Tribes

So a couple of years ago I was at Catalyst (a next gen leadership conference) and I got a free book. I like getting free books, but I am not always good at reading free books. The book was Tribes by Seth Godin. Well I finally read the book. I wish I would not have waited so long to read it. I found it fascinating. First it was written in an unorthodox style. One would expect a book written by a business/marketing guru to be very pedantic, organized, and filled with objectives, steps, and evaluations. Not so with this one! It was a collection of short stories around concepts in no particular order. But one could still get the message of the book, it wouldn't be much of a book if you couldn't discern the message. So here is the message of Tribes.

1. Tribes have become the main avenues for influence and change in our culture.
2. A tribe is a group of people who share a common interest and have a way to communicate.
3. Tribes that are super successful become movements.
4. Tribes have leaders not managers.
5. Leaders see the future, are not bound by the status quo, embrace change, and take risks.
6. Traditional management skills do not apply to the leaders of Tribes.
7. Instant global communication makes the formation and leadership of tribes more accessible.

These are the main thoughts, but not the only ones in Tribes. I have to say that Tribes has changed my thinking. When I consider change that needs to happen my first response is how do I form a tribe and lead it to advocate this kind of change? I hope you will give Tribes a read, I think it is worth it.

By the way this is my second blog post this week! The world may very well be coming to an end and the Cubs my win the World Series.

Missional Community

On Sunday I had the privilege to preach at the worship gathering of the young church plant of which Judy and I are core team members. I spoke about Missional Community. The Biblical text was 1 Peter 2:9-10. If you are interested you can listen to the audio of the sermon here. But, I thought I would give you the high points now. Missional Community essentially means that believers are united by their common faith in Christ in relationship and partnership for the purpose of carrying out the Mission of God which is to see people redeemed by God, in Christ, through the Spirit lead work of Church, for the Glory of God. Here is the text,

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Here is how I see this text teaching us about Missional Community.

1. "A chosen race" Missional Community is God's choice or plan for his people. It is indeed God's will that His people whom He saved would live in community with one another and together live out the mission of God. If indeed this is God's will for us (his people) then it is good, pleasing and perfect.
2. "A royal priesthood" Part of what it means for God's people to be a missional community is that they, each one, would function at priests that each one would be worshipers, intercessors, and ministers.
   
3. "A holy nation" God's people must live as though they are set apart as God's possession for His purpose. I know this raises the question how "set apart" should we be? Let me offer this suggestions when something in our lives keeps us from fulfilling God's purpose then we need to be set apart from that thing, whether it be action, attitude, influence, or relationship.
   
4. "Proclaim" God's people functioning as a missional community must proclaim who God is and what he has done in Christ.

This is the essence of the message yesterday. Yesterday was definitely one of those days that I was preaching to myself. I have been thinking about missional community all day. Missional Community is not something we do, it is what we are. We can either embrace it and live it or fight against it. Which will you do?

Blogging Again?

OK, I need to say upfront this may be my only post of 2010. Let's be honest I am not a good blogger. But, there is a lot going on in my life and in my head these days. I would have to say that I am learning a lot.

Parenting - I guess I thought I was done with active parenting, but that is not the case. Don't get me wrong I like the fact that my 18 and 19 year old sons still want my advice, opinions, and help from time to time. I also find that I have a greater opportunity to disciple my nearly adult children now than I thought I would. Actually much greater. I will be making the most of this opportunity!

1 Thessalonians - I have been studying 1 Thessalonians this year and have been struck by how much Paul (writer of 1 Thessalonians) genuinely loves the church. He has deep compassion for their sufferings and a real affection for them. He takes great pleasure and encouragement from their faithfulness and growth in the Lord. He makes personal sacrifices for their spiritual well being. He calms there fears, commends their victories, and instructs their weaknesses. It is abundantly clear that his is not simply a job for Paul.

