Adoption news

Lori and I have been in the adoption process for 22 months. We've been waiting and waiting and finally on Tuesday we got news that we finally have an appointment with the National Adoption Council in Ukraine on December 12. Thank you, God. It's been a long time coming and we're finally there.

Please pray that our process is a speedy one. We're trying to determine who will step in to lead Journey while we are gone. We leave on December 10th and there are a few scenarios that could happen. Typically the process takes about 4 weeks. Oy! But here are some possiblilities: 1) everything could move as typical and we will be back around January 13th; 2) we could go over for the first portion of the process, come back, and then return to pick up our child; 3) they could speed us along in order to clear us from the system by the end of 2006 and before the government shuts down for a 10-day period following Christmas.

We're praying for scenario #3. Please pray with us for a speedy and smooth process. For the courts to favor us and speed us along. For wisdom as we seek the child that God has chosen for us. For safe travel. For a return, with a child, in 2006.

to be "perfect"...

Here are some thoughts from a book I'm reading by Brennan Manning...

"Our hearts of stone become hearts of flesh when we learn where others weep. The sons and daughters of Abba are to be the most nonjudgmental people. They ought to get along amously with sinners.
Remember the passage in Matthew where Jesus says, 'Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect'? In Luke, the same verse is translated, 'Be compassionate as your heavenly father is compassionate.' Biblical scholars say that the two words, perfect and compassionate, can be reduced to the same reality. Conclusion: To follow Jesus in His ministry of compassion precisely defines the biblical meaning of being perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect."

To love God and to love others. These are our 2 things...

Forget you!

St. Augustine wrote, "There can only be two basic loves: the love of God unto the forgetfulness of self, or the love of self unto the forgetfulness of God."

Insightful to say the least. Convicting to be sure. I guess there are two basic loves, but there can only be one at any given time. I have many times loved God more than myself. I have also (confession time) loved myself far more often. Too often.

Being a follower of Jesus is easy on paper, but hard in practice. Jesus gave us a great working example of what it looks like to love God more than yourself. How else can you explain his prayer in Mark 14:35-36? To love God more than yourself, to the forgetfulness of self, means praying daily that God's will would be done instead of what I want. Honestly, as a human, that sucks. As a follower of Jesus, and therefore not bound to this life, it's humbling and admirable to be like Christ. I need to be less human and more a follower of Jesus.

I don't have it figured out. I don't know how live it out nearly as well as I can type it in this space. It's a target, however, and a prayer that I know I need to pray every morning. "Lord, let me love you unto the forgetfulness of myself. Not my will be done, but Your will, God."

weird week

Well, it's a weird week this week. We won't be having our Bible Discussion Group on Tuesday b/c of all things...the Halloween Parade. What sort of statement does it make that the Halloween Parade of Findlay is the largest and most attended parade of the year? I've never known that to be the case in any other town that I've lived in...and I've lived in a lot of towns. Weird.

We also won't be having our Life Group on Thursday b/c that's Trick or Treat. This brings me to another weird factoid of Findlay. To my knowledge, Trick or Treat has never been on Halloween. It's always several days prior to the actual observance, in this case it's five days early. I could understand if it was an effort to make Trick or Treat land on a weekend instead of a school night, but seriously, what's the point of making it on Thursday five days before? Weird.

Anyway, all that rambling aside, we will not be gathering this week in group format. If you have observations/questions/insights/etc. regarding Mark 13 for this coming Sunday's teaching time, please post them here.

Have a weird week!

wounded healers

Here's a great excerpt from "The Rabbi's Heartbeat" by Brennan Manning:

"In love's service, only wounded soldiers can serve."

"Alcoholics Anonymous is a community of wounded healers. Psychiatrist James Knight wrote:
These persons have had their lives laid bare and pushed to the brink of destruction by alcoholism and its accompanying problems. When these persons arise from teh ashes of the hellfire and additive bondage, they have an understanding, sensitivity, and willingness to enter into and maintain healing encounters with their fellow alcoholics. In this encounter they cannot and will not permit themselves to forget their brokenness and vulnerability. Their wounds are acknowledged, accepted, and kept visible. Further, their woulnds are used to illuminate and stabilize theri own lives while they work to bring the healing of sobriety to their alcholic brothers and sisters. The effectiveness of AA's members in the care and treatment of their fellow alcoholics is one of the great success stories of our time, and graphically illustrates the power of wounds, when used creatively, to lighten the burden of pain and suffering."

