Humans love putting labels on what God is doing. That isn’t necessarily bad, it’s just sorta funny to see it happen sometimes. The big phrase these days is “house church” and “church planting movements”. Neither of these terms are in the Bible, but similar ideas like “the church that meets in your house” and “a gracious outpouring of God’s Spirit” are all over the book of Acts describing similar phenomenon.

Below is an exciting video describing the realities of our world today. While the vocabulary words, music, and narration are kinda corny, I think it introduces people to the ideas that I’m wrestling with in my prayers and studies in just about a straightforward way as possible. In many ways, this video describes the kind of work of God that I am praying regularly about for the people of Abilene and Chicago. What would happen if a sweeping spirit of renewal hit our land? Only God knows.

Will you partner with me in praying for this? — Father, I pray that you will heal our land and bring your Spirit to every person, giving them the joy they need to live a life that matters. I pray for an unleashing of a tidal wave of workers that are sent out into your harvest, and for myriad churches to be planted and countless lives transformed by the Good News!

I love that I will not have to take charge of all that mission work! I love that people across the globe - regular, run-o-the-mill CHILDREN OF GOD have the capacity to join Father in such amazing ways! My job will/is like a “missions coordinator” simply helping along what is already taking place naturally…setting up the tee so they can take the drive. I want so badly to see God take back what is rightfully his, and this seems to be a major way he is doing that in our day.

I was reading Psalm 23 in the Hebrew, and as I began to dig into some of the words, I was amazed at what I found. I’m still not sure on some of the phrases (”my owl is full?”). But I am convinced that this Psalm has a lot more to say to my life right now than most of its English counterparts. Be blessed:

Psalm 23 - A Psalm for David.

The LORD is my shepherd; I am never lacking anything.

He causes me to lie down in green spaces; he brings me upon a place of quiet waters.

He brings back my soul. He guides me in tracks of justice, for the sake of his name.

Even as I walk into the valley of the death-shadow, I will not fear evil, because you are with me.

Your family and your (holistic) support they comfort me.

You arrange in the presence of my enemies a Table; you have anointed my head in oil, my cup is saturated. (or…my owl is full?)

Only a good and loving loyalty will pursue me all the days of my life.

And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever and ever.

Great times over the weekend.

Friday night was the big night - TMNT came out in theaters!!! The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were an epicenter in my growing up years, and for the last several years they have been a means of deep, meaningful, personal reflection…and kick-butt ninja action!

The flick was CGI, so you felt like the 5th turtle as you watched mutant turtles with bulging muscles swinging and flipping across NYC’s skyline. The story was all about how after the Turtles defeated the Shredder, they couldn’t find a real reason to stay a family - so they begin to drift apart. What unites them is learning to appreciate each other’s unique strengths, rather than using each other to defeat evil. An interdependent team of 4 rather than a 4 person (turtle) team. Sounds a lot like Ephesians 4! (What’s with the four’s in this post?)

So in honor of the ninja turtles, me, my bro, and some others dressed up in ninja turtle garb and ran into the movie theater, with ninja kicks and “hi-ya!”s. When all the kids saw us, they literally flipped out, especially the younger ones. Some actually thought we were REAL ninja turtles, and one asked me if I liked pizza. We had a pre-show ninja fight, which got us really pumped up for the flick - and got the kids screaming with delight. I’m sure the parents loved us…

Saturday was our second ACU “Discover Abilene” day. Its basically a day of missional prayer, where students and anyone else interested head out all over town to “see what God is already doing” in our city. We sent them out in 28 groups of 2, and gave each a certain zone to pray over. Agent B apparently saw one of these groups take a picture of Obi Wan’s house, which is just goes to show that God truly is placing “workers (or secret agents) in his harvest field” (Luke 10:2).

As we discussed on Saturday, its not that there isn’t enough work to be done, its just that there aren’t enough harvesters!