Knee Pain - So I am having problems with my right knee now. I had an MRI and I have several problems with my knee. The first is Arthritis, then a sheared medial meniscus, an asymmetrical grinding knee cap, and excessive fluid. All of these ailments are inoperable. My doctor has told me to do what I can and deal with the pain. I know this sounds a little strange, but I am kinda looking forward to enduring this pain. Pain is not always a bad thing. Pain can bring humility. I could certainly use some humility.

Family - We have had extra family around this winter and it has been great. I have found encouragement from extended family being with us. The insights, prayers, encouragements, companionship, and synergy has been uplifting for me. I love my family.

The Windy City

So, I am sitting in a meeting of Church Planting Strategist in Chicago. As we sit here, we all share a love for this city. The need here for the proclamation of the Gospel, the making of disciples, and the planting of churches is great. Chicago is one of the most under churched, under reached cities in America. Chicago is a wonderful city with a rich cultural diversity. it is truly a cultural center. I love the business of the city. Chicago is a diamond in the rough. I simply love Chicago!

DISC Profile

Today at staff meeting we spent the morning working on the DISC personal discernment inventory which is an instrument for understanding yourself and others. The instrument uses a descriptive word list to help the participant discover their personality/relational/work style. There is four categories; Dominant, Influential, Steady, Conscientious.

So I didn't really learn anything new about myself that i didn't already know. I am a high D which stands for dominant and I am also a high I which stands for Influential. But it was good to see how the other people on my team are wired and what their particular styles are.

So, have you ever taken the DISC profile?

Blogging

OK! So here is the deal. I would rather say my thoughts than write them. Not only is that true, I would rather say them to your face than record them. Otherwise I could be a video blogger or a pod-caster. The sad truth is, no matter how much I want to be, I am not wired for blogging. I am not giving up on the medium, just trying to be realistic. Maybe I will write something tomorrow....

Vision

We are at a meeting to do some planning for our organization's 2010 goals. We began the day with a discussion of our team vision which is;

"A New Testament Church in easy reach of every person in Illinois."

I really like this as a vision statement for a number of reasons.
1. It requires some thinking to unpack. We need to think more!
2. It communicates the Incarnational and transformational nature of the ministry of the Church.
3. It recognizes that what we need is a reformation not a revolution. In other words we are
talking about getting back to what is radically old not doing something that is radically new.
4. It identifies that either geographically or culturally the church in Illinois is not in easy reach
of many people in Illinois. We need all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people.
5. It focuses on the Biblical foundation of the Church.
6. It is easy to remember.

Odds and Ends

Here are some things I have been thinking about lately.

• Authentic Christian community
• Journey (the band)
• Africa
• Christian involvement in justice issues
• Do we really need Christian curriculum?
• My children leaving the house
• My wife (she is awesome)
  
• Disciple making
• The Shining (Stephen King novel)
• The Revelation
  

Greetings from SI

Wow, I haven't posted here in a long time. I have been posting regularly on my other blog Transplant Your Life. So I am sitting at the McDonalds in West Frankfort, IL using the Wi-Fi (which I had to pay for.) I have a series of meetings this week down here in Southern Illinois and i thought it would be a good time to see my parents and spend some much needed time with them. Even thought I had to pay for the Wi-Fi, I do want to give the West Frankfort McDonalds props for having styro-foam cups for cold drinks. I am a big fan of the foam cup over the plastic cup.

Tonight I am speaking at Catalyst, which is a gathering of college age adults in Southern Illinois. It meets at Anna Heights Baptist Church at about 7:30pm. I am looking forward to this teaching opportunity tonight. I will be teaching from Romans 8, if you want to know more, then come to Catalyst Tonight at Anna Heights.