Wow. What a picture of community and walking through life together during the good and the bad. Why is it that we as the church must look to Alcoholics Anonymous to see the best example of what the church should be?

I'd love to demonstrate that sort of love and healing within the relationships around me and within the relationships of Journey. I pray that God will enable that to happen - that we might become a family of wounded healers who seek to share our lives (both the good and the bad) with one another and offer healing that only Jesus can provide.

Into the swing

I'm finally getting into the swing of things with the new site. Once we get the internet hook-up settled I'll be able to post to this more often. It's amazing how tough it can be to get someone out there to get some internet. Argh!

This coming week we will be looking at Mark 10 for the teaching time. If you've got some thoughts to share about the text and you can't make it to the Bible Discussion Group on Tuesday, please post your comments here.

location location location

We have a location! Our new address is 1716 North Ridge Rd. in Findlay and our new phone number will be 419.422.5665. That number will take effect in a day or two.

We'll be adding couches, love seats, and chairs as people donate them. If you have items to donate, please let us know. We'll be gathering at our new site this Sunday evening at 5:30 pm for worship.

Thanks to our awesome God for providing this site!

learning and implicating

I'm reading a great book by Doug Pagitt right now. There's an interesting point in the current chapter that talks about learning and that "we only learn out of frustration - the frustration that we don't know but need to, the frustration that life isn't working but there could be a better way."

He goes on to say that learning (in this context he's talking about preaching) should lead to implication rather than application. We always try to apply things to our lives, but implication instead means that our learning leads to a change. "Application is about how a piece of information fits into your life. Implication is not about fitting; it's about redefining. It's not value-added suggestion; it's a call to see the story and join in it."

Journey, then, is about frustration and implication. We want to be an environment where we learn b/c we need to find a better way. We want an environment where our confrontation with the Bible leads to implication--how will this change me/us and the life I/we live?

Journey...frustrated and implicated. How's that for a slogan? :-)

life...

"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: take your everday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going to work, and walking around life - and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out." - Romans 12:1-2 The Message



Don't forget our worship gathering on Sunday at 5:30 pm at the church.

Dying to Live

I've been reading Blue Like Jazz lately and I came across a great quote on page 185. He relays a story about a man who owned a bed and breakfast and tirelessly served the guests. Don asked him how he does it day in and day out. He replied, "Don, if we are not willing to wake up in the morning and die to ourselves, perhaps we should ask ourselves whether or not we are really following Jesus."

Wow. There's a thought provoking sentence. I confess that I am incredibly selfish. I regularly wonder why life isn't about me. Why can't it be about me? Why can't I have mine? Why can't... I'm selfish. Perhaps I should ask myself whether or not I am really following Jesus. He was not selfish...far from it. If I'm following Jesus then I need to be becoming more like Him. John the Baptist referred to Jesus and said, "He must become greater and I must become less." (That's my paraphrase) We need to follow that approach to life.

Our statements from work camp a few years ago: It's not about me. I will choose joy. When in doubt, keep on loving.


Bible Discussion group at our house tonight at 7:00. Worship Gathering at 5:30 pm on Sunday at the church.

Discussion Group

Hey, gang. Tonight we had our first worship gathering as a core team. Good stuff! We worshipped through song, had a teaching time, etc. We looked at Mark chapter 1 and had a great discussion on it. We will have another worship gathering next Sunday night at 5:30 pm at the church.

In preparation for Sunday, as will be the custom in the life of Journey, we will be having a Bible Discussion Group on Tuesday night at 7:00 pm at our house (call for directions if you need them). Anyone who is interested is welcome, but it’s also not any requirement. It will basically function as a Bible study sort of time and the discussion will form the basis of the teaching for next Sunday night. You’re not tied in to being a part of the discussion group on a regular basis, although anyone who wants to be a “regular” is certainly welcome. If you can only make it from time to time, that’s fine too. So, if you’d like to join us, please do so this week and check it out. If you can't make it, feel free to post your questions, comments, or insights on Mark chapter 2 right here on the blog.