Trina and I went down to an area with a lot of retail and coffee shops, as well as a lot of post WWII houses and a new uppity neighborhood with huge lawns and sparkling cars. Among houses, we saw old-run-downs next to old-but-maintained, with huge mansions-with-corvettes just a couple of blocks away. It made me wonder what all these people could really have in common.

At one of the coffee shops we visited, there is a fountain that is usually turned off. What good is a well that has no water? Trina and I discovered that part of our job as missionaries is to find those wells that don’t have any water, and to help those at these dry wells learn how to retrieve it.

Christ is the living water - and people dig down to find a distorted version of that life at coffee shops or mini malls, or sometimes at church buildings or lots of other places people gather. But entertainment and coffee is not the deepest, most satisfying aquifer we can find. Missionaries call on people to dig deeper at their wells; to discover the living water that awaits them - that lives within them!

One week after our Urban Immersion and I am coming to a close on my reflections on our experiences. It was an amazing time - we met so many incredible God-ambassadors, each with a story that could fill volumes. I wrote these posts in order to give you all (and remind myself years later) of the creativity in God’s imagination throughout this generation. I remember when all Christians did was “go to church”. Now it seems that with God on our side, there is nothing we can’t do!

After a clumsy and slow morning (we needed it after our late night on the streets!) we headed out to the north side of Austin, TX to the Storehouse. There we met Tim Abels, a Dell executive and passionate follower of Jesus Christ. He is actually the brother of Jay Abels, a man I met on my first short term mission trip down in Buenos Aires, Argentina!

When we arrived, all I can say is that we were a little apprehensive. We saw the outdoor sign and thought (great, I hope we don’t get stuck here for too long). I thought this would be another conscience-wipe for rich, guilty Christians. But I had heard the stories - that Tim and a few guys had started in his garage just giving things away to those who really needed them, and through a huge influx of donations have had to open up a 40,000 sq. ft. facility to hold all that they do there!

Walking in was like walking into many other thrift stores - clothes, furniture, old toys, and dismembered paperbacks filled the large open room that greets you as you walk in. It felt just like any other Goodwill, except you saw an occasional cross here or there. The prices I noticed were better than other thrift stores, but I had been told that it was FREE to anyone who needed it - what gives with the prices?

We sat down in a big back room, in a big circle with Tim, Jared Abels (another friend I continually find myself bumping into, and wonder what God has in store for our friendship), and a whole host of others who volunteer at the Storehouse. I was immediately struck at the diversity of people in the room - white, Mexican, Filipino, a deaf and blind man, old, young…they all were working on this dream together.

Tim began by sharing the vision - they want to be a presence of the Gospel to people who are in need and an hub for churches to work together through. And they do! We heard each volunteer mention a different church that they were a part of, and yet you could hear that those in the circle had become a church all their own!

The Storehouse provides a food pantry, ESL (English as a Second Language) training courses, finance courses, counseling, life skills training, a free medical clinic, disaster relief, job training (interviewing skills, etc), free worship space for new churches, housing (the police have a key to their building, and bring in victims of abuse during late-night emergencies), mentoring, work for those with disabilities, dental clinics, bible distribution, and of course a free thrift store.

“But how is it free?” I kept asking. Finally I got my answer. In crisis situations, people can come to the storehouse and take whatever they need without cost (take for example, a single mom has to leave an abusive dad, but has no furniture, clothes, cooking supplies, etc). She comes to the Storehouse, stays for a day or two. Counselors take on immediate emotional and spiritual traumas, while volunteer job consultants begin helping them find work if need be. Professional doctors come in to offer free medical help and examinations to the family and tend to their wounds. They are given financial counseling and prayed over by Christ-followers who believe that he is able to overcome any obstacle for them.

Then after they have gotten a place to live, the single mom is given a temporary job working at the Storehouse, earning “credit dollars” to buy more essentials for her new home away from the abusive man, who is not told where to find them. She makes $10 of credit each hour and at the end of the day can take home whatever she thinks she needs for her children, who have been at the Storehouse daycare. Over time, our single mom becomes attached to her new family at the Storehouse, and they share with her the Great News about Jesus Christ. She knows that Christ is among them there, and is baptized into a new life of love with a family she is already getting to know.

