Church planting congress...

I was very sick for a couple days and am in the middle of the national church planting congress.

I need some time to repent. More later.

Everyday Mission...

Many paid for "Sex with Lon" last semester...

(A sunday school class I taught a few months back called Passion & Purity that quickly got renamed by its attenders)

Coming soon is "Everyday Mission".

Mission is where the deepest needs of humanity and your calling intersect. Rekindle the flame for living beyond yourself. Rediscover the lost art of articulating your faith. Reveal Jesus in all that you do. Relentlessly live on mission every day of your life.

I'm hoping many can come because I think it's going to be some of the most important content ever. Yes ever.


(I just realized this blog hasn't been showing up in Internet Explorer properly. Unless someone can tell me what's going on, i don't think i'm going to try and fix it. You should be using firefox or opera anyways.)

Incredible...

Things have been incredible the last while. It seems as if I've spent the last few years trying to get here. I've been researching, organizing, and tweaking my core values, priorities, systems, tools, and disciplines.

I've finally reached a precious sweet spot (at least for the time being), where my life feels in-synch with how things ought to be. It's been a long journey of trial and error and discovery, but I'm absolutely convinced that the habits and foundations i've been laying down over time will shape a destiny.

I'm a bit drained from trying to finish my Greek Exegesis paper last night, but that's because 'date night' with my wife tonight is a priority in my life. My walk with the Lord has been a become a consistant jog with spurts of running, my finances & budget is in order, i have processes for idea capturing, archiving and actioning, i'm now on year 4 of our 30 year plan and on track, i have an amazing community in which I lead but that also supports me, I have key relationships of all sorts in which i'm investing my life in, my family has been getting along better than ever, i'm solid at work, emails are responded to, i'm journaling and reflecting, i'm growing professionally and personally at a sustainable pace, I wake up excited in the mornings, and Yvonne, well she adds fuel to my fire and totally rocks!

As a relentless dreamer, I'm always longing for more than I can handle. Which means the things that need to get done are always piling up. I've been thinking of all these tasks-that-seem-to-slow-me-down as line items on a credit card bill. I can keep dreaming with incremental gains while being docked heavy interest mentally, OR I can consistantly keep that mental space clear so that I have even more room for dreaming, creativity, running free, moving forward, and all that exciting stuff.

One of my latest life changes, was finally taking care of myself. My physical health and well-being has been a final frontier that has always plagued me. Moving to our present condo with the gym facilities was very strategic in helping me with this particular goal.

Truth is, i've never really spent a lick of energy on my health. I still remember eating open chocolate bars i'd find on the streets, and sucking cheese and gravy from straws in high school. I wouldn't sleep for as much as four days in a row cramming text books i had never opened before for exams. Before I got married, I did like 10 push ups, and decided I was ready and 'presentable'... hilarious! The last couple months i finally started hitting the gym 3-5 times a week, staying active and watching what I eat.

It's been simply incredible being able to see the potential in each day that i'm blessed with on this earth. It's like i've been living in hole, and i'm just starting to live overground.

Still alive...

Still alive and kickin'... just been busily enjoying life.



Here's me holding a straight face as the best man for a wedding in ottawa, and Yvonne's family for her grandfather's 99th birthday...

In other news...
Sounds like queen of the Occult, Anne Rice, found God. I loved the vampire chronicles as a teen, I think i'll definitely check out the new book.

Audio's of C.J. and Carolyn Mahaney at the Men's and Women's 2005 Fall Conference at The Bible Church of Little Rock.

Updates...

Read about Google's billion dollar philanthropic commitment today.

We hope that someday this institution will eclipse Google itself in overall world impact by ambitiously applying innovation and significant resources to the largest of the world's problems. ~Sergey Brin & Larry Page

Gotta love it. What are you and your community/organization doing for the world?

Tony Morgan seems to be the place everyone's going to for Catalyst conference play-by-plays. Check out his blog as well as the official catalyst blog for the latest.

I've been starting to implement my own version of David Allen's GTD (Getting things' done) system with OneNote. We'll see how that goes, but just being actively conscious about maximizing my day to day life has already been very rewarding.

Surprisingly, i loved learning greek over the summer, but now that i'm taking part 3 and with part 4 to come next term, I can't say it's still quite as exciting.

Erwin McManus was at 722 last weekend, streaming video here.

I love my small group... i love the people, and their desires for a christ-centered community. Here are a couple of pics with alvin and sharen during a cheese/chocolate fondue and turkey night.

All the main session's of Northpoint's leadership Drive Conference is available here.

Buckhead Church in Atlanta...

While I was in Atlanta I checked out the night service at Buckhead. Buckhead is a satellite campus of North Point Community Church led by Andy Stanley and is regarded as one of the most innovative churches in America. It started in 2001 and is geared towards the twenty-something's crowd.

The church must be exploding because their parking is far beyond maxed out. For blocks coming into the church you see a mix of signs saying 'church parking here' or 'no church parking' in the neighboring store and restaurant parking lots.

They have shuttles that take people in from designated parking areas further out and often need to turn people away from the church because they'd be breaking fire regulations.

It's held in what looks like a converted barn. However, as soon as you head in it's as contemporary as it gets. Sleek foyer, with Flat screen monitors hanging on the walls.

Entering the sanctuary, it was so dark I couldn't find my way through, I felt a bit like I was entering a haunted house during Halloween. Much of this was because there was a heavy black curtain between the closed door behind me and the sanctuary. (now that I think about it makes some sense, because it's always a bit distracting at our church when people come in late and the light peers through the door as the lights are dimmed).

The whole service was dark, with lights scattered across the ceiling, that looked like stars in the expanse. Louie Giglio gave an astronomy lesson for a good half hour and interlaced it with God's awesomeness in creation. I felt like I was at a planetarium more than a church. It was great! You can check out the message here, titled 'astronomical grace'

What's amazing is how large a community Buckhead gathers using pre-recorded messages from North Point. I knew going in that I was watching a video-feed, but a few minutes in, they actually convinced me that there was someone on stage. If you look at my picture on the bottom right, that's a video of Louie Giglio, but because they have the screen going all the way down to the stage floor it looks like he's right there!

Anyhow, I can't describe how embarrassing it was taking pictures during a church service.

I accidentally left the flash on during my first shot and everyone turned back staring at me. Hopefully I'll know better next time. Overall a decent mega-church experience.

At cruising altitude...

I'm writing from the plane for the first time.

I bring my laptop with me every time, but aside from the odd times I get caught up in an engaging conversation with the stranger next to me, I never do any writing, quite honestly, because I'm paranoid that they'll be watching my every keystroke and mental lapse as I bare my soul to this electronic box.

For some reason as I roamed the airport leaving Atlanta, my bags felt heavier than when I arrived. I think it was just because I was feeling exhausted, but each time I passed through a security checkpoint, I kept picturing them pulling out several kilo's of cocaine… I guess I'll find out when I get home.

As we were about to take off the pilot announced that the computer was experiencing some glitches and they needed to 'reboot'. The engines, air, and lights all went off. I'm praying right now that's not going to happen in mid-air.

It was a bumpy ride penetrating through the clouds as we shot up into the dark skies. Head pressed against the window, I had my usual thoughts of "Lord grant me more time on this earth so that I might fulfill all the things you've put in my heart".

It's hard to tell how much of that prayer was a front for something more selfish.

But just as the plane broke through the rumbling darkness, a hush of calm came upon the plane as it hovered just about the stratus.

Overlapping lines of red, orange, yellow, green, blue stretched across the horizon.

