February 2009 Archives

i was just going thru old posts from over a year ago that i wrote on my blog and i think that this one finds me in a very similar place...

june 25, 08
seems like for the past two weeks now i have this sort of "writers block". call it a creativity block, or an excuse... i don't know, just not posting a lot lately. there have been several times in the last year, which is my first full year of bloging, that this has happened to me.

i started a blog in the first place out of fear... fear of critics, no one would read, that i had nothing to say, at least nothing anyone wanted to hear... whatever the fear, it paralyzed me to stay dormant and read everyone else's thoughts. the fight to create, to cultivate, to share, to shape, shift, nudge... that is why i fought the fear and the paralysis.

the next difficult thing for me is to write what i am saying. whether it is something coming out of the gathering, leadership, trainings, dreams, lunches... whatever...

then, of course i have this desire to give something worth grappling with. i want to give you something worth chewing and wrestling to force to think. nothing absent minded, shallow, lifeless. often times this puts pressure on me.

so... all that to say.... i am just going to write. if you tune in, awesome, if you comment, great... from the beginning i said that this is my dairy out loud... so i will journey on...

i pray that fear does not keep me, keep you dormant. i pray that your boredom leads you to explore and discover the life and imagination of god.... the intimacy that we were created for.

F

just had lunch with chris and titus from Florescent Christian Church... love leaving a conversation and feeling refreshed and encouraged. god is using their ministry to reach some students that desperately need jesus... it was a great pic of iron sharpening iron and a great look at the future as two churches collaborate together in relationship to serve one another.

praying with and for you guys...

F

often the difficult thing in reflecting on things is becoming to cliche when something goes ridiculously well...

so... simply put, this was the best WIRED we have ever had.

this was the best team performance on this scale that i have ever been a part of and seen... the tech team under "the bryce's" leadership was brilliant... the stage is ridiculous, the opening audio and video was incredible, the administrative team killed it, the volunteer staff was amazing and the heros in the relationship realm (no pun intended), the speakers (marc and jz from matthias lot) slayed it and gave us a whole cow to chew on let alone a piece of meat, the worship band (j mont from matthias lot) lead us in authentic worship not to mention sounded just ridiculous. the live construction crew headed by brian steinmeyer brought the theme to life during registration. the staff... josh, khris, bryce, scottie, david served endlessly and tirelessly...

i am so proud of our students... embracing the journey of BECOMING is embracing the journey of a renovatus , a renovation. the gospel has a voice through your life... live well! proud of you... you can change the world.

THANK YOU everyone for making this past weekend more than a moment...

(pics to come)

F

i still believe that the two highest callings we have in life are to create people and create culture... (one word may sum up the two... the church) nothing else is sustainable... obviously knowing that neither takes place without the gospel redeeming and restoring, but within the people and the cultures that we are creating is there a sense of grace? a whisper, a glimpse, a touch, a texture of grace?

its either grace or me?

the reality and common denominator that we have as humanity is were BROKEN...

what would our communities look like if we all started from the floor of grace and moved together toward wholeness... thats when people and culture... the church makes sense!

F

i recently had an in depth conversation about the idea and the story and the movement behind invisible children. the idea shook me to my core... very similar to what TOMS shoes did for me a couple of years ago.

what i love about these movements is that they invite you and i into their story... into their lives, but even more so, they invite me to do something... they invite us to ACTION.

who is our neighbor?
who is our global neighbor?

we can buy a bracelet for $20 helps put a child through school... 15 bracelets sold puts a child through school for entire year.

we are going to support this movement this year for our social awareness "event" that we do every year. more info to come,

F

warning: i am venting during this blog... read on if you would like or dont!

tonight i am trying to sift through my frustrations and figure out which ones are legitimate and which ones i just need to "man up" and get over.

but seriously... i am so frustrated with all the talk and little life... please shut up! (at least i asked politely)... maybe its bad leadership on my behalf, maybe its bad followship on theirs, but it is nauseating to watch, to hear, to witness... please stop!

i am frustrated with incompetency... where have all the competent people gone? at least make up for your incompetence with hard work... why are people so afraid to work hard?

thx for being a lighting rod,

F

no need to say anymore...

we are half way through our current series called organic in which we are exploring what happens when the gospel collides with our hearts and minds... something naturally emerges... something organic takes place.

something has terribly gone wrong in humanity... and we have been wandering ever sense. were not in EDEN anymore. the place of meaning, the place completeness and wholeness, the place of intimacy and identity. the place we are meant to be in connection and relationship with our maker.

as this reality gets exposed we are left with the choice to remain or become.

the further we move from intimacy (EDEN) to the closer we move to sin.

this life is about becoming... becoming who and what we were meant to be. our only choice we have as the gospel exposes our desperate need is to begin the journey back to EDEN... back to becoming who we were meant to be.

