Unpacking Origins

Last week, I was honored to attend a conference in LA with Nathan, Stephen, Parke, and Christina. The Origins Project was hosted by Mosaic LA. I must say that it was, at times, much like drinking from a fire hydrant! I am still processing the info, and will unpack some of that here as I flesh out how it fits my context.

One of the most striking things that I brought home is about systems. At one point, one of the speakers mentioned how most faith communities gather their leadership; hiring them away from other faith communities. Two things strike me as odd about this practice:
1) Most churches do not have a system in place to develop leadership from within. They hire it from without...
2) Most of the leaders who are hired from without will not develop a system to grow leadership from within.

With these two things in mind, it makes the current dichotomy between clergy and laity understandable. For the faith communities of the 21st century to make the shift to indigenous ministry among people groups, internal leadership development becomes an imperative. As I listened in LA, I found out that Mosaic LA only hires leaders from within. Most of their hired staff serves as volunteers first, and most of their leadership stays volunteer. One leader even turned down the opportunity to his ministry into his career, opting to stay involved in the public school system.

For The Journey, we must develop leaders from within, and this means developing character and discipling people. This idea of discipleship is what I will unpack in my next post.

‘E-”thäs

Function: noun Etymology: New Latin, from Greek Ethos custom, character:

the distinguishing character, sentiment, moral nature, or guiding beliefs of a person, group, or institution


Today Ethos began. As I understand it, we will be looking at and discovering the elements of helping to shape the ethos of The Journey, and in turn, change the ethos of our community, culture, and planet. I’m excited about that.

On a different note, if you are at Ethos, and have room for 4 people to go to lunch with you, we are in need of a ride. You can contact me by calling 806-549-6221.

Oh yeah, Alex started the session in an interesting way. Look around at some of the other posts from this morning at Voxtropolis.com to find out more!
Peace - The Bishop

Origins

It's been good so far. I've had a couple of moments of inspiration that I came looking for, as well as great time with friends and like-minded people. Here's the folks I'm with (minus Parke, since he is taking the picture): (l to r)Christina, myself, Nathan, and Stephen. I think we'll be doing some leadership stuff tomorrow as a tag onto Origins. It's called Ethos. I'm hoping for a few more of those inspired moments I came looking for!

SoCal

We're here. We landed in Los Angeles yesterday in time to worship with Mosaic LA at the Mayan. This morning, we arrived at William Carey University where we found the Wi-Fi cafe and are waiting for Origins to start. I'm not sure what to expect, but I'll post regularly to keep you updated. One cool thing so far is that I've met several people whose blogs I've followed like Dean Sharp, Alex McManus, & Sam Radford. Parke and I were talking about the weird dynamic that has been created in the blogging community. The blogging community has bred a sense of familiarity with people, the feeling that you know them and have access to them, when in reality, you don't. I've dialogued with many people through the blog-0-shpere, and never really thought about that. Now, I see people who have shared their hearts, share my passions, and still don't really know them. It's....weird.
Anyway, I'll post more later!

Dwelling

Having been asked on numerous occasions lately about what I do at the coffee shop all day, I've decided to give you a narrative of a recent day in my life at the coffee shop.

Sitting. Watching. Listening. I enjoy it. Sitting, watching, and listening bring me moments of insight. I office here because I can sit, watch, and listen.

A loud man in the corner demands attention by his commanding presence and booming voice. He's never met a stranger. Abrasive, though, to those looking for a respite. He calls across the room for the barista to prepare some bagels for he and his guest, who looks embarassed by the demand. She smiles and complies.

She always smiles and complies, but I often wonder what she really thinks. She has great people skills and is always friendly to me and my family. She knows our names, and the names of our children. She calls them by name when we arrive. She still addresses me as Mr. Bishop, though, as a sign of respect. On occasion she slips into a more familiar mode and calls me Jason. Today she is training a new employee that will be replacing one of my new friends who has taken a new job.

