How the Church Can Change a City by Q Ideas

This is an article from Q Ideas click here for the link.  This article makes me so excited because this is my heart beat.  The church with no agenda just being the Christ to the community around them..

What do a collection of evangelical Christian pastors and the openly gay Mayor of one of America’s most liberal cities have in common? You might think not much at all. Then again, you might be surprised.

At Q in Portland, Kevin Palau sat down with a panel comprised of Imago Dei’s Ken Weigel,  Portland Mayor Sam Adams, and Multnomah County Commissioner Diane McKeel to talk about how this question has been answered in their city. Through Season of Service (SOS), Portland’s congregations have worked closely with city leaders to positively impact some of the area’s most urgent concerns.

Kevin Palau of the Luis Palau Association was one of the catalysts involved at the inception of SOS. Having gathered several local churches together in 2008, they approached city officials to find out what their greatest needs were. They identified six areas: hunger/poverty, homelessness, health and wellness, human trafficking, environment and public schools. The churches said they wanted to form a partnership with the city and begin working alongside them to improve these areas of need.

“We knew there wouldn’t be much opposition to cleaning up parks,” said Ken Weigel of Imago Dei, one of the congregations that led the effort. “But we wanted to be involved in the decision-making.”

Sam Adams, the proudly liberal mayor of Portland, said his initial reaction to this request was anxiety. “Would this be about missionary work?” he admits to wondering. “And could a liberal city like Portland pull it off?”

Church leaders promised the mission was not to proselytize but rather to serve the needs of the city. Though Adams admits feeling reticent, he said the needs of the city were too great to decline. Affected by the economic recession and struggling to fund social improvement projects, Portland was “desperate” for this kind of help. He agreed.

That’s when the churches mobilized, sending 26,000 volunteers to work on service projects in each of the six areas of need. They stocked and serviced the Oregon Good Bank, worked to feed children out of school for summer break, beautified public spaces through coordinated clean-up efforts, provided tutoring service to struggling school children and ran free medical and dental clinics for low income residents.

“We wanted to bless the city,” Weigel remarked. “We wanted the city to miss the church if we were to leave.”

City officials were shocked at the integrity of the churches to keep their promises and contribute so much manpower to so many projects. “It reinforced to me how much [the Church and the city] agree on,” said Adams, who has allowed the project to continue every year since.

At Q on Wednesday, Palau asked Adams how his perceptions of Christianity had changed as a result of SOS. He said he realized he’d bought into groupthink and media stereotypes about Christians.

“It’s been very humbling having the tangible experience of one’s own bias,” Adams admitted. “It’s been a lot of fun, and we’re better for it.”

In a moment in which so much tension has accumulated between the Christian church and the State, stories like these are refreshing. They illuminate the unexplored opportunities for the church to become a faithful presence in the public square.

But who gets the credit for shining this light and making such an impact? Is it people like Palau who initiated the project? The churches that worked so hard to mobilize their members? Or city officials who gave Christians a chance to prove their worth? Ken Weigel says none of these can take credit for SOS’ successes.

“Jesus showed up long before we got there,” he remarked. “Christ is unveiling his kingdom all over Portland. I’m just joining with him.”

His First Love

You were created by God to be loved.  End of story.  You are his first love.  You are no closer to God’s love at any point in your life than you are right now.  You do not have to perform, do or say the right thing, pray a holy prayer but just as you are you are loved by God.  That is why you were created, so that He could love you.  I hope that fills you spirit today and brings a smile to heart.

Thank you Jesus that you first loved us.  Now that we are filled with love we can give it away freely to all.

If Trees Could Talk…

I did not write this.  However, it is well written and an amazing perspective that stirs up your spirit.  It might seem long but stay with it because it is fantastic.  I hope you enjoy.  I do not know who the author is but it came from this website click here

[Usually when reading the early parts of Genesis, I have focused on viewing it from the perspective of Adam. Lately I have sought to view it from the vantagepoint of the Tree of Life.]
So, if trees could talk . . ..

I watched as the Father created Adam, shaping and forming him from the red clay. With His eyes fastened upon His Son, he shaped this earthly creature. As He did so, He wove into the man something of His heart’s desire: the drive for oneness, the necessity of being in union. He made the man with something lacking, something the man himself would need to find, in response to his inner instinct for completion.

