all that is beautiful

One of my favourite Canadian artists/poets/activists (Steve Bell), in describing his musical interests and influences, recently talked about how xian art/music/hymnology has often ‘spoon-fed people doctrines’. The xian tradition has often emphasized (in its art/music) doctrinal clarity and trying to get people to understand…leaving ‘no room for discernment, because we have the truth’; as an alternative, Steve called for the obscuring of the truth in poetry.

I remember wondering what exactly he meant. And then I was reminded of another thought I came across: that beauty exists in this world for no other reason than astonishment and nourishment. So I started thinking about whether our community’s art, music, and poetry invokes awe, or whether we use what should be beautiful to be functional. Shouldn’t our theology be marked by our efforts to describe divine beauty? Wouldn’t it be more effective if our faith commitments astonished and ‘fed’ us?

What I think such questions acknowledge is the notion that theology (literally, the study of God or his nature) should be less systematic and far more poetic. What if our response to the world’s questions about God and his existence looked less like ‘explanations’ or defences and more like poetry, song, or ‘sketch’? There is part of me that feels that we would be better off if we stopped clamouring for answers and did our best to hint at the beauty that He is. Like now…at Advent, when we should be overwhelmed by nothing more (or less) than the fact that “God is with us”.

Our theology should be attuned to the beauty that is in Christ, and then reflected in His world. I get the sense that we too often turn to theology…to truth…to ‘what is right’ for its function. What if, instead, we measured our theology by its capacity to astound us? Couldn’t it be argued that a theology that isn’t captivating isn’t worth entertaining?

Example? What if we looked at the words of Jesus less as formulas or tools, and more like brightness and beauty revealed? What if we looked at His name less as an incantation necessary at the end of our prayers…and more as beauty described?

He is the Way. Many of us make a point of emphasizing the exclusivity and the wayness of Jesus’ life. But what about just dwelling on the fact that there IS a way? What about standing in awe of God’s provision of light through His Son? What about quietly weeping over (tears come now) our incredible blessedness at being some of those who KNOW the way?

Theology that is systematic has a way of turning our Scriptures and spirituality (in fact, all that is life giving) into equations. And equations are only functional (in mathematics) when they are balanced…when they provide clear answers…when they are perfect. The problem is that life doesn’t always ‘balance’…and that may be why our theology often doesn’t connect with real life, and why it often doesn’t resonate in our hearts.

Am I the only one that finds our ‘explanations’ wanting from time to time? What if we chose to describe Him as we know Him TODAY? For me, that would be beautiful…and it would be enough.

not-yet

There are some days when I feel as though there is a pressure just under my skin. Some days it feels like an artist’s impulse…and many times I can’t put my finger on it. There are all kinds of things that spark this feeling, but after 31 yrs I’m still trying to figure out what it means…how to respond…how to tap in and pour out.
I’m reading RT Kendall on ‘anointing’ right now, so that’s got me thinking. He talks about how our personal anointing flows in the areas of life that we engage and do without fatigue. To which I respond: what about all the people who talk about how often we must do the 80% of life that is monotonous and annoying so that we can engage the 20% that makes us come alive? Is a life of anointing really stress free? I’m just a tad skeptical.
Consider Mike Rowe and his stimulating talk (http://www.ted.com/talks/mike_rowe_celebrates_dirty_jobs.html) on how our society has declared war on hard work. Is this life really all about ‘following our dreams’? Is 'anointing' all about tapping into some hidden spring of creative genius/bliss? Have we unconsciously coddled a spirituality that says that a life demanding hard work, inspiring doubt-filled moments, and stretching us beyond where it hurts is void of anointing? What if my anointing is this pressure under my skin…this holy compulsion I sense…an ever-present and never-fulfilled hunger sparked by His Spirit to keep me moving?
I get the sense that my dreams are often God’s way of forming holy discontent in my life. Dreams are from the worlds of not-yet and oh-how-i-long. My dreams and anointing and divine compulsion and gifting and imaginations are all like winds that blow. Sometimes I capture them with the ‘sails’ of my life, and hurtle into those moments of vibrancy, passion, and engagement that I wish I could bottle up and down later on. But sometimes those winds are like a storm. They swirl, buffet and bluster…leaving me cold-faced, numb and disoriented. Sometimes it feels like there is no wind…and I nearly die of spiritual thirst in the doldrums of my life-journey. And other times the winds whisper…I feel their inklings…the sails stir…but I feel that I ‘miss’ them by not responding quickly/rightly.
There isn’t a lesson in all these thoughts so much as a conclusion that I MUST always remember that I am in transit. In them is the reminder that on the vast ‘ocean’ of my life, currents and winds are conjured and directed by One who is greater.
And…
wind or not, I ache to sail…to explore…to see…to crest a wave and discover new lands. This morning, I’m driven by dreams of not-yet…

the great pretend

i have been reading scripture differently lately. Sort of losing myself in it. An immersion of sorts. What I have found has been quite overwhelming. This scandalous redemptive mystery of the Gospel is a mysterious journey of discovery. It is not an embedding process where we insert ourselves into the organizational life of a church. It IS an immersion; something that saturates EVERY moment and part of life. I find it inspiring that with nothing more than the offer of come 'Follow Me', the disciples dropped everything and walked with Jesus into this Life.

When we choose this kind of journey with HIM, He cuts us loose. Outside all borders, boundaries, and barriers...outside of our constructed comfort zones and fears. It is out in the wild with Him we come to discover that the Kingdom of God is an uncivilized place, or as Erwin McManus writes, its a 'barbarian way'. To often communities of faith struggle to make themselves 'culturally relevant' and in so doing continue to tangle themselves up in a civilized world.

There is no redemption in cultural relevance. What we need is a wild, inherently courageous and uncivilized guide. We need to recognize Jesus walking toward us, beckoning us 'to follow' Him into a world that longs in ignorance for Him.

The Kingdom of God is not a low risk blue chip investment created by the brokers of religion for consumption; an attempt to make life better or for retirement plan at a tropical resort. It can't be calmly considered, and casually digested. THIS Kingdom can not be domesticated, it can't be franchised and placed along side the other proprietors of religious goods. The King of this Kingdom can't be restrained, leashed or muzzled from His continuous challenge of our selfish way of life. He is not willing to settle for less than us being who He made us to be, which often comes at the cost of what we THINK He made us to be(but thats another conversation...).

