Sparks Fly!

Last night with our small group, we shared some of the ideas that are being birthed in our group regarding moving forward after last week's experience at Catalyst West. These aren't fully formed yet and some may take a while to become functional ideas, but here's a quick list of what may be...

-Writer's Group - Many students believe the wrong story about who they are. This could be a way to help some of them understand the meaning of their story and more effectively share those stories. When I started talking about this as a thing for high school students, the group quickly pointed out it could be a great thing community wide for adults as well. So true!

-Mission Trip to Arizona - Hi Tory! What could we do at Christmas?

-Pastor's Wives Group - What can we do to connect the wives of local pastors? Pastor's wives are incredible (especially that WestWay youth minister's wife!); what awesome things could God be doing in our area if this group could be drawn together for support and inspiration?! Hosting ladies for Lori Wilhite's web conference later this year can be a good starting point.

-Housing - We'd like to help with the local Habitat for Humanity again, and also interested in the possibility of working with something like Casas por Cristo in Mexico.

-Foster Care/Adoption - How many kids are in foster care in our community? What agencies handle foster care? How can we help them - not only housing kids, but offering respite for foster parents... "Does God want our family to adopt a child?" Don't forget to ask that question.

-Denver Rescue Mission - What could we be doing to help there (the largest city close to us)?

-People of the Second Chance - What are we doing to offer grace, hope, and help to people needing to be restored to wholeness? Recovery Groups/Redemption Groups

-Lots of us Blog and others are considering it - How can we leverage our blogs to best serve the kingdom and help people in our community see God at work around them, especially those who haven't noticed Him before? Maybe a Scottsbluff area aggregate blog or something similar? Tie-in with a new church website?

-Hospitality for visitors - Lots of little touches could be done in our facilities to help people feel more at ease/at home when they come to our building. i.e. shelves in restrooms, less empty wall space, signs within the building to help people find their way, signs in town to compensate for unfortunate building location (outside of most of the community's flow) - but also remembering a sign or wall hanging will never take the place of the personal care we provide as individuals who collectively are the church.
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Those are some of the ideas that were sparked by last week's conference. We're still kicking them around and obviously we can't tackle them all at once. But God is at work in our hearts and stirring some incredible thought. If you're a part of WestWay and have some thoughts about how these ideas can be fleshed out, give me a call or comment below and let's see which of these sparks we can "fan into flame" together!

Still Hurting in Haiti

We still have work to do to make sure people see the nearness of God - even in the most painful of circumstances. Great reminder of this from Lecrae's new song/video - He's giving proceeds from the sale of the song to Churches Helping Churches for rebuilding in Haiti.

Heard of Advent Conspiracy?

Some great stuff over at Advent Conspiracy. If you haven't heard of this, do the world a favor and spend a few minutes at their site. See what happens. Christmas CAN still change the world.

Back to School with the President

Last week, I kept hearing rumblings about the President addressing the nation's schools tomorrow. A speech broadcast to a vast majority of our children. A lot of talk shows have been addressing the issue, a number of friends have become alarmed, and in general it seems like conservatives are panicking about the supposed insidious plan to brainwash our kids...

My first reaction when I heard a radio host advising people to keep your kids out of school that day was "Seriously? This can't be the first time a president has given a speech to school kids." I was right. Most recently, in 1991, the first President Bush gave a speech telling us (I was in school at the time) to work hard in school and stay away from drugs. Reading some quotes from back then, it's interesting to see the charges from the left accusing the President of being politically motivated and attempting to sway young impressionable minds (just like the far right is doing now).

The funny thing is... I don't remember that speech. No recollection of the great brainwashinig event whatsoever! (maybe that was part of the programming...) And I'm fairly certain that my kids won't remember this one. But even if they do - I don't think that's a bad thing. The speech contains a good message for kids to hear. Basically: 'You are responsible for you. Work hard. Don't give up.' Here's a link to the speech - please read it yourself before locking your children away.

I'm not a fan of the way Obama has been running his administration. I don't trust the people he is choosing to listen to. And to be completely blunt, I believe that success for much of his agenda will be failure for our nation. But I'm not going to cower in the corner, covering my kids' ears so they won't hear the voice of Obama. I'm not going to send a note to their teacher to let them opt out of the first day of school just because the President is speaking to them. Actually, I haven't even checked to see if our school is showing the speech because this is really a non-issue for me.

I want my kids to think critically. I want them to learn to recognize crap ideas, whether they come from a smooth talker with a nice white house or a beer guzzling biker with bug juice in his teeth. I don't want them to be afraid to disagree with ideas that don't seem right to them - regardless of the source. I want them to be salt and light wherever they go and whatever they may have to debate. They can't do those things if they're in some educational bunker where I never let them hear an idea I don't agree with.

Let your kids hear the speech. Talk to them about it. Help them make the most of the educational opportunity they have in this country. I came across this response you may find interesting as well (thanks for the link Grace).

Did God Use up all His 'Stuff'?