"God this is so beautiful" just kept rolling off my lips. Finally, it was a prayer I knew had nothing to do with me, and absolutely everything to do with the God who created all of this.

What's amazing is that I'm watching in the sky, something humanity for thousands of years could never see, but was always here.

Hrmm… something almost profound about that last statement. I think I'll need to end here.

In Atlanta...

I'm in Atlanta this week on business. I hate being away from home, but I've got to say it's a blessing being able to travel and see different cities.

I've probably taken well over 50 flights the last few years I've got so say flights still make me nervous. I wonder how many people have a moment with their Maker as they pray for safety in the air.

I know I do.

I reflect on sins I've committed or the good I've neglected to do.

I don't believe in a condemning God but for some reason I wonder if a flight could go down due to some past judgment finally catching up to me.

A part of me smiles because I know I've received so much more than I deserve in this yet life, yet I'm plagued by thoughts of not giving as much as I ought to in this life.

I love stories with glorious endings. The hero in me always wants to die in battle, saving the life of a loved one, or while proclaiming the things that truly matter to me. I can't help but feel that something about burning up in a plane as a passenger seems less glorious to me.

Yet I know it wouldn't be if I was on mission. If I was actively engaging in the purposes of the Creator, what's not glorious about that?

The scary thing is maybe I'm not.

Something about possible death pending really helps add a dose of perspective.

A missionary/student in seminary told me once 'no guts, no glory, no missionary stories'.

I wonder what kind of story I'll be leaving behind...

random links

Heading to Ottawa for the weekend...

Here's what's wierd..
game cube revolution controller video clip

IBM... where I work... is offering employees money and benefits to leave the company for good and become teachers.

The Micah Challenge.

The Kingdom of God...

I led our small group through a discussion on the kingdom of God this week.

We touched on odd passages referring to the kingdom being near, being in you, being on earth, being in process, even 'forcefully advancing'...

We spent part of the evening going through a creative exercise on what a kingdom, any kingdom, would look like.

One comment that came out, amongst many others, was that a kingdom's got to have some high security (ie. impenetrable pearly gates)

It's interesting what a defensive posture we take sometimes.

Could this explain the state of the church as it is today? Could it be that the 'kingdom' would look dramatically different if the church spent less time defending itself, and more time expressing the goodness of God?

When Jesus said that he would build his church and that the gates of hell would not prevail (Matthew 16), the word 'gates' always threw me off. Why the gates, and why not the demons or the forces of hell?

And then it hit me.

It's hell that's on the defense. Jesus sets up his church right along the borders of the kingdom of hell and presses against it. His 'kingdom forcefully advances' and His church prevails over the gates. He sends His warriors into the kingdom of darkness to bring all of those he loves into His kingdom of light.

The kingdoms we often build are nothing like the kingdom of God.

Our kingdoms revolve around self-preservation.
His kingdom goes where no one dares.

Our kingdoms are fortresses from the world.
His kingdom longs that we be a force in the world.

Our kingdoms.
Barely real.

His Kingdom.

Goes on forever.

What is the gospel?

The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ. John answered them all, "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. (Luke 3:15-16)

Don’t take this the wrong way, but I wonder if anyone ever mistook me for Christ? John boldly spoke such truth into people’s lives that their hearts were stirred and they thought maybe he was the Christ. Is it possible that followers of Jesus are to become people who others are waiting expectantly for? People who are compelling and magnetic, transformed, and overflowing with truth and love?

That was a life that I never thought could be possible. Until several years ago when I met a man who believed in me more than I could ever believe in him. He saw into the depths of my heart and kept reaching in. He pulled me out from my sins and told me of a life beyond anything I could imagine. He called me out to follow him, living out my life to the fullest while giving it all way. He said that I would walk this earth being a bearer of good news impacting the hearts of men and women and telling them his name is Jesus.

The good news though is not really that my life has been saved, and not really that God is creating a service commune to change the world. It’s that when others look to me, and they see any shadow of goodness, truth, love, and beauty in my life, that the really, really, good news is that the one who called me out is the source of goodness, truth, love, beauty, and even life itself. To echo John, he is so great ‘his sandals I am not even worth to untie’. Yet he bends down to reveal himself to all those who earnestly seek him. Jesus is the gospel. And the good news is that whether we stumble and fall or tragedies hit, there is a God who passionately pursues us with his love in this life and to all eternity.

Mountain of boxes...

Here's a first glimpse at our new condo... I just want to run and dive into all those boxes. More to come.

They sold their souls for Rock & Roll?

My small group community has been watching Pastor Joe Schimmel's "Rock and Roll Sorcerers" videos over the past month. Below is an email/letter to my group regarding my thoughts on it.

First off let me widen the scope to arts or media and spirituality because the theme is applicable in so many arenas. Let me also say that the ‘turn or burn’ approach aggravates me slightly, so I took some time to let my thoughts settle.

The views expressed here are probably a lot more balanced than what would’ve initially been. What actually helped was stumbling on to a picture of Schimmel’s family on their church website and being reminded that he is a child of God diligently working out his calling and for that I give glory to God.

Points of Agreement
We are to guard our hearts…
Rock and Roll Scorcers was an alarming warning of the dangers that can be found in our mainstream media. The memoirs and statements of many famous musicians were revealed as satanic or at the very least corrupting. Many followers of Jesus are undoubtedly exposing themselves to media in our culture that inadvertently impacts their relationship with God. I agree with Schimmel that there is a directly correlation between what we absorb and the lives that we produce.

Evil’s pretty bad…
The videos also depict just how actively intentional some of this media is in persuading and even manipulating its audience. Whether you believe it is the artist themselves, cultural icons, or the devil himself, it’s clear that there is some of it that is bent on evil, malice, and hate. Evil does not passively standby and uses people of influence to further its cause. We absolutely need to guard our hearts and minds against these influences that drag us below the lives that God calls us to.

Points of contention
While the content presented in these videos may provides a word of warning and attempts to distinguish what’s ‘evil’, I don’t believe that it offers the viewer a full sense of who God is and his call for how we should be relating to the world around us.

Exposure to evil…
Jesus came healing, loving, and serving and encouraged his followers to do the same. I don’t know of any references in the life of Jesus promoting studying the occult, or learning more about evil and its manifestations in order to advance the kingdom of God. I know of several people who had trouble sleeping as a result of the images portrayed in the videos. Much like when you're learning to drive, your car goes where you focus your attention. Maybe if we heeded the call in Scripture to ‘fix our eyes on Jesus’ this wouldn’t be as much of a problem.

A separation of God and world…
Much of the video seems to be rooted in a dualistic view of God versus the world. Anything beyond what’s found in scripture or, anything in range of the darkness mentioned in scripture is labeled as demonic. Any form of questioning, exploration, doubting, mystical, spiritual activity outside of formal god-language (not that some of it wasn’t blatantly satanic), is assumed to be evil or veering from God’s desires.

Is it possible that God is bigger than the fine print in Scripture? Could it be that Scripture is not suppose to only help us see God in it, but also through it? That we might see more and more of Him everywhere else we look, including the world? That God loves the world, and there is a relationship between Him and all that is in it?

What concerns me is when Christians make a lifestyle out of cataloging where God is not. The arts, where alternative perspectives, role playing, figures of speech, social commentary, creativity and honest expression thrive, can be a goldmine for demon hunters. God is the ultimate artist, mysteriously working with the canvas of our lives. Simply because we encounter things that do not understand or cleanly fit into our theological framework, does not necessarily mean that God is not in it.