I heard Him say, “it is not good for man to be alone”. Yet, the pathos in His voice revealed something deeper than the man’s aloneness! It was a cry from within His own heart, a desire that was burning within His own Being!

I rejoiced watching the man as all the animals were brought before him, and instinctively he named them! The look upon the man’s face was a sight to behold! He saw each creature and marveled that they were two, male and female! I watched him continuously look down the line of approaching creatures, gazing, probing the scene; he was looking for something, rather someone!

As he named these creatures he would gaze at his Lord and yes, his Lord was alone, he was alone, but these creatures were two! The man began to be stirred by inward yearnings; he must have his “other”, his female.

As God and man went on their usual stroll in the cool of the evening, they stood before me. They were deep in conversation about all of the trees in the Garden, what they were for and how rich they were. As they stood among my roots, God told the man that I was the source of all life, that He desired him to eat and drink from me continually. I rejoiced as the man beamed with excitement and could sense his spirit stirring within him each time he touched my trunk and held my leaves, examining the luscious fruit that I bore.

What the man did not realize was that I not only was the best tree in the Garden, but also that I inhabited the invisible as well as the visible realms. I was indeed food for him! I was full of living water, bursting to come forth and infill the man. Oh, how I wanted so, so much to drench his being and quench his thirsts and hungers! I could not bear waiting for him to partake of me! If he only realized that all wealth and satisfaction beyond his wildest dreams were in me waiting to come forth and inhabit him!

I listened as God explained to him in vivid detail not to eat of that other tree in the garden! Oh, that tree looked a lot like me! But what was in that tree, no one was ever to partake of it! I had seen the havoc it brought in the heavenly realm! And now it was here, on earth, even in the Garden! With all of my being, I cried out, “Don’t, don’t eat that of that tree! Come, man, come to me, eat and drink! Be filled!”

I continued to watch as God and man spoke of no longer being alone. How Adam had yearned for his other: his “female” him! I watched as he was put to sleep and God opened his side and removed from within him a part of his bone. I marveled as the man slept and I watched God work with all of his strength and power, pouring Himself into building this one for the man. How He gloried in this task, the look upon His face glowing and glowing brighter as He brought forth from this bone one so beautiful, so glorious that she would be called the mother of all life!

The man awoke. He knew something from within him was missing. The instinct for completion, the drive for oneness was now overbearing! Constantly he felt a deep overwhelming yearning to find his other! He must have her! He must know oneness and union!

I watched as they met, as they stared at one another, as they both realized the drive for oneness. That drive was matched by something in the other, and they knew oneness.

Now they are ready to come and eat of my fruit! All that was within me yearned to be joined to this man, to this woman! I longed for them to come and feast upon my fruit, to drink deeply of the uncreated Life that filled every particle of my essence. I too, longed to fulfill my purpose, to enter the man and the woman, and to make them utterly complete! Come to me, man! Come to me, woman! Partake of the Divine! Come, drink of the True Water and the True Food! Come; find all of your satisfaction in me! Come!

But alas! All of my yearnings were not to be heard! I watched as the serpent, that deceiver who fell from high places in the invisible realm, approached the woman. He was here now, enticing the woman, spinning his deceit like a web, drawing her towards that other tree.

And then it happened! She reached up; she partook of its fruit . . .. She turned to her man, telling him of the splendor of what she was experiencing. I watched with broken heart as what she ate become part of her, deceiving her, fooling her to think she was complete within herself, that she did not need me! He too, partook of that tree’s fruit, and soon was wrapped in the deception wrought by the serpent. The rebellious nature of that fallen angel was now living in the man and the woman.

I stood there aghast at what I saw! How I longed to be fed upon. But no longer could this take place. For were I to enter them in their present state, the Father’s plan would be lost forever! There must be another way! What could I do?

My thoughts were interrupted by the presence of the Lord, billowing forth radiant light, as He called the man and spoke with him. The sadness, the shattering of God’s heart was so evident. Yet He sounded forth such a promise that I knew that one day, all of my desires, all of my hopes would still be fulfilled! What a God have I!

