Enter the Story - Merry Christmas

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11)

O come o come Emmanuel
And ransom captive hearts that fell
Bring peace on earth and love’s goodwill for everyone

For You so loved the world You gave
Your life for us to heal and save
We hear the whispers of Your grace for everyone (Matt Maher)

We rejoice with the angels,
shepherds and Magi,
The wait is over!
God, our Savior,
Immanuel is come.

We rejoice in your amazing love
that reaches to all and covers all.
Overwhelm us with this love
So high and so wide,
So deep and so long,
Let us live fully in your embrace,
so secure and so strong.

May your love overflow our hearts,
so that we may be people of
mercy and grace and peace.
And let our lives be
an outpouring of your love,
an invitation to all those we meet
to come, find their place in your great story.

We rejoice with the angels,
shepherds and Magi,
God, our Savior,
Immanuel is come. (Dianne Poleme)

Merry Christmas

Enter the Story

This Advent season our faith community is seeking to understand and then enter the Christmas story in a deeper way. One of the greatest invitations to do so comes to us through the artform and gift of music. Have you ever noticed how a beautiful song can open us up to deeper truth and reality?

On December 1, Product RED launched a new music site called (RED)Wire. (RED)Wire is a digital subscription music magazine that makes a difference by sharing exclusive music from some of the world's greatest artists every week and using the proceeds to provide people living with HIV in Africa the medicine they need to stay alive. $50 if you can guess which band was featured in first issue.

Some of you may remember Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's Christmas classic, "I Believe in Father Christmas." To be honest, some of the original lyrical content of this song is pretty cynical, skeptical and even agnostic in nature. Take a listen to U2's cover of this song and I would love to hear your thoughts on some of Bono's subtle lyric changes.



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The Advent Conspiracy: Worship Fully

Our faith community is once again pushing into the Advent Conspiracy. We are asking ourselves this question: what if Christmas became a world-changing event again? The story of Christ's birth is a story of promise, hope, and a revolutionary love. So, what happened along the way? What was once a time to celebrate the birth of a savior has somehow turned into a season of stress, traffic jams, and shopping lists. And when it's all over, many of us are left with presents to return, looming debt that will take months to pay off, and this empty feeling of missed purpose.

What if Christmas became a world-changing event again?

The Advent Conspiracy invites us to:

• Worship Fully
• Spend Less
• Give More
• Love All
  

Yesterday I shared with our community some reflections on the "Worship Fully" theme, drawing upon the story of the Magi and King Herod found in Matthew 2. I called it "The Tale of Two Kings" and reminding us all that "they were the best of kings and the worst of kings." A focal part of my message centered around Matthew 2:11 - "On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh." In the spirit of "worship fully" I asked the question, "what is in your treasure bag and will you bring it to the feet of the new born King?"

If you know me at all, you know that one of my personal passions is worship and I have devoted a significant portion of my life to helping people expand their understanding and practice of worship. Last year I coined this definition: Worship is offering our lives back to God for the life of the world. Paul's words in Romans 12 helped shape this understanding: "So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. (Romans 12:1-2, The Message).

I have been reading an excellent book the past week, the latest from Margaret Feinberg, The Sacred Echo and it certainly informed my message yesterday. She has a great chapter entitled, "If You Don't Wear Your Crown (I will Give It to Someone Else)" and I included these words:

"If you don’t wear this crown I will give it to someone else. The words churned in my soul. Though I first interpreted the statement s an ultimatum, I eventually came to understand it as an invitation. In a poignant way, God was saying, “I want to be glorified in you and through you. I made you for this. But if you will not allow me to be glorified in you, I will find someone else.” I have to admit I withheld my decision, choosing instead to continue wrestling with God and myself. Is God really still looking for men and women (and boys and girls) who will fully yield themselves to him? And when he finds them, what can God do in and through them to glorify Himself?"

How does God want to be glorified in you, with you, and through you? Your bag of treasure is your very life - not just your life for an hour or so on Sunday morning, but your everyday, ordinary life.

Yesterday morning, our plan was to conclude our gathering by praying together the following words crafted by Dianne, a member of our community. In a moment of lostness, I completely blew it. So today, as you consider what it means to worship fully, I invite you to pray them and live them.

Child of promise,
We joyfully anticipate your coming.
Immanuel, God with us,
We celebrate your arrival.
Our Savior and our God,
We rejoice in your enduring presence.

As we enter into
This season of waiting,
With humble hearts
We worship you.
For all you are,
For all you’ve done,
For all you continue to do,
Your work in our lives,
Your work in this world

We worship you with all we are,
In all we say and do.
With all our hearts, with all our minds,
With all our souls, with all our strength.
We wait,
And while we wait,
We worship You.

(shared by Dianne Polome)

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6,000 Reasons: World AIDS Day

Today is World AIDS Day. This year the United Nations theme is Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise. Allow me to share 6,000 reasons why you should care.

6,000 reasons . . . and each has a name
6,000 reasons . . . and each has a face
6,000 reasons . . . and each has a story

Today, like every day, 6,000 children will lose a parent to AIDS.
Today, like every day, we have 6,000 reasons to care.
Today, like every day, we have 6,000 reasons to offer HOPE .

Thousands of children will lose a parent today because of AIDS. UNICEF estimates that 6,000 children lose a parent to AIDS every day. Each child has a name — and a heart-breaking story.

On this World AIDS let me suggest six things you can do to bring real help and hope to people in our world living with the reality of HIV and AIDS.

1) Take an AIDS Test: How much do you really know about AIDS? One of the reasons AIDS continues to be such a global concern is that the disease is surrounded by myth and misinformation. World Vision has a simple online test that will quickly reveal your knowledge base. And the good news: no blood is required.

2) Learn and Listen: Read a book on the reality of this global pandemic.

The Skeptics Guide to the World AIDS Crisis (Dale Hanson)
The Hope Factor (Tetsunao Yamamori)
There Is No Me without You (Melissa Greene)
28: Stories of AIDS in Africa (Stephanie Nolan)

Listen to this message of compassion and hope by Princess Zulu, an international spokesperson on AIDS and HIDS. Princess knows first-hand the reality of HIV and AIDS as she has lost both of her parents to AIDS and is living HIV+.

3) Get RED: During the season of gift giving, buy (Red) and give life. There are hundreds of products that you can purchase and also provide support for the elimination of AIDS in Africa. Today PRODUCT Red has launched RED WIRE, a weekly digital music magazine where you can receive exclusive music from the world's greatest artists, and people living with HIV in Africa will get the medicine they need to stay alive.

