Our picket fence dream

So, we spent the summer looking at the epic of a dreamer called Joseph. One of the truths that we explored, was that God was shaping his dream to be less about him, and more about God and others.

This fall series is a call for us to share in God’s dream for the church as a whole, and the church in this city in particular. Stanley Hauerwas describes the church as being like "Resident Aliens" - distinct, yet not distant. Through history the church has often swung between being monastic on he one extreme, totally detached from the world and therefore innefective, to being syncretistic, possessing no real difference from the world at all. However, there must be another way of living, and we see this in the book of Acts.

In Acts 17, Paul tell the philosophers in Athens that God has determined the exact times and places for each of us. He is expressing a truth that many of us feel - it is no mistake that we are where we are. A theology of place gives us permission to enjoy where we live, engage our communities relationally with patience, and overlook aspects of our geography that we do not naturally like. Paul continues that God determines time and place "so that men might reach out for him though he is not far away."

We have been placed here in Pleasantville, Orange County, not just for our own peace and comfort. We are free to enjoy all that our city has to offer, but we are not to be lulled by the sunny orange peel exterior of OC. We have been planted here to offer the hope of the God who is not far away, to many who are reaching out to Him. God is not far away. He drew near to his creation through Jesus, and he is near to the world through Christ's body, the church.

So we love the people and place of the white picket fence dream, but we are a distinct people who dream a distinct dream. We have woken up from the dream of the house with great curb appeal, the 2,5 kids with $3000 smiles and $50 000 college trust funds. These dreams are not wrong in themselves. They are simply too small. We have begun to dream bigger, to share in God's dream of a city which reaches out to Him and finds that because of the cross, He is not far away.

Passports and possibilities

"Maybe we should just make absolutely sure your Canadian visa hasn't expired." This was the suggestion of a wife to her administratively challenged husband as we were drifting off to sleep around midnight.I am booked to fly to Vancouver Island tomorrow to speak at a young people's gathering called Live Alive, hosted by a church we've come to know and love deeply over the last 14 years. This would be my fifth visit to the church I think.I love going back to churches.I also love doing roadtrips with mates. This time I'm going with my friend Ryan, a guy with a fast-emerging, and profound worship leading gift. He has a brand new passport. He got his visa way in advance.It's his first trip out of his home country.He's going to get his first stamp for the gosple's sake. absolutely love it.

Problem is, my stuff is not as together as Ryan's.We discover with that sinking felling, that my multi-entry visa expired two months ago. So at 1am this morning we're gathering together all the required stuff for the visa - and a lot of stuff it is. Please can I not bore you with all the details.Anyway, between the amazing Kirk Randolph and my extraordinary wife, we got it done and submitted by 1030am,, and now I sit in a downtown L.A. coffee shop waiting to hear whether it gets granted at 230pm.

I've developed a healthy dislike for visas, embassies and rude airport security guys. I used to say to Rynelle that I felt like airports were my second home. They just about were at one stage. I loved the travelling muso tag. Loved all the different airline 'fragile' stickers on my guitar case.But the gloss of flying has worn off a bit for me. I'm more of a home boy in a kind of un-hip hop way.I miss my family more. I have less of a Messiah complex, realizing that I'm not indispensable, after all, and more conscious of the need to build a fruitful
local church that has something worth exporting.

Thing is though, I'm still absolutely sold on both halves of the great commission. Go into all the world and preach the gospel. Go into all the world and make disciples.I'm still sold on taking new friends with me to do it better.I love the wide-eyed wonder they bring to my jadedness.

A glossy new passport with a new stamp for the sake of the gospel still has huge gloss for Me. I'm pretty sure that Ryan's passport will get lots more stamps.And his guitar case will get lots more fragile stickers on it. And when the gloss of travel starts to wear off for him, I
bet he'll find fresh legs by finding another gifted, guitar slinging, Jesus loving, gospel
preaching muso with wild eyes and a glossy, empty passport.

P.s. Got the visa. Finishing off this blog from a downtown Nanaimo coffee shop. Loving being with the amazing Canadians.

Spirit level

On the night that we handed over the leadership of London Road Church to Ed and Heidi Strong, Ed gave me a gift that has sat on my study desk ever since.It was a vintage spirit level; the kind brick layers use to make sure that bricks are being laid, well, level, I guess! It's old, worn and wooden,but beautifully oiled and cared for, like all of Ed's wooden antiques. It has the little bubble of mercury in the middle that bounces and glides around its metal casing until it comes to rest in what should be, dead center. I guess its called a spirit level because they used to use alcohol instead of mercury. It looks like its laid a brick or two in its time. Probably early 20th century.

He handed it to me on that unforgettable evening, with the words, "keep your head in all situations." He was quoting from Paul's parting words in his 2nd letter to Timothy. "They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry."(2 Tim 4:5) He had in mind our move to Los Angeles, California, which we made a few weeks after we left the community we had come to love so dearly.

I've thanked God many times for the gift that would remind me of those words, as I've sat at my desk. It has summarized what has been the most unfamiliar season of our ministry life; bewildering and fascinating all at the same time.So many ideas and people that we assumed were constant, are no longer a part of our lives. The whirl-wind of a new culture discovered, our changing relationship with a church group that has absorbed the last 15 years of our lives, a nation reeling from economic recession,and a church beset by an internal law-suit. So little has not changed. And the whirl-wind of change became an emotional and visionary dust-storm.

Here in the arid, rugged beauty of Palm Desert, where we have retreated for a few days as a family, I have reflected on the past almost three years. The whirlwind that became a dust-storm has largely subsided, by God's grace. Emotion, exhaustion, and confusion have settled into a clear, tangible relief and a good glimpse of great things to come. Having come through the last two years' lawsuit,and having crossed over to our new building, we are beginning to enjoy growing favor as a church in the city where God has planted us. Although the financial storm is not yet over, we find ourselves dreaming again.

I am not just dreaming though.I am asking questions. Of myself and of this trial.
"Did I pass this trial?" "Did I learn what God wanted me to learn?" "Did I keep my head in this situation?""Did I continue steadfastly in the duties of my ministry in the midst of it." To be honest, I am not sure. I hope so. I am a man in process, but so grateful for some gold nuggets of wisdom that blew in with the whirlwind. Here are few.

Firstly, you cannot go through a season like this without a good team and a strong leader. We had that, although the team did begin to show signs of strain towards the end. The season does take its toll on family, who carry what you are carrying vicariously.It remains for you to intentionally restore family as a place of peace.

Secondly, a theology of God's Sovereignty is absolutely crucial for surviving a season of false-accusation, where God's hand is not yet clearly evident. The Scriptures, especially the Psalms become more real and a source of great stability and clarity.

Thirdly,the gospel is practically worked out in grace extended to those who have falsely accused, or misunderstood you. The battle against bitterness is sometimes protracted,and fought at the foot of the cross.

Fourthly, the temptation towards self-pity and self-justification is great. I have found that it is only dealt with in God's presence, and with God's future promises. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. In all this, the Holy Spirit quickens us in our mortality. The precious Holy Spirit, the Parakletos, the Counselor, the One who comes alongside, ultimately keeps us level.