December 2006

Some personal highlights from Neil Cole’s Organic Church

People are leaving the church to preserve their faith

Most warm blooded-living things grow to a point and then reproduce

Many a church continues long after the soul of the church has departed because the building itself keeps them going. A building can become an artificial life support system that keeps a church alive even though it died long ago.

In many of the churches in the West, ministry is done for Jesus, but not by Jesus.

Only 4 percent of churches in America will plant a daughter church.

See Tony’s blog for a much more in-depth review and additional quotes.

Overall, the book helped me think through what the church really is and re-align myself to the Christ who builds his church.

Flipping through an issue of the Futurist, i stumbled across this revolutional concept for closing the wealth gap (ie. how in the United States 1% of the population holds more wealth than the entire bottom 90% combined).

In an article by Sam Pizzigati (www.toomuchonline.org) he proposes a ten times rule for a moving maximum wage. In this approach, the income ceiling is tied to the income floor. The wealthy could increase their incomes even with a maximum wage in place. To realize this increase however, the wealthy need only to convince Congress to raise the minimum wage, because the higher the minimum, the higher the maximum. By advocating for the nation’s poorest workers, the wealthy would have advocated for themselves.

There is some innovative income tax guidelines along with Pizzigati’s propsoal, but that’s the gist of it.

Of course, this still doesn’t completely deal with the root issues of greed in the human heart, but at least it would be a step towards helping people see that they are a part of everyone else in this global community.

I find this principle applies in many realms; spiritually, organizational, environmentally, etc.

Can you imagine a future when people embrace the reality that the richness of their own journey in life was dependent upon the last, the lost, and the least that surround us?

Family…

A new generation of babies this year, Stellar, Carter, and Evan Noah

Home torched Creme Brule

And what’s Christmas without a present for daddy… Nothing like newborn poo shot out on the sleeve!

During this Christmas season as the story of God is tossed around, Gandhi has something important to say to us:

“You Christians look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilization to pieces, turn the world upside down, and bring peace to a battle-torn planet.

But you treat it as though it is nothing more than a piece of good literature.� ~ Mohandas Gandhi

… like she does.

Yvz is the most amazing woman I have ever encountered in my life. Not only is she a passionate follower of Jesus, she’s now a mom. Somewhere in there she finds a way to continuously bless me as my wife.

Honey, it would be impossible to describe how you amaze me… but I’m going to spend my life trying anyways.

Here’s a shot of one of her most recent paintings for baby Caleb.

It’s a ladybug in the grass reminiscent of the Biblical character his name goes by that chooses to venture into the promised land despite the giants that surround.

During those rare moments Stellar is sleeping I hope to get ahead on some reading over these next few weeks:

Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens by Neil Cole
Worship Old and New by Robert E. Webber
Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzer
Worship, Community and The Triune God Of Grace by James B. Torrance
Exploring the Worship Spectrum: 6 Views by Harold Best
Soul Cravings: An Exploration of the Human Spirit by Erwin McManus
Strategic Pastoral Counseling by David Benner

Anyone read any of these yet?

Yesterday I read “Tracks of a fellow struggler” by John Claypool for a crisis counseling course I’ll be taking next semester.

It was especially moving for me as it was the reflections of a pastor who watched his eight-year old girl die of leukemia.

Here are a few contextless snippets:

It has taken this long to get to the place I could handle this material without overwhelming pain. Just like a broken leg, a broken heart heals slowly and cannot stand much touching right after the break.

… Saturday afternoon she breathed her last breath and set out on a journey on which I could not accompany her.

There are no experts on the field of grief, for we all grieve in our own unique ways.

You alone can do your grief work, but you do not have to do it alone.

I had my moments when I understood how a person could raise one’s fist to heaven and curse God.

One does not sow and reap in the same day, and, quite honestly, I must acknowledge that if this tragedy were my only conscious experience with God, I probably would not have come out where I did.

I did not realize just how hopeful I really was until that Saturday afternoon as I knelt by her bed and saw her stop breathing.

There were times, when Laura Lue was hurting so intensely that she had to bite on a rag and used to bet me to pray to God to ake away that awful pain. I would kneel down beside her bed and pray with all the faith and conviction of my soul, and nothing would happen except the pain continuing to rage on.

I fall back on the notion that God has a lot to give account for… I believe God will be able to give an accounting when all the facts are in, and until then, it is valid to ask.

The way of gratitude does not alleviate the pain, but it somehow puts some light around the darkness and creates strength to begin to move on

For every one of us - there is no way to avoid the trauma of loss if we love even a little.