4) Advocate: Contact your members of Congress and urge them to continue exercising leadership on this critical issue. With great power comes great responsibility.

5) Fast: Poverty is one of the leading causes of AIDS. The Micah Challenge is inviting people to ACT FAST for seven weeks to end extreme poverty in our world.

6) Pray: Ask God to show you what you can do TODAY to bring real help and hope to people living with HIV and AIDS, both near and far and everywhere in-between. May God give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts that will respond in faith, hope and love.

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Act FAST

This Thanksgiving and Christmas season we have the chance to share the gift of
justice with those living in poverty.

From November 29-January 18 Christians all across our nation are praying, fasting,
and advocating for fast action on extreme poverty. People are pledging to fast, to
donate the cost of a meal ($10) to Micah Challenge, and to sign a letter to President-
elect Obama urging him to Act FAST to support the Millennium Development Goals
and cut global poverty in half by 2015.

Micah Challenge has produced a Prayer Guide that is filled with stories, information on developing nations, and prayers that been created by our sisters and brothers living in some of the nations that are facing extreme poverty.

During this holiday season, I am seizing this opportunity to fast, pray, learn and advocate for the most vulnerable members of the human family. Would you join with me and act FAST?

"He has shown all you people what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)

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Deliver Us

Alex McManus from M shared this Kenyan prayer this morning:

From the cowardice that dare not face new truth
From the laziness that is contented with half truth
From the arrogance that thinks it knows all truth,
Good Lord, deliver me.

Good Lord, deliver us.

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Viva Coldplay!

Last night Patty and I traveled to Cleveland to see one of my favorite bands, Coldplay. The journey actually brought some closure to one of my most embarrassing musical moments. A few years ago for my birthday, my kids gave me the choice of concert tickets to either see Train in Pittsburgh or Coldplay in Cleveland. In a moment or insanity, I choose Train. A colossal mistake that was confirmed in a big way by Coldplay's performance last evening.

Let me say straight up - Coldplay is not U2. They are in a sense, U2-light or perhaps U2 wannabes (to the extent they even used U2's producer Brian Eno for their latest collection of songs). And there is nothing really wrong with that. U2 is that good! Coldplay's staging, lighting, and special effects were stunning and in many ways similar to a U2 production. Four guys in the band – hmmm, have we seen this before? Guitar, bass, drums, and a front guy who actually plays pretty good keys and some decent guitar. I was a bit concerned about how they would pull off the material from their latest CD, "Viva la Vida," as it contains a complex layer of sound, texture and rhythm. It was pretty obvious that all the sound in the Quicken Arena last night was not coming from the four guys on stage. But U2 does the same thing with sequences and loops and no one rips on them for that.

It is hard to believe but Coldplay only has four albums in their catalog. While the show was heavy on Viva la Vida, they played the classic song Clocks, along with In My Place, and Speed of Sound in the first 15 minutes of the show. There is a certain lightness to Coldplay's music and even though they tackle life and death issues on Viva la Vida, they do not take themselves too seriously. As well, the members of the band actually seemed to be enjoying themselves and they enjoyed entertaining the crowd. And entertained we were.

That said, perhaps the highlight of the musical set was their first encore, “Politk” from “A Rush of Blood to the Head.” How do these lyrics strike an American audience less than two weeks away from our historic presidential election?

Look at earth from outer space
Everyone must find their place
Give me time and give me space
Give me real don’t give me fake
Give me strength, reserve control
Give me heart and give me soul
Give me time give us a kiss
Tell me your politik
Open up your eyes…

Give me one 'cause one is best
In confusion, confidence
Give me peace of mind and trust
Don't forget the rest of us
Give me strength, reserve control
Give me heart and give me soul
Wounds that heal and cracks that fix
Tell me your own politik
Open up your eyes....

Here is my only major critique of the concert - Chris Martin has no idea how to leverage a moment. In fact, he seemed uncomfortable when a powerful emotional moment emerged. For example, I believe the song “Fix You” is one of the most powerful songs from this generation of songwriters.

Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face
I promised you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face and I….

And then imagine 17,000 people singing acapella:

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

Powerful – emotionally evocative – perhaps even a transcendent moment for some of us. And Martin, instead of letting us experience the moment deeply, moved quickly into the next song on the setlist, the light, airy, “Strawberry Swing.” This is the kind of thing that separates a pop star from a musical legend. Perhaps Martin will someday grow into this role.

Someday soon, we’ll have a real arena in Pittsburgh and bands like Coldplay will return to the ‘burgh. Until then, I would drive to Cleveland in a heartbeat to see these guys. Viva Coldplay

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Investigate

This week in our Godscaping series,I am speaking on the spiritual practice called examen. As I am reflecting upon this ancient practice, I am also listening to a modern worship song by Delirious called "Investigate." It is inviting me to go to a deeper place with God. Maybe the Spirit is inviting you to a similar place.

Investigate my life and make me clean
Shine upon the darkest place in me
To you my life's an open book
So turn the page and take a look
Upon the life you've made
Always, my days, I'll praise

Fly away, when heaven calls my name
Fly away, I'll never be the same

Investigate, I can't wait
Excavate, re-create

Investigate my life and take me through
Shine upon the road that leads to you
I know you'd heard the words I'd say
Before I'd even lived one day
You knew the life you'd made
Always, my days, I'll praise

Investigate my life and make me clean
Shine upon the darkest place in me
When I go, when I return you've seen your holy fire burn
Upon the life you made



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A Message of Hope and Compassion

Last Sunday our community of faith was privileged to have Princess Zulu from Zambia as a guest speaker for our worship gathering. Princess is an international spokesperson on the global HIV and AIDS pandemic and has had opportunity to tell her story before presidents and prime ministers, kings and queens alike. It truly was a God thing that on World Communion Sunday she was in the gym at Eisenhower Elementary School opening up the Word of God to us.

Princess brought a message of hope and compassion. She retold the Parable of the Good Samaritan from her African perspective and reminded each of us and all of us that our sisters and brothers in Africa are indeed our neighbors who are in deep need. Compassion calls us to "go and do likewise."

You can listen to Princess' message at my audio site, Thinking Out Loud. May her words, in the power of the Spirit, move you into action today.

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A Troubling Week

This has been a deeply troubling week for me. Our nation is reeling economically and the anxiety level is palpable. The non-stop coverage by the media on this issue seems only to fuel the fear and tension. And with 40 some days to the election, the skeptic within me questions how politicized every solution offered actually is (and I write this at 9:25 AM, just minutes before President Bush is slated to make another statement on the bailout plan).