Advancing the good rather than avoiding the evil…
If God indeed is the Creator God, then we as the church ought to be the central outpouring of creativity, not its primary detractors. The content in the video almost advocated a posture of fear and avoidance. We are not of the world, but we still must live in it. There is no avoiding culture and media. Moses had an Egyptian education, Abraham pleaded for a wicked city, Jesus used the money of the day, and Paul was well read on ‘secular’ poets.

Is it possible that the battle for impacting culture was lost long before rock and roll arrived? Could it be that each time the church decides to avoid the world and remain ‘pure’ in the interest of self-preservation it abdicates its call to being the hope of the world? What would happen if followers of Jesus followed Jesus, and spent more time advancing the good rather than avoiding what might be labeled as evil?

Learning points
What we've learned is that evil comes in many forms, and can be compelling and attractive and pervasive. However, neutral will never overcome evil. While it’s helpful to know where evil lurks, how we respond to it is of even greater importance. What we expose ourselves to does matter, but what Christians expose to the world matters even more.

The world needs to see Jesus, a God who does not fear evil, but presses through it, to fight for the hearts of men and women. God is sovereign over all and is in the business of redeeming all of creation. He makes life out of dirt, and can make good come out of evil, yes even ‘wicked’ music.

Without going into what I think is a lack of research, contextualization, and questionable delivery, I think there was definitely some interesting background information presented. If ‘exposing’ evil is Pastor Joe Schimmel’s passion that’s fantastic. It seems the videos are helpful for some, and I’m a sucker for changed lives.

My hope is that we don’t all get caught up pointing fingers and scrutinizing culture, or worse yet, sitting on our hands avoiding evil. I hope that we do get so captivated by the mission God has in this world, that we use everything we have, including our God-given creativity and imagination to making God known. I hope that we never abandon the arts, music, media front simply because it may not seem directly scriptural.

And regarding the new-age one-world thrust presented in the videos… that’s right there is a new-age coming, and it’s up to us whether we want to just be by the sidelines watching for shadows or joining God in Advancing His Kingdom.

Visiting my future home...

Back in Ottawa for a week. And heading to Montreal for our anniversary. This city is so much less busy. Malls are near empty and roads are clear.

On our way into the city we drove 40km's or so looking for a gas station after the fuel empty signal had went on. To our surprise the first gas station we went to was closed. That was a first. Luckily another one wasn't too far and we were able to coast there on fumes.

Check out my strength's profile discussion here, courtesy of JVD.

Yu-Ling's got a good post on sex with a few interesting articles.

Back in a bit...

StrengthsFinder Assessment...

Hey readers, jvdworak of Bethel Seminary and LeadershipVision is profiling me today using my StrengthsFinder results on his blog. Feel free to head over there and add your thoughts on what you think my strengths / challenges are in the comments field. Thanks!

I'll be including my comments there a bit later as well.


Two statements on my mind today...

I started reading Len Sweet's "Out of the Question... into the mystery". Sweet says, "People are losing the art of living with one another. Relationship is the soul of the universe. And the soul is sick."

The other statement that struck me during our sunday gathering this week was when our pastor talked about what it meant to be 'chosen'. While we often have an 'us vs. them' mentality, he described how "being chosen throughout the scriptures was not to the exclusion of others but for the benefit of others". Amazing.

Relationships are everything. That's why i'm glad to find 'includer' in the top five of my strengthsfinder results.

Moved in...

It took 20 people and a whole lot of sweat, but we've moved everything in, moved some things into storage (my parents), gave away couches, ac's and a television, hardwooded most of the floors, and repainted every wall. boxes are still ceiling high, but just in different places now.

Yvonne and I are on around year 4 of our 30 year plan right now. everything seems to be falling into place so far, but we didn't expect to find ourselves owning a condo right now.

I finished Malcom Gladwell's Blink recently. I have to say I did most of while on the can. Excellent bite-size nuggets of thoughts throughout the book, but not as good as Tipping Point if you ask me. More on that later.

I've been in awe of the community of people that have helped us out this past while. This group started out from scratch in January and has grown into such a beautiful community of God. I'm left speechless by their sacrifice, service, and support. They've treated our home as if it were their own, and it certainly is.

"How good and how pleasant it is when brothers and sisters live together in unity" (Psalm 133:1).

I'll start posting regularly again, real soon.

Growing up is hard to do...

Greek is over for now. I'll be starting Greek Exegesis in September though.

The packing has begun for the big move. Moving now isn't like all the times I moved as a student. I've got a lot more forms to fill, bills to pay, and boxes to the ceiling of material goods i probably don't really need.

I scrolled back in my journal a year ago, and noticed I had an entry about becoming another big city local and my disappointment with prevailing conversations of materialsm, like what color to paint the walls... well I spent sunday night doing exactly that.

I wonder if i offended anyone when I first wrote that, because I somewhat feel like i just offended myself. I mean there's nothing wrong with having a nice place to come home to right? Adulthood sure can seem lame sometimes.

Here are a couple pictures that mean a lot to me, and remind me of simpler days. The first is my 'lucky sausage'. I got it back in '95 for free in the mail. It's a ham sausage with honey that's been shrinkwrapped, but I never thought it would last this long. For some reason most people I show it off to are disgusted by it. I love it because it reminds me that some of the best things in life really are free, and if you don't indulge in it all at once, it just might last forever.


The second is my cow-poo keychain. It's probably 5-6 years old. When i first got it I couldn't stop squeezing it and pushing my finger in it. But then one summer I left it in the son and the dung just oozed right out next to it. Conversely, it reminds me everytime I passionately get my hands into something, I can't just suddenly leave it out to dry. Some things you need to just keep pushing at, or else it makes a mess of itself.

I'm throwing them both away. It's so hard, but I think it's time to move on...

It's wierd imaginging Bono sharing the gospel with someone... Liam Gallagher of Oasis sounds like he's had enough of it. "I'm f**king God. F**k Bono. I don't need his guidance. He'd talk a glass eye to sleep." I guess even rock stars get shafted.

Google couldn't stop with the earth, it's finally landed on the moon.

Longing for the character of Christ...

This is us with Jeremy and Rochelle, who are a core part of our Discovering God group this past year. Over the long weekend, we hung out at the beaches, had a rooftop bbq, and watched the fireworks. It was completely refreshing.

Waves of busyness have been slamming against us the last while, hence the lack of blog posts. One particular theme that has been rising to the surface in my conversations with God and in our small group study through the book of Philippians is that of character. Particularly my lack of desire for the character of Christ.

My yearnings to have the heart of God formed in me pale in comparison to my endless prayers for more wisdom in my studies, more capabilities in my ministries, and more time to accomplish things. I'm just like the next dude, when you sum it up, who really just wants God to give me his omni's... his omniscience, his omnipotence, and his omnipresence. Yet these are the very things I will never have, which makes me kinda lame. Observing Jesus, it seems these are the very things he emptied himself of when he walked the earth, and still, he lived the most incredible life imaginable.

How often do we get on our knees and beg for humility? or compassion? or thankfulness? In Christ, God passionately longs to forge in us his heart and his character. But do we even really want it?

May we begin to desire God to change our character as much as we desire him to change our circumstances.

There's already a flickr photo group on this morning's London Bomb Blasts.
Tony Morgan, just released his list of the ten most innovative churches in America
Saddleback's officially launched P.E.A.C.E.
A Rollingstone article on christian's and purity - the young and the sexless. Hilarious

Updates...