A statement that struck a chord with the way I feel about my life, and in particular my wife, was a quote in the book by Hugh Prather during an illness his wife suffered:

She may die before morning. But I have been with her for four years. Four years. There is no way I could feel cheated if I didn’t have her for another day. I didn’t deserve her for one minute, God knows.

Stellar’s still completely consuming my life these days, but here’s a portion of an article I recently wrote for the seminary newsletter.

The church is dying in North America. Most churches won’t acknowledge this because there’s still enough money to keep the lights on. Half of all churches did not connect a single person into a life transforming relationship with Jesus in an entire year. The church today is seen as the remnants of an archaic institution for the old, the sheltered, and the fanatic.

Many churches talk about being relevant to culture today because they are on brink of irrelevance. If God is the creator God then the church should be the center of creativity. Churches ought to be leading the culture, not catching up to it. New churches are needed just as much as revitalized churches, if not more. Our country is desperately in need of churches of all shapes and sizes and types. There are homes, warehouses, cafes, pubs, clubs, theaters, and abandoned cathedrals across the country waiting to be redeemed into communities of faith, hope, and love.

The Apostle Paul’s entire strategy was on church planting in urban centers. Miracles, conversions, and lives transformed just happened along the way. Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian states “Nothing else – not crusades, outreach programs, parachurch ministries, mega-churches, consulting, nor church renewal processes – will have the consistent impact of dynamic, extensive church planting�.

It all begins with individuals like you and me; followers of Jesus who are unafraid of risk, adventure and launching into unmarked territory because we trust in a sovereign God who is good; men and women who have caught a vision of God’s heart for establishing missional and redemptive centers of faith – that relentlessly press against the gates of Hades, to bring light into the darkness, and hope to humanity.

It’s hard to express all the concern, love, and support we’ve received over the last while.

We had another little scare with Yvz’s health as she was going through some excessive bleeding, but things have quickly returned to ‘normal’.

Stellar’s very much a regular baby again, crying, feeding, and sleeping.

I’ve since found my keys a week later and finished my final exam for the semester. Best of all, tomorrow night, Yvz and I will be sneaking out for a bit to resume some form of a date-night. Thank God for in-laws.

It really does take a village to raise a child.

While Yvz was at the walk-in clinic on the weekend, I was roaming the mall with Stellar trying to avoid all the other sick people. Every parent with a child that I passed by I kept thinking in my head ‘What an absolute miracle it is for your child to make it this far’.

I hope to remember this every single step of the way.

Wednesday

We get called that Stellar needs to be rushed to the emergency unit.

I realized I’ve lost my keys as I’m speeding home to take our family to the hospital.

We get sent to the wrong emergency ward putting off urgent treatment that she needs for an hour

Stellar is diagnosed with severe Jaundice. Half of newborns get this but her level is debilitating and can result in hearing loss and brain damage.

Doctor’s tell us that babies that come in for treatment usually have half of her levels and don’t move much. Stellar’s strong and moving frantically which is good.

Stellar needs to go through multiple lamp phototherapy for the next 48 hours. Nurse’s take 6 stabs at my baby trying to find her tiny veins to plug the IV into. They say she may need a blood transfusion.

Thursday

Yvz and I don’t get much sleep lying together on a single bed/stretcher for the night wondering what we could have done differently.

Stellar’s bilirubin levels drop by 300 points which is excellent.

I find a way to finish my final paper in the hospital.

Yvz and I take solace in God, our praying friends, trusting that the medical staff are doing all that they can.

Friday

Stellar is taken off of her IV and the phototherapy treatment for monitoring.

We discover that she is missing an enzyme called G6PD that led to her jaundice. Because she’s a girl they traced that the genetic disorder was passed on from me! It’s a rare disease and somehow I managed to get through life this far without it showing up.

Stellar’s been finger-feeding while in the incubator and is having a very difficult time returning to breastfeeding.

Yvz and I both get food poisoning. She vomits once, I vomit five times.

Stellar’s okay and we’re released from the hospital. We need neonatal follow-up to see if she’s going to have any development issues.

My keys still haven’t turned up and I’ve spent over a hundred dollars on parking this past week at the hospital. But all that matters to me right now is that I’m back home with the two most precious people in my life.

Stellar in an incubator with IV and phototherapy lights.

Stellar with her goggles on looking like a superhero. And she is.

After Steller giving me one of these…

I had to give her five back-to-back diaper changes to clean up the constant oil slick coming out of her rear…

Just so she can peacefully do this…

Overall, things are just borderline insane. I don’t mind getting up every hour, but feeding’s been a huge challenge. I think we finally hit milk today though.

I can’t believe this beautiful life I live is just getting even better.

Now if I can only get rid of those funky smells…

Here’s one of the funniest 9 second video’s I’ve ever seen that captures the essence of this post.