Some exciting news and a chance to win a trip to England!

We’ve all heard the phrase, “The Greatest Story Ever Told.”  Those of us who follow Jesus really believe the story of the Gospel is so powerful, and I love when people take seriously communicating it in a powerful way.  Today I want to tell you about a one-of-a-kind experience that’s coming to Chicago this fall that is all about creatively communicating the Gospel.  It’s called Story, and it’s the brainchild of Ben Arment.  When I first heard about this, I got really excited, and as more details emerged, I got pumped!  I’m glad that today we can officially tell you about it!  

 Here’s the official blurb:

STORY is a first-of-its-kind experience for communicators of the Gospel – the greatest story ever told. It will be held on Wednesday, October 28 at the Paramount Theater in Aurora, Illinois. Speakers include Donald Miller, Nancy Beach, Dave Gibbons, Ed Young, Stacy Spencer, Chris Seay and Mike Foster. A day of workshops will follow on October 29 at nearby Orchard Valley Community Church, featuring illustrators, designers, scholars, authors and communications experts. Register for the conference and enter to win 2 free trips to the Kilns – CS Lewis’ home in Oxford, England – at www.StoryChicago.com.

Story is going to be a powerful discussion with communicators from all over the country- all committed to exploring powerful ways to sharing the gospel within our culture.  Ben has lined up some great communicators to help lead the discussion, and I’ve heard he’s lined up a pretty awesome emcee as well!  Again, I’d go right now and register at www.StoryChicago.com .  Early bird registration will save you some money!  If you’re into architecture, Story is hosted in a beautiful old theatre right in downtown Aurora- next to the river.  Love that place!

Now if you can swing it I’d plan to spend the whole week in Chicago- on Tuesday you can attend the Cultivate conference in downtown Chicago (click here to read what Dawn Nicole Baldwin has to say about this awesome opportunity!).  Then head to Aurora for Story Chicago on Wednesday- attend the Story workshops on Thursday at The Orchard, (we’re honored to host the workshops!) golf or explore the city on Friday, and come out to The Orchard on Saturday where we’re going to be having a very special guest speaker at our weekend gatherings.

One final plug-I’m pretty sure Ben’s web team one-upped Disney on the Story website- It’s better than the Narnia websites hands down!  When I first saw it it gave me that awe-inspired majestic feeling, the way Narnia did.  Just looking at the website grabs me and makes me want to be a part!  I’d love some feedback on what you think of the site!

Hope to see you and your team attend Story with us- you won’t regret it!

 

Peppermint-Filled Pinatas

Eric Bryant’s Peppermint-Filled Pinatas at 211 pages is a surprisingly easy read with a powerful punch! Eric’s conversational style makes this book feel like sitting down to a conversation with Eric himself over coffee (or like my experience, over Chik-Fil-A!). At first, his non-threatening, conversational style lured me in and finally hit me between the eyes with the reality that I have failed to love those different from me, and has helped to birth a desire deep inside to see others as God sees them. This book is a call to a radical kind of lifestyle that is ignorant of the ethnic, racial, social, or economic backgrounds of those we meet. Eric advocates for a type of discipleship that begins at meeting people, regardless of who they are, or where they are, and showing them the kind of love that Christ would. Peppermint-Filled Pinatas advocates moving beyond simply tolerating people who are different to engaging them, loving them as an expression of the love of Jesus.  

This book is divided into two sections. Part 1: People Matter Most, is a call to get out of the house and find ways to engage people. It essentially is a framework for why people matter and deserve our attention. Part 2: Love Is The New Apologetic, spells out the how. While Part 1 is the why, Part 2 explains that through practice and engaging others, we truly can have a positive influence on those far from Christ. Since Eric is based in the diverse city of Los Angeles, he realizes that most people will not decide to follow Jesus simply based on intellectual arguments alone. Rather, actions are necessary to break through the stereotypes that non-Christians often have of Christians. He advocates for building relationships that allow for belonging before believing.

Here are a few great quotes from the book:

• Our personal relationships often betray our feelings for the world as well. Rather than befriending and loving those who do not yet follow Christ, it seems that the longer we follow Christ, the fewer people we actually know who believe differently than the way we believe. (21)
• Some of our churches have so consistently become a refuge for Christians from the world that we fail to become communities that go out into the world, or even communities where seekers feel free to come and explore the possibility of a God who loves them and has a plan for their lives. (22)
• The greatest apologetic (argument for the truth of Christianity) is love. (32)
• We think others are willing to connect with us, even though what we offer is cheap and unsatisfying. We offer peppermints when the world wants Gobstoppers, Airheads, and Reese’s Peanut butter cups. We offer something sweet to believe; they want a new life that helps change the world.
• Throughout history, Christians have been at the forefront of caring for the marginalized and overlooked… sadly, at the same time, many churches have moved away from poverty-stricken neighborhoods and especially out of the cities. Most of evangelical america tends to be hunkered down in the suburbs, just beyond the reach of the city. (139)

I could go on and on with challenging and thought-provoking quotes, but suffice it to say that this book is a call to love blacks, whites, hispanics, gays, straight people, Muslims, Hindus, and any other type of person you could even imagine. God has used Eric’s words through this book to challenge me to stop playing safe Christianity in my little bubble and get out and meet people where they are. It’s going to require some big changes in my heart and life, but reading Eric’s journey as a true practicioner of what he preaches gives me hope. I encourage you to read Peppermint-Filled Pinatas and take the journey toward an exciting, scary, engaging, loving life yourself!