Hope

I have been thinking about Hope a lot lately. I mean in the biblical sense. In casual conversation we may say, "I hope the Cardinals win." or "I hope it doesn't rain on Saturday." When we use hope that way we mean wishful thinking. I have no assurance that the Cardinals will win or that it won't rain on Saturday, my desire is for a win and no rain, but I really only have wishful thinking. When the Bible talks about hope, especially or hope in Christ as Christians the word means something completely different. Hope carries this meaning in Scripture, the absolute assurance of something you don't fully have yet. Here is my favorite passage about the absolute assurance of God's promises in Christ, our hope.

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, "Surely I will bless you and multiply you." And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
(Heb 6:13-20)

Here is how secure our hope is in Christ. It is dependent on God being God. God swears by Himself and makes an oath with Himself that all of His promises will be fulfilled in Christ. God connects His promises with His very character and person. If our hope in Christ fails, God isn't God. Talk about hope security!

Podcasts

I am a big fan of the podcast. I am sure that part of that is I am a big fan of audio. I have always enjoyed music and audio books, so it would follow that I would enjoy podcasts. There is a huge variety of podcasts out there. I started with sermons by some of my favorite and most respected preachers, guys like John Piper and Mark Driscol. Then I discovered the interview podcast. I really enjoy the catalyst and fermi podcasts that expose us through interviews to some of the top thinkers and practitioners in ministry, theology, and culture. I have also discovered the old time radio podcasts which are simply old time radio shows like the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and the Abbott and Costello show. There's more, much more, perhaps too much more. What are your favorite podcasts?

The Earthquake Scare

On Friday, June 13 at around 6:45 pm central time an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale shook Iwate Prefecture in Northern Japan. Now, my youngest son, James, is visiting Japan with a group from his school from June 9 to June 26. At about 7:25 pm central time on Friday, June 13 I was informed about the earthquake and immediately got the location of the quake from Fox News website as Iwate Prefecture. I then looked at James' trip itinerary to see where he was in Japan. I was then faced with the very unwelcome surprise that James was in Iwate Prefecture. I spent the next 2 hours; looking at maps to determine how far James was from the epicenter, monitoring aftershocks, making phone calls, and sending e-mails. Finally, I got a response from someone in the International Exchange Office in Iwate Prefecture in broken English that said all of the students were safe, then shortly after the email one of the students on the trip called his parents to tell them everyone was safe and that parent called the rest of us. It was a very harrowing experience. Here are some thoughts from that experience.

• My son is in the hands of a Sovereign God.
• Prayer and the prayers of others is very comforting.
• Friends who attend you in a crisis are of immeasurable value (some friends were over when I got the news.)
• The quick and easy access to information via the world wide web is a blessing for which I am grateful.
• My wife is a strong woman of great faith.
• I am deeply grieved for those who do not have faith in God to sustain them during times of difficulty, fear, doubt, anxiety, and trouble.
• Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith.

We got an email from James today, the first since he left on the trip. This is what he had to say about the earthquake

The earthquake was pretty sweet and since my family`s home is in the mountains it was violent.

Not only did the boy get to go to Japan, he got to experience a 7.0 earthquake that was "sweet" and "violent" That email totally made my day.

New Project

Hey some of you who read this blog may be interested in another project I have going on. I have a blog called Transplant Your Life. It is actually the IBSA Next Gen blog. You can find it here. It will be a challenge to try to keep up with two blogs. Many of you are probably chuckling about now because you know I don't keep up with this one very well. Here are a few reasons why I think this will work.
1. The Next Gen Blog is part of my job. I had better keep up with that one.
2. The two blogs are going to be very different in content. This blog will continue to be more about personal thoughts and experiences and the other one will be about trends, resources, and issues concerning next gen ministry.
3. I think the practice of regularly posting in one will make me better at posting in the other.
4. I keep telling more and more people about my blogs and feel an obligation to give them something to read.
5. I will try real hard (I know that is lame but I really felt like I needed five reasons)

So tomorrow I will tell you about the great earthquake scare!