I've been thinking about a question I read on twitter from Perry Noble last night: "WHAT IF this past 2,000 years of the church was merely the foundation to set up what God REALLY wants to do?" At first glance, this question got my imagination going. It reminds me that God is still at work. I RT'd the statement and some concerns have been raised... thought this would be a good time to unpack the question a little bit.

I don't think this question is meant to diminish the importance of what God has already done, but to make us realize the potential of the things to come. Sometimes we live as if God has used up all his "best stuff" already. Like he used up all his mojo on raising the dead and healing lepers and Pentecost...

But what if He didn't? What if He's still powerful enough to do things that we can't explain? What if He's still invading reality to do what He wants to do - whether it's "possible" or not? What might we be missing by living as if the "good part" is over and now we're just waiting for the finale? (The finale IS pretty awesome by the way!)

I wonder if this was, at least in part, the mentality of many Jews when Jesus invaded their reality? "Well, God did some awesome things back at Creation and causing that giant flood and parting the Sea to get our people out of Egypt and the Jordon to get them into Canaan... He was pretty awesome back in the day, but we haven't heard from Him for a few hundred years, so He must be resting now." I wonder if that mentality was part of what caused them to miss Jesus.

Moses even had this kind of thinking on at least one occasion. In Numbers 11, the people were grumbling about the manna. They'd had enough of the desert and were taking it out on Moses. God assured him that meat was coming - more meat than they could stand. Moses looked around at all the people and wondered aloud to God how on earth he was supposed to feed all these people meat.

"Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?"

The Lord answered Moses, "Is the Lord's arm too short?" Moses, don't you think I'm powerful enough to do what I said I will do?

So back to the question, then: "WHAT IF this past 2,000 years of the church was merely the foundation to set up what God REALLY wants to do?" Isn't the church of 2009 more than just a holding tank until God decides to be awesome again? Are we living our lives in a way that allows us to see God at work? Do we expect Him to be active in our world today?

When I started this blog several years ago, I chose the name 'theoquest' to call to mind the continual journey toward God that I want my life to be. I added the tagline "because God is still writing history". I don't think God's done yet - I don't think we're in some perpetual Day 7 where God is just resting. I don't think the church is a fixed entity, fully functional and completely mature.

Jesus said that He was building a church over which even the gates of hell wouldn't stand. As I look at the world today, mabye it's just the negativity of the news, but it's easier to see a whole lot more hell than heaven. Maybe what God really wants is to see His church bringing His Kingdom into the world instead of waiting for Him to end it.

A Coldwater Mission

Exciting things are happening in our student ministry. God is motivating leaders and students alike to reveal His kingdom to those around us. Reading through Matthew 10 this morning (thanks Jimmy), I noticed something that really got me thinking. Jesus was sending His disciples away from Him on a mission. He gave them some pretty amazing authority to back up the message they were carrying: that "the kingdom of heaven has come near."

The thing that sparks my curiosity this morning is how he sent them out with no provisions aside from the mission itself and the ability to carry it out. They weren't supposed to just go shout on the street corners - they were actually to do useful things to benefit the people of the region: things like getting rid of demons and illnesses and bringing people back to life (pretty useful if you're dead, I'd say!).  They were not to take extra money or clothes or shoes, etc. because "workers are worth their keep." They were to rely on the hospitality of the strangers they'd be serving!

I wonder today... There are those of us who are still tasked with the mission of proclaiming that the kingdom has come near. (Just in case you're a little unclear, that's you church!) How are we benefiting the people we've been sent to? What are we doing to reveal the kingdom of God here on earth? What are we doing to deserve the hospitality of our communities?

Light for Everyone

Have you ever noticed how someone calling attention to some good that they've done just doesn't seem appealing to us?  "Hey, look at me, I fed homeless people, helped an old lady cross the street, AND rescued 6 kittens today!"  It just seems to take the breath out of the actual acts themselves (no matter how good they may be).  We're generally repelled by someone bragging about the good things they've done.

Contrasting this spotlight attitude is the humility of many who will fend off any type of praise whatsoever.  "Oh, it's no big deal... it's really no trouble..."  Some people will even go out of their way to keep secret some positive thing they've done.  But is it healthy humility, or something else?

In Matthew 5, Jesus called his followers the "light of the world."  He called their attention to the way they'd light a lamp and put it on a stand (not under a bowl) to give light to everyone around.  Then he said "let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

In Matthew 6, however, Jesus warns us to "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' in front of others, to be seen by them."  I think this is largely a concern with motive.  The key here isn't in hiding or spotlighting the good that we do.  It is in the good we do pointing people's attention to God.  It's ironic that the act of serving can so easily become a source of pride.  Obviously in the Mt. 5 passage, Jesus isn't telling us to go around calling attention to ourselves and the good things we do for others.  He's calling us to live a life that is so radiant that the people around us can't help but notice - and so 'other' that the only explanation is God.  When our lives call attention to Him, then we're giving "light to everyone in the house".