He stood there and declared to this man and this woman: “Fear not, for I will cause your seed to crush the head of that serpent! He will be known as the Root of Jesse, He will declare Himself to be the source of Life when He is among you!”

I cried as the cherubim and the flaming sword was placed before me to prevent them from coming and eating of me. I broke as the couple was sent out of the Garden, out of the very pleasure of God, to toil and live out the consequences of their folly.

Centuries have past, generations have come and gone, and finally the time has come!

The Promised Seed has come! The Root of Jesse is here! Listen to Him speak: “Unless I, the Seed, fall into the earth and die, I shall remain alone, but if I die, I shall bring forth She who is bone of My bone and flesh of My flesh!“; “I am the true vine”; “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has uncreated life”; “I am the Living Water!”

I watched as He went into death and rose again, breaking the outer shell of the Seed, becoming many seeds, yet One! I watched as the cherubim put away the flaming sword! Access to the Tree of Life is restored! Come, eat! Come, drink! Be filled!

Forward Motion

Everything is moving around us. Constantly in motion at all times. Always moving towards something.  However, we have the ability to move forward with it, stand still, or even move backward. So we have a choice as to the way in which we will move.  We must choose to be moving forward. This is not to take away from being silent when it is needed or to be still when necessary.  However, they must be done in an effort to move us forward. I think I have failed and we have failed to recognize the things and systems that have invaded our mind to disrupt that desire to move forward. To say that it is ok to stay in one place. That it is ok to be comfortable. But that is not the mantle in which we carry. We must initiate! Cultivate! Create!  If God was a creator then we should be creating also.  If we where created in his image then we have the intrinsic  nature in us to create.  In creating sometimes there will be failure but that does not equate to moving backward. However, the system around us is telling us that we are moving backwards if we fail and therefore perpetuates the stagnant reality from which most of us choose to live. We are frozen by fear of what could be but never take the risk to make what could be a reality.  We must be willing to fail because the more you try to start and create the more you will fail.  But it is the starts that succeed that will matter.  So as I speak to myself when I say this, lets start something, anything, but no longer moving backward.  Initiate! Cultivate! Create!

The Day My Theology Died – Dennis Gable

This is a post by my friend Dennis Gable, and it gives a little insight into what happened in his spirit while at G42.  I also hope you enjoy this part of his story and are excited to see people released from G42 fully alive.

Upon arriving in Spain, I quickly learned that if I did not kill my theology, it would kill me.

We are told by the words of Jesus that until we are willing to lose our lives, we will never actually be alive…

This is clearly not a physical death, but a death to what I will refer to as the flesh. “The Flesh” is our natural birth state of self-pleasure and preservation, otherwise described as our sinful nature. We bear this flesh thanks to Adam and his overly impressive ability to be silent… I personally don’t believe Adam had a rebellious heart towards God; his sin came in silence and an unwillingness to tell the serpent to piss off and leave his woman alone! I do however, believe that silence is far worse than rebellion… Or maybe, upon knowing THE WORD [Jesus], silence is the root of rebellion against God.

HE is the word. I am the voice. I have something to say & I’m going to say it! – Andrew Shearman

In the context of this quote, there is a very broad variety of things “to say”…

• I can speak life into someones heart.
• I can speak a word of loving rebuke [correction] to a brother or sister.
• I can speak a prophetic word from the Lord into someones life.
• I can speak directly to hell and tell it to stay there.
• I can speak to the Holy Spirit in tongues.
• I can speak words of wisdom or knowledge amidst a conversation.
• I can speak a public word that proclaims the glory of Jesus Christ.
• I can speak words of healing and deliverance.

This is clearly an abridged list of words that are able to be spoken in a spiritual and natural context… 6 months ago I believed only 3 of these 8 examples were permissible according to my theology. I have lived within a spiritually conservative silent, self-deprecating theological bubble… a bubble I was very comfortable in I might add. In this bubble, I never had to worry about being viewed as a “crazy Christian”, because they were only on TV. I always had a justification for my sin. And, I could always “impress” someone with my theological word vomit. The problem was, this bubble kept me from experience an intimacy with God that I knew existed but couldn’t touch. I was able to be near God, but the bubble prevented me from being able to touch, taste and smell God, The KING and my Father.

