I was very sick for a couple days and am in the middle of the national church planting congress.
I need some time to repent. More later.
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From the yearly archives:
2005
Many paid for “Sex with Lon” last semester…
(A sunday school class I taught a few months back called Passion & Purity that quickly got renamed by its attenders)
Coming soon is “Everyday Mission“.
Mission is where the deepest needs of humanity and your calling intersect. Rekindle the flame for living beyond yourself. Rediscover the lost art of articulating your faith. Reveal Jesus in all that you do. Relentlessly live on mission every day of your life.
I’m hoping many can come because I think it’s going to be some of the most important content ever. Yes ever.
(I just realized this blog hasn’t been showing up in Internet Explorer properly. Unless someone can tell me what’s going on, i don’t think i’m going to try and fix it. You should be using firefox or opera anyways.)
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Things have been incredible the last while. It seems as if I’ve spent the last few years trying to get here. I’ve been researching, organizing, and tweaking my core values, priorities, systems, tools, and disciplines.
I’ve finally reached a precious sweet spot (at least for the time being), where my life feels in-synch with how things ought to be. It’s been a long journey of trial and error and discovery, but I’m absolutely convinced that the habits and foundations i’ve been laying down over time will shape a destiny.
I’m a bit drained from trying to finish my Greek Exegesis paper last night, but that’s because ‘date night’ with my wife tonight is a priority in my life. My walk with the Lord has been a become a consistant jog with spurts of running, my finances & budget is in order, i have processes for idea capturing, archiving and actioning, i’m now on year 4 of our 30 year plan and on track, i have an amazing community in which I lead but that also supports me, I have key relationships of all sorts in which i’m investing my life in, my family has been getting along better than ever, i’m solid at work, emails are responded to, i’m journaling and reflecting, i’m growing professionally and personally at a sustainable pace, I wake up excited in the mornings, and Yvonne, well she adds fuel to my fire and totally rocks!
As a relentless dreamer, I’m always longing for more than I can handle. Which means the things that need to get done are always piling up. I’ve been thinking of all these tasks-that-seem-to-slow-me-down as line items on a credit card bill. I can keep dreaming with incremental gains while being docked heavy interest mentally, OR I can consistantly keep that mental space clear so that I have even more room for dreaming, creativity, running free, moving forward, and all that exciting stuff.
One of my latest life changes, was finally taking care of myself. My physical health and well-being has been a final frontier that has always plagued me. Moving to our present condo with the gym facilities was very strategic in helping me with this particular goal.
Truth is, i’ve never really spent a lick of energy on my health. I still remember eating open chocolate bars i’d find on the streets, and sucking cheese and gravy from straws in high school. I wouldn’t sleep for as much as four days in a row cramming text books i had never opened before for exams. Before I got married, I did like 10 push ups, and decided I was ready and ‘presentable’… hilarious! The last couple months i finally started hitting the gym 3-5 times a week, staying active and watching what I eat.
It’s been simply incredible being able to see the potential in each day that i’m blessed with on this earth. It’s like i’ve been living in hole, and i’m just starting to live overground.
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Still alive and kickin’… just been busily enjoying life.
Here’s me holding a straight face as the best man for a wedding in ottawa, and Yvonne’s family for her grandfather’s 99th birthday…
In other news…
Sounds like queen of the Occult, Anne Rice, found God. I loved the vampire chronicles as a teen, I think i’ll definitely check out the new book.
Audio’s of C.J. and Carolyn Mahaney at the Men’s and Women’s 2005 Fall Conference at The Bible Church of Little Rock.
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Read about Google’s billion dollar philanthropic commitment today.
We hope that someday this institution will eclipse Google itself in overall world impact by ambitiously applying innovation and significant resources to the largest of the world’s problems. ~Sergey Brin & Larry Page
Gotta love it. What are you and your community/organization doing for the world?
Tony Morgan seems to be the place everyone’s going to for Catalyst conference play-by-plays. Check out his blog as well as the official catalyst blog for the latest.
I’ve been starting to implement my own version of David Allen’s GTD (Getting things’ done) system with OneNote. We’ll see how that goes, but just being actively conscious about maximizing my day to day life has already been very rewarding.
Surprisingly, i loved learning greek over the summer, but now that i’m taking part 3 and with part 4 to come next term, I can’t say it’s still quite as exciting.
Erwin McManus was at 722 last weekend, streaming video here.
I love my small group… i love the people, and their desires for a christ-centered community. Here are a couple of pics with alvin and sharen during a cheese/chocolate fondue and turkey night.
All the main session’s of Northpoint’s leadership Drive Conference is available here.
