totally incompatible with the change we long for and we should keep working like dogs to change those things.

Second, the only thing that will change cities is…one man, one woman who has an encounter with God.  An encounter where the immense power of God and his outrageous compassion become real in a way that that man or woman feels as if they might be alive for the first time- becomes so real that they can’t help but gather a few other hungry hearts – hearts who are overjoyed at the simplicity of listening and responding to a voice that, once so far away, is suddenly so near.

My hand is to the plow of structure, my heart aches for more hungry hearts- for my own heart to be more and more desperate for more and more of God’s presence.  

But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.  Deuteronomy 4:29

If you want it here it is come and get it  - Paul McCartney

To the sent ones (fc)

You are part of the most exciting generation in the history of the Church.  A generation set apart to be sent out into every network, neighborhood, and nation.  There is nothing special about you- in fact- it’s your ordinariness that is compelling.  Like the army in the book of Joel, the nations are shaking but they don’t see you they see Him.  Cities will be changed from the inside out, from the margin to the center.  No person, no church, no organization, no country, no leader gets the credit- a.k.a. the GLORY.  That will be reserved only for Him.  But where the sent ones are, EVERYONE will want to be.  If you want it you can have it- AIDS, Africa, human trafficking, extreme poverty, the marketplace and the arts- but it will cost you everything, beginning with your reputation.  History says you’ll quit.  If you make it it will be because you accepted the journey of character, courage, and community for a lifetime.  The good news?  You’ve got it- everything you need to go the distance.  You lack…nothing.

How the Community Communicates (fb)

Some thoughts about how comm tech is accelerating change in the Church:

A biblical theology of community says that we’re all connected- now a spiritual reality is becoming tangible to everyone.  I am connected to Nancy in Kenya via Facebook but, more broadly, we are aware of how the food we purchase in OKC impacts the rice farmer in Thailand.

New communications tech is fundamentally changing the way that community functions- you change the way community communicates... you change everything (credit Clay Shirkey’s great explanation of this principle in Here Comes Everybody).  For instance, hierarchy becomes unnecessary when everyone can talk to everyone.  This afternoon, via Twitter alone, we can muster an army from multiple churches to remodel a housing unit for a single mom at Tapestry- we don’t need anyone to plan it, publicize it, resource it, communicate it, connect us to it, educate us about it, train us for it.  In short- we don’t need a hierarchy to manage us.

The ability to pursue a vision together, with our community,  without relying on an organization means that we are fixin to see a humongous jailbreak of lay people (a.k.a. amateurs) taking over the leadership of this movement called Church.  Our theology says “everyone gets to play” but our paradigm says that’s not really true.  Now we see that one amateur with a heart to put tents in Haiti can git r done- that’s really exciting.  Effectiveness no longer requires professional management and organizational support.

The idea that our missional energy should be directed exclusively through organizations (local church, parachurch) that we belong to will seem increasingly silly.  The opportunity for missional community to form around “networks and neighborhoods” will increasingly unite people across denominational, theological, sociological and local church tribes.

As we become more aware of opportunities to “be the church” and “live as church,” in a manner that fits our vision, call, gifts, personality, networks, dreams, and the Kingdom worldview; we will become less willing to pay a subscription fee for participation in spiritual organizations (salaries, buildings, and programs).  Instead, we will choose to use our “giving” for fighting human-trafficking, projects we’re directly involved with, and people we’re directly connected to.  We will become better stewards of our giving resources, demanding more accountability and giving only to those projects that provide us the greatest Kingdom return on our financial investment.  This will further erode the current economic model of western “Church.”  What am I talking about?  I’m saying it will no longer be cool with us to pay to build buildings that go unused most of the week or pay for Mrs Johnson’s grandson, who plays the guitar, to sing Passion songs for the Sunday morning youth service; or to pay for Johnny Tightshirt to hang out at the church coffee “lounge” as a paid intern ‘cause it’s funner than funemployment.  Side note:  so is there anything in the current system that we’ll still be willing to pay for?  Yes, but it will have to be a clear value, characterized by excellence.  So we’ll pay for super excellent worship celebration, teaching, inspiration, and resources- …but not every week:)

Get ready for wiki-theology.  For the past 100 years we’ve been taught to fear incorrect doctrine.  Our ability to interact with “them” and “their” ideas will actually result in the Church starting to love the Church.  The main and plain will become mainer and plainer and we’ll no longer be afraid- when you’re not afraid you’re free.  Look for the language of Kingdom and discipleship to become the glue of a global, shared language of Church.

What an amazingly, exceedingly wonderful time to be a part of this 2000 year old, world-changing community called Church.  Ooooo I love tech-no-lo-gy, but noooooot as much as you you see…

The Dream (fc)

THE DREAM

Simply stated, our dream is to be the church. Wait, wait, 

wait...we’re not talking about a place you go or a group to 

join or even a new way to do the same thing. We want the 

stuff you see in the book of Acts—a group of people united 

at the heart by Jesus and His love. To be around them is to 

see Jesus—love, peace, joy, freedom, and miracles. They are 

constantly dependent on God for everything and constantly 

amazed at what He is doing through them. AND stuff chang- 

es. Neighborhoods and cities and whole nations change. 

