For our prayer update this month we want to start out saying…. we’re having a boy!

We just had our latest sono last week and he’s growing well. We are thrilled that God has blessed us with another child, and excited to have a baby boy.

As many of you know, we send [...]]]>

For our prayer update this month we want to start out saying…. we’re having a boy!

We just had our latest sono last week and he’s growing well. We are thrilled that God has blessed us with another child, and excited to have a baby boy.

As many of you know, we send out prayer updates regularly, asking for prayer for our family, New York City and the church. Below are some of our updates:

Annapolis, MD
We are entering into week four of Advent and wrapping up an Advent study we’ve hosted in our apartment. It’s been a great time to talk about Jesus’ presence in our lives and how we view faith and life. About half of those attending are from outside the church. You can pray for wisdom as we prepare the last week, and for the relationships that have started to take root and develop as we enter the new year.

New York, NY
As many of you know, the Supreme Court declined to hear a case about New York City schools banning church meetings, thus holding up a state court’s ruling (Times article here). You can join us in praying for the dozens of churches that will need to find a new location by February of next year. More importantly, you can join all the churches in New York City in praying for God’s name to be glorified through this next season. The city is watching how we will respond as Christians, pastors and churches. Pray for wisdom, patience and perseverance.

Our Family
As we mentioned above, we are so excited about our new baby boy, and cannot wait for his arrival. You can pray with us now for a healthy pregnancy and delivery. We are also praying through the transition to a family of four. For those of you who have gone from one child to two, we’ve heard you… it’s a huge step. And for us it will happen a few months before we move to New York and begin connecting with the city to form a new faith community. We feel confident in the timing that God has, and feel like we’re remaining sensitive enough that if he were to change it we would flex with that. So for now we pray for peace for our family. That Emily and my relationship would be strengthened over the next few months, that we would continue to find stride as a family and that God would prepare our hearts for this next season.

As always, thank you for your prayers. They are our wings.

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In some ways we look back in awe and wonder – what it must have been like for Joseph, Mary, the wiremen and the shepherds who knew a [...]]]> The season of Advent has been used by the people of the Church for hundreds of years as we collectively prepare for the coming of Christ.

In some ways we look back in awe and wonder – what it must have been like for Joseph, Mary, the wiremen and the shepherds who knew a very special baby was going to be born. What it must have been like for the heavens to know Messiah was coming to earth.

In other ways the Church looks forward – because Christ is going to come again. He has promised to return: to make all things new. To finish the work he started, taking away the brokenness, pain, separation, struggling, sickness and death of this world.

And as we look forward to his return we have to acknowledge that Jesus spoke of his return not only as a future event, but as something happening now – all around us.

We see Christ at work through his Church as we join him in restoring all things. We see him at work when dignity comes to someone living on the street. When an orphan is adopted. When those struggling with pain find hope. When those sick are healed.

We see him when we give up defining ourselves by what we produce and embrace the value he has placed in us. We see him when we share our lives in loving other. We see him when we show grace and mercy instead of judgement and anger.

We see this Jesus returning all around us, everywhere. And in Advent we acknowledge we want more.

So in the season of Advent we look forward to Christ entering into our lives here and now. And we ask for more of his presence. What would it be like if we were more in sync with the movement of God’s Spirit next year? What would it be like if the Kingdom were more present in our lives than ever before?

Advent helps us prepare the way for Christ to be more present in our lives.

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The photo above is from the first week of an Advent study we host in our apartment on Sunday evenings.

When the police forced Occupy Wall Street protestors out of Zuccotti Park earlier this week, it was two churches in Manhattan that opened their doors.

Middle Collegiate and Church of St. Paul and Andrew not only opened their doors to protestors, but provided them with food and water. Although the overwhelming [...]]]>

When the police forced Occupy Wall Street protestors out of Zuccotti Park earlier this week, it was two churches in Manhattan that opened their doors.

Middle Collegiate and Church of St. Paul and Andrew not only opened their doors to protestors, but provided them with food and water. Although the overwhelming majority of protestors are college graduates and many have stable incomes and homes, many have have also traveled from around the country to join the movement and were unprepared as the police moved in at 1am.