The other barista tells me about his morning. He woke up late and opened the shop late. It was the first time people had been waiting for him to get here at 6:45 to open. He's had one of those days that seemed to just thrust him out there whether he was ready or not. He seems to have leveled out now, mastering the day that wanted to master him. We both play indoor soccer, and he sometimes referees my games. It gives us a common interest to talk about, and he always has great stories of some of the games he's officiated that involve people we both know. His stories are always entertaining.

Caryn stops by, having just dropped our daughter off at Mother's Day Out. She updates me on her day as we share a bagel and gives me an ETA on when she'll be ready for lunch, then jets out the door with her list of things to do.

Some older men sitting around the big round table in the middle of the earth-tone room discuss business like old friends discussing life. They speak in terms familiar to each other, but somewhat obscure to those within ear shot.

Somewhat listening to the conversation while I unpack my laptop, something said reminds me of a friend I haven't talked to in a couple of days. Why not call him? So, I do. Just in the nick of time, it appears. He's had a rough day and needed to vent a little. Work and life have him running ragged, and I seem to be an anchor to bring him back to reality every now and then. I never really tell him anything he didn't already know, but I serve as a reminder. He wants to get together tomorrow morning at 8, right here. We'll talk, laugh, catch up, and embrace life and faith together, sharing the struggles of living in a fallen world while encouraging one another to keep stepping.

At the display case a young man tattooed from wrist to shoulder contemplates what style bagel to partake of. He's been eyed by the customers since he came in. His ear disc, rough hair cut, and inked condition have garnered him the suspicious glances of the older patrons. Sitting near the bagel case, I lean over and recommend the green chili bagel. He nods, smiles, and orders the green chili bagel.

The gleem of something bright outside catches my eye. It's one of the regulars who has ridden his hybrid bike here. His helmet sparkles in the sunlight as he climbs the curb with his bike. I'm amused that he rides his bike here. I've thought about doing so myself to save on gas and get a little more exercise in. He gets his cup of coffee, and comes to my table to sit and chat. We talk mostly about airplanes as he is retired Air Force. I always learn something new when we chat, which is just about every day. The funny thing; he'll leave, and be back an hour later for a refill. Arriving this time in his truck, he tells me he needs to get busy with his day and saunters off to meet the day at 11:00 a.m.

As he exits, another new friend close to my age wanders in. Having formerly owned a coffee shop, he and I have struck up a relationship based on my myraid questions about coffee house culture. We visit for a while about his new job, and he invites my wife and I over for dinner in the near future.

Some time later, the girl whose replacement is being trained comes in and sits at a nearby table. She glances over and says she was hoping I'd be here. I'd better close my laptop for this one. She slides her chair over and we discuss life and faith. She's had quite a semester and just wants some encouraging words. Having honored me with the role of Pastor in her life, she came looking for advice and spiritual comfort. Two hours later she smiles and says, "Thanks for listening." "No problem. That's what I'm hear for." And it truly is.

My stomach alerts me that it's lunch time. I should have known it sooner. Next door is a restaurant where Seniors seem to instictively flock like the salmon of Capistrano at 10:45 in the morning! Caryn and I have a lunch date as soon as she is done shopping for our bi-weekly staples. I wonder what I'll miss while I'm gone for lunch. I hope she'll wait just a tad longer so that I can watch for a friend who usually shows up around lunch time. This kindred spirit happened into the coffee shop some months ago for the first time, and we began talking about a book he was reading. I had asked him what he thought and his response matched mine perfectly. Our conversation illuminated our kindred spirits, being brothers in Christ with a passion for changing the world. He's been so many places, and the movement is not new to him. I enjoy getting to pick his brain. As I wonder if he will make it in, sure enough, he's outside my window smiling and waving like he was just thinking the same thing. When he enters, he comes straight to my table and we catch up on travels, family, and faith. He asks if he could have an hour of my time to pick my brain about something. Not today, though. I have a date. Friday it is, then, at 11.

I live among people mostly neglected by the community of faith here. Not many of them have a voice of hope present in their lives. If they are to hear about hope and find the love of Christ that will complete them, I must be here. I've grown to love my "flock." One older Christian observed one day that these people needed to be in church. My observation was that church needed to be with them. So here I am. Sitting. Watching. Listening. Praying. I pray that God will help me to observe the things I need to know to convey hope, love, and acceptance to my flock. It turns out that I pastor a coffee shop where I sit, watch, listen, pray, and share. And I love it.