He is a seeker. A hound, dont be offended by the picture of it. Yes, a hound, on the scent, seeking us out with incredible ferocity.

Have we sanitized Jesus, making him a spiritual guru of sorts selling a success dream? Does He come rather tamely, in a three piece suit, or as cool hipster...to tidy up a few bad habits, make us better people, more prosperous, more cool...sending us back into the world grateful for the self-help? Really? Seriously? Is that the extent of this message of hope?

I think in lots of ways, we have. And this is not the Jesus of scripture. Where the true Lord Jesus is, everything changes. Think of the words: transformed. freedom. redeemed. united. hope. life. alive. force. faith. These are words that hold power and birth movements of change. Isn't it interesting that we have had some level of success at fitting 'christianity' into our culture but trying to fit Him and His way into our normal rhythms of life is like trying to push a camel through the eye of a needle. hmmm, have read that somewhere. It don't work. Or if it does, its really really messy. He doesn't fit into anything that was, He makes all things new. And He does it at the cost of we may see as 'my precious'. And often when 'my precious' is killing me. Maybe thats why we opt for the religion over the person...hmmmm.

The reality is I think we've all caught glimpses of the Kingdom of God, this Kingdom of Jesus. And often it goes unrecognized because it is outside our comfort zones, beyond the barbed wire, warning tape, in the messy places, outside the black and white lines into which we've etched our theologies. You see, out there beyond the walls, its unsettling. Life is not in our control. We miss the 'coming of the Kingdom' because its difficult to understand what's going on. But if we would look but for a minute our hearts would awaken in ways we have secretly longed for. We would discover something so scandalously redemptive that it would shatter our way of life and change our world.

It would be like a man who has discovered a treasure in the midst of the brokenness of life. His shovel digs into the pavement of life and strikes something solid, glittering...it mezzmerizes him. He will sell everything, sell his entire life to have this treasure. He will liquidate all his life's assets just for this treasure. wow. Am I like he? hmmm...heard that somewhere before too.
There is nothing wrong with church, and for the record I am convinced that the big C Church is the hope of the world. BUT often we're in danger of going to church, reading the bible, singing songs, saying prayers, doing good deeds, being baptized, having communion so much so that we risk not making the great discovery. Maybe, we have to look beyond the building we erroneously call church so that we can be startled by discovery.

Discovery?

Uh huh. A discovery that buildings and forms matter not one whit. Its the Kingdom that lies within us that holds such incredible power. We need to stop allowing the gathering place, the building we go to, the church place we tend to hide in, to be an excuse to live the great pretend.

WHAT? yes, the great pretend. Like you don't know what's going on. Like you don't know you have a destiny, a role to play in the PLAN of the King. Like you don't really know there is more than you could possibly imagine for the one who chooses to ask, to knock, to seek...to lay it all on the line for This King.

Listen closely...have you heard the clink of the blade of the shovel against the glittering treasure? Have you?

If you have...oooo...well now the stakes are higher for you. And maybe thats why you are so miserable...because, it's redemptive beauty will haunt you...cuz you have a sense of it's worth, an idea of it's power to transform everything it touches.

Hearts.

Imaginations.

Passions.

Dreams.

The world.

A whole being...ignited by the dream of His Presence here...and the Kingdom of God made known.

oooo, I have a dream.
pj

blessings.

May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships
So that you may live deep within your heart

May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression and exploitation of people
So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace

May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and
To turn their pain into joy

May God bless you with foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor

A Franciscan Benediction

afraid of the dark

I don't know if you ever did it.

Coming upstairs from the basement in your house as a kid. All the lights are off in the basement. You are walking up the stairs...

and all of a sudden an incredible urge deep within your guts compels you to run as FAST as you possibly can up the stairs. Of course, as a kid, admitting that in person to anyone or possibly breaking into a sprint/roller-derby session when anyone else is with you would be considered very uncool. But when you are alone? RUUUNNNNN!

What I find worthy of reflection is that I still get that feeling as an adult.

My adult expectation was that this fear would fade or disappear! It was supposed to be part of the result of a mystical or esoteric realization that the darkness is actually not something to be feared, but it can even be embraced. There is nothing better than blacking out all the shades of the bedroom of your home or during a hotel stay. My 9 year old daughter even sometimes wears those airplane eye cover thingy's(dont know what they are really called) to sleep! In thick darkness you sleep until no more sleep seems possible.

Today I realized that I’m still afraid of the dark. A lot of us are.

We struggle with needing to be recognized, feeling significant and wondering if the glow of the spotlight will hit us. For many, our roles or calling in life has led to places where the light shines brightly. In many cases, perhaps too bright. As someone who has a small amount of notoriety and is sometimes recognized by people in public places, I realize the light is a dangerous side effect of serving in places of influence and/or being a person who is “seen”. As someone who literally stands, “in the light” on a regular basis, I know that light can be addictive and dangerous.

The light lies.

I constantly wrestle with my fear of the dark. Do people know who I am? What if I somehow become irrelevant?
The voice inside my head can whisper thoughts that breeds insecurity and over-confidence. Insecurity that forgets that He journeys with me, that this is all about Him, and that His love envelopes me whether I’m known by anyone. Over-confidence that places trust in my own decisions, abilities, leadership, giftings, and charisma.

I am not alone.

Francis Chan suddenly resigned his church early last year. Part of the reason behind his decision was summed up in the following interview with CNN:
“When there is a large constituency, there’s a lot of voices,” he said. “It makes you arrogant or it makes you want to shoot yourself. When thousands of people tell you what they think, how can I be quick to listen, like the Bible says? I don’t want to be a jerk and tune everyone out. At the same time you, can’t love every single person and answer them.”
So after lots of prayer and soul searching, Chan decided it was best to leave the church, country, and Internet behind to focus on serving others one-on-one.

I was watching a news clip today regarding Ted Haggard. His much publicized “issues” stripped him of the spotlight he had been living in as a pastor of a large church in Colorado and leader of a large Christian organization. The darkness was a necessary place for him. It was where God can lead him to re-discover the truth about himself without the limelight. It must have been a scary place for him to be.