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While I was in Atlanta I checked out the night service at Buckhead. Buckhead is a satellite campus of North Point Community Church led by Andy Stanley and is regarded as one of the most innovative churches in America. It started in 2001 and is geared towards the twenty-something’s crowd.
The church must be exploding because their parking is far beyond maxed out. For blocks coming into the church you see a mix of signs saying ‘church parking here’ or ‘no church parking’ in the neighboring store and restaurant parking lots.
They have shuttles that take people in from designated parking areas further out and often need to turn people away from the church because they’d be breaking fire regulations.
It’s held in what looks like a converted barn. However, as soon as you head in it’s as contemporary as it gets. Sleek foyer, with Flat screen monitors hanging on the walls.
Entering the sanctuary, it was so dark I couldn’t find my way through, I felt a bit like I was entering a haunted house during Halloween. Much of this was because there was a heavy black curtain between the closed door behind me and the sanctuary. (now that I think about it makes some sense, because it’s always a bit distracting at our church when people come in late and the light peers through the door as the lights are dimmed).
The whole service was dark, with lights scattered across the ceiling, that looked like stars in the expanse. Louie Giglio gave an astronomy lesson for a good half hour and interlaced it with God’s awesomeness in creation. I felt like I was at a planetarium more than a church. It was great! You can check out the message here, titled ‘astronomical grace’
What’s amazing is how large a community Buckhead gathers using pre-recorded messages from North Point. I knew going in that I was watching a video-feed, but a few minutes in, they actually convinced me that there was someone on stage. If you look at my picture on the bottom right, that’s a video of Louie Giglio, but because they have the screen going all the way down to the stage floor it looks like he’s right there!
Anyhow, I can’t describe how embarrassing it was taking pictures during a church service.
I accidentally left the flash on during my first shot and everyone turned back staring at me. Hopefully I’ll know better next time. Overall a decent mega-church experience.
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I’m writing from the plane for the first time.
I bring my laptop with me every time, but aside from the odd times I get caught up in an engaging conversation with the stranger next to me, I never do any writing, quite honestly, because I’m paranoid that they’ll be watching my every keystroke and mental lapse as I bare my soul to this electronic box.
For some reason as I roamed the airport leaving Atlanta, my bags felt heavier than when I arrived. I think it was just because I was feeling exhausted, but each time I passed through a security checkpoint, I kept picturing them pulling out several kilo’s of cocaine… I guess I’ll find out when I get home.
As we were about to take off the pilot announced that the computer was experiencing some glitches and they needed to ‘reboot’. The engines, air, and lights all went off. I’m praying right now that’s not going to happen in mid-air.
It was a bumpy ride penetrating through the clouds as we shot up into the dark skies. Head pressed against the window, I had my usual thoughts of “Lord grant me more time on this earth so that I might fulfill all the things you’ve put in my heart”.
It’s hard to tell how much of that prayer was a front for something more selfish.
But just as the plane broke through the rumbling darkness, a hush of calm came upon the plane as it hovered just about the stratus.
Overlapping lines of red, orange, yellow, green, blue stretched across the horizon.
“God this is so beautiful” just kept rolling off my lips. Finally, it was a prayer I knew had nothing to do with me, and absolutely everything to do with the God who created all of this.
What’s amazing is that I’m watching in the sky, something humanity for thousands of years could never see, but was always here.
Hrmm… something almost profound about that last statement. I think I’ll need to end here.
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I’m in Atlanta this week on business. I hate being away from home, but I’ve got to say it’s a blessing being able to travel and see different cities.
I’ve probably taken well over 50 flights the last few years I’ve got so say flights still make me nervous. I wonder how many people have a moment with their Maker as they pray for safety in the air.
I know I do.
I reflect on sins I’ve committed or the good I’ve neglected to do.
I don’t believe in a condemning God but for some reason I wonder if a flight could go down due to some past judgment finally catching up to me.
A part of me smiles because I know I’ve received so much more than I deserve in this yet life, yet I’m plagued by thoughts of not giving as much as I ought to in this life.
I love stories with glorious endings. The hero in me always wants to die in battle, saving the life of a loved one, or while proclaiming the things that truly matter to me. I can’t help but feel that something about burning up in a plane as a passenger seems less glorious to me.
Yet I know it wouldn’t be if I was on mission. If I was actively engaging in the purposes of the Creator, what’s not glorious about that?
The scary thing is maybe I’m not.
Something about possible death pending really helps add a dose of perspective.
A missionary/student in seminary told me once ‘no guts, no glory, no missionary stories’.
I wonder what kind of story I’ll be leaving behind…
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