The moment we start to get nervous we’re too free is the moment we’ve begun to understand the beginnings of the freedom God wants for us.

It’s the kind of freedom that releases us from the opinions of people who judge us.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

The moment we start to get nervous we’re too free is the moment we’ve begun to understand the beginnings of the freedom God wants for us.

It’s the kind of freedom that releases us from the opinions of people who judge us.

We’re allowed to pursue the dreams God has placed in our hearts.

We can live exempt from worry.

We can walk away at any time.

We can forgive ourselves for our past.

The question is, how will we choose to live? Conforming to the standards we’ve been handed  (look like this, think like this, ‘some things you just have to deal with’)? Or will we live another way entirely? Constantly being transformed into the person God created us to be — free and fulfilled in who we were created to be.

Undoubtably, this is the message of Christ. Through him, we are free. And his Spirit — the Spirit of freedom — lives with us.

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For more see: 2 Corinthians 3:17 and Romans 12:2 

Most dreams don’t come to life overnight. And it’s easy to forget that when you’ve been dreaming for years.

This past week I visited the US Patent and Trademark Office to see an exhibit showcasing Steve Jobs’ patents. In order to have your name on a patent, one must be intellectually involved [...]]]>

Most dreams don’t come to life overnight. And it’s easy to forget that when you’ve been dreaming for years.

This past week I visited the US Patent and Trademark Office to see an exhibit showcasing Steve Jobs’ patents. In order to have your name on a patent, one must be intellectually involved  (not ceremonially simply because one is CEO); and most CEOs of tech companies have somewhere in the zone of 3-5. Steve had 313.

As I examined each patent a few stood out to me. One of which is below:

Yep. That’s an iPad – a device unveiled January 27, 2010. The patent is dated March 17, 2004.

During the keynote announcing the iPad, Steve said they had originally developed the iPhone OS on the iPad (the iPhone wasn’t unveiled until January 9, 2007). So they had been working on this device for over six, maybe even seven or eight years. Of course, the market wasn’t ready in 2004, nor was digital media (nor digital rights, for that matter). So they waited.

Most dreams don’t come to life over night.

I talk to a lot of people about the journey we’re on toward New York. So many people have commented, “I wish we could do something like you’re doing – not New York, but take a risk to pursue our dreams.”

What we have to remind people is that Emily and I met and began talking about starting a church in September of 2001. Ten years ago.

There were so many steps we needed to take. So many parts of our journey we never knew we would go on. For us, some of it was education (college and seminary). Some of it was working in ministry. Some of it was finding some people in Maryland who could help prepare us for starting a church. Some of it was a job at Apple, which has grown me in huge ways. It’s been a long journey – but it’s been worth it. And at every corner, for the past decade, God shows his faithfulness to us.

If you’re pursuing the dream God has given you, he wants you to accomplish your dream even more than you do. So don’t give up. Lay out a path. It might not go exactly as you planned, but you’ll be on the journey – and the journey will shape you far more than the destination you’re walking towards.

Helping people in need will always be ‘charity’ – a place I give, but get nothing. Giving to a [...]]]> If the people I share time and resources with are supposed to share of their time and resources with me in return, I’ll be greatly limited in what and whom I choose to give myself to.

Helping people in need will always be ‘charity’ – a place I give, but get nothing. Giving to a church will seem more like paying a tab at a restaurant – an exchange of money for services. And I’ll guard my time closely so I don’t end up wasting it on something that doesn’t benefit me.

As I was read 1 Samuel 26 today I realized I wasn’t just reading about how David spared Saul’s life when he could have pinned the king to the ground with his own spear, I was eavesdropping on a great man of God’s value system. Its one of those rare times when you get to see the unique way a genius views the world.

David said to Saul: Behold, as you life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and my he deliver me out of all tribulation.

I can’t have been the first person to be stunned by this – David is essentially saying, just as I have treated you, may God treat me the same way.