This brought me to a harsh reality about 5 months ago…

Until I am willing to die to my theology [which tells me about God], I will never be able to be alive in the Spirit [which is God]!

And so, I began to build a gallows for my theology… I built it out of the names of prominent “Calvinist” pastors, whose names I threw out like free t-shirts at a sporting events in order to gain respect from fellow theological captives. I bolted the wood together with my judgments of other doctrines and the justification for my arrogance. And finally the noose was tied together with numerous different strands of fear and baggage. The day came when I had to drop the floor out, and watch what I had spent the last ten years of my life pursuing, swing back and forth until completely lifeless. The moment my theology breathed its last breath in front of my eyes I cried out, ¡Estoy Vivo! which translates, I’m Alive!

I now know what it feels like to speak all 8 examples I shared with you… In grace and freedom I have touched, tasted and smelled the unadulterated love of my Father, which has liberated me in a way I never imagined could be real!

Before I conclude, let me say one thing on rebellion: Because I am in pursuit of no longer being silent, I no longer feel the draw I once felt to rebel! I will rebel only against the status quo and the silence we have inherited from Adam.

It would be unfair for me to post this without making sure that you understand some of this is a process for me… I wrote this on my flight from Malaga to Dublin and at the Dublin airport waiting for my flight back to the America, I believe in my heart that God wanted me to approach a girl and tell her that she was healed of her illness, but I caved to an old fear that is being uprooted from my heart… My ear is tuned in to The Voice and I long to live in obedience to Him, every time He speaks… part of me getting there is going through the process of just stepping when God calls me too… The serpent wants and needs us to be silent, and I may miss a few moments throughout my life, but I will speak and I encourage you to do the same.

…but if not

We must live our life in the “but if not.”  This pertains to our faith we have in God especially when we are asking something of Him.  We ask God to do something or for something or just to show up.  There is much riding on those asks of God.  For many their entire relationship with God hangs on those questions and statements.  This is where the “but if not” comes in.  It allows us to have faith no matter the outcome even before the outcome has shown itself.  There is a great example in Daniel 3.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were going to be tossed in the fire and here is there response:

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

They understood the “but if not.”  Their faith was not diminished by not knowing God’s response to their situation.  Their faith first and foremost was in their first statement that God would save them if Nebuchadnezzar tossed them in the fire.  But they understood that their faith did not rest upon whether or not God did what they thought he would do.  They were living and taking rest in the “but if not.”  They knew that God was who he said he was.  That his response to their situation does not diminish His character or what He thinks about us.  This is the place to live, the “but if not.”  I do not have some magic formula for how to live in this place.  I am trying to live in that place each day.  God I expect you to show up but if not you are still who you say you are.  So in the end I think having the knowledge of the “but if not” is putting our self in a place to begin to operate in it.

So may we have faith with expectation of the miraculous, but also be willing to live in the “but if not.”

The Downside of an Up Kingdom

When I think of kingdoms my mind immediately thinks of castles, kings and queens and other “royal” things.  I also have this affinity for sandwiches, so the finest meats and cheeses flash before my eyes in a dizzying array of types and flavors spread out over a banquet table.  But there is something very interesting about Kingdoms, there is someone in power at the top.  They have absolute control and depending on their moral compass this could be a good thing or a very bad thing.  But knowing how we are as humans the good usually does not come out of absolute power.  So that means the further you are away from the royal family tree the less important you are in the world.

In these few characteristics (and I say a few because I am no expert on kingdoms) is where there becomes a great chasm between the kingdoms on earth and the Kingdom of God.  I am not going to spend much time trying to explain the Kingdom of God in this post.  Because I believe that the band As I lay Dying said it very well in there song the “Powerless Rise.”  ”This is a kingdom born upside down.  This is kingdom where the broken are crowned.”  One kingdom was established to consume and put to death.  The other was created to produce and create life.  That is the downside of an up kingdom.

 

Victorious. Anchored in Hope.