He has slowly begun to emerge. I have watched and reflected as he appears on talk shows and then obligatory book tour that followed.

Was the light was shouting out to him? Did he miss it?

Now he is doing his own reality show. I do not know him. I have never had coffee with him. But I wonder if some part of him, like it would me, is shouting for the lumens to be increased and cranked up brighter. “I’m over here”.

Could it be that Ted is still afraid of the dark? I know that sometimes I am. When I am around people I feel have 'done it' or 'accomplished something'...that nasty desire to do something that will make me known uncurls in my guts and I don't want to be left in the dark any longer.

Can't you see me?

hmmm. reminds me of the emporer with no clothes...cuz really, thats what we all end up being when our drivenness for the 'light' calls us out of the darkness before He has said, "Let there be light". And then what are we left with? A laughing crowd who has noticed how unattractively naked we are.

Our fear of being in the dark, when not dealt with, spawns a need for the light. A craving for the light. A yearning. But by always standing in the light, we miss what God wants to teach us in the obscurity of the darkness.

There is an alternative of course. You see He hovers over the darkness...waiting to speak His word. Waiting to create the new and the incredible. Worlds of beauty within our hearts. But of course, we know better...the darkness is bad...right?

I love Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of Jesus’ words in Matt. 5:16:
“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to BE LIGHT, bringing out the God-colors in the world.”

I know what you are thinking. What about 1 John 1:7 says, 'But if we walk in the light...'

Well I have a thought about that. Read the rest of the verse. Thats right. "...as He is in the light we HAVE fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin."

How often do we walk in the light, but NOT as He is in the light and as a result we don't know how to fellowship and we fail to deal with sin. And we are left bereft of power and hungering for something we do not have. How many of us medicate this hunger by allowing the light of recognition to numb our longing for wholeness?

Have we got it backwards? Cuz His intention is that light emanates FROM US, not shines ON US.

And when it does, the world is a more colorful place.

Are you afraid of the dark? Don't worry. I am sure someone will be willing to leave the night light on for you.
J

in Flanders Fields...

In Flanders fields where poppies blow,
Between the crosses, row on row...

We have men and woman who have sacrificed for the cause of freedom in our family.
Great Grandpa Chase - a veteran of WW1. My side. Lost most of his ability to talk due to the effects of mustard gas.
Grandpa Mcleod - a veteran of WW2. My side. A navigator on the wellington bombers.
Grandpa Moe - Trace's side. A veteran of WW2. Spent time as a POW in the pacific war theater.

That mark our place: and in the sky the larks still bravely singing, fly
scarce heard amid the guns below...

I am an old man compared to the youth they gambled with when they headed to war.

We are the dead. Short days ago we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
loved and were loved and now we lie,
In Flanders fields...

I would have loved to have talked to them as young men. To look in their eyes. To probe the young passion and understand their courage and character. To romp and roll, as young men are apt to do, before the years and pain steal the joy of a hope-filled tomorrow.
What was the world they dreamt of? What was the future they lived for? What was the tomorrow they sacrificed for?

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw the torch: be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields...

What would they say to me now? What battlefield would they call me to? What life would they beckon me to live?

Courage.
Faith.
Hope.
Sacrifice.
Love.

Let me live. And fully live. That my life would honour the seeds sown,
in Flanders fields...

Places

we're moving. sigh. tomorrow this time the movers will pack our collection of things...and the truck will roll east.
moving tends to stir up the deepest and most intrinsic emotions we have...i think. i stumbled across this reality when i took our kids to one of our favorite parks yesterday. don't know if this has ever happened to you...but as we walked up to the playground my eyes welled with tears.
i recognize that i feel deeeeeeeeeep attachment to places...for whatever reason. actually...i know that i'm attached to squint lake (and its winding, tree-shaded paths) because i've spent many a restful morning/afternoon here with my kids.
in fact, squint lake is one of the first places Hayley and i discovered together in our initial weeks in Burnaby.
and so...yesterday i said goodbye to a park. sigh...but i also said goodbye to my 'little Hayley'...and the memories of my toddler tumbling down the slide.
here's to the path (and places) ahead...

blahh.

A good friend and mentor sent this to me. quite bothersome actually. God help me never be like this. but face to face, eye to eye...to step towards others with passion.
j

Today I met a man
But not really.
Rather, our paths crossed.
The private paths of our own
separate worlds made a juncture
and we were there.
We told our impersonal names
and shook each other's hand
warmly and firmly – to convey
our interest
which wasn't there.
We shared our views
on the weather, politics,
the latest news,
and other foreign things
which were not there.
And when the conversation lagged,
we said:
“Well, glad to have met you”
“Same here”
We lied, smiled, and extended our hands
again, and parted -
glad to be on our separate ways
from our little meeting.
Today I met a man
But not really.
Anonymous

J. Grant Howard, The Trauma of Transparency, (Portland, OR: Multnomah Press, 1979), p. 115, 120.

a coffee review...BONA COFFEE

He walked in. And in his hand? A bag of 'House Blend' Bona Coffee. He? Luis Gonzalez and his wife Candace. Wonderful friends of ours from the Philippines who have come to Canada to convince me that there IS good coffee grown in a country known for its fruit.

Luis and Candace own a coffee company called Bona Coffee. A brilliant couple with an incredible passion to change the world.
http://www.bonacoffeecompany.com/

And yes, of course they came here just for me. JUST KIDDING. But they should have. chuckle.

Now, it has been said I am a coffee snob...but lets set the record straight. I am passionate about the process of experiencing flavour. You follow?
So as we chatted we scooped out some Bona coffee beans(which they specially delivered from the Philippines to my doorstep), ground them, put the grounds in my french press, and poured boiling water over them. Although the task takes only a few minutes, we both approached the task almost reverently, like painters handling a treasured canvas full of colours. Over the next few days, the ritual was repeated: A porcelain mug filled with the freshly brewed coffee. In real time?

I let the steam and the aroma envelop my entire face. There is always the adding cream and sugar(sorry for you purists...i love strength, creaminess and a sweet punch). I take a small, tentative sip.
Whoa. I throw my head back, and my eyes shoot wide open. From a single sip, I can tell...again...i have captured something of heavens reality in my mouth.