Some Christians disagree with either the method or message of the #OWS movement, but disparaging what’s happening through these churches of New York would entirely miss the point of “love your neighbor.” (And if you find yourself in categorical disagreement, it misses the point of “love your enemy.”) Of course, celebrating it because you agree with the message(s) of #OWS would miss the larger point of what’s happening in the Church of New York City.

“The Gospels have such a clear mandate for how we’re supposed to treat one another.” ~ Jacqui Lewis, Senior Minister at Middle Collegiate Church, East Village, Manhattan (pictured above).

Both of these churches do things differently than the kind of church I am part of – but they embody something every church should be known for. Minister Lewis’ words, and the actions behind them, speak so much life – they demonstrate the life and teachings of Christ in palpable clarity. It is how we are to live as Christ’s body – pouring ourselves out as a good gift for others (eucharist). Giving ourselves in an act of faith, trust and submission to the work of Christ who did the same for us.

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You can read more on what is happening in New York here. For more on some of the demographics mentioned above, look over this infographic.

This past summer my parents took our family on a cruise, which is something we had never done. One of the things I realized on the trip was how much I love being at sea.

The gym was on one of the top decks, right at the front of the [...]]]> There’s something about the ocean.

This past summer my parents took our family on a cruise, which is something we had never done. One of the things I realized on the trip was how much I love being at sea.

The gym was on one of the top decks, right at the front of the ship. One our days at sea I found myself drawn to the treadmills lined up against the glass – running, listening to David Crowder Band – soaking in the view.

As I looked out across the ocean, there was boundless water in every direction. And then Sometimes began playing on my iPod:

And it’s your love that we adore
You’re like a sea without a shore
We’re lost in you
We’re lost in you

My view was breathtaking as this song played, then I got it: The ship is only amazing because it’s in the deep, unpredictable, gorgeous ocean. If it weren’t it would only be a claustrophobic hotel.

And as I find myself back on dry land, preparing to start a church in New York City, the words of Antione de Saint-Exupéry have even more meaning to me:

If you want to build a ship, don’t summon people to buy wood, prepare tools, distribute jobs and organize the work, rather teach people the yearning for the wide, boundless ocean.

Jesus did not come so that we might have church, he came so that we might have life. He wasn’t in the business of starting institutions. He wasn’t fond of religious establishment. Jesus wanted to see all thing made new. And Church – the collective gathering of Jesus-followers – happened when his message, Spirit and power gained traction and people couldn’t help but gather together and celebrate what God was doing.

Yet today far too many people want to celebrate their claustrophobic hotel, shut the curtains and ignore the ocean. It’s not about our programming, not about the gatherings, not about our roles. It’s about joining Jesus in the restoration of all things.

Our joy is this God who makes all things new. This Jesus who relentlessly pursues us with his love. This Spirit that brings freedom and life and hope.

Why wouldn’t we join this mission of restoration? Why wouldn’t we gather together to celebrate a God like this?

What we’re really doing isn’t about the boat, it’s about the ocean.

There is a long pause between the final words of the Hebrew Scripture and the beginning of the Christian New Testament. Most scholars mark this pause as a time when [...]]]> If you turn the page in your Bible from Malachi to Matthew too quickly it’s easy to forget you’re passing roughly 400 years of history.

There is a long pause between the final words of the Hebrew Scripture and the beginning of the Christian New Testament. Most scholars mark this pause as a time when prophecy stopped, a time when people leaned in to the words that they had already been given.

If you look in to what happened during the time you realize that Jewish faith went through some pretty interesting transitions.

• They studied in depth the word that God had already spoken.
• They dove into systematizing and organizing their theology and beliefs.
• They tightened paradigms with which people should view God, and in particular the Messiah.
• There was renewed clarity and uniformity to how people were supposed to read God’s word – that way everyone would know what to look for when Messiah came.
• A religious elite arose, profiting (largely) from an organized religious system that revolved around a central location where people gathered.
• Those who made their money and gained their authority and security from religion formed a tight bond together and cast out, or murdered, anyone who threatened their way of life.