I am not an economist; my understanding of the issues on Wall Street from both a macro and micro level is incredibly limited. I have been accused by some to be both politically and economically naive. That may be true. But I do know that I am deeply troubled this week.$700 billion is a whole lot of money; more money that I can wrap my brain around. And I don't know what would happen (and or will) if the bailout plan isn't resolved quickly.

This recent statement from Bono only adds fuel to the stirring in my soul. He said, "it's extraordinary to me that the United States can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can't find $25 billion dollars to saved 25,000 children who die every day from preventable diseases."

Every Friday I join with people from around the globe and pray the Micah Challenge. "And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8). The Micah Challenge is committed to praying for and working toward a 50% reduction in global poverty by 2015.

Recently, a group of evangelical leaders from the Church in the Global South issued a pastoral letter to the Church in the United States. The letter highlights the great good that the United States has done in the developing world. Millions of lives have been saved through relief and development efforts undertaken by both the US government and through the generosity of both private citizens and the community of faith. This week, as I have been thinking about some of the heroes in our community of faith, I have a great sense of pride and joy in the individuals, families, and groups who are bringing real help and hope to the children of Guraghe, Ethiopia. Through our partnership with World Vision, the root causes of poverty, disease, and death are not only being confronted but being defeated as new life and hope is springing forth.

And yet, despite a commitment we made as a nation to join with other G8 nations to the goal spending 0.7 percent of their GNP on global aid, the United States, is at the bottom of the list of what the G8 nations have contributed toward the reduction of poverty, disease, and death, spending just 0.16 percent of its income on development assistance and poverty reduction.

And so, in the midst of a deeply troubling week, I invite you to prayerfully read this pastoral letter to the Church in the United States. Let us have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.

TO THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES

As the Church of the Lord in what is known as the “Southern” part of the world, moved by the Holy Spirit to fight for the abundant life that Jesus Christ offers, we address our Christian family in the United States, a Church of the same covenant, faith and love. Grace and Peace to all of our brothers and sisters.

We know your works of love; these works have allowed millions of human beings for many generations in our countries in the South to receive the gospel, the Grace of Jesus Christ and the power of His Salvation. The U.S. church’s untiring missionary effort planted in our lands Hope in Him who came to reconcile EVERYTHING.

Nevertheless, the political, social and economic situation in the places where this hope has been announced is increasingly distressing. Millions of people in the global South are dying of hunger, violence and injustice. These situations of poverty and pain are not simply the product of the internal functions of our countries; rather they are the results of the international policies of the governments that wield global power.

Therefore, we have this against you, brothers and sisters, that along with this powerful announcing of the Gospel, the Church from the United States has not also raised its voice in protest against the injustices that powerful governments and institutions are inflicting on the global South - injustices that afflict the lives and ecosystems of millions of people who, centuries after the proclamation of the Gospel, still have not seen the sweat of their brow turned into bread.

The worsening inequality and poverty in the South is alarming. Seven years since the United States and 191 other nations publicly promised to cut extreme global poverty in half by the year 2015 through the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), your country has made only a little progress towards fulfilling its commitments. The MDGs should stir us to action because they echo the calls of the biblical prophets for justice and equity. Further, they are achievable and measurable markers on the roadmap to end extreme global poverty.

And so we ask you as sisters and brothers, citizens of the wealthiest most powerful nation on earth, to publicly challenge your candidates and political leaders – now and after the elections are over - to lead the world in the struggle to cut global poverty in half by 2015. If you who know the Truth will not speak for us who will?

The Church in the United States has the opportunity today to be faithful to the Hope that it preaches. We urge you to remember that the Hope to which you were called as a messenger demands that you seek first the Kingdom of God and God’s justice.

Out of love for us, the global Church, in holiness, use your citizenship responsibly for the benefit of the entire world; it is for this very reason that the Lord poured out His life on the Cross.

All who have ears, let them hear what the Lord says to His Church.

Just One Question

The first presidential debate is less than ONE week away. Take ONE minute to watch the video and ONE minute to act.



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Faith and Politics Reading List

It's that time again in the life cycle of our nation. Election time, that is. Later this month I will be facilitating a series of dialogues for our community of faith on some of the important and hot button issues facing our nation and world - issues on which people of faith sometimes disagree.

In my preparation for this dialogues I am doing some reading and research. Here is my current working bibliography. Do you have any recommendations - any must reads? I would love your input?

• Jesus for President (Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw)
• God and Government (Chuck Colson)
• The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power is Destroying the Church (Gregory A Boyd)
• God's Name in Vain: The Wrongs and Rights of Religion in Politics (Stephen Carter)
• The Future of Faith in American Politics: The Public Witness of the Evangelical Center (David P. Gushee)
• Beyond Left and Right (Amy Black)
• Red Letter Christians (Tony Campolo)
• The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith and Politics in a Post-Religious Right America (Jim Wallis)
• Personal Faith, Public Policy (Tony Perkins and Harry Jackson)
• The Scandal of Evangelical Politics: Why Are Christians Missing the Chance to Really Change the World? (Ronald J. Sider)

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Moving into Neighborhood

This past Saturday our community of faith began work on our Uptown Center, located at 668 Washington Road in Mt Lebanon, PA. This 800 square feet space was previously a retail store featuring finely crafted glass figurines. As you can see from the image, the space currently is a empty shell (you can view additional images at this on-line gallery). But we believe in time it will become an environment where people will connect with God, one another, and our world.

The Uptown Mt Lebanon neighborhood is a vibrant community that is intentionally living into the realities and principles of new urbanism. There is a unique and wonderful fusion of the economic, residential, cultural, and the political orders. An eclectic mix of coffee shops, restaurants, merchants, and helping professions and organizations is embedded into a residential, walking community filled with single family homes, townhouses and condos, and apartment complexes.

Now you might be asking why a church would lease an 800 square foot space in the midst of this type of neighborhood? It certainly isn't a large enough space to become a home for our Sunday worship gatherings. And as much as my wife would like me to have an office outside of our home, a workspace for Marlaena and me is not priority number one. Our hope and prayer for the Uptown Center is that it might become a tangible expression of the kingdom of God in the midst of this neighborhood. Our intention is to join in the work that God is already doing in this neighborhood and by faith, contribute what we can to the promotion of flourishing in this community. And by the grace of God and the empowerment of the Spirit, perhaps God will use us in some way in the work that God is doing to bring all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe together again in Christ.

