Some of you have noticed that I haven’t written in a while. Some of you have even written to ask me to write….well it was my mom and mother-in-law! So I finally have a free moment that is accompanied by the energy to write…
So we’re at home in Paris…well, it feels like home, but it’s not anymore. We sit at the same cafés, see the same friends, eat at the same restaurants, and walk the same streets, but this is not home anymore…regardless of whether or not it feels like it. It’s really strange for such a strange place to feel so normal. It’s also weird to be here and feel this way, yet know that our decision to leave was what was best for us. (The stuff we’re dealing with in the meantime is getting to a place that no other time could)
We have really loved being back in Europe. There’s just something about it that we love. I wait with eager expectation to see how God is going to use us here in the future.
Many of you know that we’ve had to move a bunch of stuff while we’re here. That has pretty much consumed my time and my thoughts for the last 5 days. After we brought our stuff into the city, things became a lot more complicated than I thought it would be. Frank and Dawn (and the kids) have been so gracious for letting us pile our stuff in their living room…and work in there every day sorting it! The shippers will hopefully come get it tomorrow…if not, I don’t know what we’ll do. (pray that they come!)
I’ll write more as I have time…thanks for keeping up with us…if anyone other than my mom and mom-in-law are!
Jen, Maisie, and I made it back to Paris yesterday! Our trip went really well with the exception of Maisie not wanting to sleep on the long flight. She ended up falling asleep on the short flight!
We were able to stay awake until about 8:30pm and then slept until 7:30am! At midnight Jen and I both woke up near wide awake, but we both were able to fall back asleep…thankfully.
It’s really good to be back. I didn’t really know how I was going to feel. I kind of expected to feel emotional or something, but instead it just felt so normal. I don’t know if normal is the right word…I guess it felt ordinary. A part of me felt like we had never left, but another part of me felt like my memories were dreams that I remembered really well.
Anyway…we’re back. Meeting up with friends. Making moving arrangements. Etc, etc…
Thanks to Jay at OnMovements for posting this list from Sam Metcalf. I think that many (if not all!) of these things are certainly worth thinking about if you are in any way a steward of ministry…
By Jay Lorenzen on Jan 19, 2008
Sam Metcalf at UnderTheIceberg posted the following list on How To Kill a Movement:
1. Require education for the leadership
2. Demand conformity of methodology
3. Refuse to provide administrative help and let it suffocate under it’s own weight
4. Get spooked by supernatural phenomena outside your paradigm
5. Make no room for younger, less experienced leadership
6. Be obsessed by theological purity
7. Put the safety of the people involved as a higher priority than sacrifice
8. Centralize the funding
9. Punish out-of-the box thinking
10. Manage it by goals and strategic plans
11. Reward faithfulness rather than entrepreneurial ability
12. Get tied to property and buildings
13. Let your critics define you
14. Be threatened by giftedness that’s not like you
15. Create an endowment
16. Treat creativity as heresy
17. Refuse to exercise discipline for the right things
18. Make sure you are related to existing institutions for credibility
19. Promote on the basis of seniority and longevity
20. Insist that decisions be based on policy instead of values
21. Make nurture and conservation of gains a focus
22. Don’t be intentional about leadership selection
23. Be risk adverse under the guise of stewarding your people
24. Justify your reluctance to raise money
25. Have a big need for approval and affirmation
Above all else, control it if, God forbid, he actually shows up!
When Jen and I were packing for this trip to Europe we knew one thing for certain…We needed to pack light. This is normally a good rule to follow when traveling in Europe anyway. I had a friend tell me that there were two types of people who travel in Europe: Those who pack light. And those who wish they did. This is incredibly true.
But this trip is special. It’s special in that we have to try and get as much stuff from our lives in Paris into the bags that we fly back with. I’m talking shoes, more clothes, video camera, guitar gear, baby stuff, etc…We knew that for every article of clothing that we took to Paris, it went one less article that we were going to be bringing back. So we packed light. Like, I run out of shirts in a few days light. Like, I brought two pairs of pants for a month light.
Sacrifices were made…but the greatest sacrifice of all for me was that I left my camera gear at home.
Who does that? You’re going on a trip to Europe and don’t pack your camera? Even here in Colorado I’ve wanted to take pictures, but somebody was trying to be smart and didn’t pack his camera. I know that I’ll regret it every day we are in Europe. Even writing this right now makes me feel sick with regret. Ugh!!!
I guess in some ways this is a good thing…life can’t be lived looking through the lens of a camera. And just because memories aren’t captured in a 5 mega-byte jpeg file doesn’t mean they didn’t happen. I’ve already enjoyed flying without my camera and I know that on the way home when I have a ton of stuff on the plane that I’ll certainly be glad that I don’t have it. In the meantime I’ll have to deal and find other ways of creative outlet…thus the new 6 randomized headers on my blog!