These are some of the iMosaic peeps. Thanks for putting me in Steve!

Three more weeks of intensive Greek and my life should resume to some level of normalcy again. That and i'll have finally moved into my new shack.

I woke up this morning from a dream with my pastor telling me that I need ritalin. I didn't even know what it was until i looked it up in the morning. God's been speaking to me from several angles that i need to reclaim some order in my life.

Mike and Craig of x3church have a blog now. I love the ministry that they do. They've been visiting porn conventions (with their wives), connecting with people and sharing the hope of Christ with anyone willing to listen. I think Jesus would be right there with them reaching out to every crevice of society.

One comment of a person they had met at one of these shows just shook me.

James, a paraplegic said, "If you want to help me don’t pray for me, give me money so I can buy a prostitute to touch me… no one will touch me.

That's the reality in which we live...

iTunes 4.9 just got released with podcasting support. Mars Hill and many others are listed on the itunes directory.

I just discovered some Rob Bell videos via Yu-Ling
The Nazarite Vow
Between the Trees
We're over here
Jesus and Domitian
A Day of Atonement
Covered in the Dust of the Rabbi

May the love of God continually interrupt your day...

Mystic Nation...

My brain's been cramped the last while. I've been taking several professional development classes at work on the 'voice of leadership' as well as 'emotional intelligence'. More profiling still to be done. Greek's been happening two nights a week, and I think i just bought a home.

This will be a substition post via Alex McManus and the iMosaic discussion.

Mystic Nation is a code word for the decentralized yet connected community of Mystic Warriors that make up ONE expression of iMosaic's missional potential. Rumor is that this Mystic Nation is real but you must know a Mystic Warrior to become one.

Imagine this a house church leader in the south whose group meets at the local coffee shop twice a week, a Christ following musician in Brasil whose band practices three times per week and whose members gather with their friends and family for a cookout once per month.
Both keep their immediate communities and a larger following in touch via blogs, chat rooms, email lists, email newsletters, etc.

Both have communities filled with pre believers, both don't sense the need or benefit of integrating these groups into a local church, but they don t want to be lone rangers. They want to identify with a global Christ following movement that has moved beyond established and traditional forms. They are mystic warriors in search of a nation.

What are the possibilities for a new kind of church that is smaller and more decentralized than a house church and yet larger with more mobilization power and more connectivity than a mega church? Might the era of the house church and the era of the mega church be past and the time ripe for something that integrates the best of both?

technorati tag
imosaic via Steve Watson

Moby and Relevant...

A couple quotes from Relevant's interview with Moby (Thanks to Existential Punk for the tip)

As a Christian, I feel very shut out from a lot of contemporary Christianity. My understanding in what it means to be a Christian is to, in our own subjective way, recognize Christ as being God, and recognize our shortcomings and our failings, and try and live according ot the teachings of Christ as best we can. And what I find so strange is I look at the behavior of so many Christians, and I don't see any aspect of the teachings of Christ represented there. But [I remember] the quote about taking the log our of your own eye before you can see the speck in someone else's eye, so I don't want to get in the position of judging other Christians. I fully admit that a lot of my actions and a lot of things that are still in my life are inconsistent with my beliefs as a Christian. I'm very secular."

"So maybe it's time for a new Martin Luther, who's gonna come along and say, 'Live how you want to live, do what you want to do. But if you're going to call yourself a Christian, at least know the teachings of Christ. And at least understand the character of Christ."

" 'One of my other favorite quotes is, "Those who are sick are in need of a doctor." And the sad thing is we're all sick. It's part and parcel of the human condition, and it's especially part and parcel of living in the United States in the 21st century. We're all sick. We're all deeply unhappy, disconnected, unwell people. We need each other, and we need God. And if God made the universe and if God made us and if God made the world, it just makes sense to invite God into our lives and ask Him, "You made me - what should I be doing?" ' ~ Moby

Other Random Links

Thunderstruck.org - I love this site, i'm surprised i didn't discover it earlier.
Sex and the Supremacy of Christ - Videos now also available from some of the talks. The John Piper ones seem to be missing though.
Wrong about porn - Article on feminism's failure to change the way men view women
HousingMaps -Another GoogleMap Hack - Hopefully we'll find ourselves a place soon.
IBM just got into the Tablet market - Thinkpad x41 Tablet
Acts29 - Bootcamp 2005 Audios
Donald Miller of Blue Like Jazz - message on Rethinking Relationships via Veritas Forums.

Visionaries...

CNN has a special feature currently engaging 'leading thinkers' on visions for the future. Ranging from sustainability, nuclear energy, extending life spans, global pandemics, and even one on humanity's identity crisis. Definitely worth the glance.

I just rediscovered one of my all-time favorite monkey video clips. A classic I never get tired of.

Fingerprints...

"We live. . . in a world drenched in God.
And some people seriously ask you: 'Where is God?'
Maybe a better question would be, 'Where isn't God?'
I mean, his fingerprints are all over our world.
Or maybe it's his world and they're our fingerprints."
~ Rob Bell

Detroit Press just wrote an article on Rob's Church, Mars Hill.
Sounds like he's doing the book thing as well, Velvet Elvis is pre-orderable at amazon.

Just glancing at the church site, book cover, and the Nooma series I've got on my shelf, it seems he's got the clean, sleek, Apple interface going on everything... Something about it calls out to me, almost subversively suggesting that I should switch systems.

Or maybe it's just me, secretly longing for the 'fingerprints' of mac on my pc world. I don't want a mac. I don't want a mac...

The Meatrix...

This looks old, but it's a new to me. Discover the lies we tell ourselves about the meat we eat at the Meatrix.

More on the House Church...

I'm half way through Wolfgang Simson's "Houses that change the world" and I still don't think I fully grasp what he's suggesting, but I love his writing. Some exerpts,

The church I dream of is like a spiritual extended family - organic, not organized, relational, not formal. It has a persecution-proof structure. It matures under tears, multiples under pressure, breathes under water, grows under the carpet; it flourishes in the desert, sees in the dark and thrives in the midst of chaos.

Biblical Christianity is a healthy threat to pagan godlessness and sinfulness, a world overcome by greed, materialism, jealousy and any amount of demonic standards of ethics, sex, money, and power. Contemporary Christianity in many countries is simply too harmless and polite to be worth persecuting.

In the New Testament times... Every Christian was, by definition, a candidate for death. If one wanted a soft life, or wanted to get ahead in respectable circles, one simply did not become a Christian. when people became Christians they were 'converted to marginality'. Rather than being a part of the main social establishment they were part of a counter-culture, an anti-society, secret and mysterious to many, loyal to 'another king', a distinctively different spiritual tribe.

Simson also includes a statement from Art Katz, a Messianic Jew on how true community starts, where individualism ends:

Community life pulverizes your old ego in the power of the Spirit of God, and rescues you from just living a miserable private life, where after loving each other during a one-hour worship service a week we rush home to water our flowers, sit on our porch, eat our individual meals and wash our car. We need to start to function as part of the fellowship of the redeemed. As the redeemed, we do not go home after a service, we are at home with each other.

Amazing.

JC Vampire Hunter

In the trailer a low voice states...

In the New Millennium, Vampires no longer fear the Sun...
but they are about to learn it's time to fear.... the Son... of GOD!"

Nothing Biblical, but looks Hilarious...

Enough Sex...

After a month long series on sex, Passion and Purity concluded yesterday.

My prayer is that every person who has come on this journey with us continues to experience the freedom Christ has promised us. I pray we aggressively rebel against our own indifference. I pray that any lingering habits, addictions, compulsions, and attitudes that demean the life that God has given us are no longer supplied room within our souls.