We’re not okay with just going to meetings, hanging out, and 

hoping that one day God might do something with us. We’re 

not okay with racism and cancer and AIDS and poverty. We 

know things HAVE to change. We’re not sure how to do it, 

but we know it starts and ends with Jesus—He’s the one who 

changes stuff. But because this is our dream we are rest- 

lessly, anxiously, pitifully willing to risk and learn and grow 

and pursue a different way of living. THE DREAM IS THE 

KINGDOM.  

There’s a cool picture of what this looks like in the Bible’s 

book of Joel. It’s a prophecy that was fulfilled when Jesus 

rose from the dead and sent His Spirit to fill His people. It 

says that He will raise up an army of men, women, young 

and old. This army will hear from God and obey Him. They 

will have His supernatural power to change things. They will 

listen to Him. They will believe each one is equally valuable 

and they will honor each other. They will bring His presence 

to all peoples and HE will get the credit! The church IS that 

army, and the time is now—so let’s go change the world! 

Preacher- tell your story (fb)

I recently finished Brennan Manning's The Furious Longing of God.  It begins...

I'm Brennan. I'm an alcoholic
How I got there, why I left there, why I went back is the story of my life.
But it's not the whole story.


I'm Brennan. I'm a Catholic
How I got there, why I left there, why I went back is also the story of my life.
But it's not the whole story.


I'm Brennan.  I was a priest but am no longer a priest.  I was a married man but am no longer a married man.
How I got to those places, why I left those places is the story of my life too.
But it's not the whole story.


I'm Brennan.  I'm a sinner saved by grace.  That is the larger and more important story.  Only God, in his fury, knows the whole of it.


I've read everything Brennan Manning has ever written, most of his books multiple times.  He basically says the same thing in every book- God is "knocked out in love" with you not because of what you do but because of who he is.  His books are dripping with scripture but he doesn't teach, he tells.  Mostly he tells stories.  Mostly he tells his story.  One of these days I'll count the number of "Brennans" and "I's" and "me's" in one of his books- it would be a bunch.

The first time I was asked to speak publicly was when a business colleague asked me if I would speak at a baptist men's retreat at Falls Creek, Oklahoma.  I was asked to speak on the topic of "personal worship."  I was 25 years old.  I stood before that room of 30-40 "old guys" and absolutely poured out my heart- it was all about God and all about me.  How else can you talk about "personal worship" than to tell your story- the story of a God who is real and purses and speaks and loves and wants you to sense His presence and reflect back to him all of the glory he's pouring out on you?  Those guys sat there like, "huh?"  But a couple of them got it and, more importantly, the process changed me.

Before I ever became a "preacher" I sat down with Ron Johnson, church planter and founder of Pathways Church in Denver.  Pathways was one of the first urban church plants in the country really going after young "cultural creatives" in a large US city (I love pioneers!).  At the time there were many Christian leaders who were super concerned that churches like Ron's were in danger of watering down the gospel because of the emphasis on story and distance from traditional, didactic, exegetical teaching.  It bugs me when people vilify people and movements that they've had no relational connection with.  So I just called Ron, a pioneer, and asked if he'd meet with me.  "Ron, how do you approach preaching?"  He said "Lance, every week I stand up and tell my people what God is doing in my life- I tell the ongoing story of how God is changing me." That one sentence is probably the most freeing thing anyone ever said to me about preaching.

Last night I read the manuscript of a new book by a good friend.  He is only 25 and he wanted to shout from the mountaintops "God is real and good and he is mostly trying to make you new and he does that on the journey- so be excited about God and life and people!"  He did it by telling his story, his stories.  It reminded me of why I love Jesus so much.  I believe.

So preacher- tell us your story.  Don't be afraid- it will connect us with your heart and with His heart.  We need to feel how this truth is changing you- what it looks like in your life- how hard it is and how much hope it brings.  Sometimes you'll say it wrong- you'll say too much, or not enough- who cares- these people know you and love you.  "But I'll be exposed."  Hell yes you'll be exposed- we'll see your pride and your failures and we'll love you all the more for it.  Remember, God didn't call you to preach because he thinks you're talented.  He called you to preach so that he can make YOU more like Jesus.  "But I'm supposed to teach."  Then teach- do your prep work, pour over the text and the commentaries, pray over it with fear and trembling, and know what the hell you're talking BUT if we want the best teaching on your topic we'll read or listen to someone who knows it better than you.  Teach us through your life.   Preaching is worship- so model worship.  Pour your heart out before Him, before us.

I'm Lance.  I'm a sinner saved by grace.  That is the larger and more important story.  Only God, in his fury, knows the whole of it.