The first time I had this cup of the divine, Luis saw my initial reactions and nervously said, 'what do you think?' I grinned and shook my head. Then I took another sip. This time I could taste more of the full flavours as they slipped over my tongue. By the third sip(cup...chuckle) I was hooked.

SO...my review? Here it is:

Sumatra is one of the world's most distinctive coffee origins. And it has curried my favour and whole hearted commitment from the first moment i tasted it...sometime in 1998. The reason I say this is that what struck me initially was Bona Coffee's assertion that their 'House Blend' was smoother than sumatra. Bold statement. It had BETTER be married with a brilliant coffee. chuckle.

To their credit, it is. Brilliant, I mean.

Bona's House Blend:
Full-bodied.
Resonant.
Low-toned and elegantly comfortable.
This coffee will be attractive(almost giving off pheromones...chuckle) to coffee drinkers who find the powerfully acidy coffees of Kenya and Central America too high-pitched and softer coffees like Konas, Mexicos and Brazils too delicate. Bona's relaxed power doesn't depend on acidity, rather on depth, weight and an echoing dimension. What is really incredible is that the they have successfully blended coffee beans to highlights the best parts of acidity, not remove it. In the process they have produced a blend that has greater breadth than any I have had! Wonderful.
They have created a richly ambiguous complex of flavor notes and the deep, rugged, pungent blends allows the coffee's intensity to linger in your mouth.
And the concentrated spicy, herbal notes and earthy flavour are sure to be the telltale signatures of this well-loved coffee.

So today, when you lift a cup of coffee and offer thanks to the Creator...curse your fate...cuz more than likely(unless you live in Manila) you are not drinking a beverage that is as good as the one I am drinking.

Bona Coffee's House Blend...heaven in my mouth.

Cheers.
Jonathan

success discussions...

the following are late night thoughts after incredible convos with incredible people: CnL...chuckle.

And the Lord said, “Go.” (Genesis 12:1)

The pilgrim said, “Go where?”

Lord: “Go.”

Pilgrim: “How will I know the way?”

Lord: “Do you trust me? Go.”

Pilgrim: “How will I know when I get there?”

Lord: “Will you trust me? Go.”

Explorers ventured out on strange seas to unknown places and, in so doing, re-made their world. Buy a book or take a course on history and you can read about about Vasco de Gamma(Portuguese explorer who established the first the trade route from Europe to India), Columbus (You know Chris...opened the Americas to European exploration), and Jacques Cartier(discovered Canada and sailed down the St. Lawrence to where Montreal would be born)...totally inspiring stuff. Then there is Ferdinand Magellan...left his homeland in Portugal to join the Spanish court in search of a king to sponsor his mad dream of sailing west to discover Spice Islands that lay to the East. So bold...so crazy...so imaginative for his day! I read an article that was an overview of a book based on this first circumnavigation of the world by the stubborn, determined, amazing navigator, Magellan. Laurence Bergreen’s book, Over the Edge of the World described how almost no one believed in the possibility of Magellan’s dream.

"Few would risk such madness. Magellan spent years forging alliances with brilliant and odd friends who brought the skills and resources to his venture. Finally, Magellan had the resources and people for the adventure. But the maps of the world in those days were piteously inadequate. Maps were the equivalent of the secrets to making nuclear weapons. No country would share them with another. They were kept locked in vaults and viewed as the most important of state secrets. Magellan, therefore, had few maps with which to work with and those he had were terribly inaccurate. They represented the Atlantic as a huge body of water but the Pacific as a tiny pond surrounded by a huge land mass. With such maps, a deeply suspicious crew and co-captain, he set sail down the coast of Africa then made a mad dash across the south Atlantic on the Trade Winds landing on the coast of South America several hundreds of miles from the terrible waters which later came to be named the Straights of Magellan. A little band of people, with all their venality, pride, power, needs and shortsightedness sailed the winds of an uncharted world in tiny boats and changed the face of the earth."

Alex Roxburgh writes, "There are times when ventures are waiting to be birthed. There are tides and winds which, if risked, bear us to places and worlds our imaginations could not comprehend from this shore."

My heart burns when I allow myself to feel through this...
So...some ramblings as I 'burn' tonight:

Life does not come with a clearly defined road map.

We take one step after another.

We move forward without the ability to forecast the results of each step or decision.

Plans change. Situations morph. Life throws us curve balls. Things seldom turn out according to our wish, plan or anticipation.

No one really knows what is going on.

I am often asked, “Does God have a specific plan for my life?”

Yes, God does have a plan. God’s plan is that we might become the deep, fully alive, loving human beings we were created to be. We exist to manifest in the visible realm that invisible beauty that is our true nature created in the image of God. As William Blake wrote in “Songs of Innocence,”

And we are put on earth a little space
That we may learn to bear the beams of love

That is the only plan I know of. The specifics of how that plan works out in our lives are basically irrelevant.

The beauty of God’s plan is that you can fulfill it anywhere, doing anything. It does not matter what the external circumstances of your life may be. Anything and everything can be used to help you become radiant with the life of Jesus that is your true destiny.

You don’t need an academic degree, a particular career, or a special relationship. You only need a heart that is open to the Spirit and willingness to grow.

The wonderfully unique detail about God’s plan that usually spins us right out is that it works best when we don’t know what is going on.

God’s plan is most effective when we don’t understand.

When we cannot make sense of what is happening.

Because the essential requirement for God’s plan to be all that He intended is: trust. Trust grows in the soil of uncertainty; it thrives in the land of doubt and confusion.

The prophet Jeremiah says,

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
They shall be like a tree planted by water,
sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
And its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
and it does not cease to bear fruit. (Jeremiah 17:7,8)

We do not know where the journey of our lives will lead. All we can know for sure is that there will be times when we feel nourished and sustained AND there will be times when life seems barren and dry. If our roots go down deep, we will pass through times of feast without attachment and survive famine without fear. The wind will blow; but the life with deep roots withstands and even THRIVES in the storms.