Should any of us stumble along the way, I pray that we would find grace in our communities to continue on the path less traveled. I'm excited to see every person walk from strength to strength and glory to glory as we pursue Christ together, leaving behind our lesser desires for the greatest passion in the universe.

Give me one pure and holy passion
Give me one magnificent obsession
Give me one glorious ambition for my life
To know and follow hard after you
~ Mark Altrogge

I hope we have helped redefine and elevate what sex is from God's perspective. That's enough talk on sex from me for now, it's been quite the journey and therapeutic for myself personally and many levels. Audio Archives of John Piper's Desiring God' conference on "Sex and the Supermacy of Christ" are excellent and can be found here.

Thanks to our sister Julie for the cover art for the Passion & Purity manual.

Caught in the act...

Several weeks ago my wife caught me in the act. I never thought I would do something like this, let alone have Yvonne see me this way...

One of the deciding factors in us purchasing a ps2 recently, was my wife's obsession with the game Karaoke Revolution. I wasn't all that impressed with it at first, but I found it grew on me with time. We like choosing the hard songs like 'Under Pressure' and 'ABC' and singing in duet mode with all the overlapping parts.

But then it happened. Yvonne caught me one sunday morning playing on duet mode by myself. Exposed with both mics in my hands and singing both parts, I quickly explained to her how this took the game to totally new levels of excitement and challenge. She sighed and didn't say anything, as if she was wondering why I was even explaining myself.

Then it hit me as we were driving to church. I screamed, that was Karaoke Masturbation! (Keeping in mind that I had been thinking about nothing but sex for weeks in preparation for the "Passion & Purity class I was leading).

I had been doing something by myself that was designed for two. Underneath it all, what it said to Yvonne was that I didn't need her. What once was our pleasure, had become mine alone, to be enjoyed at anytime I wanted.

Sex before God is unselfish and sacrifical, a mingling of the souls, a sacred song sung by two.

Think Different...

Something that just came out of the ongoing iMosaic discussion on the Christ following movement for the 21st century... an old apple video courtesy of breathe_fire.

To the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.

They're not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them,
glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.

Because they change things.
They push the human race forward.

And while some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can
change the world,

are the ones who do.

On another tangent, Karaoke Revolution Party just got announced for release this fall. Maybe i'll share my sex-related anaology relating to it in the next post.

My Worldview (supposedly)...

You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational.

Cultural Creative		88%
Idealist		56%
Fundamentalist		56%
Postmodernist		44%
Romanticist		44%
Existentialist		38%
Modernist		0%
Materialist		0%

What is Your World View?
created with QuizFarm.com

Sex - Confession & Repentance...

One of the greatest breakers of the vicious cycle of sexual sin is confession. From a New Testament perspective, confession really means to agree with Christ. This includes agreeing with Christ about being remade, reborn, and renewed in Him, as well as being convicted and agreeing with Him regarding our sins.

Confession however, must also be followed by repentance. When we confess and do not repent we risk inoculating ourselves to the truth of Christ. Repentance typically means ‘to turn’ or to active ‘turn away’ from our sins. I always had some problems with this because I wasn't sure what to turn to. There is a Hebrew word that is often used for what is translated as to repent that has profound implications. It is Teshuva. It means not simply ‘to turn’, to turn from one sin to another, or to turn from one lifestyle to another, but to ‘re-turn’.

Lust, pornography, self-gratification, dehumanizing thoughts, sexual immorality, it’s not you. God desires that you live in authentic relationships – body, mind, heart, and soul – fully human and ‘very good’. Teshuva. Return to the person you were created to be.

For the Star Wars fans...

I love how Yoda's just floating on a dish.

Sex, Sinners, and Saints...

How many of us do what we do because we think that’s just who we are? We lust because we are lustful people. We sin because we are sinners. Or what about the statement, “I’m only human”? When did being human become more of an excuse for the way we live, rather than our reason for living as we ought to?

Sure, there’s the fall. There’s the broken and fragmented human nature. Yet if there is nothing fundamentally different about who we are, at the core of our being, then what on earth did Jesus die for? If we were still just ‘sinners’ none of the great teachings of Jesus matter, because none of it would be possible without the Spirit of Christ residing in us. If we were nothing but ‘sinners’, there would be no hope in this life, and certainly no hope in the next. What we believe about who we fundamentally are, or more importantly who God sees us as, transforms every aspect of how we live. Conversely, we give power to the devil, when we believe lies, and reject God’s truths.

The scriptures are filled with God’s declarations of his unconditional love for us (Psalm 130:7, Romans 8:37-39). God describes us as “wonderfully made” (Psalm 139) as “His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). As believers, we are “children of God” (John 1:12), that Christ has set us “free” (Galatians 5:1), that there is “no condemnation” (Romans 8:1), “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (1 Peter 2:9). Repeatedly the Scriptures refer to all the believers as “Saints” (1 Cor 1:2, 2 Cor 1:1, Phil 1:1).

One of the greatest take-aways I’ve had from the writings of Neil T. Anderson, is that as believers, we are not sinners trying to become Saints, we are Saints becoming like Christ. A child of God engages the battle against sin and temptation from higher ground, through their identity in Christ. They are no longer defined by their mistakes or even their future stumblings, but based on the redemptive work of Christ. They are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

How might saints see sexuality differently?

Mosaic Podcast...

You heard it here first... it looks like Mosaic messages have finally went public.

Current series on "Imagine"
http://www.mosaic.org/podcast/

Sex - Creation to Culture...

Our culture assaults our senses with sexuality in a way that often reduces people to being less than human, less than who we were created to be.

God created us as more than just sexual beings. God created us, both male and female, together to reflect his love, beauty, majesty, and wonder – to reflect his image (Genesis 1:27). Yet a sexual element remains, and often remains repressed or ignored in church-circles.

Sex is an extraordinarily good thing to God. He is the author of sex. Sexuality is not a product of sin or the fall. On the contrary, the only thing that God said was not good in all of creation was that man was alone (and this was pre-fall, Genesis 2:18). In creation God blesses man and woman and calls them to be ‘fruitful and multiply’. And there’s only one way of performing that act.

Yet there’s more. God could have had us reproduce and create babies a million other ways. Laced throughout the themes of the scripture is that sexuality is designed by God as a way to know him more fully. Sexuality as God designed it is to be a shadow or a taste of what our ultimate relationship with him is to be like. Not to imply pagan concepts of sexual intercourse with God, but the intimacy, the depth, the vulnerability, the pleasure, the commitment, the intensity, that fuels a relationship with God.

Scriptures declare God as a lover – a lover that passionately pursues a people for his possession. And though the people of the earth stray in adulterous ways, this lover continues to pursue, reveal, and sacrifice that they might return the same desire with their full being. The church is declared as the bride of Christ in which He makes pure and without blemish. All of this culminates in the wedding feast, a celebration of this cosmic union. Sex exists so that we might have language and images and physical expressions that help capture the glory of God and belonging to Him in faithfulness.

Also of utmost importance is how the biblical creation account describes that when God had finished creating man and woman, He stepped back and said it was ‘very good’ (Genesis 1:31). God did not create us and intend for us to be anything but fully human. He did not design us or desire us to be like animals, or angels, or anything else. At the most primal place of our origins fully man and fully woman is who God created us to be and ‘it was very good’.