As an aside, Eric is an encouraging leader, and his blog contains tons of resources, and his site even has audio interviews with a bunch of people that will challenge and inspire you.  If you’re really bored, you can even watch Eric do stand up comedy (just kidding about the really bored part, Eric!)!  His site is here…

 

Finding My Way Again…

My brain is 200mph as usual this morning but I’ve settled on a couple of thoughts I’m really chewing on and I’d love to get your input…

• I was listening to the audiobook for Brian McLaren’s Finding Our Way Again this morning at the gym and it really got me asking this question: “Why don’t we spend most of our energy in discipleship teaching people to feed themselves?”  Really, the spiritual practices are a way of making our faith a part of the inner fabric of our everyday lives.  Part of the reason Christianity is in the shape it’s in in our country is that people make it an add-on, a sort-of social addition and minor spiritual blessing.  We just don’t want it to mess up our daily lives too much.  But in other Abrahamic faiths (Judaism and Islam), their faith is an inseparable part of their lives.  What if we put a whole lot of energy into helping new believers incorporate these ancient practices into the  everyday rhythm of life?  It should be a part of their life DNA- this is why spiritual practices are so important.  I’m not saying we shouldn’t offer supplementary teaching on other issues- I’m simply pondering the thought of putting a TON of energy into helping people build their foundation.  Seems like a no-brainer to me and maybe I’m just ignorant but I don’t think I’ve seen a lot of energy put into this in the past.  If people are making the spiritual practices a part of their daily lives, won’t they grow (with the Spirit’s help) and learn what they need to?  Seems like often the Church has had that backwards.  Give them a ton of information and some of it will stick and they will grow.  Hmm.
• Maybe part of the reason our efforts to design environments that facilitate community have largely failed is because we have A. not spent a good deal of time equipping people to own their faith journey and live it out as a part of their daily lives and B. We haven’t considered the rhythm of our local church community.  Over the years I’ve come to believe that every church community has a unique rhythm.  I think the Spirit is doing unique things in each community.  It’s up to us who are in leadership to find that sacred rhythm and work within it.  I’m developing this concept more in my thinking, but at this point, I’m wondering if we’ve tried too hard to prescribe what community is without considering the spiritual foundation of the people who are supposed to be a part of it and without designing environments that fit what God is doing in our unique church communities.  Just a thought.

I’ve probably been a bit confusing- yes, I’m thinking out loud (so to speak) and that can be dangerous!  I just sense God is speaking to my heart in some way about my efforts to make disciples and create community- I want to find His heartbeat for this and am glad to share my journey with you!  

Thoughts?

 

Big News Revealed

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”   Genesis 12:1 

This is the LAST verse I thought God would be using to speak to me at this stage in my life.  Yet after weeks of praying and seeking His face, I’m confident He has used it to speak to us in a clear way.

 A few weeks ago  Annette  and I began a journey that has been filled with about every emotion you could imagine… but has finally led to some incredible news:   WE ARE MOVING TO  CHICAGO !!   A close friend of mine is a pastor there and has invited me to join his staff.  After much prayer and wrestling, we came to the resolute conclusion that God was clearly asking us to take a step of faith and move there.

Take a deep breath.  Yeah, me too!  This has just blown us away!

I want everyone to know that we love SBC and the people here SO SO much, and this church has been a beautiful community for  Annette  and I and the boys.  Leaving here is the last thing we ever thought we’d be doing, and it’s in some ways been as much of a surprise to us as it probably is to you, but I’m really excited and I’m confident God has been speaking to us and challenging us to take a huge step forward.  When we launched this whole Beyond Our Walls campaign, I never in my wildest dreams imagined that Annette  and the boys and I would go beyond these walls literally!  We’re going to spread some of the amazing DNA of SBC to a great church community in the suburbs of Chicago .  

Now on to the next step in our journey… we’ll be transitioning there in the next few weeks.  I’ll share insight into the journey as we go (as well as some history of how we got to this point).  

Everyone has asked me a number of questions, and I’ll post some of these here:

1. Do you realize how cold it is in Chicago?  Answer: Yes, well aware.  We actually love the snow and bitter cold, and I make a mean chili as well as a mean chicken and dumplings.
2. Sox or Cubs?  Hmm, I don’t know enough to make a decision yet here.  But I’ll always be for the OU Sooners
3. What will you be doing up there?   Trying to stay warm I’m not entirely sure.  We’re going to feel that out as it goes along.  I’ll likely be helping with connections in some way here and there, and who knows what else.  It will be a lot of fun though and I’m excited to get to know more about the Orchard and the awesome people there!

The Orchard is a remarkable place with a powerful story and we’re looking forward to diving in there!  We are going to miss SBC like crazy, but hope to come back and visit once a year or so on our “back to the homestates” tour.  I’m so blessed to have served under an incredible senior leader (who still thinks my blog is a man diary!) and alongside a great team of pastors, elders, staff, and volunteers the last few years.  I know SBC will continue to have a tremendous impact on this community.  Thanks SBC’ers for allowing me to be a part of your lives here!

It’s bittersweet, but we look forward to Chicago.  If you’re reading this and you’re from the Orchard, we can’t wait to meet you!  Look me up on Facebook or Twitter .

Now, where did I put my coat?