For me this simple antidote speaks volumes and confirmed to me that we are heading in God's direction with this initiative. On Saturday morning as our first work crew was beginning its labors, one of the neighboring merchants stopped by to welcome us and inquire about our presence in the neighborhood. Steve's first words were to me were, "Moving in?" The full weight of his simple question did not hit me until Tadd, one of the guys on our work crew (and a leadership team member) said to me, "Did you hear what he said? 'Moving in?'"

And in a moment it all made complete sense. As a missisonal community of faith we seek to follow Jesus into the world. And a primary text for us has been Eugene Peterson's rendering of John 1:14:

"The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood."

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What Would You Ask McCain and Obama?

Yesterday I received an email from Rick Warren. No, I do not personally know Rick (although I did meet Rick at the Live 8 event in Philadelphia a couple of years ago and was very impressed by his winsome nature and willingness to spend time with the common people). As a subscriber to Rick's email updates, I along with thousands of other pastors received the following request:

"This next Saturday, August 16, 2008, I will interview Senators John McCain and Barack Obama for an hour each at our nationally televised Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency. The following morning I will be preaching a message entitled “The Kind of Leadership America Needs.” I’d value your opinion and feedback. What question would you ask BOTH candidates if you had the chance? Please frame your question in a way that it could be asked of both candidates (to be fair) and email it to me at pastorrick@saddleback.net. This would be a great help to me."

OK, I have a couple of questions to ask you:

• Should Rick Warren as a pastor be interviewing the two candidates?
• Will you watch the event?
• What question would you ask BOTH candidates if you had the chance?

I would love to hear your thoughts about this historic event.

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Blessed with Discomfort, Anger, Tears, and Foolishness

This morning I have been taking some time to process through my experience at this year's Leadership Summit. Once again, it was an amazing, inspiring, informative, and transformative event. It was a gift to share the Summit with other members of our leadership community and I look forward to enlarging the number of summit attenders next August (mark your calenders now August 6-7, 2009).

I took a ton of notes throughout the two day event as I find the environment to be highly stimulating in terms of both my receptivity to God and to the generation of fresh ideas. My notes take the form of both speaker content and the brainstorming of new approaches and fresh ways f living out both my personal and our communal mission. Today as I reviewed my notes from the first three sessions, I discovered fifteen integration and action steps. Some of these are small and can be acted upon with a phone call, email, tweak in my schedule or face to face encounter with a friend. Others will require more time, space, energy and prayer. And a few will take a lifetime perhaps to flesh out. I look forward to sharing some of this along the way here at my site.

For today, I wanted to leave you with a prayer that one of the Summit speakers, Craig Groeschel prayed over us at the end of his session on IT. It is a Franciscan blessing that, in a sense, summaries my experience at this year's Summit and captures my heart for the ongoing journey with Christ.

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 from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain in to joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

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Staying Connected to Hope

This is the second post on Nancy Ortberg's new book on leadership, "Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands." Ortberg posits the thesis that hope is the core of leadership. She writes, "Few leaders I know have taken seriously the power of hope and done whatever they can to infuse it into their people. I'm not talking about mindless, inauthentic, cheer-leading hope. Real hope is a potent force and when it sits at the center of things it becomes an epicenter. "

As I reflect upon Ortberg's words, Bill Hybels' voice echoes in the background. I remember hearing him speak at the very first Leadership Summit in the mid '90's. He stated two things at that Summit that have been imprinted upon my mind and heart:

• the Church is the hope of the world
• the Church is the most leadership extension organization in the world
  

(BTW: I am looking forward to getting recalibrated at this year's Leadership Summit which will take place on Thursday and Friday).

The heart of this post is our need as leaders to stay connected to hope. Ortberg writes:

"It is critical for leaders to do whatever they can to stay connected to hope and to drink deeply from its well. We need to find new ways to live that renew the life of God in us because the life of God is a life of hope - a meal that sustains."

How do you stay connected to hope? Here are a few of the things I try to do on a regular basis:

• listen to life-giving, hopeful music (for example right now I am listening to Jars of Clay new EP, "Closer" and Third Day's, "Call My Name")
• spend time with hopeful people
• exposing myself to new ideas or old ideas recast in new ways from fresh voices
• taking the time, place and space to think and dream and imagine
• leveraging my gifts and seeing the difference it can make
• pray the Morning Office
  

What are some of the things you do to stay connected to hope? What practices, rhythms, or relationships nourish you and invite you to drink deeply from the well of hope?

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The Core of Leadership - Hope

This week I began reading a new book on leadership. It's written by Nancy Ortberg and is entitled, "Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands: Lessons in Non-Linear Leadership." I have been a fan of Nancy's since her days as a teacher and leader at Willow Creek. Since she and her husband John left Willow in 2004, Nancy has been working as a leadership consultant with her company Teamworx2, along with teaching at both Menlo Park Church and conferences around the globe.

This is a different kind of book on leadership. First off, it is written by a woman. Honestly, how many books on leadership on your shelf have been authored by a female? (If you have read some good ones, please make some recommendations). Second, it takes a non-linear approach to leadership. What does that mean? Well first off, the chapters are not numbered. That might give you a clue. As well, Ortberg emphasizes culture over systems and believes that good leaders must attend to creating cultures that help people flourish.

In one of the early chapters (remember no chapter numbers-only titles), Ortberg suggests that the core of leadership is hope. She writes, “Leadership is the hope that we can change things that need to be changed and create what we cannot now imagine. Hope gives us the courage to move forward, the power to forgive, and the grace to keep the promises we have made.” As I read her words about hope, three leaders from the African America community came quickly to mind. Martin Luther King Jr. writings and sermons have been gathered into a collection entitled “A Testament of Hope.” Jesse Jackson’s mantra to this day has been “keep hope alive.” And Barack Obama inspires people with “the audacity of hope.” Ortberg compares hope to a bone marrow transplant. Hope invades and permeates; it releases from cynicism and doubt. It is stronger than the fear that can hold people captive. Hope changes everything.

What do you think about Nancy's assertion and thesis? What do you think is at the core of leadership?

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Happy Birthday Mandela!

Last year during my visit to Ethiopia I had the amazing honor and wonderful privilege of meeting Mandela, an twelve year old boy living in the Guraghe region of Ethiopia along with his father. Mandela is our family's World Vision sponsored child and over the past nine months we have exchanged letters, pictures, and prayers. Well, today is a very special day - today is Mandela's thirteenth birthday. Happy birthday Mandela!