Yet how often is this not enough for us? How often do we try to find our fulfillment and identity in things other than this? How often do we treat people as something other than fully human and ‘very good’? At creation, being fully human is supposed to be enough. God created us glorious and good that we might find satisfaction in being the works of His hands, fully human – body, mind, heart, and soul. Yet in our world today, we exalt one element, the body – elevating its sexual nature above all else - reducing the beauty of sexuality to something less than it was designed to be, and worse yet, we devalue what it means to be fully human.

Pornography, for example, dehumanizes sexuality and depersonalizes people by turning the viewer into a taker and the one viewed into an object to be consumed. Yet we all do it. It’s in our media, our language, our casual glances, our relationships, our lingering thoughts, our hearts. Sex is so much more than what we reduce it to, and even worst, we rob one another of our full humanity in doing so.

Sex, Soul, and Society...

A couple months ago I was driving some young girls in grade seven at our church to an event. I started ranting on about how great it would be to be their age again, when one of them blurted out ‘when we’re with boys all they want to do is look at porn’… I was speechless. Pornography has seeped into the foundations of our culture more than we think it has.

The $4 billion that Americans spend on video pornography is larger than the annual revenue accrued by either the N.F.L., the N.B.A. or Major League Baseball. But that's literally not the half of it: the porn business is estimated to total between $10 billion and $14 billion annually in the United States…People pay more money for pornography than they do on movie tickets, more than they do on all the performing arts combined." NY Times, May 20, 2001, Naked Capitalists

The average age of first exposure to Internet pornography is age 11

There are more outlets for hard-core pornography in this country than there are McDonalds restaurants

At $10 billion, porn is no longer a sideshow to the mainstream like, say, the $600 million Broadway theater industry -- it is the mainstream

Advertisers and companies that use sex to sell their products use it because it works. They do not throw in billions of dollars using sex to sell without knowing for certain that it will have an impact on not only our thoughts but our actions.

There is absolutely no question that the way our society portrays sexuality impacts us, the real question is how. How does it affect how we see the world? How does it encroach upon our relationships? How does it shape us as individuals or as humanity? I believe it can shake and shatter our very souls.

A call for Purity...

I wrote this letter a few years ago after a communal experience of the Holy Spirit. A current series of teachings that I am doing on passion & purity is one of the manifestations of that experience. I sat down to write a bit about what God has to say about sex a few weeks ago, and it's turned into a 50 page manual. Excerpts and additional thoughts from this journey will be the focus of discussion here the next few weeks.

"Looking back, I was too consumed to comprehend all that was happening as we laid hands and prayed that Sunday night. Although I did not even know all the names of the brothers that night, as we cried out there was a unity in our humility and worship before God, unlike anything I had experienced before.

What made the conference different this year was that God didn't just speak to each of us individually, but that we left knowing we had experienced God together. I praise God for His Spirit breaking through this weekend, and I commend all the men who came on stage to take a stand for purity. God has brought such conviction to my heart on this issue over the years, I feel the need to reiterate and add to a few thoughts.

I have no doubt that the sins revealed that night are just a small sampling of what plagues our entire generation. Extending from sexually immoral relationships, to pornography, to masturbation, to lustful thoughts, people are being held in bondage especially to these sins. We are bombarded daily with images from the media and have allowed Satan to gain a foothold. These sins are poisoning the body of Christ and Christians, including leaders are dropping like flies. Though we are often found busy struggling with God's will in our lives, one thing we know for certain – God desires that we "be holy" (1 Peter 1:15), (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5). We need to adopt God's standard of purity in our lives (see Ephesians 5:3, 1 Corinthians 6:18).

After what was shared, I pray that we don't carry on as if it never happened. As uncomfortable as it may seem, we need to press on in our conversations, and hold each other accountable. We give Satan power when we refrain from sharing and fight our battles alone. Too often have I heard of the vicious cycle of people coming clean with God, sinning in secret, and finally crawling back to God feeling even more guilty. Accountability and the prayers of our community is the only effective way of breaking the cycle (James 5:16).

I pray that this spirit of authenticity and vision for purity spreads throughout our churches. I ask that you take a stand in your fellowship, or gather up a small group, or even just share with a friend, let's just not sit on what God has revealed. We only close our hands to God's grace when we hide our sins.

One word of caution with all the declarations of purity that have been made. Self-imposed rules and disciplines will not work. I've been humbled and have come to realize over the last while, that I can't change myself, and only God can change me. There's something in the heart that needs fixing and it is a God thing. Don't let your personal quest for purity take the place of your relationship with God. Or else it becomes a form of lust in itself. We need to continue seeking the Blesser and not simply His blessings of purity. I pray we all become so consumed with Christ that there no longer remains any room in our lives for sin.

Some brothers have shared with me their fears of how people may view them following confession. If we are to truly become a community of Christ, we also need to pray for understanding, particularly with the sisters. Sisters, we need your support and prayers as well."

Shaving with sissors...

I had twenty minutes before people came over for small group and figured i'd have Yvonne quickly shave my head as she always does. I should've noticed something was wrong when the clippers were rusty orange. We also ran out of the machine oil that the clippers came with so I told Yvonne to just use some canola oil. To my surprise the clipper blades didn't work at all. I decided I would just randomly hack away at it with sissors myself.




I wish I took more pictures. I got too excited and nothing else turned out. All I have is this 30 second video clip of me slicing and dicing.

Which reminds me, i've also put up a couple clips and pictures of our small group at our small group blog, life2gether.

Bruce ended up bringing me a new clipper, and i cleaned it up a bit this morning.


I think I'll use this in the cover of my next hip-hop album.

Church Planting Canada - National Congress

I just registered for Mosaic 2005. I think I'm the first one, judging by my reference number. Am I the only one excited about this? Must be because I'm a noobie.

Erwin McManus is doing the three plenary night sessions. Dr. Samuel Donkor, Ray Aldred (a keynote at Urbana 2003), and Joyce Heron are also speaking.

Its six-months from now and Im already excited about the networking sessions and workshops. I'll be taking a workshop with Erwin (of course), Neil Cole (Founder of Church Multiplication Associates and Life Transformation groups), Rick McKinley (Author of Jesus in the Margins), and Malcom Gladwell (Author of Tipping point, one of my favorites and Blink, which I'm reading now). Amazing. Anyone else out there interested in joining me?

I've also registered for my following 2 part time classes after I finish Greek I & II for the summer. I'll be taking Leadership Development in the Fall, and Learning and the art of teaching during the winter term. As if life wasn't exciting enough already!

Randoms...

A missionary was sharing about his experiences in China at our church yesterday. The one thing that got me was the heart of the Christian leaders there. Under daily oppression and persecution one of the Christian leaders he met there had been anticipating police raiding his home and taking him to jail that night. Unlike most of us, this leader's response was that "the people in jail must be praying for a good preacher!" Amazing. Who is this King of Glory, that makes people so bold and joyous while under such trials?

This reminds me of "Jesus Freaks". A collection of stories of Christian Martyrs I use to own. Someone broke into a friend's car and stole my bag with the book in it. I hope whoever stole it read it. Now that I think about it, I wonder if that's how God needs to work in North America. We hold on to the gospel so tightly, God needs to cause people to steal it from us. hrm.

I read two books this weekend. "The Alchemist", a long overdue fiction about a sheppard boy following his heart. Incredibly poetic and philosophical. I also read Joshua Harris' "Not even a hint" for some additional class material. I've also began Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink" which looks to be as good as "The Tipping Point", more on that later.