Most people pander to the king – because he has the power to treat you anyway he pleases. But David goes far beyond what most people would do. He treats the king well because God has treated him well and he asks God, in return, treat him the way he is treating other people.

If this is the way I view the world, charity isn’t just charity. I give money to a child in Sri Lanka because God has provided me with all the money I have – and I ask God to provide for my needs regularly, the same way I provide for this little girl’s needs.

Giving to a church isn’t just an exchange of money for services, it’s investing into a Kingdom that is every expanding with hope, reconciliation and joy. And I ask God to invest into expanding his Kingdom in and through my life, the same way I am investing in expanding it in the lives of others.

And my time, as precious as it is, is something I can share with others – because God has given me time and patience as he walks with me. So I ask God to walk with me patiently, lovingly and generously, just as I am walking with others.

It’s a new way of living that doesn’t comply with the way most social systems view the world. But it’s not just subversive, it’s risky – because I’m asking God to treat me the same way I treat others.

Benjamin Zander of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra

I find so much beauty in this talk – and want so badly to share my love for Jesus the way he shares his love for classical music.

Did you notice the yellow jerry can embellished on the back fender of the truck above?

That’s hope.

The great people at charity: water are celebrating their fifth birthday this September by raising money  to purchase a compressor truck, support truck, pipes, tools and a host of spare parts. [...]]]>

Did you notice the yellow jerry can embellished on the back fender of the truck above?

That’s hope.

The great people at charity: water are celebrating their fifth birthday this September by raising money  to purchase a compressor truck, support truck, pipes, tools and a host of spare parts. And why? Because 1 out of every 8 people worldwide still lacks access to clean water. And that’s inexcusable.

Together we can make a difference. For insanely small amounts of money we can provide clean water to people all over the world. And when we roll our money together we can buy something like what you see above. $1.2 million gets us a rig, crew and parts for 80 wells every year. That’s 40,000 people that now have a chance at life because they no longer drink water that will kill them. 

Will you join my family in this? Find out more and get involved here.

I’ve used my voice to promote my own talents, highlight my success and acquire more comfort for my life. And it’s utterly unfulfilling.

I’ve also used my voice to speak on behalf of those who lack access to water, to encourage those who find themselves without a home, to speak life into someone’s [...]]]>

I’ve used my voice to promote my own talents, highlight my success and acquire more comfort for my life. And it’s utterly unfulfilling.

I’ve also used my voice to speak on behalf of those who lack access to water, to encourage those who find themselves without a home, to speak life into someone’s dreams when they’ve questioned if any of it is even possible. And that’s unspeakably powerful.

You only get one voice – the question is how you will use it.

We stumbled upon this amazing art gallery in Belize City a few weeks ago. It was outside all the tourist checkpoints in an unassuming building with some really awesome street art on the outside.

After talking with one of the guys who works there we learned that they go into rural Belize and [...]]]>

We stumbled upon this amazing art gallery in Belize City a few weeks ago. It was outside all the tourist checkpoints in an unassuming building with some really awesome street art on the outside.

After talking with one of the guys who works there we learned that they go into rural Belize and gather art from artists who have no hope of selling their work locally. The gallery sells those pieces on behalf of the artist and returns with the money for the artist. Such an amazing way to connect the voice of the poets, painters and sculptors of their country.

But for this gallery it wasn’t all about sales or consumption of art – it was about making art that carried the voice of their people. Later in the afternoon that day they were hosting a workshop that would teach blind children to paint. Now that’s beautiful art.

What I realized is that we have so many passions woven into us – what makes them beautiful is whether we decide to point them toward ourselves or toward others. It’s such a tragedy when someone’s passions are oriented around consumption rather than creation and curation in others. When we fight this back we find something beautiful – the opportunity to call out something in others they might not be able to call out on their own. The opportunity to speak into our cities. The opportunity to restore something that has been lost.

My prayer is that we would all unleash our passions for the restoration of this world.