Our sponsorship of Mandela is part of World Vision's Hope Child Initiative. The AIDS pandemic is the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time. This fact does not imply that the developmental issues are unimportant; it simply recognizes that AIDS makes everything else worse. AIDS endangers a family's health, a child's future, and a community's efforts to have a reliable food source, clean water, education, and economic development. As people become sick and die, there are fewer teachers, workers, and community leaders available. This pandemic impacts the entire community but is especially devastating for the children. Each month our $35 sponsorship helps bring real change for Mandela, his family, and the people of his community. Access to clean water, education, food security, health care, and real help and hope for people living with the reality of HIV and AIDS. (You can learn more about our partnership by visiting Venti Africa).

Recently, in honor of Mandela's 13th birthday my son Sam made a special gift of $135. Through this gift World Vision was able to bless both Mandela and his community. Mandela received a sports uniform, plastic shoes and rubber boots and best of all - a goat! As well his school received building supplies that will help them provide a quality education to the boys and girls of his community.

Last evening I read these convicting words from Mother Theresa, "You may not be able to feed 100 children, but you can feed one."

Would you consider sponsoring a Hope Child in Guraghe? You can learn more about it on the World Vision site. Or drop me a comment and I would be glad to help you make the connection. And if you already are a sponsor, make a special gift to your child and his or her community. Together we can create a better future for the children of Guraghe.

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It's a Rollin' Gospel Revival!

On Saturday August 2 the Church Basement Road Show will be rollin into Pittsburgh. A biodiesel fueled RV loaded with three of the most outspoken emergent church leaders and authors will crisscross the country this summer in “The Church Basement Roadshow: A Rollin’ Gospel Revival.” The tour featuring Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt and Mark Scandrette will hit thirty-two cities across the U.S., with a message that combines old time revival flair with a 21st century gospel. They’ll preach, sing and sell healing balm in church basements from San Diego to New York.

Jones, author of The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier; Pagitt, author of A Christianity Worth Believing; and Scandrette, author of Soul Graffiti: Making a Life in the Way of Jesus, are part of the emergent movement, a decade-old phenomenon of pastors, missionaries, artists, theologians, authors and “regular people” who are rethinking church and Christianity for a globalized world. Controversial for their “nothing is too sacred to be questioned” doctrine, Jones, Pagitt, and Scandrette have acquired many fans and critics based on their writings.

“This summer will be a defining time,” says Pagitt, “As we take our invitation of hope and good news to people around the country. We’re preaching a fresh way of life and faith – one that is in rhythm with the life of God.”

Taking a page out of the Billy Sunday playbook, the authors will spread the emergent message of a generous, hope-filled Christian faith in the style and cadence of the tent revival preachers of a hundred years ago. They plan to have fun with it, wearing frock suits and selling “healing balm,” but the goal is, as in the revivals of yore, to preach the good news.

“This will be unlike any book tour people have seen,” said Jones. “We’ll be barnstorming the country, shaking the rafters with our ancient-future message of hope.”

“People will laugh and sing,” Scandrette added, “But they’ll also be challenged to join the Jesus Revolution.”

The Church Basement Roadshow will make its stop in Pittsburgh at the Hot Metal Faith Community (27th and Jane in the Southside). It all begins at 7 PM. There is a $10 donation and plenty of healing balm to go around.



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Grace

Marla at Coffee Shop Journal turned me on to Wordle. Wordle describes itself as a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

This Sunday in our worship series, "What Do You Love About Jesus?" we will be focusing upon the idea of grace. One of the most significant texts on grace in the New Testament is found in Ephesians 2:8-10:

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. "

These are familar words to many in the church and I know that at times I can become too familar with certain texts of Scripture - too familar in the sense that I miss the power, beauty, mystery, majesty and well, grace that they contain. I wordled (is that a word) Ephesians 2:8-10 and the image in this post is what Wordle generated (click here for a larger view).

It has been interesting to see how this simple tool has captured my attention today and helped me "see" God's word in a new light. perhaps you will see something fresh as well.

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Outcomes for Africa - The 2008 G8 Summit

From the ONE Blog.

African development was again the subject of G8 discussions as world leaders gathered in Toyako, Hokkaido in northern Japan from July 7-9 for the 2008 G8 Summit. While the G8 was confronted with multiple global challenges, including climate change and a weakening global economy, the 2008 Hokkaido Summit marked an important “mid point” moment in the fight against poverty. The Hokkaido Summit came at the critical halfway point to both the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the G8 Gleneagles promises to Africa. The G8 are dangerously behind on their landmark commitments to the region, having delivered only $3 billion of the promised $25 billion in additional assistance to Africa by 2010, according to the 2008 DATA Report.

After difficult negotiations, the G8 summit yielded small gains for the poorest. The bulk of G8 agreements on development and Africa and food security reiterated previous pledges rather than outlining new measures to get the group back on track. The G8 did announce plans for a new effort to tackle the global food crisis, though more details are needed to ensure its effectiveness and delivery. They highlighted the UN High-level meeting on the MDGs in September as an important opportunity to review progress and identify actions needed to overcome remaining challenges.

At a time when G8 credibility is at risk due to slow progress in delivering on commitments, there was a strong call for greater accountability in the G8 Communique. The G8 agreed to track progress against previous commitments in health, education, water and agriculture, as well as its compliance with anti-corruption measures.

Overall, the US, UK and Germany provided strong leadership in negotiations and have significantly increased their funding for Africa in recent years.

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A Simple Request to the G8

Aid for Africa — and whether enough was coming from the world’s major economic powers — was in the spotlight Monday as the Group of Eight nations met with seven African leaders at its annual summit.

African aid was the centerpiece of the G-8 summit three years ago in Gleneagles, Scotland, where leaders pledged to increase foreign aid by $50 billion a year by 2010 — with half of that going directly to Africa — and to cancel the debt of the most heavily indebted poor nations.

Collectively, the G-8 has delivered just $3 billion of the $25 billion in additional aid pledged to Africa in 2005, according to DATA, which stands for Debt, AIDS and Trade in Africa, a group founded by U2 singer Bono and music producer Bob Geldof, both of whom are active in campaigns for Africa. Germany, the U.S. and Britain were following through on commitments, while progress from Japan, France, Italy and Canada was either unclear or weak, DATA said.

2008 is a landmark year in the fight against poverty and disease. The world is halfway to 2015 when the Millennium Goals must be achieved, but Africa is perilously off track. 2008 is also the halfway point between 2005 and 2010 when many G8 promises to Africa must be met such as the commitment to provide an additional $25 billion in effective aid for Africa. The G8 are dangerously behind on these landmark commitments.

