Monday, March 30, 2009

A quote from Deliberate Simplicity by Dave Browning.

Dave was leading an organizational meeting in a community where his church was considering planting a church when the following happened...

After sharing with the group our commitment to reach out to lost people, a well-meaning woman raised her hand and asked, "Isn't the church for those of us who are believers?" A hush fell over the room as everyone awaited my response...Little did she know she was surfacing one of the most defining precepts of [our church strategy]. The clarity of my response probably startled her. I said, "NO, the church is not FOR us. The church IS us, but it's not FOR us. We are here for the lost."


That's the business we are in.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Spring is in the air...

A poem in honor of spring...

Trees are budding
Flowers blooming
Grass is turning green.

We took the plastic
off our windows.
It is almost Spring.

I opened up
the sliding door
to let the Spring air in

And now my cheeks
have frostbite.
Its snowing once again.

Gotta love the Mid-west winters. I guess this is better than last year when it snowed on Easter Sunday. But man, those are some big honkin snow flakes falling out there.

See ya'll at church, though. Right? Right? Anyone?? Bueller?

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

ONE CAR WEDNESDAY...

Thought I would dedicate Wednesdays to updating the One car experiment.
This might be the only edition of One Car Wednesday. We'll see.

Rode a bicycle to Barkstall on Sunday morning. It's about 3 miles. I got about a quarter mile away from our house and started cramping. I couldn't breath at the 1/2 mile point. Couldn't see straight at 1 mile. So i stopped at Espresso Royale and got a coffee. Then I biked the last mile or so holding a cup of hot coffee. Somehow, the challenge of holding the cup and the handle bar at the same time took my mind of the agonizing pain in my legs and my lungs. I had to get the custodian to help me off the bike. Thanks Tracy.

Somehow, riding back home was easier. Must have been downhill. Hard to tell here in Illinois.

An unanticipated side benefit of having one car: My wife and I communicate better. Well at least we talk more! Its' either that or whoever wakes up earliest gets the car for the day. But we both prefer sleeping in. So we're actually planning out what we're doing with our days.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Cultural Reality Check

I think we Christians tend to turn a blind eye to the reality of how American culture has changed around us. We just don't want to recognize that the church no longer has the primary seat of honor within the larger culture.

Out west somewhere, a poll was conducted that asked people a simple question: "WHAT DO CHRISTIANS DO?"

They received 2 primary answers:
1. They go to lots of meetings
2. They are against things.

Great. We Christians have managed to communicate the message of Christ, an amazing message of peace and hope, forgiveness and wholeness, purpose and meaning, in such a way that those outside the church think those 2 things are what we do.

Now obviously cultural change is happening at different rates in different parts of America. Don't write off the above poll because it happened in San Francisco. There are some wonderful churches in San Francisco. Besides, I would bet my second car that you'd get just about the exact same response if you did that poll in the 4 or 5 blocks that surround our church here in Champaign.

The point is, we've spent so many generations focusing our church life (programs, budgets, staff, buildings, etc) on taking care of ourselves that the world around us has no clue what we do. Which also means they have no clue why Jesus matters. Because Jesus left it in our hands to show them and to tell them.

Time to rethink our relationship with our neighbor...

Monday, March 23, 2009

It's all LATIN to me...


So, way back in high school, my mom made me take Latin for my foreign language. I found it utterly annoying to have to study a language that nobody speaks anymore.

How ironic on Sunday to find myself talking about 2 Latin phrases.
Mom...I owe you an apology! Thanks for making me take Latin.

In case you missed it, here's a recap:
Missio Dei
This phrase is sually translated "the mission of God". In fact, I've used it that way before in a sermon. But I recently heard a pastor say that we ought to use that phrase in a different way. Instead of referring to something that God does, it is more about the very nature and character of God
Missio Dei means "the MISSIONING GOD" or "the GOD of MISSION".
We cannot adequately understand God unless we understand God through the paradigm of MISSION.

To fully get the picture though - we should probably define the word "mission". To understand that word, we looked at the parable of the lost sheep. Jesus tells the story about a shepherd who has 100 sheep, but he loses one. The shepherd leaves the 99 and goes in search of the 1. He leaves behind the "found" to go seek out the "lost". Jesus summarizes the parable by saying there is more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over 99 who do not need to repent.

This parable is all about the MISSIO DEI. It fleshes out the MISSIONAL heart of God. God is on a mission and that mission is the passionate pursuit of the one who is lost. This parable is right in the middle of the Gospel of Luke. It's almost as if Luke is saying that the very heart of THE gospel is our GOD chasing after the one who has wandered away. That's what God is like. That's what God is all about. That's what God is doing. Then and now.