A few years ago at Christian Associates‘ staff conference our president, Linus Morris, showed a great clip from the movie Riding Giants. It’s a movie about the history and progression of big wave surfing. I’ve never been much of a surfer (never being the key word), but I am still fascinated by it and respect the guys and girls who do…I mostly respect the people in this video because they are pioneers, they lived on the edge and pushed the limits of what they knew was possible.
I went to the local library here in Littleton and they had it…for free (my favorite four letter word)…I have been wanting to see the whole movie for the past two years and finally got my chance. I got home and watched it one night…twice. I can’t believe how many analogies there are in the movie to missional work and spiritual development. Here’s my favorite…
There was a kid named Jeff Clark who lived in Half Moon Bay, CA…he was a freshman in high-school when, from a lookout point where he and his buddies would hang out, he could see a surf break out beyond the point that looked amazing. He went out to check it out and it was even bigger than he thought. This spot would later become the world famous break called Mavericks. At 14 years old he paddled 45 minutes out to the line-up to catch a wave that broke into treacherous rocks, in freezing cold Pacific Ocean water, without the permission or knowledge of his parents! He rode in this spot for 15 years before anybody would go out with him…15 years of riding a now world-famous break…alone…He rode in these insane and deadly conditions just for the love of surfing.
Finally, a couple of other guys paddled out into Mavericks and the movement began. As the spot got more and more famous, more and more riders came out from around the world…almost overnight. And he wasn’t protective, or mad that his spot had become crowded. Instead, he said he was like a proud parent and welcomed the new surfers.
You should check out the video and think in terms of analogy…and just enjoy the beauty and power of the ocean and those who play (survive) in it.
Yesterday I was helping my brother-in-law Jason sand his deck with a big stand up power sander. I’ve never used a thing like this…I have to admit, it was pretty fun. As one who normally avoids physical labor (or has very little opportunity for it, which compounds my avoidance), I really enjoyed wrestling this around the deck. It gave me time to think.
I was thinking about my life and my journey as a follower of Christ…specifically about how my thinking about the mission of the Church has changed and evolved. Over the past few years I have been thinking more and more as a ‘missionary.’ Asking questions like, “What does the Church look like to people who aren’t a part of it? How can we communicate the message of freedom in Christ to people who don’t care?” In essence, I am trying to see the world, the Church, and the message of the Church about Jesus through the eyes of people who have had no experience, or negative experiences with the Church.
One thing that I have realized is that once I began this journey, there is no ‘unseeing’ what I have seen…Or unlearning what I have learned. I have discovered that this journey is an A-Z journey, and I am only at the beginning.
While I was sanding I was thinking about how little kids’ first associations with the alphabet are the three letters A, B, and C. But as they get older they learn more about A, B, and C’s friends DEFGHIJK…you get the idea. But once kids learn the whole alphabet it is impossible to only think of it as ABC. I feel in many ways that my recent experience has revealed the many ways that my mind, heart, and soul have been challenged to expand and think. I see the world different now. I see the Church different now. And I see the message of the Church different now.
My prayer is that as I continue to add letters to my knowledge of the alphabet that my passion for people, cultures, the Church, and Jesus will grow and grow. I am so thankful for how we (Jen is a part of this process too!) have been gifted with life and I hope that we will be given more and more opportunity to live into the experiences that God has given us…unless there is hard manual labor involved of course.
Jen and I got the chance yesterday to go up into the Rocky Mountains and spend some time with our friends Mike and Mary Haas. They have been ‘friends of Christian Associates’ for a long time now and offer their time (and much more) to those of us on staff with CA…You see, Mike and Mary are counselors…and since we take a lot of shots while out on the fringes of faith, they provide a great sounding board, for us to process life with. They invited us up to their place in the Gramby, CO…which is in the mountains and in the middle of nowhere (they are introverts, so that works for them).
But it was well worth our time getting there…even though we did miss our exit, go 35 miles out of the way, slide into a snow bank on a last pee stop (note: no matter how bad you have to go, it is never, ever, ever a good idea to try and make a sudden turn into an unplowed driveway…insert side story here: We did get to see how cool and kind the people up in the hills can be as a couple of guys from the restaraunt came out to help us dig our vehicle out of the snow!), and, last but not least, drive over a snowy pass at night! We did make it home safely and we are still processing a lot of what we talked about with Mike and Mary.
I am so thankful that we work with a community of people that get emotional and spiritual development and provide us with people like Mike and Mary to help us along the journey…even if they live in a winter wonderland!!!
If guaranteed eternal salvation was this easy…or maybe not…I wonder if this guy will ever end up writing his own book about living a year biblically.
Mans sees ‘mark,’ cuts off hand
But seriously, I do feel bad for this guy…I don’t know whether to applaud or pity him. I don’t know whether it’s ok to call him mentally disturbed or convicted.
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