In 2008, G8 leaders have the opportunity -- and responsibility -- to put weight behind their words. THE ONE Campaign is making one simple request to the G8 leadership and is inviting others to join in this request. The petition to the G8 leadership reads:

“We call upon you to build on recent success in fighting extreme poverty by delivering your commitments on healthcare, agriculture and education and by helping citizens in developing countries in their efforts to improve governance and fight corruption.”

You can add your voice and make this simple request to the G8 leaders by clicking here.

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Where the Light Is

I am not a big fireworks kind of guy - in fact I usually skip them and find some alternative activity to engage in. How many times can watch fireworks? The same thing over and over again; I just don't get it. Thousands of dollars exploding in the sky - I can think of a ton of better ways to expend the money. I know this is blasphemous - especially in Pittsburgh, but I just don't get it.

This year on July 4th, I think I will engage in some musical fireworks. I'm planning on watching "Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles."

The movie presents, as Mayer puts it, "the three incarnations of John Mayer:" an acoustic set, a set from the John Mayer Trio, and a set with his full band. 22 songs from "Neon" to "Belief" and a whole lot in between.

My daughter Hannah turned me on to John Mayer a number of years ago - she saw him in a small club here in Pittsburgh long before he was a popstar. She ought to be in the music industry as she has an uncanny ability to recoginze musical talent and star power long before the mainstream population.

I know Mayer gets ripped on an awful lot. But I enjoy his stuff - he knows how to write a great hook, he can make the guitar sing and he has surrounded himself with some amazing musicians.

So what will you be doing this fourth of July? What kind of fireworks will be happening in your life?

Just keep me where the light is....

Healthy Dialogue

I didn't sleep much on Tuesday evening. My restlessness wasn't caused by anxiety or worry. And while the iced coffee I had at 7 PM may have contributed to it, I really don't think that was the primary reason either.

You see on Tuesday evening I gathered with six other members of our faith community at Uptown Coffee in Mt Lebanon for the first of five summer conversations on the gospel and culture. I walked away from our two hour conversation energized, invigorated, hopeful, and proud. Proud that people with different backgrounds, life experiences and perspectives could engage in thoughtful, honest, open and searching dialogue.

Central to our discussion was the idea of worldview. Is there such a thing as a "Christian worldview?" Or might it be better to think about developing and nurturing a biblically faithful worldview?

I was especially proud of my people in light of some of the mud slinging that is going on this week. Perhaps some of our national leaders could learn some lessons by joining us at the table.

If you are interested, here is a brief description of the conversations.

What is the Gospel? How do we understand the story of God's salvation history and what impact does that have upon they way we live our lives in the world today? Where and how does the Gospel interact with our culture and what is our role as ambassadors for Christ in the south hills of Pittsburgh and beyond?

This summer you are invited to join in a series of conversations about these and other important questions. Our series of discussions will be based upon five Fermi Project Shorts - commissioned essays created and designed to keep the People of God informed and exposed to the ideas shaping our context and the opportunity for cultural influence. Each week we will learn together from some of the sharpest thinkers and practitioners in the Church today and from one another as we discuss together how to connect with God, one another, and our world in a deeper way. Our schedule and topics include:

June 24: Living the Gospel in Culture
July 1: The Problem of Good
July 8: Post Modern Wells
July 15: Glocalization: Engaging a Flat World
July 23: Picture Justice: Embracing a Global Neighborhood

If you are in the neighborhood, why not stop by and join us? Next Tuesday we will be discussing, "The Problem of Good." Be forewarned: you just might lose a little bit of sleep.

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My Beloved and My Friend

Today is a special day for me and my bride. Today we celebrate 27 years of marriage. Outside of the gift of salvation in Christ, Patty has been God's richest gift to me and in so many ways, season by season, she has been a flesh and blood manifestation of the grace and goodness of God to me.

Knowing I would be awake long before her, she placed a card on top of my Mac last night (as well she sent me an email at 12:54 AM). The card contained these powerful words from the Song of Songs which describe the heartbeat of our relationship:

"This is my beloved, this is my friend..."(Song of Solomon 5:16)

Love you babe! Happy anniversary!

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Not in Vain

These words from NT Wright's book "Surprised by Hope" have provided great encouragement to me this week. What do you think about them? How is God using them to speak into your life?

"What you do in the Lord is not in vain. You are not oiling the wheels of a machine thats about to roll over a cliff. You are not restoring a great painting that's shortly going to be thrown on the fire. You are not planting roses in a garden that's about to be dug up for a building site. You are - strange through it may seem, almost as hard to believe as the resurrection itself - accomplishing something that will become in due course part of God's new world. Every act of love, gratitude, and kindness; every work of art or music inspired by the love of God abd delight in the beauty of His creation; every minute spent teaching a severely handicapped child to read or walk; every act of care and nurture, of comfort and support, for one's fellow human beings and for that matter one's fellow non-human creatures; and of course, every prayer, all Spirit-led teaching, every deed that spreads the gospel, builds up the church, embraces and embodies holiness rather than corruption, and makes the name of Jesus honored in the world - all of this will find its way, through the resurrecting power of God, into the new creation that one day God will make...What we do by the Spirit in the present is not wasted. It will last all the way into God's new world. In fact it will be enhanced there. (Surprised by Hope, 208)

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:58)

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Mustard Seeds and Soccer Balls

Jesus said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade." (Mark 4:30-32)

Yesterday in our worship gathering I shared some reflections on “creating the future one mustard seed at a time.” I lifted that phrase from Tom Sine and his latest book, The New Conspirators. In the forward to the book, Sine quotes Shane Claiborne (who is actually quoting songwriter Martyn Joseph’s song, “Strange Way”):

“What a strange way to start a revolution. . . And what a strange way to end a world tour.” We worship the seed that died. The revolution will not be televised. It will not be brought to you by Fox News with commercial interruptions. It will not be sandwiched between ads to accelerate you life or be all you can be. There will be no re-runs. The revolution will be live. The revolution will be in the streets. The revolution will be cleaning toilets and giving another blanket to Karen. The revolution will not be talking about poverty in hotel banquet rooms. It will be eating beans and rice with Ms. Sunshine and watching Back to the Future with our neighbor Mary. Get ready, friends… God is preparing us for something really, really - small.

Eugene Peterson reminds us that “the metaphors Jesus used for ministry are frequently images of the single, the small and the quiet, which have effects far in excess of their appearance: salt, leaven, and the seed.”