These contrary and painful life experiences are gifts given to us to help us develop the muscles of trust. If life were all smooth and the skies always sunny, we would never develop the inner resilience of faith that can stand firm no matter what circumstances we face. Men and Women of character are forged on the anvil of trust...taking the repeated blows of life.

With trust we are able to step into the unknown, confident that only good can come.

The good may not look the way we had hoped.

The good may lay on the other side of great pain.

But it will be good because it gives us an opportunity to open more deeply to that inner reality that is the imprint of Christ at the core of our being. Our attachment to Him, rather than to any particular outcome or plan, is the crux that allows us to journey in joy and freedom.

The beauty of trust is that no one can take it from me. I may lose my career. My family may abandon me. My investments may tank or evaporate. My health may be gone...my strength will fade.

But I can always choose to trust. I can always give myself to the reality of Jesus...who is holding my life, sustaining my heart and enabling me to grow and deepen in my ability to love.

No one knows the future.

We never really understand the past.

We move forward with courage because we trust that whatever we encounter, it will be another opportunity partner with Jesus in the plan of redemption. And in the process He will call us to "Come further up and further in…"

And I love the ongoing discovery that "the further up and the further in you go, the bigger everything gets. The inside is larger than the outside.”

So stop stressing about living a successful life.

Sometimes you have to the roll the dice and go all in...and not worry about 'what now?????". Success is not in the accomplishment of something.

Success is in the going. Or as my brotha Luis said last night, 'Success is in the obedience.'

It's in the growing.

J

iphone considerations...

These are personal reflections based on my own experience...chuckle:

Oh stop, you’re embarrassing both of us.

Let’s be honest, we both know you’re not using your iPhone strictly to look up Bible verses during the sermon. It might have started that way, but it never stays that way.

You started by taking a few quick notes during the “margin moments” of church. You know those, the few minutes while the people on stage are magically changing whatever is on stage or they’re preparing for a baptism or going through the list of announcements....

Those are perfect little chunks of time to do some “worship multitasking,” because the truth is that the easiest place to write a to-do list is church. Something about prayer makes us all think of a million things we need to do. So you begin to make a few notes.

But you have to look up one of them online, so you open Safari and next thing you know, you’re searching the Internet in the middle of church. O and wait, it makes you wonder what so and so is doing...SOOOO ya gotta open facebook! right? I mean come on!

Pull it back together. Get your head in the game. Gotta get your head in the game...getcha getcha getcha head in the game. (movie anyone? ok, i will tell ya, High School Musical...shut up)

But wait...i need my phone to follow the flow of the message...it is has my bible app. I’m only going to look at Youversion, the Bible app or Biblegateway.com, this is serious business. This is church.

BUT I wish iPhone Bibles had a little jingle that let people around you know that you’re looking up a Bible verse. I wish they quietly whispered when you opened the online Bible and would say, “Reading the Bible, we’re reading the Bible.” It’s bad enough these punks don’t know I direct deposit my tithe and think I stiff arming the offering every Sunday.

But that’s me, you? You’re playing Civ Revolution right now on your iPhone. Or maybe popping bubbles. Or Tap tap revolution or All Recipies or Sally’s Spa or Cooking Dash or HarborMaster. Ridiculous! And if I hear the sound of Bejeweled 2, I might come across the aisle and hurt you.

Did you really just shazam a hymn? Did that happen?

That’s when you know you’re a sweaty heathen, when you have to try to use a service that can identify and name of a song. (87% of songs sung at church are “Blessed Be the Name” by Matt Redmon, there’s really no need to look them up.) Plus, you should know by now, only about 17 Christian songs are loaded into the shazam service. I swear, I could play a Lady Gaga song on a washboard and it would identify it, but it never knows Christian songs.

Put your iPhone away, no one, and I mean no one, has the moral fortitude to only look up Bible verses on an iPhone during church. That’s what Paul was talking about when he said “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”

That was about using the iPhone at church.
Seriously, google it.
Just not right now.
Wait until church is over.

musings...of a wandering pilgrim

I believe that as we step into the places of need within the lives of people we rub shoulders with every day, we will find Jesus already at work there. And we will also find that even in the darkest of places, He has been there waiting for us.

SO…what do we do as representatives of this scandalous friend of the unloveable? This reckless saviour who would risk it all for the undeserving(like me)? We pursue people. And love them with all that we are. And point them to the dangerous lover, Jesus the Christ.

How will we do that? Well now, that is the great adventure.

Even as i read this again, i am reminded by how many people really struggle with a non-linear life plan - one that is not framed within a set of goals or markers...and some days i am one of them. But I love the idea that the Glory of God is a man fully alive. And that is what we truly believe Jesus gives us. Full life.

Redemption is a mystery...why and where did we get our perspective on conversion? and how did it become so pragmatic? As I read the words of Jesus, being converted was never something He addressed. We truly believe that Jesus travelled with people and they ended up following Him...changed by His tenderness and His teaching.

Is that not our call? To redemptively move people towards Jesus, with His tenderness and His teaching? "His kindness leads us to repentance...", ever heard those words?

Some followed Him closer than others....but where was the line of saved or not? I am not sure that there are answers to that questions outside of the questions of what does it mean to be fully alive? Fully drawn by the Jesus story. My heart needs to be captured by what it means to be a fully committed husband, father, and friend...fully believing that we are to be full of His Spirit so that as His power is at work in us it changes my street, my community, coffee shop, school, etc. I want to believe that His presence in me is enough.

There is the crux. St. Francis said, 'preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words'. Do I believe this gospel enough to live it out in all of my life?

The people of God should be marked by an unwavering belief in the world's ability to change...which is what makes apathy so dangerous...it is an affront to the Holy Spirit's work in my life and world. HOPE.

WE HOPE.

He is not a private club or a corporate strategy...nor is His kingdom something He is holding onto like a old man on unsteady legs who white knuckles his cane. The days of the church portraying it that way must end. We must paint a picture of a God who offers His Kingdom and grace daily...o what a compelling picture.

So what do we do? We intentionally step into the lives of the people around us. Into the lives of the people on our street, school system, neighbourhood, gym, workplace...into every level of culture. And His presence in us makes those places potential places of worship.

