Bromance personified

This is an article in Christianity Today on a documentary about male heterosexual friendships. Its directed by Erik Santiago, one of the pastors on our team at Southlands Church. Of course, I'm biased because Erik is a close friend of mine and I also play a small role in the documentary, but I recommend the film highly for men's groups, both church and other. Check it out! http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/movies/commentaries/2011/bromancepersonified.html

The Art of Tacking

The doldrums. The fear of every sailor. In some ways even worse than a storm. In a storm at least you get blown somewhere. The doldrums is the absence of wind, and ships sometimes sit motionless for days waiting for the right wind to pick up. A skilful sailor learns how to tack out of the doldrums. It doesn't matter if the wind isn't blowing in the right direction. Any wind will do. Tacking is the ability to take a cross wind and zig-zag gradually in the desired direction.

Life is sometimes like that, isn't it? Leading a church can sometimes be like that too, although you'd swear from some of my pastor friends' twitter and facebook posts, every Sunday in their church may as well be Pentecost! In all honesty though, not every season in our lives, or the life of our churches is a season where the wind is blowing strongly at our backs. At times like these you have to learn to tack. Be faithful with the wind that is blowing even if it is less powerful and more inconsistent.

We've come out of a season of intensity and momentum as a church, with the launch of two services, and our Urban Renewal gathering. We have run hard and God has been good. We have seen salvations, baptisms, some healings,the launch of some great new ministries, and many new people engage with our community. We have felt the fresh wind of the Spirit blow upon us.

Now we find ourselves in a slightly different season, with the spaciousness of summer upon us, as well the sadness of saying good-bye to some families headed to go and help some partner churches in other cities and states. It is easy to slump into the doldrums at these times, but God is a God of seasons, and he supplies us with the strength to bear fruit in and out of season. In fact, although there are slightly less people around, there continues to be a fresh wind of repentance and prophecy blowing on our community.

We begin the first redemption story of our 'Red Thread' series this Sunday. It's the story of someone that Jesus has redeemed out of a life of same-sex attraction. It's a story worth telling, and one well-worth hearing. We also have our 5 missional initiatives that we are calling every person in the community to engage in.

So let's not let down our sails in this season. Let's be all hands on deck, learning to tack, trusting God for the fresh wind of His Spirit, and for the cargo of the Gospel to be carried to new people and new shores.

Red Summer!

Rynelle and I have just returned from three magnificent days in San Diego, where we celebrated her 40th birthday together. After a helter skelter few weeks around Urban Renewal, it was a rare luxury to rest up, soak in the beauty of the West Coast, and reconnect without interruption.

I bet many of us are similarly dreaming of long lazy days stretched out on bright colored beach towels taking slow sips from exotic glasses...unless you are in the Southern Hemisphere, in which case your dream may be more about great coffee around a roaring fire. Whatever the case, here in California, you can't fight the endless summer. It is what it is. Its as much a part of life here as tacos and 6 - lane freeways. You have to roll with it. Even better, leverage it for the sake of the gospel.

While many students go home, and families tend to come and go, those who stay around do tend to have more time. Life slows down.

So we are taking 8 weeks to tell 8 stories of God's redemption in our community. Real people with real, radical accounts of the transforming power of the Gospel. From convicted criminals, to people coming out of same sex attraction, to drug addicts, to respectable but miserable marriages. And God has redeemed them all. And keeps on redeeming them. We will tell the stories in interview format and preach around some biblical stories of redemption.

And then we have 5 fun, creative, missional impulses to engage in. An art school for kids and teenagers, a weight loss campaign, a homeless outreach, an inner city mission and a marriage course. Practical, helpful ways to love our city.

Its a whole community on mission, trusting that our summer beach towel has God's redemptive thread running right through it.