World Vision has launched an opportunity to bless children and their communities one soccer ball at a time. Children love soccer. But many of the world's children live in poverty and have never played with a real toy — let alone a real soccer ball. Instead, they play with balls made of rags, banana leaves, or wads of plastic tied together with string. I see a soccer ball as a mustard seed – a small, seemingly insignificant thing – when given in faith, hope, and love it can bring blessing, joy, and help advance the kingdom. I know firsthand the difference a soccer ball can make. I had the privilege of sharing one with my sponsored child, Mandela during my visit to Ethiopia. It was a true joy for me to kick it around with him. And I pray often for him and ask that every time Mandela kicks that ball he would know in some way that there is a God who loves him dearly.

World Vision’s goal is to place 75,000 soccer balls on the feet of children around the globe. You could be a part of the solution. You can make a donation on-line - $16 will provide two new soccer balls. Or if you are in the Pittsburgh area, let me know and I would be glad to collect your gift and deliver it to the World Vision Distribution Center in Sewickley.

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Hard Driven-Ness or the Spirit's Gentle Wind?

Loved this reflection from today's prayer update from the Micah Challenge.

‘Our current political crisis is obviously not going to be solved by the usual tools with which we engage the powers. As with much of our life these days, we are stumped, baffled by all the technological changes around us side by side with the persistence of ancient wrongs that would not yield to all our efforts at social engineering.

That’s the conclusion that Dr Melba Maggay draws on the situation in the Philippines. She continues to ask: ‘As people of God, what does the Lord require of us in a time such as this?’

The prophet Micah answered with ‘peasant bluntness’ to the same question that was asked by the people of Israel in similar times as ours in Micah 6: 1-8.

‘There is no divorce between concern for justice and personal righteousness, governance and giving, liberation and loving acts of mercy…..Most of all, we walk with God, who is the source of all life and meaning. Without him, we become mere activists who degenerate into judge and executioner of those who don’t happen to fit our ideal social order, or mere social workers who get burnt out by do-gooding. Again and again, we need to ask: ‘where does the power come from?’ Is the force coming from a hard driven-ness or the Spirit’s gentle wind beneath our wings?’

Lord, save us from being mere activists and let us be driven by the Spirit of God in our actions.

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The Myth of More

During the past month our faith community has been in a series of worship gatherings called, "The Big Give." We intentionally tied this series to the economic stimulus plan and it is our hope and prayer that through the series compassion might be unleashed among our community and that our generosity quotient might increase.

Yesterday we looked at Jesus' teaching in Luke 12 and the Parable of the Rich Fool:

The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'


This is one of Jesus' masterful stories and during our worship gathering I invited our community to write an alternative ending to the story ending to this parable. "The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest . . ." In just a few moments some powerful ideas came forth:

• The rich man instituted a profit sharing plan for his employees...
• The rich man shared with the poor of his community, together they strengthened their village therefore having the power to withstand outside attacks...
• three ghosts appeared to the rich man...
• the rich man became bored with his wealth and was stirred to consider his ways and discover a new path for his life...

What kind of ending would you suggest?

The reality is that we all have the opportunity on a regular basis to live out this parable. As people of affluence we have all experienced an abundant harvest. What story are you writing with your life in regard to your possessions - your time, talents and treasures?

We opened the message up yesterday considering the words of Rene Padilla. This video, "Consuming Culture" is one segment of a three-part series that is available from The Work of the People. I love one of his opening questions: "do you live to possess or possess in order to live?" Take a listen and I would love to get your feedback on his perspective on our consumer culture.



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Leadership Lessons from Sid the Kid

One of my personal commitments is to be a life long learner. I love Martha Stewart's advice, "learn something new every day." I have been a student of leadership for many years and while I have learned a great deal from serious research and scholarly writing, I have discovered that some of the best lessons are right in front of me, hidden as gems in everyday life.

Last night I learned something from Sidney Crosby. It has been an amazing spring season of hockey as the Pittsburgh Penguins have had an incredible run to the Stanley Cup Finals. First the Ottawa Senators went down in four straight, followed by the New York Rangers in five and the hated Flyers in five as well. All that stands in the way of Lord Stanley's cup returning to the 'Burgh are the Detroit Red Wings.

No one thought this would be easy, but. Last night the Pens returned to Pittsburgh down two games to none. Not only did they lose the first two games played in Detroit, they were serious ass kickings. Completely outmatched and outmuscled, the Pens waddled home and even serious fans wondered if they would ever even score a goal, yet alone win a game.

There is a good reason why the “C” rests on Sid’s sweater. It’s not because he is the best hockey player in the world (though he arguably may be); it is because he leads by example. Sometimes leaders need to keep their mouth shut and simply get it done. Sid is not known as a pure goal scorer; he is much more gifted at setting his teammates up and racking up amazing assist totals. And the Penguins have won a lot of games in that manner. But last night he would not be denied. The Pens would score and Sid literally willed the puck into the net and turned the red light on, not once, but twice. And in so doing he led his team to a 3-2 victory.

Today I realized that I have been doing too much talking about a couple of things. Sid the Kid reminded me that maybe I should just shut my mouth and simply do it. It is amazing what you can learn from twenty year old.

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Knowing-Doing Gap (Part 2)

If you will look closely at this picture, you will see that there are people who do not believe I have resolved my guitar crush. Guitar be loosed!

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A Prayer for Our World

On Fridays I join with other sisters and brothers from around the globe to pray the Micah Challenge. The Micah Challenge is part of a global Christian campaign and its aims are to deepen engagement with impoverished and marginalized communities, to challenge leaders to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and so halve absolute global poverty by 2015! The Micah Challenge USA is a movement of Churches, organizations, Schools, families, and individuals united by their desire to see the end of Extreme Global Poverty.

Each Friday an update is forwarded by Regine Nagel, Micah Challenge’s national campaigns coordinator, and prayers are focused around one of the MDG goals. Today's focus: Goal 2 which is to ensure access to primary schooling for all children. One of the targets is to ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling. The good news is that in the past seven years 40 million more children are in school and the gender disparity in primary and secondary schools has declined by 60 percent, but yet 75 million children remain out of school. When Barb and I were in Ethiopia, we experienced this reality - the blessing of seeing both boys and girls attending school and the reality that many children (for a number of reasons) to not have access as of yet to a simple, foundational education.

Today's prayer focus included a reflection written by Peter Grieg that was based upon the Lord's Prayer. As you consider all that is going on around the globe right now, both near and far and everywhere in-between, may these words enflame our hearts and embolden our actions.

"Our Father, holy and awesome is your name.
Your Kingdom come and your will be done on this broken earth,
as it is in the Heavens.

Have mercy on the millions of families oppressed by:
disease, disaster, unjust laws, poor living conditions or the destruction of their environment.

Forgive us Father for not considering how our choices affect them.