This week at Journey

We're having a worship gathering at the church at 5:30 pm on Sunday. Be there...

perspective

I spent all of last week at local pastor's licensing school. To say that there was a diverse group of people there is to make the understatement of the year. There were people in our group of 53 that I would be proud to serve with. There were also people in our group who were the polar opposite of me in every way. (That's putting it nicely isn't it?) Regardless, however, it was very obvious to me that they all had a love for Jesus and a desire to see others know Him. I spent most of the week frustrated by a variety of parts of the school experience, but it was a great lesson to see that everyone there, regardless of the label that I would like to slap on them, had a heart to help others love Jesus. That's really the point, isn't it? It was a good reminder.

wincing quote

I've been reading tons of books for the Licensing process to become a local pastor. Most of them have been a waste of time. Here's a quote from one of the books that made me chuckle and wince, all at the same time:

"It is a sad commentary on our witness that the persons in our society who are most indifferent toward the poor, most enthusiastic about guns and war, most relucatant to rehabilitate prisoners or provide treatment for drug addicts and AIDS victims, [those people] make the strongest claims about having a Christian nation and argue for prayer in public schools."

True! Ouch!

At Journey, our hope is to break this cycle and truly follow Jesus' commands to love our neighbors, embrace peace, and offer the kingdom of God to those around us. May we be that kind of people!

logo and updates

Here's the almost completed logo:



This is pretty much the idea. The tagline will change color and we're good to go.

As an update on the finances...keep praying for money. The financial campaign at St. Paul's has been much more sparse than we anticipated and we're quite a ways away from the goal that we had. Keep praying that God will provide the finances so that we can get set up with a space and start-up equipment. We may have to push back the public launch of Journey, but we can still begin to function as the Journey community without a rented space and a public launch.

God will provide. He always does.

Journey Sunday - 7/9/06

Don't forget that this Sunday is designated as Journey Sunday at St. Paul's. This is the week that people will be giving one-time gifts toward start-up expenses for Journey, as well as making a long-term commitment to helping fund Journey.

Please be in prayer for the people of St. Paul's to seek God and what He is calling them to give (or not give). Also, please be in prayer for yourselves and what God might be calling you to give towards the one-time gifts. [Remember that we as Journey participants will not be giving commitments to the campaign, just for the one-time gifts. Our ongoing giving will be our commitment at the point that we shift to Journey full-time.] While you're at it, pray for the men who have our business plan in hand...that they would feel called by God to help us get our start with a generous donation.

See you Sunday. There will be a team meeting at 5:30 pm on Sunday evening. Lori will be leading since I'll be off to spend a week with the kids at church camp. Blessings!

Spiritual Development

This diagram comes from Gateway Church in Austin, TX. The pastor is also the author of "No Perfect People Allowed."

These are the steps of personal development. Love God first. Love people because you love God. Build character because you love God and you love people. Build Christ's Church because you love God, love people, and have grown in character. Simple. Clean.

Connecting

Great quote that ties to my previous post: "When two people connect...something is poured out of one and into the other that has the power to heal the soul of its deepest wounds and restore it to health...In recent days, I have made a shift. I am now working toward the day when communities of God's people, ordinary Christians whose lives regularly intersect, will accomplish most of the good that we now depend on mental health professionals to provide. And they will do it by connecting with each other in ways that only the gospel makes possible." - Dr. Larry Crabb

What a vision of the church! An admirable goal for Journey...

community concept

Nobody stands alone. What a great concept. I'm reading a book right now that talks about the concept of community, and the author's church has a policy...nobody stands alone. It's a literal policy and a figurative policy. Literally, they make sure that no one is left out of conversation and all people are made to feel connected at church. Figuratively, it's their philosophy to walk along side of people and ensure the concept of community through relationships, small groups, etc.

The book states, "If churches do not help connect people into the community of Christ in meaningful ways, then we have failed in the full ministry of [restoring authentic relationship] that the Lord has entrusted to us."

It's not our job...it's our ministry to make sure that nobody stands alone.

We need to embrace this now in the Core Team phase before we ever launch Journey to the public. We must engage each other now...not later.

Re:Discover

Here we go:

Journey...Re:Discovering Jesus Together

Mark and I will be playing with logo #1 from below and we'll let you know what we come up with.

On Tuesday, at 10:30 am, I have my interview with the committee for licensing. Pray for that. Also, pray for meetings with some of our contacts to happen...building and money.

Sunday, June 25th is the congregational information meeting. Please try to be there to show your support and to share input. Also, we'll meet as a core group that evening at 5:30 pm.