All this organization, all this systematizing, all this orthodox understanding, and when the Messiah came nearly everyone missed him.

He didn’t look like the system wanted him to. He walked the earth, sat with sinners, healed the broken, raised the dead, fulfilled massive amounts of prophecy, spoke the words of God, died to pay the price for the sins of the world, miraculously resurrected and ascended to the right hand of God himself – and it wasn’t until after all of this that a few people inside the system even started to get it.

So… some of his followers quickly penned what would become a canon of text regarded as a new word from God. And for hundreds of years, people would study this text. Systematizing their theology and beliefs, tightening paradigms with which to view God, giving clarity and uniformity for how people should view the text. These people would form a religious elite, and some would profiteer from the acts of religion – which would revolve around a central location where people gather.

And one day, we believe, the Messiah will return. The question now is, will we be humble enough to see him if he doesn’t look like our system wants him to? Because if our system could keep us from seeing him then, we would certainly miss out on what his Kingdom looks like now.

Anything different warrants them being an outsider.

We can assimilate everyone until they look like us. Power-sell our theology – becoming so overbearing they eventually break down. Crush their arguments with [...]]]> We can cast everyone out who isn’t like us. If they believe something different about God, don’t believe, look different, smell bad…

Anything different warrants them being an outsider.

We can assimilate everyone until they look like us. Power-sell our theology – becoming so overbearing they eventually break down. Crush their arguments with our logic, structure and understanding.

Make sure everyone knows they are either exactly like us or against us.

We can embrace diversity, celebrate fresh perspectives and acknowledge the work of the Spirit of God in everyone’s life. All people are image-bearers of God. And God is diverse. And if we aren’t part of a community as diverse as God is wide we miss much of his character in or lives.

Re-humanizing the conversation.

You can probably guess which lifestyle should mark the Church.

The first two are dehumanizing – stripping people of recognition, respect, honor and ultimately ignoring their humanity so we can either discard their view or break it down until they relent and agree with ours.

Only the last is loving. And only love is the call of the Church.

What we believe about God matters – and how we treat people says more about what we believe than our stated doctrine.

Harder to have a personal possession.

One of my friends sent me a link to a post taken from Oswald Chamber today:

Your position is not really yours until you make it yours through suffering and study.

It’s easy to see how a lifestyle of talking points [...]]]> It’s easy to have talking points.

Harder to have a personal possession.

One of my friends sent me a link to a post taken from Oswald Chamber today:

Your position is not really yours until you make it yours through suffering and study.

It’s easy to see how a lifestyle of talking points has nearly destroyed hope of conversation in the world of American politics – as portrayed by the 24-hour news networks.

It’s harder for people in my tribe to see talking points are erode faith.

God gets reduced to a quick, transferable set of facts – and he’s really so much more than we can fit inside our words and logic.

The emphasis moves from people’s experience with God onto their ability to repeat what we want them to about him.

Or, in the worse cases, moralism becomes equivalent with faith.

Jonathan Edwards suggests that we can tweak a person’s logic, talk about their emotional response (actions) and yet never see change in their essence as a person. So what we have, as a church, is a group of people that are superficially different, but essentially the same as the rest of the world. Motivated by the same things. Excited and discouraged by the same things. Longing for the same things.

There is a deep level of ownership that comes with experiencing God. A depth and authenticity that mere talking points can’t touch. The trouble is, this kind of faith doesn’t come fast. It grows, slowly, over time. It requires deep levels of investment, relationship and love. It’s immeasurably easier just to wow people with a presentation than to live and grow with them.

You can’t move from talking points to authenticity with a sermon. It has to be relational. Grass-roots. It only comes from walking with God in community. From exploring the world of faith. Diving into the history of Scripture. From joining God in the restoration of all things. Faith begins when you allow your relationship with God and the people in your faith community to regularly challenge the motivating structures and essence of who you are.