Move our hearts, enlighten our minds and stir our spirits to pray.

Help us to:
Act justly,
Love mercy
And walk humbly with you.

We volunteer.
Motivate us to become the answer to the prayers on our lips

In You is the power,
With You there can be change,
Through us make it happen;

Amen."

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The Knowing-Doing Gap

During a run today I loaded up a message from John Ortberg on my iPod. It was the first in a new series of teachings they are doing at Menlo Park Church based upon the Sermon on the Mount; the series is called, "The World's Greatest Talk." I really appreciate John's teaching and over the years I have learned a great deal from him - not only about theology, the Scriptures and the kingdom of God, but about the art of communication as well. John is a masterful communicator and his grasp of the Scriptures and understanding of the interworkings of the human psyche make for some powerful messages.

John referenced a study that was done a number of years ago by a couple Stanford Business School professors, Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton. The results of the study eventually ended up in a book, “The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action.” Here’s the essence of it:

The most menacing phenomenon most organizations face is the knowing-doing gap, where knowledge is not implemented. This phenomenon costs billions of dollars and failures of all kinds. The world is full of knowledge experts but short on doers who can implement knowledge personally and/or organizationally. The most destructive aspect of the knowing-doing gap is the substitution of various talking activities for action where myriad members of the organizations make decisions that change nothing.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the knowing-doing gap only existed in organizational life? Unfortunately, most of us know all to well that it exists in our own life experience. I got smacked round a bit today by the reality of the knowing-doing gap.

A couple of weeks ago at a music rehearsal, I broke a string on the acoustic guitar I was playing. Instead of taking the time to change the string, Joe simply handed me another guitar to carry me through. I had never played the guitar before, but immediately fell in love with it. A black Godin ACOUSTICASTER - a serious guitar crush if you will. This morning I began to fantasize about the guitar. I imagined the amazing songs I could play on it and the sounds it would produce. I imagined how cool it would look - actually how cool I would look if I were playing it (you never knew I was so shallow).

Now you might be thinking, what’s the big deal. Here’s the big deal. Our community of faith is in the midst of a series of worship gatherings wrapped around the theme, “The Big Give.” The purpose of the series is to see compassion unleashed and to help our community grow in our generosity quotient. Guess who is doing the teaching? I have been challenging our community to face the demons of consumerism and to give stuff away.And I had even spent much of the morning reflected upon these words from 1 Timothy 6:17-19:

“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”

And all I could think of was a way to obtain this guitar.

It was a good thing I listened to John’s message this afternoon and as I heard these familiar words of Jesus, I realized afresh the knowing-doing gap in my life needs to be confronted head on.

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." (Matthew 7:24-27)

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Gift Card Giver (A Personal Giving Project)

Right now our community of faith is in the midst of a series entitled "The Big Give." The genesis of the series was the Federal Government's economic stimulus plan which included included the distribution of tax rebate checks. Over the next three months, the US Treasury Department will distribute more than $110 billion to 130 million taxpayers. What will you be doing with your check? Spending it, saving it, paying off debt, giving it away? The series has been designed to help us develop a biblical mindset in regard to our possessions and my hope and prayer is that compassion will be unleashed among our people and that our community will grow in our generosity quotient (gq).

One of the things we are doing is spending some quality time in the Scriptures. You can check out some of the teaching I have done in this series on our audio site "Thinking Out Loud." The second component is something we are calling a personal giving project (PGJ). What is a PGJ? The name pretty much sums it up. It is personal - what might God be placing on your heart right now? A person, place, or specific ministry or organization. It involves giving - our time, talent and treasure. And it is a project. It should involve more than just writing a check. God wants to do something IN us as well as THROUGH us. This is an opportunity to stretch and grow and experience a measure of true transformation.

Let me share a cool personal giving project that was started by Jeff Shinabager. Jeff was one of the organizers of Q and there he shared the story of Gift Card Giver. Jeff and his wife had an idea to collect gift cards and give them to people in need. They were sitting at a table during a wedding reception and they asked the 8 other people sitting with them how much money they had in their wallets of unused gift cards; they soon walked away with $50 in gift cards to help people in need. GiftCardGiver was born.

The gift card industry is huge. Some estimate it as a $45 billion enterprise. Ever wonder how many gift cards are unused? At least 10%. That means billions of money is being wasted and could be used to help bless people.

How many gift cards do you have sitting in your wallet or purse? My guess is you have at least $5 of unused gift cards in your wallet or purse right now. What’s $5 going to buy you? $5in gift cards might buy you a pair of socks…but 10 people giving $5 will buy a kid a winter coat or 100 people giving $5 from Home Depot will give that same kid a warm bedroom to sleep through the night. Get the idea?

Here's the process:
STEP 1: Use as much of your card as you want.
STEP 2: Write how much is left on your card using a permanent marker.
STEP 3: place the card in an envelope and send it to Gift Card Giver at:

Gift Card Giver
490 East Side Ave SE
Atlanta, GA 30316

Questions? Check out their FAQ at Gift Card Giver.

This is an example of a small idea and concept that has unleashed comapssion and helped people grow in the generosity quotient (GQ). What might God be stirring up inside you?

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Azzeria

Yesterday I spent about six hours in one of my favorite spots in the south hills of Pittsburgh: Azzeria. It is a great place and operates on both sides of Banksville Road - one location during the daylight hours and the other during the late afternoon and evening rush.

I began my morning with a strong cup of coffee and conversation with two of my Venti Africa partners, Barb and Marilyn. We also feasted on some amazing breakfast panini, egg, cheese, roasted tomatoes, all wood-fired and so tasty!

After our meeting I spent a couple of hours crafting my message for Sunday. This is week three of "The Big Give," and we'll be exploring the big idea that we are blessed to be a blessing. Scott Hodge turned me on to some software that I am been playing with this week. It's called MindManager (no jokes about my mind needed managed, thank you!) and it enables you to create visual maps of meetings, projects, and even Sunday morning messages. Azzeria is a great environment for me to work in as it is open and bright, they always are playing great music, their wi-fi is always functioning, and Gary, Mike, and the rest of the staff have the good sense of intuition to know when their customers need some space or need some conversation and interaction to keep the creative juices flowing.

Around 1:30 PM, Patty, Nathan and Hannah joined me for lunch. Azzeria's white pizza is simply the best (Hannah made the wise choice of a chicken pesto panini and as someone who has been to Italy recently she gave it rave reviews). And even though Azzeria is BYODC (bring your own diet coke) you can't find a better place to enjoy good food, good people, and good space to create.

Where's your favorite spot to eat, work, and connect with people?

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