F

awaiting some local pastors to come and hang this morning for our third st. louis|ONE gathering this morning...

crazy to think that this thing is actually happening, but incredibly nerve wrecking at the same time... wondering who will come? what will happen? will it be life giving, life shaping? will it add value to peoples lives?

why do we worry about the things that are outside of our control?

F

im right now reminded of a chapter in the the scared echo by maragret feinberg where she writes about the people in her life that desperately need something that she herself cannot provide nor give them what they need...

im here sitting in my office and there is a conversation that is currently happening with a buddy of mine that i deeply love and i so wish that i can be in that room with him but i cannot.

part of me wants to talk sense into him, part of me wants to protect him and a whole other part of me wants all this to just go away.

im reminded that god says "bring him to me".

thats all i can do right now...

F

what i allow to distract me often times defines me. i use the word often there as a way out... because the more i think about it the bigger a reality it is.

the things that distract me steal my focus away from purpose.

when we eliminate the distractions in life things seem to make more sense. there seems to be a sense of purpose... reality seems to be more clear... the waters less muddy... tomorrow has more anticipation because its not predictable.

what does life look like outside the lines of predictability?

if i know the ending of the movie what's the point of seeing it? there's no anticipation... sometimes predictability can be a distraction. do something different today... walk down a different hall at school, sit at a different table at lunch, learn someone's name that you have never met before.

break the cycle of the mundane...

F

we talk a lot about life in our community...

several years ago when i was a young, naive, over zealous, presumptuous teenager i couldn't shake john 10:10 from my mind, from my heart... (i (jesus) have come to give you life and give life to the full... it seemed to follow me like a shadow. i think primarily because i wondered if it was really possibly.

is this LIFE beyond what we could ever image, with here and now undertones, really possible?

there's no reason to go into the nuances of the verse here, but i believe this verse is a hinge point of sorts in the bible... it points to more, to depth, to richness... to something that is way bigger than me but at the same time able to embrace.

this life is about becoming...

this relational awareness that is so acute to my soul is reality.

we must step toward intimacy...

F

i wonder what is obvious about me?

the bible is pretty clear that those who call themselves followers of christ or disciples are blatantly obvious... THERE IS NO QUESTION!

i wonder what a community of obvious christ followers looks like?

F

saw this on ben arment's blog today... brilliant!

most of you know my thoughts in "events"... i dont like events and i think that events potentially (NOT ALWAYS) create an illusion and hype that is not reality... so at the risk of semantics we consider this an extension of life... just an extension of what we "normally" do with just some extra stuff added... this is just an extension of who we are and what we do...

WIRED 09... the theme obviously is always a surprise :-) but as usual will be ridiculous...
(realmnoise.com/wired09 coming soon)

F

i know that we have talked about this before, but serioulsy... are you kidding me? did i really have that conversation AGAIN this morning?

there is a big difference between someone who brings a legitimate and worthy concern or comment or something that should definitely be discussed versus someone who is talking just to talk and has no pulse on what is happening and what is trying to be accomplished.

so... can we first PLEASE all start from the same starting position that we are all a bunch of broken people and humbly approach each other for resolution and restoration and seeking to serve each other? doesn't that just make sense? is that not obvious?

not to mention, we have NO ground to stand on if we ourselves are not living what were saying or complaining about... or at least being willing to go and try (benefit if the doubt there). to borrow from mark batterson, we must shift our thinking by criticizing by creating... translation, at the the risk of being a reductionist and strong, shut up and let your life be the voice. stop complaining... which by the way usually leads to gossip anyways, and start living... start being...

seriously...
get in, get on or get out!

F