by Lon on December 29, 2006
Some personal highlights from Neil Cole’s Organic Church
People are leaving the church to preserve their faith
Most warm blooded-living things grow to a point and then reproduce
Many a church continues long after the soul of the church has departed because the building itself keeps them going. A building can become an artificial life support system that keeps a church alive even though it died long ago.
In many of the churches in the West, ministry is done for Jesus, but not by Jesus.
Only 4 percent of churches in America will plant a daughter church.
See Tony’s blog for a much more in-depth review and additional quotes.
Overall, the book helped me think through what the church really is and re-align myself to the Christ who builds his church.
by Lon on December 27, 2006
Family…
A new generation of babies this year, Stellar, Carter, and Evan Noah
Home torched Creme Brule
And what’s Christmas without a present for daddy… Nothing like newborn poo shot out on the sleeve!
by Lon on December 23, 2006
During this Christmas season as the story of God is tossed around, Gandhi has something important to say to us:
“You Christians look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilization to pieces, turn the world upside down, and bring peace to a battle-torn planet.
But you treat it as though it is nothing more than a piece of good literature.” ~ Mohandas Gandhi
by Lon on December 21, 2006
… like she does.
Yvz is the most amazing woman I have ever encountered in my life. Not only is she a passionate follower of Jesus, she’s now a mom. Somewhere in there she finds a way to continuously bless me as my wife.
Honey, it would be impossible to describe how you amaze me… but I’m going to spend my life trying anyways.
Here’s a shot of one of her most recent paintings for baby Caleb.
It’s a ladybug in the grass reminiscent of the Biblical character his name goes by that chooses to venture into the promised land despite the giants that surround.
by Lon on December 20, 2006
by Lon on December 18, 2006
Yesterday I read “Tracks of a fellow struggler” by John Claypool for a crisis counseling course I’ll be taking next semester.
It was especially moving for me as it was the reflections of a pastor who watched his eight-year old girl die of leukemia.
Here are a few contextless snippets:
It has taken this long to get to the place I could handle this material without overwhelming pain. Just like a broken leg, a broken heart heals slowly and cannot stand much touching right after the break.
… Saturday afternoon she breathed her last breath and set out on a journey on which I could not accompany her.
There are no experts on the field of grief, for we all grieve in our own unique ways.
You alone can do your grief work, but you do not have to do it alone.
I had my moments when I understood how a person could raise one’s fist to heaven and curse God.
One does not sow and reap in the same day, and, quite honestly, I must acknowledge that if this tragedy were my only conscious experience with God, I probably would not have come out where I did.
I did not realize just how hopeful I really was until that Saturday afternoon as I knelt by her bed and saw her stop breathing.
There were times, when Laura Lue was hurting so intensely that she had to bite on a rag and used to bet me to pray to God to ake away that awful pain. I would kneel down beside her bed and pray with all the faith and conviction of my soul, and nothing would happen except the pain continuing to rage on.
I fall back on the notion that God has a lot to give account for… I believe God will be able to give an accounting when all the facts are in, and until then, it is valid to ask.
The way of gratitude does not alleviate the pain, but it somehow puts some light around the darkness and creates strength to begin to move on
For every one of us – there is no way to avoid the trauma of loss if we love even a little.
A statement that struck a chord with the way I feel about my life, and in particular my wife, was a quote in the book by Hugh Prather during an illness his wife suffered:
She may die before morning. But I have been with her for four years. Four years. There is no way I could feel cheated if I didn’t have her for another day. I didn’t deserve her for one minute, God knows.
by Lon on December 15, 2006
Stellar’s still completely consuming my life these days, but here’s a portion of an article I recently wrote for the seminary newsletter.
The church is dying in North America. Most churches won’t acknowledge this because there’s still enough money to keep the lights on. Half of all churches did not connect a single person into a life transforming relationship with Jesus in an entire year. The church today is seen as the remnants of an archaic institution for the old, the sheltered, and the fanatic.
Many churches talk about being relevant to culture today because they are on brink of irrelevance. If God is the creator God then the church should be the center of creativity. Churches ought to be leading the culture, not catching up to it. New churches are needed just as much as revitalized churches, if not more. Our country is desperately in need of churches of all shapes and sizes and types. There are homes, warehouses, cafes, pubs, clubs, theaters, and abandoned cathedrals across the country waiting to be redeemed into communities of faith, hope, and love.
The Apostle Paul’s entire strategy was on church planting in urban centers. Miracles, conversions, and lives transformed just happened along the way. Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian states “Nothing else – not crusades, outreach programs, parachurch ministries, mega-churches, consulting, nor church renewal processes – will have the consistent impact of dynamic, extensive church planting”.
It all begins with individuals like you and me; followers of Jesus who are unafraid of risk, adventure and launching into unmarked territory because we trust in a sovereign God who is good; men and women who have caught a vision of God’s heart for establishing missional and redemptive centers of faith – that relentlessly press against the gates of Hades, to bring light into the darkness, and hope to humanity.