I am convinced that when my life is clothed with His, and I choose to live for His glory...all that I do, all that I am, what I see, what I taste, what I hear, what I say...becomes holy and truly sacred. This IS the message, the KINGDOM OF GOD IS NEAR TO YOU NOW!

Something i wrote several years ago strikes me as fitting:

I love that when I play basketball with Caleb or wrestle with Rosie, and I do it with Jesus in my heart... it is holy and His Presence is there.
I love that when I cook a magnificent plate of steaming curry, and I do it with Jesus in my heart...it is holy and His Presence is there.
I love that when I have a cup of coffee in the morning as the sun rises with a book in hand, and I do it with Jesus in my heart...it is holy and His Presence is there.
I love that when I sit a table with people I love and listen to them talk and watch them describe life, and I do it with Jesus in my heart...it is holy and His Presence is there.
I love that as Darlene walks the hallways of the hospital being an instrument of healing, and she is aware that He has placed her there...it is a holy place and His Presence is there.
I love that as Erin works in her office as an instrument of integrity, and she does it aware that He has placed her there...it is a holy place and His Presence is there.
I love that as Brian mediates crisis in teenagers lives, and he does it aware that He has placed him there...it is a holy place and His Presence is there.
I love that as Lani works with the poorest of the poor and helps them step back into the society, and she does it aware that He has placed her there...it is a holy expression of Him and His presence is there.
I love that as Scott walks the hallways of academia as a missionary to the mind of our culture, and he does it aware that He has divine purpose there...it is a holy endeavor and His Presence is there.
I love that as Tracey captures God's signature on people by ripping back the veils that hide true beauty and captures who they truly are on film, and she does it aware that Jesus has placed her there...it is holy and His Presence is there.
I love that as my kids go to school and learn to love new friends, and they do it knowing that Jesus is smiling...it is holy and His Presence is there.

I love that where ever we live, and we live there for Him...it is a holy, sacred place, and His Presence is there.

and maybe that's what this church thing is all about. maybe that is question we need to be answering...Is He here? Is He honoured? Maybe we need to be mission-aries who are guides that help others discover that He is here now.

I think that a gathering of people who understand this...that when we, together, live in the name of Jesus, His presence is real; the places we live in become holy.

and maybe, just maybe, that is enough to change the world.

hmmm.

“The church today should be getting ready and talking about the issues of tomorrow and not the issues of 20 or 30 years ago, because the church is going to be squeezed in a wringer. If we found it tough in these last few years, what are we going to do when faced with the real changes that are ahead?… One of the greatest injustices we do to our young people is to ask them to be conservative. Christianity is not conservative but revolutionary. To be conservative today is to miss the whole point, for conservatism means standing in the flow of the status quo and the status quo no longer belongs to us… If we want to be fair we must teach the young to be revolutionaries, revolutionaries against the status quo”

Francis Schaeffer (1981)
He was an American Evangelical theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor. He is most famous for his writings and his establishment of the L'Abri community in Switzerland.

to the hilt.

"be courageous."
I have said it, had it said to me...but i have some questions...

Is courage a spiritual quality? Or a natural quality? Do some people have it and some don't?

I stumbled across this in some reading late(very late) last night. The word courage comes from the Latin word cor, which means "heart".

A courageous act is an act coming from the heart. A courageous word is a word arising from the heart. The heart, however, is not just the place where our emotions are located. The heart is the centre of our being, the centre of all thoughts, feelings, passions, and decisions. Its the womb of our dreams, the place of our divine DNA (who we were meant to be as His kids).

Being courageous is living with your heart. Putting it all on the table and givin' er...

with that on the table, I have some thoughts...so follow me for a sec...

Life provides us with opportunities to catch glimmers of who we are, or who we could be.

I had a conversation regarding 'religion' once and it made me think about the word 'courageous', in its best sense. James talks about religion of value. Religion you ask? Yeah, religion; something that describes an area of life and experience where in some way or another we have stumbled into mystery and heard a summons to follow. An encounter that overwhelms us in that we have glimpsed something (or Someone) so far beyond us and bigger than us that we are captured...either by fear or love.

I think in some way we are all mystics, filled with a hunger for the supernatural...the taste, the touch, the feel, the awareness of that which is beyond us...we all carry a yearning for mystery.

AND really, we have all seen more than we let on...even to ourselves. Through moments of beauty or pain we catch glimmers of what the "saints" or "hero's" of the faith were absolutely fixated by. But what separates them from the average person is not the experience. Rather, its their response. The reality that captured and held them, we tend to miss or DISmiss in order to go on as if nothing happened. No pause. No reflection. Little more than a pulse fluxuation.

Come on. Stop pretending you don't know. Relationship break up - cry for a day, find a new one. Sharp word spoken in anger to you - speak one back and move on. Loneliness - pick your medication...food, TV, porn, work, people. Insecurity - find something that you are good at and don't venture out ever again. Positives? Personal relationships - eye contact, a moment that creates opportunity to express love...and there is that uncomfortable pause and desperate lunge towards escape by cracking a joke or saying something sarcastic. Quiet - an opportunity to sit, to pause, to reflect on who we are and who we are becoming. Instead we look for the remote or something to do. A Divine Moment springs from a conversation or a prayer, where God once again stirs the dreams of your heart - find a way to stuff them back in and move on, cuz I mean, its not reasonable to think that stuff...are you following me yet?

We find ways to regain control...regain the flatline. But a truly alive and courageous heart has peaks and valleys...highs and lows...pain and joy...regularly...and each of those moments are filled with the awesome, overwhelming, mystical reality of the alive Lord Jesus...not our fake, serene looking deadpan Jesus, the one in most paintings. BUT the inescapable passionate Jesus who created us to live fully alive.

To allow something to be as it is, to admit something HAS happened in us even though we are not sure what it is, or where we are supposed to go with it...that is a powerful part what this journey of FAITH is all about.
Don't shut it off. Don't shut it down...let it be what it is and embrace it...Because He is in the middle of all of it. In order to engage the reality of Jesus, the path goes through your heart. Does it mean we live by emotion? No, we live by following the LIVING WORD...and feeling the tension, struggle, hardship, joy, exhilaration that colours and shades our lives is part of the incredible experience we call FAITH!