Other links,

There's a new book interviewing Bono

Alex McManus has been doing a leadership series on his blog
The Mosaic Alliance Site is up - Thanks Tony
For those of you who don't know yet, Vertias Forums - Exploring Truth and Life has been posting audio/video's of their sessions.

Passion & Purity

Our church will be beginning a new sunday school format this may. Four week, two hour sessions that include lunch. Yvonne and I will be leading a class on sexuality. I wanted to call it "Sex Ed. with the Wong's", but "Passion & Purity" is probably more appropriate. Here's a preview blurb of what's to come.

Sex. One of the greatest defining struggles of this generation. Sexuality proliferates our culture and infiltrates our hearts - often in a way far from God's great intentions. Join us as we discover God's perspective of sex and what it means to us. We will explore Biblical themes of personal, relational, and spiritual purity. Fighting fire with fire, this will be a journey of inviting Jesus to take our lesser desires and unleashing a greater passion within all of us.

Week 1 - Sex & the Soul
Week 2 - Lust, Legalism, and Love
Week 3 - Practice & Process
Week 4 - A Pure and Holy Passion

Hopefully there will be people brave enough to join us.

Now is the time...

Since birthing our small group into three separate groups in January, the one that Yvonne and I lead hit 15 people last night! It’s absolutely amazing how God has wired us all to long for life in community and yearn for truth in our lives.

We continued our study through the Scriptures in James. Our encouraging verse for the night was “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishe" (James 4:14) We discussed how we devalue the time that God gives us. How from God’s perspective there are no unimportant moments in our life. Every moment must be treated as sacred. We all have dreams and visions, but the challenge is not letting the future cripple us and allowing the future to rob us of the God-ordained present moment that we do have.

Is it possible that some of us keep ourselves so busy with knowing more about what God’s will is in our lives – just to avoid doing what we already know is on God’s heart?

It is finished...

I’ve finally completed my last major paper. Here it is, on missiological ecclesiology. I have no idea what that really means either, but it sure sounds cool. I stumbled along two excellent books in my research. Spontaneous Expansion of the Church by Roland Allen (Which Alex McManus had also recommended reading) and Shaped by God’s Heart by Milfred Minatrea. Underneath all the boring systematic theology and research, the gist of the paper was arguing for the necessity of a missional church, anything less being unbiblical.

In other important news the pope passed away and I bought a playstation2. What a wretched person I am. I’m sure there’s enough commentary bombarding media and the web regarding the pope. But for the record, from the little that I do know of him, he rocked. His ecumenical push, continued boat-rocking in reforming the papacy, and humanitarian voice has been a blessing to this planet. We discussed in class last night, how he refused to relinquish the papacy, not out of pride, but to show the world an example of a life refusing to rest. That even in his frailty God could use him. This reminds me of when Augustine declared, “My heart will not rest until I rest in Thee’.

So the Lord led me to buy the ps2… yeah right. It was actually the completion of a long unfulfilled boyhood dream of owning a game system. Yvonne really wanted the “Karaoke Revolution” games, and that helped pushed the decision over. Now if only I could come up with a way to use this for ministry purposes…

Here’s a secret. I’ve never been a very special person. I was born as ordinary as it gets. Embarrassed even of the name that I was given. I lived with mediocrity by finding a way to be the best at it. But something changed along the way.

Today, I stand amazed at the things that I have accomplished, the risks that I have taken, and the dreams and passions that burn within me. They are a direct result of the love of God working through the people around me. Whatever hint of goodness and greatness that I’ve discovered within my soul is because people inspired it out of me. None of it was my own doing. I am so very thankful to the countless people who have prayed for me, encouraged me, and told me that 'with God I could do it', both people that have been close and those who have reached me from a distance. I’ve never lived a life deserving these gifts, wonders, and precious relationships, and now I find myself with them in abundance.

This morning I woke up with a single phrase echoing in my head. I'm awake! The Lord must want me to live today!

Chasing lights in the dark

It's been an incredible journey the last while, I haven't had time to post. Which is great in a way, since for the most part we really should be more busy living than busy writing about living. Some amazing interactions the last week with different people, spoke at a workshop for Teen’s Conference, completed some long overdue goals, wrapping up an online class with Erwin and Alex McManus this week, and knee deep in papers again.

Some solid updates coming soon. I think God likes working in the dark...

Faith...

This week our small group continued our journey through the scriptures, stopping over at James 2:14-26, the popular faith and works passage. What is amazing about James is the way he bluntly hammers out the truth, breaking out the type of faith that Jesus actually died for.

So often, faith is equated with an emotional experience. That if we just work up the emotional excitement and feel passionately about it, then we have faith. Or on the flipside we reduce what the scriptures mean by faith into merely being informed or believing the right stuff about God. Although our feelings and our understandings regarding God are highly affected by what faith is, they fall short of what God really intends by faith.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, he replied that it was to love God and to love others. It wasn’t because Jesus couldn’t count and responded with two commandments, it was because he was conveying that that the two were dynamically inseparable. A faith in God must be translated into actions specifically in relationship to other people.

It’s a generalization, but I can tell what people believe by what I see. When confronted with statements like that, our souls cry out because we do not think people see all of who we really are. They do not understand the great intentions and the passions that are bubbling beneath the surface. The truth is that God only counts what we truly believe, by what emerges out of our lives as an expression of worship to him.

James thrusts what we casually express as faith to another echelon. Faith at its most base level is one that is rendered into action. When James says, “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do” (James 2:18). He almost taunts us, challenging us that the reality of our faith only exists in our actions.

There are many things that I can profess that I have faith in, but if these invisible declarations are not translated into a visible reality they are worthless before a God who sees faith as inextricably tied to my actions. God does not call us to work for our salvation, but to “work out our salvation” (Philippians 2:12) through living out our faith.
Faith is trusting in a God who does not just deposit his Holy Spirit, that it may be internally housed within us, but that unleashes it to impact every realm of our lives.

Faith demands risk. We diminish faith to trusting in a God who is great and sitting on our hands, when faith must include trusting in a God who dares us to move and accomplish the great things that are on His heart. What do I really believe…?

Lesser desires / a PhD in Erwin

Our economy is driven by keeping the average person discontent. Marketers and advertisers are tasked with creating in us a dissastifaction for what we have, or at the very least, a nagging desire for what we do not need.

There are so many things that I want. I have longings that I could have sworn were there since the day I was born, and now simply piqued as I am validated by the purchases of others around me and as 'reasonable' prices dangle before me.

The sad truth is that much of these desires were put there by someone else. A stranger that has no idea who I am and sees me only as a contributor to their agenda. I feel violated just thinking about it. The genius is that the world that surrounds us crams these yearnings so deep into our hearts and minds that we think we came up with them ourselves.

How many of us have pursued things that we think might bring freedom only to have become enslaved by them? We have not only bought into the propaganda, we sponsor it from the deepest places within us.

In my moments of clarity, there is no price tag to what truly brings freedom. Beneath the layers of the things that we are told we want, there are even deeper passions in the fabric of our being, deposited by our Maker. Passions that we have spent our lives ignoring because they seemed too wonderful to ever be fulfilled. A burning in our souls that almost demands genuine love, meaning, and destiny to truly live this life as it was intended. I am discovering all of this in Jesus.

May we not settle for lesser desires. May we discover our God-given passions and a life worth living.

---

I once heard Erwin McManus talk about how he was speaking at a seminary and they introduced him as Dr. Erwin even though he didn't have a degree. He felt that it was because the religious leaders could not tolerate having a less educated person teaching them about the ways of God.