A Question

I've had a couple of conversations lately about salvation, and Jesus as the only way. I have formulated my answer to this question, but I wanted to see what you think, so be sure to reply:

Can a person be saved if they follow Jesus and believe that Jesus is "a way" to heaven, but not the "only way?"

A Relevant Metaphor

I just got back from a really refreshing hang time with some missionally minded friends. One friend, my planting coach Roy, was using his new book to impart some strategic and inspirational insight into church for the 21st century. I really had a great time picking his brain and sharpening the focus of what we're doing with The Journey. One of the things from his book that impacted me is in his section on consumerism as a hurdle for the 21st century church. He talks about how pastors feel pressure to create a service where people feel they were "fed." I have wrestled with this for years, hearing people say things like, "This church doesn't meet my needs." or "I'm not being fed here." Roy points out that there are some types of people who can't feed themselves in our society: babies, the physically impaired, or the mentally impaired. To quote Roy here, "Shouldn't 'being fed' be a strange metaphor for church life?" Great point! So, when we leave a church because we are not being fed, are we saying that we are babies or impaired somehow spiritually? Or, more to wit, am I saying I think God's people are babies or impaired because I feel I must feed them? Think about it. A close friend who is involved in missional living that precludes her from attending the local attractional church meetings on Sunday mornings was once judgementally asked, "Where are you being fed?" Her response was a classic one, "I believe that the mature can feed themselves." I agree with Roy in that part of the problem has been that most Pastors have trained their people to expect someone to impart the things of faith to them in small, pre-chewed bites that need no effort to swallow.
An imperative for me is to train people to love God and be obedient to His Word. That means they must know how to rightly divide it for themselves. The Journey should be a stew that everyone contributes to and God uses me to stir. I hope that God will use me to develop mature believers who can feed themselves, and who follow His calling to serve where He leads. If you find me doing otherwise, call me on it!
Out!

King Of The Hill

Mark Driscoll mentions a great episode of King of The Hill in his latest blog. Hank Hill goes church shopping, and gets a dose of the mega church...

Yeah, Baby. Yeah!

Get out the brooms!

Sacred Space

How do you make life sacred? In talking with a group of friends Wednesday at Aroma's, the question came up, "Can you make someone go to church?" The question was asked by an older gentleman who works from the paradigm that everyone ought to go to church, and everyone knows that. I, however, work from the paradigm that I am a part of the church, and that I should "bring church" to them. So, with a bit of a lively discussion, my wheels got turning on a side thought. How did the Master Teacher bring the sacred to the secular (for lack of better terms)?
On one hand, it seems simple: we are spiritual people, so where we are is spiritual space. But that can also be said of followers of other religions. What makes the space we inhabit sacred, and not just spiritual? Leonard Sweet, in his book "Soul Salsa," has a great discussion on this. His first chapter is entitled "Mezuzah Your Universe: Soul Artists Sacramentalize Whatever They Touch." What a great tag! Understanding that a sacrament is a symbolic representation (i.e. baptism and communion), we begin to see that sacramentalizing things becomes an opportunity to bring symbolic meaning to the common things of life, like the Jews did with the phylactery and the mezuzah. They built reminders into their every day lives (rituals) to help grow their souls by modulating the mundane into the eternal.
Sweet draws out an important point in this discussion. This point communicates a great way for us to understand our lives as spiritual and sacred. There is a difference between a sacrament, and "sacramentals." In sacraments (again, baptism and communion), sanctifying grace is communicated by the act itself. For instance, baptism is a great picture of one thing: salvation. A sacramental, however, can be an everyday object or life that reveals "the 'signs of the Trinity' (Augustine), which are everywhere in creation when viewed through the eyes of faith." So, what do we do to celebrate and see these signs in our everyday life? How do we build into our everyday happenings rituals that remind us of the presence of the divine around us, and communicate the grace of the Trinity to those who are seeking? How do the patterns of my daily life reveal the grace of the cross to those who watch? Jesus did this in a masterful way. Not only did His life model it, but bread, water, wind, harvest, seeds, children, fire, weeds, leaven, wine (mundane, everyday things) became instrumental expressions to help people see the kingdom. My heart stirs as I wonder how to use my laptop, coffee, books, truck, wind, water, children, family, marriage, soccer, volleyball, clothing to express the simple truth of the kingdom. What a wonderful opportunity looms before modern Christ-followers. Perhaps, by way of comment, you might share some of the rituals you've built into your life as an expression of grace to the world around you.