Now, lets jump ahead to Jesus after his resurrection. Jesus appears to his disciples who are hiding behind locked doors and he says this to them: "As the Father has sent me, I also send you."

I also send you.

He sends us.

To do what? MISSIO DEI
To join God in chasing after the one(s) who have wandered away.

That's what God is like.
That's what God is all about.
That's what God is doing.

That's what we are here to do.

"As the Father has sent me, I also send you."

Friday, March 20, 2009

World Water Day

Sunday is World Water Day.

As I write this I'm sitting at a coffee shop drinking a great big coffee made with about a cup and a half of water. And I'm thinking that what's in my cup looks alot like the water that people all over the world drink. Only mine is that color thanks to coffee grinds and milk. Their water is that color because of mud and algae.

The lack of clean water results in the deaths of millions of kids every year. And it is a totally solvable problem.

And we are committed to tackling the problem.
In the village of Lisanjala in Malawi, we are providing the funding for clean water wells that will give people access to disease free water that will save lives...in the name of Jesus.

So, in honor of World Water Day, we're going to try to appreciate what we've got and care for thsoe who don't have it.

Instead of serving COFFEE on Sunday, we're just going to serve WATER. So if you're one of those who really needs caffeine just to be out in public, you may want to caffeinate before you arrive. We'll have a donation bowl on the WATER table where you can contribute to our Meet Malawi project that will be digging wells in Lisanjala. But mostly, I hope you'll just enjoy a nice cold cup of water and be reminded of how God has blessed us...and how he is calling us to be a blessing to others.

Peace.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Curtis Road Update

Looks like Curtis Rd will be open between Mattis and Duncan.
You can definitely access Barkstall from Duncan and I am fairly sure you can get there from Mattis.

So, you can't use road closure as an excuse for missing church!!!!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

A little less CAR

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the One Car experiment in the Keeble home.

We are turning in our Honda (which was a lease). It was a good car. It rolled with me through the Hyper-miling experiment and got 40 miles to the gallon in the process.

But as of tomorrow, we are going to be a one car family.
"gasp..." I know, it's almost un-American.

I know its going to be a big pain in the rear. But I'm actually really quite excited about it. I'll be carpooling when I can. I'll be feeling my way around on MTD. I'm really hoping to do alot of biking. And I might even walk a bit more.

One thing I'm particularly excited about: Being less secluded from my community. Its so easy to just seclude ourselves at home, then do the same at work. We drive in between but are totally disconnected from our surroundings in all that "in between" space. I think the One Car Experiment is gonna help me be more connected to my community. We'll see.

I'll keep you posted. I'm thinking Wednesdays on the blog will be One Car Wednesdays with weekly updates.

PS. Feel free to call and offer a ride. It doesn't matter where you are going. Just take me with you.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Church Resources...

I heard a speaker say recently that the church has 6 types of resources:
Prayer
Money
People
Facilities
Time
Technology

If our church is going to successfully move towards being an externally focused church, each of those types of resources would need to be weighted externally.

So...as an example, what does it look like for our facility to be at least 50% used externally?
Or what if at least 50% of our prayers were focused on things outside ourselves?

Ideas?

Thoughts?

Saturday, March 7, 2009

If you show up tomorrow an hour late...

we'll all know you forgot to set your clocks ahead tonight!

Monday, March 2, 2009

Bless you...it's not just for sneezes anymore

We are "the blessing people."
At the heart of our identity as followers of Christ is our calling to bless people.
It is an ancient calling that started when God told Abraham he would be blessed in order to BE A BLESSING.

On Sunday we told several stories of "blessing". My challenge to you was to go through your day looking for opportunities to be interrupted; opportunities to step away from our agendas and our schedules and be available for people; opportunities to look people in the eye and bless them.

Definitely hard to do. Downright scary for alot of us. Especially when you think they might look at you like this. So we shared a few ideas: When you are at a restaurant or coffee shop or hardware store (really anytime you are in a place where someone is serving you) take the time to thank that person and ask a very simple question: "How can I ask God to bless you today?"



Well, here's how you can bless me. Try it!
And as you try it, share your stories with our online community.
* How are you finding ways to bless people?
* What happened when you asked God to give you a holy interruption?
* How can we pray for you or the people you are trying to bless?

To share your stories here, just click on the word "comments" below this post and type away. Its fine to choose the anonymous option to sign in, but it would be awesome if you typed your name in on your comment. You can also email me as well.

Look forward to reading your stories.