This is some of what I hear the Bible tell us.  We where created to be loved, have abundant life, and Christ is victorious over all things.  However, when I encounter myself and other Christians this does not seem to be the message that is portrayed.  I am not going to tackle all three of things I listed, I just want to hang around the being victorious in Christ.  Being victorious does not tell of an event that will happen in the future that will cause us to have victory.   It tells us that something has taken place and we live in a victorious state.  When Jesus says, “it is finished” I understood that it was the end.  That whatever was to be done was done.  He came and died on the cross bearing the worlds junk and he finished it.  He finished it so that we could live in victory over death.

Somehow in all of this I have missed it.  We have missed it.  We sit around and look at the world and say “it is so bad, woe is me God help us from it.”  Maybe I am way wrong on this but I do not really think the world is that much worse than it has ever been.  When I think about it, it could be worse.  Jesus could have never done what he set out to do.  However, separation from God is separation from God no matter how much time has passed by.  But as followers of Christ we live in a state of continuous victory.  The battle has been won and it is finished.  When you have won a game or a sporting match of some kind you do not hang your head and sulk.  There is something innate in us that loves the feeling of winning.  To some it could be pride but I believe deep down it is our tie to the victory on the cross.  The message we carry of Jesus and the victory that has been planted in our spirits.  So no more lying on the deathbed waiting to be healed of the things that you have been healed from a thousand times.  Get up and live victoriously.  No more lying on the deathbed waiting for someone to tell you it is safe to come outside.   Go outside and get dirty because we are victorious.

Hebrews 6:17-20 says, “¹⁷ Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. ¹⁸ God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. ¹⁹ We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, ²⁰ where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

WE are the heirs of what was promised.  Jesus became the high priest forever.  That is the message you bear.  You are the hope to the world.  To be hope we must first have it as our anchor, anchored in victory.  Not anchored in defeat or the dream that someday we will be victorious.  Live in the now with hope for the future because you are the answer by the message you bear.

We have won so have hope!!

Give me some feedback

I came across this video sometime last year from a friends facebook page.  Francis Chan posted it on his blog in July of 2008.  It is a cool short video he did on a plane about Proverbs 30:7-9.  It is only about 2 minutes.  The content seems to be quite the contrary to typical American thinking on savings and retirement.  So watch it and give me some feedback on what you think about it.

 

Joy in the Process

I do not think anyone would disagree that we live in a society that is obsessed with what they can get now.  It seems at least in the western world that everything is driven and designed to make things happen immediately, and if they cannot happen immediately then as quick as possible.  From the “get rich quick” schemes to even the downloading of information, we do not really want to wait or fight for much of anything.  I mean no one likes getting stuck behind a slow driver because it delays wherever they are going.  No one has the patience to really slave in the kitchen to cook a good meal.  But that is ok because if you don’t get stuck behind a slow person on the road you can have your food now.  Someone just sticks his or her arm out a window and you just drive by and swoop it up.  It seems that in everything there is a short cut to get to where we are going because we want everything now.  All day long we are bombarded with ways to get what we want now.  What I am getting at here is that instant gratification and the desire to have everything now removes us from the process.

Have you ever noticed during Christmas time you can’t wait till Christmas morning?  Then when it comes it is gone very quickly and not really as good as you thought it would be.  However, if you look back at the process leading up to Christmas, that is where all the hype came from.  You got caught up in the process.  The process was the Christmas lights, the music, and the anticipation of being around family.  Lets not forget about the making of Christmas cookies, the shopping with family, the fat ham, and the weighted gained.  The process was the best part not the end result.  When we skip the process and are so focused on the goal and so focused on what we think we need now, we miss all the nuggets of truth and revelation the process has for us.  It is really in the process that all things take place.  Because once you arrive at whatever it is that you had to have now or had to learn now it is gone and something else has consumed our thoughts to obtain now.

I am going through the process right now.  I am living in Mijas, Spain serving at G42 Leadership Academy.  When I came I did not think I would be sweeping the floor and being the maintenance guy.  In this process there has been greater growth for me in humility and servant hood, than there would have been if I had been put in a leadership position from the onset.  I am also learning that in this process you can serve your way to greatness.  Jesus said in Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”   So what processes are you’re currently in that you are trying to skip over?  What are you trying to get right now that could have a process involved?  There is much joy in the process.  I will end with this quote from Donald Miller, “love the process more than the results.”