Freebird's!

Tonight I met the owner of all the Freebird's restaurants. His name is Pierre. Pierre is a super nice guy. What I really liked about him was he was genuinely interested in talking with me. Go figure: multi-millionaire with a grand opening in less that 24 hours, and he took time to sit down and ask me about me. It was nice. We talked a little while, and he mentioned that he'd like to visit The Journey at some point. I was encouraged! He just came out to check on us, ask if we had water for the night. He said he just wanted to make sure we had everything we needed. Way cool guy!
Now for why he is checking on us: Marcus, Scott, and I are in tents in front of Freebird's awaiting the grand opening. I got here at 2 p.m. today, and have met tons of cool people from the restaurant. I took a little break to be with my students at The Heights, and now we are sacked out to be the first customers at one of my favorite eateries! Did I mention they have wireless? Rock on!

What was it like?

I have been stewing over something for a couple of weeks now. It's about Lazarus.
In John 11, we find Christ performing the final miracle of His public ministry. This event profoundly impacted the culture of the day. But the thing that I've been chewing on is: what did Lazarus experience while being dead for 4 days? Was he sleeping? Was he in Paradise? Biblical scholars have held differing views on the state of death. My view on the moment of death is consistent with reformed theology. We leave this body to instantly enter the presence of Christ. No sleep state. No limbus patrum. This, I believe, is true for the Old Testament and New Testament faithful (OT examples: Enoch and Elijah). For more on this, check out Grudem's Systematic Theology, Ch. 41.
So, Lazarus, being dead for 4 days, enjoyed the unfettered presence of God. What must it have been like? And, what was it like to be yanked back to this world? Did he know he was coming back? Did he ask, as Clarke asserts, if he would have to die again? One thing is for certain: this event so changed him that he became a threat to the religious leaders of his day. In John 12:10 - 11 we find that the chief priests were plotting the death of Lazarus as well, because, "on account of him many Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him." A close friend once said, "Death is a life-changing experience." That was certainly the case for Lazarus, and I think is an important lesson for me: my death and new life should be a life-changing experience. It should be one that makes me dangerous to the enemy, the establishment, and the brokers of religion. Can't you just see Lazarus sitting with different groups of people in the bars or city places telling them with great fervor and urgency about what he had seen, and what waits for those who have trusted Christ? God, drive me with that same urgency and fervor, to share with those who need to know, what waits for them on the other side of the grave!

A Little Help Here

I'm designing a new business card, and thought I'd see if some of you would help me with the design. I've got some designs, and one that I like, but wanted to see what you guys thought. So, comment on which one you like the best. The resolution on them is not the greatest here, but you get the idea...You can also click here to see them on our web site.

The Gift of Sleep

Do you remember when you were a kid and you could sleep anywhere and through anything? I am constantly reminded by my children of the greatness of childhood. This one was taken during our Spring Break ski trip. My children would wear themselves out playing (Jeremiah was skiing, and Cayla was living in a winter wonderland!). And, at the end of each day, as we made the drive back to the hotel, they would slip off to sleep, exhausted. I desire to live life that way. To live that 1 Cor. 10:31 life that says everything is for God's glory and deserves my all. Live every day in such a way that you've got an "empty tank" by the end of the day. Then, rest in Christ and allow Him to refuel you for the next day.

Well, I guess I slept pretty hard last Friday night, and missed my youth group on my lawn doing some decorating of their own:

Thank God for Great Friends!

