Jesus, painting and a crash

I'm listening right now to the music, chatter and laughter of a crew of young people down the hallway helping Chad paint his new office. Chad's our new youth/young adults pastor by the way and he's getting himself set up . . . luckily he has Anne-Marie there to correct his paint choices, Adrienne to kill the ant that had taken up residence, and Jenn, Steve and Mark to get the painting done, while Spencer is destroying the supplies.

I usually try to avoid noise while I'm working (it doesn't take much to distract me), but when I hear the sounds of this crew, I hear in my spirit the rumblings of God. I remember listening to Erwin McManus (a pastor in California) share a couple years back about a group of rhinoceros’s - the fact that although they can only see 30 feet in front of them, they can run upto 30 miles/hr, so whatever's at 31 feet better get out of the way! Not surprisingly a group of rhinoceros's is called a 'crash'. I love that! That's the vision that I believe is unfolding for this young generation of LEFC . . . an unstoppable movement of God, shaping the space of LEFC - shaping the space everywhere they set their feet for Jesus to be known.

I'm not sure what's at 31 feet . . . but I'm raising my own two little rhinoceros's to not be afraid to find out. God's doing a new thing, and he's raising up a new generation to do it . . . I hear the rumblings . . . and I have no intention of standing in the way of the 'crash'!

Jesus, Tim McGraw and 'being' the Church

The other night Wendy and I headed into Vancouver for the Tim McGraw/Faith Hill 'Soul 2 Soul' concert . . . it was sweeeeeet! As much as I enjoyed sitting there and listening to their music though, the best moments of the evening by far were when they got the crowd into it - when they got us on our feet, engaged us in the show, got us hooting and hollering, and allowed me to get my groove on! (I use the word 'groove' loosely.)

There's something inside everyone of us that wants to participate in the show, not just watch it unfold before us. Even for those of us who so often resign ourselves to our timidity, deep down our soul craves to stand up, step forward and engage; we weren't made to be passive spectators. And even as I type these words, I realize how badly we've often faltered with this in the church. We've allowed ourselves to believe that church is a Sunday morning event that we attend as spectators, observing and sometimes judging the performance of those on stage. But our soul craves for something more (which is why we often get so bored with church). See we're not meant to be a people who just believe something (and learn more about it), we're meant to be a people who radically engage the experience of God. We're meant to be the church, not go to church. We're meant to participate in God's moving in history, not to simply watch it unfold. We've got to come alive and engage the experience.

If Tim or Faith happens to read my blog . . . thanks for reminding me to keep getting my groove on! It's at the heart of our journey here at LEFC.

ps. I think Tim and Faith are probably glad though that I didn't rush the stage like I did two years ago at the Wiggles concert with my toddler!

Facebook, Community and our Triune God

I finally got myself hooked up on facebook . . . that's right, Wendy and I gave in to all the murmurs and hype and we checked it out. It was hilarious when the first person 'accepted me' as a friend and my facebook reported 'you have 1 friend' . . . I called Wendy over and said, 'you'll never believe it honey, I have a friend!' She was so proud of me. It's been a hoot getting reconnected with old friends in such a cool way!

It's reminded me how much we crave community; it cuts to the very core of who we are because of who God is. The other day I was shown a 15th century painting by a Russian artist named Andrei Rublev. It's a powerful depiction (if you study it) of our triune God- Father, Son and Holy Spirit - and their communion with each other (three but one!). But it also reflects the reality of God's invitation for us to enter into that communion. How mind-boggling is that?! That our God, who as someone said, 'is more one because He is three, and loves perfectly because he has no loneliness', invites us to experience who He is. That messes me up!

That's our journey here at LEFC - experiencing who God is, revealed in Jesus . . . and in that, experiencing and unleashing the community of God. And to think that Facebook helps me experience that!