Community

Thursday, June 5, 2008 this date is significant because we launched a community group meeting in our home. Some folks from our church family attended and I think we had a very good start. Let me just briefly give you the purpose of the group. It is to be both a Gospel centered and community centered group. That means we will equally emphasize biblical study and building authentic Christian Community (which we can only know through biblical study) We began with a meal together and conversation and then moved into a Bible study time. Here is the text we studied,

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
(Act 2:42-47)

We noticed the activity of the early church, what they did and how often they did it. It was amazing to see how connected the early church was to each other. They studied together, they spent time getting to know each other, they ate together, they prayed together, and they were with each other doing these things daily. They shared their possessions with each other and they cared for one another's needs. Wow, what a picture of authentic Christian community! We realized that this is an example of the Church being the Church. We also concluded that we don't have community approaching this example, and we want it. The most amazing part of our discussion was the realization that the early believers were devoted to building this kind of community as it says in the text. We decided we would never have this kind of community if we too aren't devoted to cultivating it. We were also struck by the result of this kind of Christian community, the Lord adding daily to the number being saved. Wow, the power of community in evangelism!
Here is the other text I thought we would study, but we ran out of time.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
(Tit 2:11-14)

This passage talks so much about the wonderful, amazing, glorious grace of God expressed in Christ that brings us salvation. We get a beautiful and powerful description of the effect of that grace in our lives to transform us. One of the transforming effects of God's grace in Christ is that it makes us into God's people. We are a community of faith, because Jesus made us into a community of faith by his grace, through his sacrifice and triumphant resurrection. In a very real way, when we live in authentic Christian community, we are living the Gospel. When we fail to live in community we are missing out on part of the effect of salvation in our lives. We sell ourselves short, we miss out on a blessing, and perhaps worst of all we misrepresent the Gospel.

Just a Dog

Sadness at the Smith house. Our 9 year old cocker spaniel named Katie passed away this morning. It was very sad to say goodbye to our four legged companion of so many years. I wish I cold say her ending was peaceful, but it was not. She suffered with seizures for about 18 hours that began mildly but increased in severity. The veterinarian said that she most likely had cancer, a brain tumor. Sandy and I tearfully buried her in yard under his bedroom window. It is amazing how quickly pets get into your heart. I think we all shed some tears today, we loved our dog. I know I often talked like I didn't like our dog. As my wife, who knows me so well, said about me, "He's all talk he loves the dog." I probably cried the most or at least the ugliest when Katie passed. Katie was a great dog who was fiercely devoted to us and especially Judy. so here's to Katie.

Arnel Pineda

I am a rock and roll fan from way back. One of the bands I grew up listening to was Journey. Neil Schon's guitar licks and Steve Perry belting out the high pitch lyrics was awesome. You can still find some classic Journey songs on my ipod. Well Journey is back, they have a new album and a new lead singer. His name is Arnel Pineda from the Philippines. The way he became the lead singer for Journey is amazing. Basically Neil Schon, the bands founder, saw Pineda on youtube, contacted him and then before you know it he is the lead singer of Jouney.

Vacation is Over

Well, I have been on vacation for the past week or so. My wife and I went to Seattle, Washington for a few days. It was great! I really like Seattle. It is a great city. Here are a few of the things I enjoyed about Seattle.
It is a clean city (I guess it is all that rain)
It is easy to get anywhere in Seattle. Many things are in walking distance and there is a great mass transit bus system.
It's beautiful. Seattle is surrounded by mountains and ocean.
Some unique history.
Lots of really fun things to do indoors, outdoors, spend money, or free.
Cooler weather!
Good food!

So, for my Sunday School Class, I will be writing again next Tuesday on topics relevant to our study in Revelation. For the rest of you, I will try to write more on topics other than my Sunday School Class study in Revelation. Thanks for reading (assuming anyone is actually reading this)

Holy, Holy, Holy

So last Sunday we studied Revelation chapter 4 in Sunday School. Of course it is a dramatic description of the worship that takes place around the throne in Heaven. The mental picture this description paints is awe inspiring. I love the way everything in heaven is centered on God. I am moved by the description of heaven as the place God is, and not the place where we have no pain, streets of gold, and fellowship with loved ones. God is the reward of heaven. But an interesting thing happened during our discussion of the passage. We were discussing verses 8-11.

