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  Mark 9:36 am on August 17, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  How to Keep From Falling Apart 

   

  Things fall apart…

  This is quite possibly the best title of any book ever written.  Now, the rest of Chinua Achebe’s novel on social inequality and yams is just so-so in my opinion, but the title has always caught my attention – anytime a glass shatters falling from my cupboard, or it a flock of birds finds my freshly washed car, or I watch a faith community that began so healthy begin to pick each other apart.  Things fall apart.

  Each time it is painful to watch and it somehow reminds me of the entire Universe.  Everything about this present creation is falling apart.  The Universe is spinning farther and farther apart, our own sun is a star that is using up a limited amount of fuel and will (if the Lord tarries) burn out.  Our own bodies are failing on us the moment we begin using them, free-radicals and other nemeses plotting against us.

  So how does one fight the tide of such savage dispersion?  With every atom is warring against every other one for survival, how can we seek a future Kingdom of God that remains?

   So there is a Sabbath rest still waiting for the people of God. 10 For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. 11 So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.

  - Heb 4:9-11

  Rest does not come naturally in a world where there is a war going on.  To keep things from falling apart in your life, your health, your faith community, and more… it takes intentionality.

  Nothing comes together outside of intentionality.

  We were created by God originally as gardeners, and this vocation provides an interesting view into the idea of intentionality.  I’ve been tending a 15×15 garden space in our urban neighborhood.  Its engendered in me a fabulous sense that “things fall apart.”  Weeds grow, plants droop and need trellises, tools scrape and sculpt the crumbling earth, pests large and small want a piece of my intentionality because they have not invested as I have into growing food.

  Some people build the sand castles, others knock them over.  The writer of Ecclesiastes knew this well (Eccl 3:3) “There is a time to break down, and a time to build up.”  As I’ve stated, the destructive forces of the Universe are always breaking you down, and your job as one of God’s gardeners is to always intentionally be building up.  

  Put yourself in an environment that spurs you on toward a more spiritually-formed life.  If you want to pray, create a space for that prayer to happen, or it never will.  If you want to be a peacemaker, put yourself in situations where you have to practice peace.  This won’t often “just happen.”  And when it does, unless you’ve intentionally prepared, you’ll fail the test – simply because you were not intentional!

  Its not hard, but the hardest part is getting started.

  In God’s Kingdom, Things Come Together.

  

  Tunesntoons is discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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    Tunesntoons 4:00 pm on August 17, 2011 Permalink

    Except, sometimes it IS hard. BUT it’s not as hard as you think

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  Mark 7:20 am on March 30, 2011 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Lent ( 3 )   

  Giving Up Germs for Lent 

  For Lent, I’ve given up germs.

  “What??”  You might ask.  Yes, its a little strange, but its true.  In fact, I give them up several times every day – every time I wash my hands.

  Another house church in the Underground Church Network reported to the rest of us that they had begun saying the Lord’s Prayer together, and had made a commitment to saying the Lord’s Prayer each day throughout the week as a shared discipline.  Then, like a fire that spits out ambassador flames, it hopped across town to me and the MICRO group that I meet with once a week. Now I’m saying the Lord’s Prayer every day…

  Pause.

  Did your mom ever teach you how to wash your hands with a song?  Some sing “Happy Birthday” twice while sudsing their hands to make sure they spend enough time for the soap to do its dirty work.  I heard someone else sharing that fond little memory with me and I put two and two together.

  So during Lent, I say the Lord’s Prayer each time I reach for a soap.

  My hands go through a little baptism, my mind returns to God and his Kingdom.  Its a reminder of what’s truly important.  Jesus said to a crowd of purity-obsessed Pharisees, “Eating with unclean hands will never defile you…It is not what goes into you that defiles you, but you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.”  OK – so I realize Jesus wasn’t talking about germs when he said “unclean hands!”  But still, as I read that verse during this season of Lent, I seem to hear the words:

  “When you’re washing your hands, don’t focus on getting clean on the outside, but take that moment to let me wash your heart.”

  What’s this little spiritual experiment doing to me?  It is revealing to me just how often I need to ask God to forgive me, even as I forgive others.  It gives me a chance in public places to look a little silly, but hopefully point others back to an awareness of God’s presence, even in the restroom.  It has transformed my bathroom into a little cloister – letting me pause even just briefly in union with God.  And its reminding me that God washes me, and makes my hands pure for his work in the world.

  Want to give it a try?  Grab a bar of your favorite lathe and read along:

  Our Father, who art in heaven,

  hallowed be thy name;

  thy kingdom come;

  thy will be done,

  in earth as it is in heaven.

  Give us this day our daily bread.

  And forgive us our debts,

  as we forgive our debtors.

  And lead us not into temptation;

  but deliver us from evil.

  [For thine is the kingdom,

  the power, and the glory,

  for ever and ever.]

  Amen.

  
   
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  Mark 1:14 pm on February 9, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  Momentum Is a Result of Healthy Rhythms 

  All this week we’ve been looking at the MACRO Layer of Christian community – “the congregation,” “the network,” “the region”…

  This is the layer in which it all comes together – where real impact and change become visible!  Whereas a dozen folks that make up a house church (MESO) might bring hope and life to a few neighbors, a dozen or so house churches might just see a revolution of love spill out across the streets of their city!

  Think of the MACRO Layer as the momentum or the chain reaction that comes AS A RESULT of the health of the smaller layers.  When you have healthy rhythms, you’ll get momentum!  Think of a car — the rhythm of the pistons…those tiny tubes of metal…going up and down over and over…it eventually creates a power that propels a giant machine down the road!  The same is true for a church – the smaller rhythms of spiritual health…that is what moves a MACRO forward!

  You’ll never have a healthy MACRO unless everyone involved are a part of healthy one-on-one MICRO relationships, unless each person has a flourishing personal (MONO) relationship with their God.

  So often, Christian leaders pour all of their energy into making the MACRO Layer great -

  …the average church worship service in America takes almost 120 hours a week to pull off!

  (That’s 3 full time staff positions plus dozens of volunteers pouring incredible amounts of money and energy into a 2 hour gathering…EVERY week!)  Exhausting!  We think that if we can just preach the right sermon, or sing the right song…we’ll have an army ready to change the world.

  But this is about as effective as trying to push toothpaste back into the tube.

  It has to flow from the inside, out.

  Imagine if a church, a spiritually nurturing system, poured disproportionate energy into the layers.  The smaller the Layer of Christian community, the more energy leaders invested into it. Start with the MONO Layer – put all your energy into giving folks access to quality tools, resources, and more that develop their prayer life – their life of service and mission… imagine what would happen if you gave more energy to the MICRO Layer (one-on-one friendships, marriages, etc), imagine putting more focus on your small groups than on your Sunday gatherings!

  My bet is that if you did this, your MACRO gatherings would explode with health…

  This works at a personal level too…

  If you are a Christian, or if you are still trying to figure out what you think about Jesus, consider starting at the MONO Layer – put all your energy into discovering the loving God who created you. Then link up with one other person you can trust — and both of you together connect with a tribe of 6-12 other people who are on journey with you.  Then open your eyes to the ever expanding network of Christ-centered relationships you’ll see all across town.  Rely on them, contribute to them.  Let them become your extended family of faith.  That is the MACRO Layer!

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  Sign up for MACRO!

  If you are a part of a small group, house church, or congregation; if you are ready to grow spiritually –  Godgrown is releasing MACRO March 1st – sign up and invite others in your community to learn alongside you!