Yesterday I had my 6 month evaluation. One of my partners that makes The Journey possible does an evaluation every 6 months. I am blessed to have a friend that does my eval. Terry Coy drove in yesterday to spend the afternoon with me, and to worship with The Journey last night at our gathering. I count Terry a great friend, and am really encouraged by the time that I spent with him.

Another friend that flew in yesterday morning is Stephen Hammond, one of the leaders from Mosaic in Arlington. He, too, is a great friend and source of encouragment to me. Stephen is one of those guys who "gets me." As we spend time together, I am encouraged and inspired in my walk and my pursuit of this dream I am a part of. He and Mosaic, along with Terry and his organization, have enabled me to do something that I absolutely love! I just dropped Stephen off at the airport, and I am not sure what to do next. I have so many ideas rolling in my head, and the future looks limitless! Here in the next couple of hours I will jump back into the mix and begin working on some new ideas, energized and encouraged for my journey.

Terry, Stephen,
Thanks for all you do for me, my family, and The Journey. You guys embody kingdom living, and are a source of encouragement and inspiriation to me. I am living the dream, and could not do it with out you.
For the kingdom - Jase

Woo Hoo!

Well, we've hit a milestone with The Journey's web site! As of this morning, we have had 1200 different IP addresses hit our site! I'm really excited about that. It's a morning of celebration for me. http://www.journeylubbock.org Check it out!

Friends, Dinner, and Theology

Last night was a great night in the life of The Journey. Every month we have a meal to just enjoy the company of new friends. Including the kiddos, we had our largest crowd ever with 19 in attendance last night. This is significant to me not because of the number per se, but that we are really getting to make new friends. Dinner was good, but the way folks lingered afterward to sit, drink coffee, and just share life was a sweet time. For all of you who attended last night, thanks. I really enjoyed the conversations!

In the aftermath of cleaning up, Nathan and I had a chance to sit down and talk theology for a little while as he prepared to speak at a sister church in our community. He's excited to get to share much of what God has been teaching him. As we talked, we got to discussing Hebrews 12:2 and what exactly the "joy" was that led Jesus to enduring the cross. The salvation of humanity? The defeat of Satan? The resurrection? Maybe even the Ascencion? Indirectly, yes, as they are all part of the will of God. Jesus told His disciples in John 4 that His food was to do the will of the one who sent Him, and to finish His work. I think, ultimately, the joy that was set before Jesus was that He could look up from the Cross and say, "It is finished." He had completed what God sent Him here to do. The Christ's goal all along was to do the will of His Father, no matter what the cost. Man, what a moment that must have been, in spite of the pain, to look to the Heavens and KNOW that God's greatest plan had come to pass. That's been on my mind since last night, and will be the theme of my Easter season. Hopefully, it will be the theme of my life.

An Impromptu Prayer Walk

I know this is last minute, but I got an e-mail from a friend who pastors a church in the area. They are preparing for revival in their town, but haven't had a great turn out for their prayer gatherings. I have a sense of God's leading to go prayer walk the town on Thursday, March 30. I'll probably go in the morning. If you are reading this, and have a desire or a leading to go, call me at The Journey's phone number as soon as you decide, no matter what time it is: 806-549-6221. If you can't go, at least pray for the community around 10 a.m. on Thursday.
Peace

The Journey's Conversation Board

Well, due to a "problem" (really, I think it got hacked, but I'm not sure...) with The Conversation board on The Journey's web site, I've had to re-do the whole thing. The good news is that the new one is working. The bad news is that everyone who had registered on it will have to re-register, and the discussion threads are gone. So, if you were a member of The Conversation, please forgive me, and let's get it cranked up again. If you were not a part of The Conversation, now's your chance to get in at the "beginning." Check it out at http://www.journeylubbock.org/conversations

Witticism

I found this brochure called, "If at first you don't succeed, Don't try skydiving." It has 101 funny one-liners. They aren't all funny, but some of them make me laugh, so I thought I'd share the goodness:
Never Answer an anonymous letter.
It's lonely at the top, but you do eat better.
If we aren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made with meat?
He who laughs last thinks slowest.
We have enough youth. How about a fountain of "smart"?

More to follow!