Category Archives: church

It's Simple But it's Good

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Six years of education centered around theology, eight years of college level education overall, working in Portugal as a missionary for two years, working for six years starting a new faith community, and beginning a new and different movement here in downtown Vancouver…and my greatest insight, the thing that has struck me the most, what I’ve learned most through my crisis with cancer is that the “good news” is…well…good. When it’s lived out (particularly when it is lived out radically) it is tangibly good to those who experience or observe it. For someone who considers themselves a follower of Jesus this should be common sense, “duh”, obviously, of course-type of information. And yet, and yet…AND YET it is not so commonly experienced! I see far too many people who are followers of Jesus and yet seem to not experience the goodness of it themselves! They equate following Jesus with going to church, they equate it with a system of rules, with a system of morality, etc. While I believe church is a part of the goodness of following Jesus, and while I believe that Jesus invites us to say “no” to certain things…the reality is that when those things are the core to your belief I think you’ve missed the boat! You’ve missed what’s so good about the “good news”.  Going to church isn’t good news–being a part of a community of people who love you no matter what, who will be honest with you, who care for you, and who invite you to learn to reciprocate–that’s good news! Understanding yourself by what you say no to is not good news to anyone (unless you’re a seeker of control)–but learning to say no to things that are destructive to self and others–that’s good news!

Simply put, good news is good. Its tangibly good. It’s noticeably good. It’s nearly irresistibly good. It’s attractively good. And it took me getting cancer to really believe, see, and experience this.

Jesus invites us into a life that the Bible refers to as gospel (good news) and I hope it doesn’t take you getting cancer to truly and honestly believe it in all its beautiful simplicity.

Reflections from Camp

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Yesterday turned out to be quite the day full of surprises. The family got up early and readied ourselves to drive up to Camp Yamhill and crash the camp that happens every labor day weekend called Faith Quest. It’s a gathering of 500 teens and chaperons up in the beautiful forest centered around the simple message of Jesus. It’s not one of those freaky camps they make documentaries about but a genuine and valuable expression of community gathered around a common hope. But to be honest our family was headed up there for the day ’cause there were about thirty or forty people I wanted to hug and we knew we could pawn off my kids on grandma and grandpa who were up there already.

Driving up to the camp was surreal because it was one year ago at this exact moment that I was a keynote speaker engaging in dialog with these kids about Jesus–but what was surreal was to realize how much has changed between now and then–to realize how little was known at this exact moment one year prior. It was a strange feeling.

Within moments of arrival we were overwhelmed with hugs, with love from a community that we only seem to see on Facebook, and it was overwhelmingly glorious. Thank you!

Within the first forty-five minutes I was asked if I would share with the camp some of my story from the last four months. It caught me off guard a bit, but at the same time I realized that it would be the first time in this whole process (at least post surgery) that I’d actually spoken publicly in any format. It felt right and there was no doubt in my mind that I needed to share.

Sitting on stage with my wife three hours later it was cathartic to be able to tell the teens that life sucks sometimes (or rather to claim with the teens the reality that life is effed up. Teenagers know this already don’t they? What person in their right mind wants to go back to being in high school or jr. high?) Like I’ve blogged about I went ahead and asked the question “where’s the hope?” Is there only hope in healing? Can there be hope in death? And we talked candidly for twenty minutes about my God’s promise to transform ashes into beauty, sorrow into joy, crap into something beautiful. The hope is in the story that God is able to tell if we let him in the midst of the good, the bad, and the ugly of life.

I don’t know if any kids heard me or if there was anything to hear, but it was good for me…and I think that’s enough.

Then those stupid kids passed around stupid buckets collected up a couple of thousand of dollars in about ten minutes time to help cover our medical costs. Seriously? What kind of teens have that cash? And why do people keep giving so generously to us? And why do I still hate it? (this is me trying to say thank you…I’m still learning)

Our kids had so much fun and played so well that eventually we just put ’em to be and Jess and I stuck around ’till midnight (long 1.5 hour drive home though!). While the kiddos slept we sang lyrics that made me cry like a baby ’cause I was still thinking a lot about death.

“Blessed be your name when the road is marked with suffering, when there’s pain in the offering blessed be your name.”

“There’s a stirring deep within me, could it be my time has come? When I’ll see my gracious savior face to face when all is done.”

“Wake up O sleeper, rise up from the dead and the light of Christ will shine.”

What an unexpected day filled with surprises. Thank you.

 

Joining the Dispatch Fun?

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Since January of 2009 I have put together a monthly (OK, maybe it doesn’t always turn out to be monthly, but that was the goal!) newsletter. It has morphed and changed over the years as much as I myself have changed and become a different person focused on different things. Today I refer to it as a Dispatch from Downtown as it chronicles the activity and dreaming of the Grassroots Conspiracy movement that we are a part of starting here in downtown Vancouver, WA.

One of my goals is to not just tell you about what we are doing but to allow you space to enter into some of the life and movement of our downtown community. Therefore much of the content in these Dispatches is written by amazing individuals from our neighborhood who are living and dreaming the Conspiracy into reality. As I spend the next week putting the finishing touches on June’s Dispatch from Downtown I want to invite anyone and everyone who is interested to sign-up to receive it! If you’ve been following my blog and our journey through all this health stuff then you’re fully aware that what there truly is amazing things happening here in downtown Vancouver. There really is a Grassroots Conspiracy emerging where a whole community is developing around the Jesus idea of love, compassion, dying to self, and generosity…I just never expected or intended to be the guinea pig in the middle experiencing it all! I thought I would be the one doing it but instead I’m the one receiving it!

