I’m preaching through a two week message on Ephesians 2:10 – the idea of being God’s living artwork. This past Sunday I passed out play-doh to each person in the community and had them shape and express thoughts through them.
I also pointed out how if they looked up close, they’ll find their fingerprints all over the play-doh and how if we take the time to look up close within others, and within ourselves, we’ll find the fingerprints of God. It was a neat tactile experience.
Of course my next thought was, how will I top this next week? … and therein lies the temptation to perform.
Hearing and sharing the voice of God has so little to do with performing. I pray that all of us who lead might not obsess over ‘taking it up a notch’, but allow God to take further residence within our souls this week.
One of the people I respect most in life just resigned from ministry.
I don’t have any words to describe how I feel.
Update: Thanks for those of you who have messaged me about this, or are close to the situation and have been following along. I won’t be blogging further regarding this, but if you’d like to process or talk further regarding this I’d be more than happy to connect in person.
The WCA is launching a new 3-day event in Canada called the Nova Experience.
The NOVA Experience – a brand new day! April 10-12, 2008 – Doubletree International Plaza Hotel, Toronto, ON
A new dawn is here for the local church in Canada, bringing the promise of a brighter morning, full of hope, full of mercy, and full of grace.
It’s a brand new day.
The Leadership Centre Willow Creek Canada, your nation-wide ministry that supports the local church through leadership development and spiritual climate change, is pleased to offer a new, comprehensive experience for the entire church – designed to envision, equip, and encourage every leader and volunteer on your team.
With five distinct experiences, plus an implementation plan that starts before you arrive and carries on after you leave, the complete NOVA Experience helps churches define, refine, and implement their unique, holistic direction for intentional Kingdom impact.
Can Willow conferencing-machine really producing something new and different for us Canadians?
Speakers include Erwin McManus, Joseph Meyers, Craig Gross, Leonard Sweet, Mark Buchanan, and Mark Batterson.
No offense to these guys but aren’t there folks that work in a Canadian context that we can learn from as well?
I attended a Landmark Education seminar last week. It’s a fairly global movement that focuses on self-development and life-fulfillment.
If you google them there’s quite a bit of controversy regarding their techniques, whether they’re a cult, lawsuits, pyramid-schemes, etc.
I won’t get into that, only to say that my experience was positive for the most part.
I just thought it was interesting how one of the friends that invited me said it was “like church, but without the God thing“.
The truth is, it seems that quite an extraordinary number of lives have been changed for the better through it.
My question is, where is the church in all of this? Is Jesus not the ultimate expression and convergence of humanity and divinity? Why are many of our churches having next-to-negligible impact on the lives of people in their community?
Brian J. Walsh and his wife Sylvia C. Keesmaat were recently invited to Mars Hill, Grand Rapids, to discuss their latest book.
Colosssians Remixed – A problem we face today is that we have become numbed and blinded to the empire of our day. It is not as apparent to us and so it needs to be named clearly and radical lifestyle changes need to be enacted. Colossians Remixed points the way forward.
You can download the main messages and the following breakouts for free from the Mars Hill site here.
An Ethic of Liberation – Brian Walsh New Exodus themes in Matthew – Sylvia Keesmaat Becoming the Church – Andrew Richards and Brad Nelson Redistribution or Creation – Don Golden and Dick Devos Waking up to HIV/Aids – Ruth Olsen
I found several other messages by Rob Bell that are actually offered on their online store, but free of charge. I’ll be updating my resources page with them.
Yvz and I were leading a workshop on dating recently… and I think something arguably profound actually came out of my mouth. In discussing finding ‘the one’ and when you’re ‘ready’ and how we know what love is… I said…
If you can honestly love someone even if nothing about that person should ever change, OR, if everything about that person changes… then you just might be ready.
The reality is that some things about people may never ever change, and sometimes things happen that can change everything. ie. check out Robertson McQuilkin’s book “A promise kept” who drops everything to love his wife as she succumbs to Alzheimer’s.
I hear from newly weds quite often about all the ‘things’ they love about their other half. Truth is, much of what we often find so incredible about another person can disappear in a moment. This is why we ultimately long for unconditional love. When we are loved even in our must unlovely states.
I suspect this is how God is with us.
and no… i’m not suggesting anything about how yvz has changed over the years here… she’s always been crazy. I just thought it was a hilarious photo!
After deciding earlier that I would let school slide a bit, so that I could do ‘more important’ things with my life, I got slammed on my last assignment.
I still don’t really care for my grades, but my urban ministry prof, one I greatly admire, called me out on it, and wrote this to me:
Lon; I really like you, and in making time to meet with you, I am in fact saying that I believe God has his hand on you. You are so much smarter than this. This is OK, and from many others I would let this pass. You have the potential to shape the church. If you think this shallow you are dangerous. I hope I am not just annoying you because I am really trying to say “there is so much more in you”.
Take a chance; risk; come dance with me. Bend me out of shape.
Make me have to be brave to keep up with your thinking. We could have fun.
ouch.
He wrote more in response to me than I did for my entire paper. It really wasn’t my best effort, and I admire him all the more for taking the effort in setting me straight.