Courage. Living with your heart.
What did God say to Joshua? 7 times in 3 chapters. BE STRONG AND what?
Yeah. my translation? let me give you the strength to live out the dream(s) of your heart. a promised land. ignore the nay sayers, the people who will never believe and RUN.
The key? Don't shut your heart off. Your heart speaks the language of courage.
And the pain and joy that is a part of the pursuit? Do something with it. write. paint. speak. sculpt. design. do. start. live. love.
Let your heart feel and breath and speak and sing...in the words of the martyr Jim Elliot, wherever you are, be all there, live life to the hilt.

Embrace it all, and maybe you will learn something about the profound mystery that is you...and the God who made you.

Let me leave you with a story I read about Blaise Pascal. No room to tell you who he is...look him up.
After he had died a servant found this paper sown into his jacket "since about half past ten in the evening until half past midnight. Fire. Certitude. Certitude. Feeling. Joy. Peace." This great man, stammering it out like a little child. But he had to...its what we do when we are courageous...we find a way to get it out.

read the book of Joshua...or at least the first 5 chapters...you'll see what I mean.
yearning,
Jonathan

Trust and Creativity

fully rambling...chuckle. creative writing right? my mother is after to me to start editting...i may...one day.

Trust.
Creativity.
What are the first things that come to your mind when you think about those two words?

The first thing that comes to my mind is failure.
How we deal with failure and mistakes is actually the best measure of the level of trust in a community, whether that community be a family or an organization of thousands. When you trust people, you will always find moments when you’ll be disappointed...where someone has failed or really made a wrong choice. We can use it as a basis to not trust people...and end up using it against them...or we can learn something else.

Have we learned to love in such a way that people feel free to fail? Have we created places that are safe...where you can roll the dice, risk it all and make a mistake? Are we creating environments that are based on confidence in God and in people? Or are we creating places that are filled with fear?

Can we learn to create places that are full of love and freedom?

I am learning that the more people I love, the more I make decisions that are not based on myself. I look at people who lie, cheat, steal, murder, rape, etc...and in that moment of their lives, they’ve decided that their personal satisfaction as more important than all the pain they might cause everyone else their actions touch....

The more people you love the more difficult it will be for you to make lifes destructive decisions. Seems to me there is a Jesus message in their somewhere. I get asked lots about how to grow your faith. And I am learning it has alot to do with how much I value me. Mother Theresa said it like this:
If faith is lacking, it is because there is too much selfishness, too much concern for personal gain. For faith to be true, it has to be generous and loving. Love and faith go together, they complete each other.

I have been wrestling with this as a leadership issue. If we choose to trust and develop creative environments, what is the balance between freedom is control? How much control should i have?

What I am realizing is that every organization, group, community, team, etc. has places of tight control somewhere. All of us have had experiences with organizations that want to control the end product, which is not a bad thing. But what would it look like in our circles of influence, if we pushed for having control over the quality of people we trust.

When I trust a person’s character, I can let them have an immense amount of freedom—yes, even freedom to mess it up...cuz God knows i have destroyed a few things in my path once upon a time! And it was the wise and patient people that God placed in my life that shook their heads, winked at me, helped me clean it up, asked me what i learned, and told me to go for it again!

Unfortunately, so many of us are so afraid of making mistakes that we don’t; that’s why so many people that I have talked to say they are not creative. The creative process always dies in the atmosphere of fear. Because creativity and failure are twins. Maybe the problem is that there are not enough wombs of trust that birth children who dream of a different world...and have the courage to fail until they succeed.

Chuck Swindoll said, "In vain I have searched the Bible, looking for examples of early believers whose lives were marked by rigidity, predictability, inhibition, dullness, and caution. Fortunately, grim, frowning, joyless saints in Scriptures are conspicuous by their absence. Instead, the examples I find are of adventurous, risk-taking, enthusiastic, and authentic believers whose joy was contagious even in times of full trial. Their vision was broad even when death drew near. Rules were few and changes were welcome. The contrast between then and now is staggering."

In the leadership push of the last ten years, we have been taught to focus on excellence. The last couple of days has taught me something. Ready? When your focus is excellence, and your focus is execution—in terms of it having to be executed precisely so it’s efficient—excellence and efficiency actually become enemies of the creative process.

Maybe instead of talking about finding ways to be creative in effectively administering the mandate of the gospel...we need to be creatively finding ways to express that which is beautiful about the Gospel. Calling people who are weary, worn, overwhelmed and overcome by the darkness of sin to the majesty of a wondrous Savior who is able to bring His light into the darkest night. And when His light appears in the darkness, the darkness cannot stop it...redemption happens.

As the people of God, we are all artists. Our lives are the painting of God crying out to a world with His love, with the powerful message of redemption! Is it clean, sterile and disinfected process? no. Efficient? no, but really, art is never efficient...but it does move our souls. We are His masterpiece. What is more moving than a redeemed life living with joy and wild abandon in following the dream of His Kingdom?

I don't want to live with fear...trying to find rules and regulations to control "end products". We are stretching to base our entire life mission on the reality of Jesus actually transforms people. So much so that I feel no pressure to try to make people act or be a certain way. I’m banking everything on the fact that Jesus is the redeemer of broken lives. AND when we call people to Him, everything changes.

Maybe that's what faith is. Banking it all...on Him.

Influence...just a thought

Influence.

We either influence, or are influenced.

Why is it that Mother Teresa could stand up before crowds of thousands and simply repeat simple New Testament phrases, and a hush would sweep the room?

She didn't say anything new: "Jesus loves you," she assured you. "We're sons and daughters of God and we have to love Jesus' poor." Yet people walked out renewed, transformed and deeply challenged. I remember reading through her message at the National Prayer Breakfast several years ago in the United States. She was speaking about the moral destruction that a pro abortion society experiences. And then she said, "if you dont want your children, give them to me...I will take them."

She wasn't a priest. She wasn't well educated. She didn't have a position with authority. Her influence came from her life-style.

What influence does your life-style give you?
j

Thomas Merton thoughts...

“We must expect to be making mistakes all the time. We must be content to fail repeatedly and to begin again to try to deny ourselves for the love of God…

We want to shake off the hateful thing that has humbled us. In our rush to escape the humiliation of our mistakes, we run headfirst into the opposite error, seeking comfort and compensation.