So my invitation to you is if you are not currently signed up to hear the stories, to read the report of the amazing things going on I would be remiss if I did not invite you to join in the fun! So below is a quick and easy way to join. Oh, and please feel free to invite your neighbors, friends, co-workers, aunts, uncles, chia pets, second cousins twice removed, mothers, fathers, and small little babies to join in the fun too. The story is getting too good to miss out on!
peace.

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It's All About People

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I’m making this up, but I think I’m right.

If you’re in business then it’s easy to think that it’s about the bottom line. It’s about income and expenditures. If you make more than you spend in a consistent, ethical, and reproducible way you should be good to go.

If you’re into religion it’s easy to think that it’s about figuring out what’s right. Its about the right religion or the right path. If you’re following a religion that is right and leads to outcomes that resonate with your definition of rightness then you should be good to go.

If you’re into philosophy then it’s easy to think that its all about thinking rightly. Right outcomes are less important than right processes that develop people along a pathway of consistency (I think. Honestly I get very lost in philosophy).

If you’re into art and creative expression then its easy to think that its all about freedom. It’s about the freedom to express who you are, what you see (or do not see) in the world, and to bring a voice to what might be left blank otherwise.

If you’re into education then its easy to think that it’s all about gaining information. The more we know the more power we have over our choices and our future. Knowing more gives us greater power, control, freedom, responsibility, and a whole host of valuable and important things.

If you’re into humanitarian work it’s easy to think that its all about fixing things. You recognize that the world is broken and your heart does not let you go on without being a part of the solution. So you build wells, you organize soup kitchens, and you care for the broken people and systems in our world ’till they are fixed.

Each and every one of those is of huge value (though I know that we each will value one much more highly than another!). But none of those are enough. None of those outcomes stand.

Because it’s all about people.

Actually, let me back up one more step. It’s all about this radical Latin phrase called the Imago Dei–that humanity is indelibly marked with the image of God. That you, I, him, her, that dude, that kid, and that one snarky old dude over there are all first and foremost created in the image of something first of all perfect, gracious, loving, creative, and beautiful. Broken as we are, in need of fixing, in need of more knowledge, greater freedom, consistent thinking, right ends, and even success–none of those things define us.

What defines us is our identity as a part of humanity.

Business, religion, philosophy, education, art, social work, and the many other elements of life that should be listed all come down to the same thing–how do we honor, cherish, nurture, and love the beautiful things we’ve been given–namely each other?

Obviously I’m not dumb enough to think I’m writing a blog post trying to answer that question. I’ll write that four point blog tomorrow.

But I’m also not going to be foolish enough to say that my wife and I are not making an attempt at an answer. For Jess and I (and those who are conspiring with us!) our response is this whole crazy stupid idea of creating a new Christian movement in downtown Vancouver that seeks to see a Grassroots Conspiracy emerge where people are finding new life in person to person interactions across streets, blocks, and neighborhoods.

We’ll see if it works…but the way I figure is it can’t hurt!

Jesus is not gluten free

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My family eats gluten free. My wife has been cooking gluten free for most of our marriage and is actually quite skilled at it. She can bake really good bread, chocolate chip cookies, scones, etc. But I think there’s something inherently off about the gluten free culture. The gf culture is completely concerned with mimicry. All they do is try to recreate gluten-filled foods. They spend great energy (and lots of money!) trying to make bread that is as close to wheat bread as possible. But it is not wheat bread. It’s an impostor. It’s a faker. Instead of a cup of wheat flour you end up throwing in a little brown rice flour, xanthum gum, tapioca starch, and corn starch among other things. It’s not wheat bread. Some really good bakers can make gluten free pastries that taste nearly identical to regular pastries. Its awesome. I love it and crave it.

For quite some time the church has been the same. With regard to being creators (like a baker) they’ve been completely consumed with mimicry. For years there was no innovation or creativity, they’d look at the world around them and try to create “Jesus-versions” of what they saw. Like gluten free food they spend all their time trying to look like everyone around them…but they’re not everyone around them. The TV show Glee is creative and it has an identity, but this is not creative and its identity is tied up completely in being a crappy and cheesy version of something else (a terrible identity to own!). That shirt isn’t creative. It’s not cool. Its a faker and an impostor. Even still, however, some Christians crave this stuff. They buy up cheesy ‘Jesus knock offs’ like mad and sport those shirts with pride.

What if both groups (gluten free eaters and Christians) stop trying to be something they’re not? What if they both come to peace with who they are and stop trying to copycat those around them? What if gluten free eaters started viewing healthy and delicious eating apart from a wheat existence? Fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy, nuts…they could live off this stuff quite happily if they own it. Christians would be better off if they simply owned who they were. If they stopped defining themselves based on who they aren’t and started defining themselves based on who they are (and could be) everyone would be better off. Caring for the poor, compassion toward the marginalized, and taking risks for the sake others are all things Christians should own. I love seeing Christians wearing more t-shirts with non-profits on them because they better represents their identity. Other Christians refuse to wear labels on their clothes because they don’t want to be defined by these labels and neither do they want to support businesses that propagate pain in the world.

Own it. It’s a risky move, you’ll lose yourself before you find yourself, but at least it’ll be real…and I think it’ll actually be better.