if no one ever listens to your words, reads your thoughts, sings along to your lyrics, hangs your canvas on their wall, downloads your podcast, subscribes to your blog, sees your photograph... if you never play in front of thousands, hear the applause of people...
would you still do it?
if you're passionate about something... you just do it because its WHO you are!
F
the years of wondering... searching, questioning, writing, dialoguing, reading... riddled with anticipation, often times ending in frustration with more questions than i begin with and i am beginning to taste it... see glimpses of it... smell its aroma and fragrance in the present.
i am beginning to experience LIFE.
not just a pulse... not just the beat of yet another heart beat... not just the rising of the sun on another morning... but real life... really life!
real, authentic community finding its identity in the gospel.
becoming who we were meant to be... being restored back to our original intent... the CHURCH beginning to understand our role in the story... returning to the gospel and creating a culture a texture that community can naturally emerge.
gone are the days of quick fixes, microwave christianity is DEAD! the day for followers of jesus becoming disciples is upon us. the days of propositional, lifeless, self help teaching are gone.
today we rise as a community with our identity found in the gospel... this LIFE is possible!
F
life sits idle just waiting to be lived... wondering when someone will live it?
crazy to think that i have tried to live so much life outside of the context of the gospel and community. life just doesn't make any sense without true identity attached to it because were forced to chase so many empty promises in search of significance.
tomorrow is relentless... it keeps coming.
there's life waiting in tomorrow... will we embrace it?
F
this past weekend i was honored to be invited to hang with some student pastors from the state and participate in a round table conversation about the current state of our student ministries and looking at where things are going...
i was reminded that its incredibly difficult to learn, probably impossible if we think we already know. the "illusion of knowing" has been so engraved into who we are that we fall victim to its gravity daily. the illusion of knowing forces us to protect the things we know creating a barrier to progress, a barrier to movement. furthermore, it forces us to correct people's philosophies that differ from ours. protecting and correcting are barriers to learning that dig deeper and deeper trenches most times without even knowing.
we will never MOVE or BECOME without learning and we will never learn if we have constructed barriers to learning.
F
i wrote this months ago on the st louis|ONE blog and the thought crossed my mind again today...
can movements be created or do they just happen?
does someone, somewhere start something or does someone, somewhere just recognize that something has begun and just join in?
i recently read about this concept and it was likened to waves in the ocean vs waves in a wave pool. someone starts one while the other someone just grabs a surf board and rides the wave.
so maybe the conversation doesn't lie on the genesis of the wave or the idea but rather on how big the wave or idea really is. the reality is that both small and big waves, both 2 footers and tidal waves are essential...
heres some additional thoughts...
someone somewhere needs to start something while someone somewhere else needs to be a part of the process in order for that idea to become a movement. if we just start something and it never gains traction and remains in neutral there is never any movement.
the reality is simply this... ideas NEED people to become movements! i understand this is very elementary, almost like duh right... but the adverse is also true. people needs ideas... people need causes and ideas to understand purpose. our hearts pursue purpose because the monotony of life on its own just doesn't make sense, so these ideas, or causes more or less become our identities... as we look for definition, we allow them to define us.
crazy how we have allowed so many peripheral influences (maybe good, probably important) to hijack and sabotage who we think we are as we search of our identities.
F
i am learning that much of the "issues" that i have and experience in this life are directly linked to the fight to find out who i am.
with all the conversation and dialogue that is taking place all over america, it seems more and more like noise when little discussion is revolving around our identity issues that we face day in and day out. is it perhaps that many, if not all of our "issues" are identity issues? is it perhaps that everything is linked to who i am, or who i think i am or should be or want to be or need to be?
everything? as presumptuous as that sounds, think about it? money is linked to my values which is linked to who i am. my relationships probably more than anything are directly linked to my identity... relationships are about intimacy or the lack there of... intimacy is not physical, intimacy is emotional. in order to be emotionally healthy we must be secure in understanding of who we are, otherwise our insecurities will always win out! doubt is a very powerful weapon.
there is a deeper reality... a deeper nuance to this life. we were fashioned for more.
you have felt it before.
looking into the sky at night, feeling the breeze across your face, the hue on the horizon, the warmth of closeness, the wonder of a child... we have all felt it before, but unfortunately we have all felt the rumblings of emptiness off in the distance as it makes its way toward us. we know its familiarity all too well... emptiness for most becomes like a friend that forces and sways us to forget the more. emptiness forces intimacy to be fleeting, to hid from the pain and regret. this is where the corridors of shame develop... the bible says in gen. 2:25.. that adam and eve knew that they were naked and had NO SHAME.
what would your life look like if you had no shame?
the difference between guilt and shame is external vs internal. guilt happens on the outside while shame drives deep within the walls of our hearts. shame is an identity issue. shame stems from a lack of knowing who you are and who you were meant to be. adam and eve at this point knew who they were because they knew what they were created for... INTIMACY!
the story takes a tragic turn...
F
while its fresh, both for my benefit and ours i thought i would share some "success" stories from our community at the gathering tonight at the REALM (aka... church)
lower attended tonight because lots of our students were out being the church at a wake for a friend who was killed in an automobile accident earlier this week... great story to see this "young" church being the church.
saw three girls autonomously on their own gathered together after everything to pray.
three amazing conversations after with students that the gospel is rocking their worlds.
its always good when you have to "kick" everyone out because they want to linger. lingering is GOOD... means it feels good, texture is right, ethos is sweet, inviting, comfortable... which by the way has more to do with the people than the place... which by the way we are still working thru becoming a more inviting community...
the worship band was amazing... brandon castle from matthias' lot... love that church and leadership and the unique partnership we have with them.
tech team absolutely slayed it tonight.
had a student pastor from south city hang with us tonight to see whats going on... hope god used us to minister to his heart... love the collaboration... thx bob!
got a tweet from nikomas over at harvester xian tonight before hand saying that he was praying for us... love the kingdom mindset... the future is bright for the church.
deep theological talk tonight... i believe that the holy spirit is way bigger than me :-) nothing is "over the students heads" when the holy spirit is bringing understanding to our hearts, minds, soul, strength... kicked off new series called the voice... its amazing to watch the voice still echo today... gonna be a "fun" series... tough teaching but fun.
our stories point to what god is doing in our communities... praise god... yep, he is that good!
F
i once had a mentor in college tell me during a time of searching and wrestling with God, that there is a lot of noise in the world... he then asked me, how are you going to hear his whispers?
In a world and culture full of noise and full of voices, to whose voice are you listening?
Do you really believe that God's voice is more interesting than the people around you?
join us wednesday nights at the REALM for the gathering as we continue to piece life together...
F
my blog is going back to see the plastic surgeon again... freddy's blog is becoming lowercasevoice.com
more to come on the vision and purpose behind the name... until then we'll continue to roll together right here.
F