And so we spend our lives running back and forth from one attachment to another.

If that is all our self-denial amounts to,

…our mistakes will never help us.

The thing you do, when you have made a mistake, is not to give up doing what you were doing and start something altogether new, but to start over again with the thing you began badly and try, for the love of God, to do it well."

When I Stand

When I stand at the judgment seat of Christ
And He shows me His plan for me,
The Plan of my life as it might have been
Had He had His way, and I see

How I blocked Him here, and I checked Him there,
And I would not yield my will --
Will there be grief in my Savior's eyes,
Grief, though He loves me still?

He would have me rich, and I stand there poor,
Stripped of all but His grace,
While memory runs like a hunted thing
Down the paths I cannot retrace.

Then my desolate heart will well-nigh break
With the tears that I cannot shed;
I shall cover my face with my empty hands,
I shall bow my uncrowned head...

Lord of the years that are left to me,
I give them to Thy hand;
Take me and break me, mould me to
The pattern Thou hast planned!

Martha Snell Nicholson

remembering the works....

Hey...
Need some help here. Have spent some time over the last week reminiscing...working my way through some of the incredible ways that Jesus has transformed lives over the last 10 years....

If you were are a part of The Revolution; FireHouse; G.C.; SuperCamps; Summer Camps; Conferences; Missions Trips...you name it. Whether in the Philippines or in Canada...

Tell me about what happened in you. What did Jesus do in your life? What did He say to YOU? What did you walk away with? How has it altered the way you live, see, think, breath?

believing.

pj

Influence. Part 2

Daniel 4:36-37 and 6:26-27 records royal decrees of two kings. Both of them ruled at one time over one of the greatest cities and nation-states in the ancient world.

These two men came from different cultures: one was a Babylonian by birth; the other was born a Medo-Persian. They also belonged to different generations. Yet they were both tied together in history by their relationship with one unique individual - a Judean prophet called Daniel.

Daniel, or as he came to be known in Babylon, Belteshazzar, was born a Jewish prince in the 6th century BC. As a teenager he was forcibly taken from his home and heritage and transplanted to the Babylon of king Nebuchadnezzar. There, Daniel and his peers were trained for service of the Babylonian empire. Their training involved a process of changing the essence of their personal cultures. How you ask? Their names were change, their cultural food was forbidden and their connection with their homeland was severed. Some 'mm, mm good' stuff to think about right here...but another time!

Daniel was a slave who rose up through the ranks to become a trusted advisor, a confidante, to not one but five successive kings of this ancient city.

In the process of Daniel's service, he led two of the kings to faith in God - this in a nation that virtually invented astrology and worship of the stars.

Whether they liked him or not, all the kings who knew Daniel respected him. AND all agreed: the spirit of the gods were in him!

Daniel's incredible and eventful life reminds us, again, of one great fact: We were created for influence. Regardless the scenarios or situation, we are architects of atmosphere and engineers of environment.

Let me say this again, Genesis 1:26-28 outlines the first calling God placed upon the shoulders of humankind - the mandate to influence the world.

How do we win this tug-o-war for influence? How can we shape our culture more than it shapes us? How can we transform our life situation before it transforms us?

Be a Culture-Creator in your world.

Having real influence is about creating a culture -- a new way of seeing and doing things, a fresh way of interpreting what is right, normal and acceptable. Without this kind of cultural definition there can be no leadership. The person, or group, who has the strongest culture will inevitably rise to leadership.

Wherever Daniel was involved, the prevailing culture changed. People, even those in high status positions, were forced to rethink what was right, normal and acceptable.

To influence your world, you must define and build a culture in your own space that is stronger, more dominant than the culture that surrounds you. People must feel that when they're around you, certain things are normal, right and acceptable.

Proverbs 29:18 is about setting goals for our lives. Its about you and me redefining the culture of our immediate environment, our sphere. The Hebrew text says: 'Without a redemptive revelation the people lead undisciplined lives.'

God wants to give you not just a set of goals, but a redemptive revelation of himself. He wants to show you something of his own nature; something so revolutionary that, if you live it out, it will actually redeem things around you for the kingdom of God.

Because of that revelation, you will be able redefine what it means to be in business, to build a family, to study in school, to do whatever it is that you do!

Now i know it is easy to become overwhelmed, so hold on. In my last post, i quoted Abraham Kuyper the nineteenth century journalist, theologian and Dutch Prime Minister who wrote: 'There is not one part of our world of thought that can be hermetically separated from the other parts, and there is not an inch in the entire area of our human life of which Christ, who is sovereign of all, does not cry "Mine!"'

While some churchmen of his era taught that Christians should retreat from everything relating to the secular world, Kuyper borrowed from Paul’s teaching to give us the idea of ‘sphere authority’.

This is the idea that church and state are both of divine origin, yet both serve different functions.

Each must obey God's laws: the state must not try to be neutral towards God, but must recognize his supremacy over the civil sphere of authority. Government policies and procedures must respect God's moral precepts, so they must uphold the sanctity of marriage and the family; they must restrain and punish.

No one is entitled to rule absolutely, for that is a divine prerogative alone. God delegates authority to human agents in family, church, school and state, and those who govern in such spheres are accountable to God in the discharge of their duties and in the exercise of their limited authority.

This means, for example, that neither the state nor the church is to intrude upon the other spheres. Each should seek to protect the rights of the other to operate freely.

Kuyper's concept of sphere authority contradicted the basic principle of socialism that would give the state the right to regulate life in practically all of its aspects, economic, political and social.

According to Deuteronomy 28, God’s people are destined for leadership; AND leadership on any level begins with creating a culture.

There are, I think, two fundamental questions we need to answer, if we're each going to win our battle for influence.

The first is this: what kind of neighbourhood, city and nation do I want to see around me in 10 years from now? What kind of city and nation would God want me to be living in by that time? What changes would he want me to make; what things would he want me to redeem around me?

The second question is this: seeing that preferred future, what am I now prepared to do to set that in motion? I quoted him already, but he bears repeating: As Bill Wilson, the great apostle to children in New York, likes to say: 'It's not important what you achieve in life; it's what you set in motion that counts!'

dreaming...
Jonathan