This is happening hundreds of times every year at the Storehouse! What is more amazing is that the volunteers simply can’t stop talking about all that God is doing! It just seemed that each person’s gift was being used in a way that was absolutely necessary to seeing the whole thing happen! From the precision of medical instruments to sorting hangers, everyone had a job to do. In a lot of ways it gave me a picture of what Ephesians 4 actually looks like:

“Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift…He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christians in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ”

I think what I found most encouraging about the Storehouse was that it was a body that was “moving rhythmically” and in response to God’s Son, “fully developed within and without”. Not many churches are like this - if they do have a food pantry, people attend out of a need to serve their guilty conscience, not because they want to see people holistically redeemed.

Trina and I were left wondering what it might be like to see a Storehouse like this in Chicago - and what part we might have to play there…

Our heads were already spinning as we experienced the contrast between scenic, peaceful world of rock climbing and camping the night before and the multi-ethnic, cultural phenomenon of UT’s campus. But Friday night our “Urban Immersion” would put us right in the middle of South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival!

But before we hit the streets, we met Kester Smith and his family for dinner. They are planting a church in downtown Austin for those without hope (Immanuel Austin Community). While he is a pastor of a church, he also works for Book People, a huge bookstore that attracts a pretty diverse crowd right off of 6th St. To these people he’s sort of seen as the “token Christian guy” since he’s the only one working there AND is a kindhearted guy who shares his thoughts. Co-workers pick his brain to try to figure this whole Christian thing out - I’m glad he’s God’s ambassador to those people.

As the sun set, we said goodbye to Kester and headed out in pairs onto 6th St, the main hub of SXSW. The only thing that outnumbered the bars were the people traipsing up and down the streets.  Katrina and I were together, and for the next several hours our “assignment” (good ole’ Kent, always finding moments for teaching and learning…) was to keep our eyes open to what God wanted to show us, and to try to have some meaningful conversations with people.

Well, Trina and I knew that last bit was going to be difficult the moment we walked into the first bar. The music was so blaringly loud that there was no way we could hold a conversation AT ALL much less delve into the mysteries of the universe.

We walked out the back door of the bar and into a filthy alleyway. The underbelly of 6th St. It was here that we began to see what God wanted to show us. Learning to see with God’s eyes is a little like trying to figure out one of those “Magic Eye” comic strips.

At first all you see is trash and darkness. You want to get out of there as fast as possible. You feel threatened by the darkness. But soon your eyes “adjust” and you begin to remember who you are, and whose you are. Your vision comes to you and you begin to see a couple over in a corner making out, and the man looks like he’s taking advantage of an uncertain woman.

A few drunken rich college-aged students are stumbling around the corner, working hard to forget the pain that they carry around with them. We saw a woman digging through the trash with great focus and intensity, looking for aluminum cans (what for, we don’t know), and shooting harried glances up at passers by.

Our eyes began to see things everywhere that it seemed were at first invisible to us. We began to see the pain, the loneliness, and the abandonment…(and even unrestrained joy) of the entire mob of 6th St. It was unnerving.

Katrina said she was glad to have gone, saying that she would have stuck to a safe, quiet pub somewhere and just people watched. I personally get really energized by entering into unknown situations where I am completely disoriented. I just pay attention more in unfamiliar situations - and therefore pay attention to what God is doing in a bigger way.

I enjoyed my time out on 6th Street, I met some amazing people with incredible stories (or maybe it just sounded more incredible since they were screaming their stories to me over 30′ speakers). SXSW is a community well in many ways, and I believe Jesus Christ focused in on community wells, meeting women (and men) who needed life-giving water. I pray for more “training” from the Lord at community wells in my everyday life, and training in keeping my eyes open.