It appears that Erwin has started his own Doctoral program sponsored by Bethel Seminary. It's a 3-year program on “Creating an Entrepreneurial Ethos, Developing the Art of Improvisation, and Discipling Innovation”. What else would you expect? Besides the personal mentoring, it also involves publishing a book as a cohort. Even more interesting, in the prospectus is Erwin's list of resources and emerging churches that participants are to research.

Better get in before it becomes institutionalized.

Back from Yurting...

I just figured out how to make a photoset in Flickr. A few more pictures here.

Also, many more pictures, from Ray, a much better photographer here

Beautiful...

Niagara falls was beautiful... not so much the breath-taking waterfalls crashing down, but the excellent time away with even more excellent company.

This weekend we're going yurting. I've never heard of it either. Leave it to crazy Canadians to trying to find creative ways to have fun in the winter.

Our new small group community met up last night, we've been slowing making our way through James. Discussing through the section on favoritism reminded me of a conviction that came to me during the Christmas holidays last year.

It's something that happens often to all of us i'm sure. I was walking with family and passed an owner and their dog. We immediately gathered around the cute little animal and started playing with it, but I accidentally locked eyes with the owner. Right then, it shuddered through my soul, how my heart went out more to a dog then the human being right next to it. We subtly devalue people. We do it when we see babies all the time as well. Maybe because we've been hurt too often by big people, or we know that dogs and babies won't judge us. But in fact, it's we who've judged others.

Our judgements and assumptions of people are intricately tied to the way we treat them. I sometimes ignore people because I see them as less than that. Less than God's wonderfully divine creation. Less than the broken image of God longing to be restored. Less than beautiful. Maybe we'd act differently if that was the only judgement we make as we encounter the world.

Profiling...

I love this image, pulled off of leadershipvision - Despite being cramped on a moving train - not allowing circumstances in life to dictate the person you were designed to be and the impact that you can create.

I just finished taking The Gallup Organization's Strength's Finder (You need to purchase one of their resources in order to get the code to take the test). My major themes are - Futuristic, Connectedness, Woo, Includer, and Ideation.

For Myers-Briggs Type Indicator I am an ENFP. I've taken at least a half-dozen spiritual gift tests (More tests, tests, and tests) over the years, my recurring gifts seem to be Encouragement, Pastor/Sheppard, Teaching... Administration is also somewhere in there for some reason, but I don't believe it.

With all this though, nothing comes close to what I've learned about myself through my journey with God and life with my wife. This weekend I'm off to take my bride to Niagara Falls...

New Template...

Co-inciding with the converging dates in history, i've decided to redesigned the site template... that and the old site was getting old... This was my first time delving this deep into html. This is what I came up with after copying off other sites and with plenty of trial and error.

I'm really liking Google Maps. Here's a list of churches in my block, none of which I go to. How odd.

Here's someone having a bit too much fun with a webcam.

After years of my life savings sitting in my bank account, i'll finally be seeing a financial advisor today. Hooray.

Randoms...

Two new messages out of Mosaic. This one is classic Erwin, as they launch a series on the Barbarian way, coinciding with the new book. This second one I found particularly interesting because it was very pastoral, addressing only their leadership staff. Sounds like God's blessing them with 20 acres. I pray they don't ever settle and that this really is going to be a platform for the city.

Interesting article on worship as evangelism here.

Just started perusing through Follow the Rabbi with Ray Vander Laan, a follower of Jesus who decided to take Jewish studies at Yeshiva University. I had heard that when he went there in the 80s there wasn't a single person who didn't have the entire OT memorized. His ministry has really helped put context into the Jewish world the Jesus entered. Rob Bell seems to get a lot of his material from here as well.

National Church Planting Congress coming to Toronto in November. I'll be there for sure. Any joiners?

House Church, Malcom X, Closer...

One major structural reformation that "Houses that change the world" has been suggesting is the renewal of cell/city churches. Wolfgang Simson suggests that our many current congregational-type churches are structural compromises, much like a marriage between a mouse and an elephant.

The church for the first three centuries after Christ flourished in homes, that allowed for an organic place of belonging and accountability. The house churches also gathered together for city-wide celebrations to hear apostolic teaching and encounter prophetic vision, while drawing more people in publically. This is why Paul wrote letters to city-churches. It was not until Emperor Constantine in the fourth-century that the congregation-type church was introduced. With this, the church became an audience under professional leadership, losing out on the powerful dynamics of both the cell and celebration.

A church that not only has a message, but is a message.

Something which spreads like an unstoppable virus, infects whatever it touches, and ultimately covers the earth with the glory and knowledge of God.

It matures under tears, multiplies under pressure, breathes under water, grows under the carpet; it flourishes in the desert, sees in the dark and thrives in the midst of chaos.

The image of much contemporary Christianity could be summarized as holy people coming regularly to a holy place on a holy day at a holy hour to participate in a holy ritual led by a holy man dressed in holy clothes for a holy fee.

I love this Simson's writing. He even apologizes at the beginning of the book for his poor writing since English is not his native tongue. Definitely lots more to ponder.

We watched Malcolm X for our date night. What an incredible movie of faith. It brought back memories of when I had first watched the film almost a decade ago. It was one of the first sparks of hope that my life too might one day be different from the way it started. Though his story centers around the Muslim faith, I remember reading his autobiography after and as a teenager being completely captivated by his journey from the dregs of society to a leader of a movement.

I led discussions in our discovering God group and our small group this week. It's amazing how there have been a common threads in the themes of both groups. Maybe it's just me. I absolutely love drawing people of all types closer to the heart of God. Now if only I could get a little closer

Oh my goodness...

Remember Sir Mixalot's raunchy Baby got back song? Even that can be redeemed... kinda.

This is one of the most hilarious Christian videos i've ever seen. I guess they can have a sense of humour...

Inattentive in class...

Is it wrong to have the opportunity to be studying systematic theology at a seminary and not be able to pay attention?

I got bored enough to do a search on my own name. Looks like there are other Lon Wong's out there. I even found an ibm award photo of myself from a couple years ago. So lame.

I've had Erwin's new book Barbarian Way on order from amazon for several weeks to ship when it was released. To my surprise it was already availble in the bookstore here. Some inspiring excerpts i found scouring the web...

Two thousand years ago God started a revolt against the religion HE STARTED. So don't ever put it past God to cause a groundswell against churches and Christian institutions that bear His name. If He was willing to turn Judaism upside down, don't think for a moment our institutions are safe from a divine revolt. I am convinced that even now there are multitudes of followers of Jesus Christ who are sick and tired of the church playing games and playing down the call of God. My travels only confirm that the murmurings of revolution are everywhere. I am convinced that there is an uprising in the works and that no one less than God is behind it...

Amazing. More excerpts here and here. Is anyone else excited about what's to come as well?

While I'm procrastinating. Let me give give some random props. I'm writing this entry with w.bloggar. I haven't found a simpler and more comprehensive tool to meet my occasional blogging needs. I work primarily off of an ibm T30 notebook. I use a Palm TungstenT. I'd like to upgrade when they integrate something with a phone, video/camera, mp3 player, pda, with apple styling. I use iambic agendus, palm bible plus and mybible niv deluxe. GAIM is my all-in-one instant messenger. I fell in love with firefox when i discovered tabbed browsing there (so i can further multi-task) and picasa2 has got to be one of the best free image viewers around. All this to say that i'm a geek, and all these tools help keep me afloat. All this and i'm just barely making it by.

Whelp, class is up. I'll share where I get much of my spiritual feeding next time around.