King and the Kingdom (fc)

The Martin Luther King holiday has become, for me, one of the most significant days of the year in a way I still don't fully understand.  Ben Nockles and I participated in the silent march this morning down 23rd street in OKC.  Why?  I would be overwhelmed to begin to answer that question, suffice it to say that I think Jesus wanted me to be there- standing more for a people and a person than an ideology.  Here is an excerpt from something I wrote years ago on this day...

Dr. King preached a message of hope rooted in the person of Jesus and the reality of His Kingdom.  The Scripture he most often quoted was from Amos chapter 5 verse 32.

Amos 5:24  ²⁴ But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!

The context of this verse is the unlikely prophet Amos, son of a shepherd, speaking about God’s anger over the way his people are treating the oppressed among them. 

Amos 2:7  ⁷ They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed

Amos 5:14-15  ¹⁴ Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.  ¹⁵ Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts.

Amos 5:21  ²¹ "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Amos 5:23   ²³ Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.

Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures we see a pattern.  Despite God’s blessings his people turn from him in their hearts even though they continue to practice religion.  Evidence that their hearts have turned is almost always systematic sin, injustice and indifference toward the vulnerable- the poor, the children, the hungry, the sick, the outcast.  So God would raise up a prophet to speak two things- judgment…and hope.  And the hope was always that one day God would restore justice and righteousness.  

King knew the source of the problem was not the government or the white majority but the human heart.

 The more I observed the tragedies of history and man’s shameful inclination to choose the low road, the more I came to see the depths and strength of sin…the glaring reality of collective evil 

(from Pilgrimmage to Nonviolence)

But he also knew where hope was found.  In the beginning of the Civil Rights movement King stood up and said the craziest thing.  

Those of us who live in the twentieth century are privileged to live in one of the most momentous periods of human history.  It is an exciting age filled with hope…

I am convinc4ed that the universe is under the control of a loving purpose and that in the struggle for righteousness man has cosmic companionship. (from Pilgrimage to Nonviolence)

The bible reveals for us the end of the story.  In Isaiah 60 we see it as the redeemed nations, cultures, economic structures coming into the Holy City.  In Revelation 21 it is also a city, where every tribe, tongue, color, and nation are united in joyful worship of their king and redeemer.  When we talk about the final chapters of the story we offer incredible hope. 

Martin Luther King Jr. looks eerily to me like an Old Testament prophet.  He called for people everywhere to stand for justice and he offered hope by painting a picture of a future Kingdom of righteousness.

King was motivated by a personal encounter with a living God. His message was a message of hope in the present and future of the Kingdom of God.   His method was nonviolence rooted in the ethics of Jesus and His Kingdom.

Tulsa's Greenwood District (fb)

Good article today in the Journal Record.  You cannot understand Oklahoma without understanding this issue.  If we care about city transformation in OKC or Tulsa we have to understand that Oklahoma was the site of perhaps the most heinous act of racism in the history of our country.

Praying FOR city transformation means praying and working AGAINST some things.  To know what those things are requires that we become students of our cities/states/nations.  To be a student of Oklahoma is to see racism as THE primary obstacle to real transformation.

Change always begins with awareness- as we shed light on dark things we bring them into the arena where Kingdom comes.

Hair (fb)

Chris Rock was on Oprah the other day talking about his new film.  "If you want to understand black women you have to understand their hair."  And I'm sitting in my bed raising my hand, "that's me, that's me!  I know- er- at least I know more than most white people!"  OK- now I'm gonna say some crazy stuff but hang with me.


There will be a massive move of God among black women all over the world in this generation- first among them- but it will spill over.  The spill over may just ignite the move of God we've prayed for in our generation.  The spill over will look like radical love and forgiveness extended where it isn't deserved- that's called "grace."  But to feel the significance you would first have to understand the offense.  Isn't it just like God to use art, film, comedy to begin to raise awareness of the most marginalized group of people on earth?  Everything a black woman sees and hears tells her she is less than- and her hair is a constant reminder that it takes everything to belong.   The enemy wants to keep a group of people that are characterized by warmth, creativity, and joy locked up in fear and shame.  The love of the Father frees us from our fear, from our shame.  I can't wait to see this film- I hope I laugh all the way through but will be fighting back tears the whole time.

Thirsty still (fc)

When God begins to put the fire of the Holy Spirit in your heart you begin to believe you’ll die if you don’t see everyone else catch on fire too!  The fire of God makes you thirsty, but as you drink more of him you become more thirsty still.  When I began to read that at times, throughout history, the Holy Spirit has come in power and caught whole nations on fire- something happened in me that I’m still not over.  I am living to see revival come.

Revival is a sovereign visitation of the Holy Spirit that refocuses the affections of the church on Jesus Christ and his kingdom.  It is always preceded by prayer, characterized by repentance, demonstrated in power, and results in a major advancement of the Kingdom.