8.And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!"
9.And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
10.the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11."Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."

I asked the question,

For what reasons is the Father worthy of worship? Which of His deeds or attributes is praised in 4:8-11?

And the students were very quick to name several of God's attributes like Creator, eternal nature, etc. But no one mentioned God's holiness. Yet God's holiness is the one attribute that is emphatically lauded in this passage the four living creatures say "holy, holy, holy." Now, I am not trying to say that the particular students in class Sunday were not observant, to the contrary they had some great insights into this text. I think what I am trying to say is that God's holiness, one of his greatest attributes, is so foreign to us that we simply don't see it like we should. We don't understand it's significance. We don't display it in our lives.

Holiness doesn't only express God's pure or sinless existence. It literally means set apart, like no other, separate. That describes all of God's character. God's love is holy love, it is love like no other. God's grace is holy grace, grace like set apart from any other grace. God's wisdom is holy wisdom, it is wisdom with no equal. God's wrath is holy wrath, it is wrath set apart from any other wrath.

God is holy! His holiness ought to guide, fuel, and fill our lives of God centered worship.

Politics

So a friend is coming over this evening to drink Cafe Cubano and talk politics. This is a new one for me, not because of the coffee, but because of the political conversation. I usually don't like to talk about politics. And to be completely honest, I really only have a cursory interest and knowledge of the American Political scene. I know who is running for President, I know which party controls congress. I have an idea of the major hot spots in the world as far as The United States is concerned. I think I know who I am going to vote for. I am aware of some of the political issues facing our country right now. I have an opinion on things like health care, immigration, Iraq, the environment, etc.

The real issue for me is that I have lost confidence in our political system. I am just not sure that anyone who can get elected in our country can make a difference. It just seems like we will have the same kinds of people making the same kinds of decisions and the real significant change that I think our country needs will never come because we have a self perpetuating system that is broken. George Washington when leaving office warned the young government to avoid the trap of bipartisan politics. I think he was right.

The Normal Christian Life

Sunday we finished the letters to the seven churches in Revelation. We looked at Philadelphia and Laodicea. I am not going to go over everything we discussed in class, but I wanted to explore one concept that we touched on Sunday. In light of the message to Laodicea and really in light of the cumulative message to the church in Revelation, the question arises, have we made mediocrity the norm in Christian life?

Based on the letters to the seven churches in Revelation I would have to say yes. By what Christ affirms in the churches, predicts for the churches, and chastises in the churches, His message seems to be one of work hard for the Kingdom, oppose sin and false teaching, be radically different from culture, embrace suffering, and most of all persevere.

Are those qualities indicative of the church today? That may not be a fair question for me to ask so how about this one. Are those qualities indicative of my life as a Christ follower? The picture of a Christ follower in Revelation and really through out the New Testament is one of a person who is radically following Christ so that their actions scream out, "I belong to Jesus?" The "normal" Christian life is meant to leave no doubt in any one's mind who and what we are. If someone has to ask me if I am a Christian, then I am probably not living the "normal" Christian life, but rather some poor, pitiful, blind, and naked version that I have convinced myself is normal.

So what is the answer? I am no ultra wise sage. In fact most of the time I barely know what is going on, but I think Revelation gives the answer in verse 1 of chapter 1, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ." I know it seems simple, but the answer to poor, pitiful, blind, and naked Christian life is a radical Christ centered, Christ saturated life. Jesus said it to the church in Laodicea, "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see."
In other words, come to Jesus! Come to Him for strengthening of faith, for cleansing from sin, for sight of the truth.