Here are just a few random pictures taken from my cell phone during our first few weeks in Chicago:

Try finding this combination in the South!

Go ahead, just ask this guy about his views on politics…

Last week, I took a bike ride on the Lakefront Trail from our place down by the beach, to the loop and back.  It was long but well worth it!

Always-fun Navy Pier and my half way point on the bike adventure.

So apparently one good turn deserves another.

Trina and I just returned AGAIN from Chicago, our second trip there this semester.  Like most trips there, it was a world wind tour, though this one seemed to be right on target.   We had two main objectives.  Find an apartment, and meet with the CDEA.

When we left Chicago back in middle March, we weren’t sure whether or not we were following God or just chasing our own tails.  For the last 3 years we had been gathering contacts and notes about what we felt was a pull to Chicago to plant churches and to live as missionaries in an urban context.   When we went to Chicago in March, we were able to meet up with just about EVERYONE I had been in contact with for the last 3 years, and even pursued several job offers.

As we were flying home from Chicago, we both felt the same - we had worked our tails off to respond to what we felt was God’s call in Chicago.  We felt like we had tied all the knots, set the sails, and prepped the ship.  Now all we needed was God’s wind.  We felt like if he didn’t provide then, we could walk away from it all.  You might get the sense of this anxious waiting from my last post about it. 

A few weeks went by.   We waited.

Katrina went down to Austin, TX with the MRNA gang while I stayed up in Abilene to focus on my COMPS oral defense that was coming up.  She had an amazing time down there and met some amazing people (I really wish she would write a post about that!).  Through the workings of what can only be the Holy Spirit, Katrina came back a changed woman.  Her boldness in the face of some of our doubts was inspiring to me.  We had decided earlier that Katrina might be the one to hear from God WHEN we need to leave for Chicago.  She came back from Austin saying we were ready to go.

That was nice, except we still didn’t have a job, or any kind of church planting network to work with there.  But TWO days after Katrina got back, we got a call from Lance Hurley, executive director of the CDEA (Chicago District Evangelistic Association).  CDEA wanted to support us, and Lance wanted us to meet the rest of the board!  Totally a confirmation.  We didn’t know how we were going to afford another trip up to Chicago, but then God provided funds that we didn’t even ask for!

So our trip in April (2nd trip - 24-29) was a focused trip to pick out an apartment and meet with the CDEA board, mostly consisting of church planters, and ministers.

Our time in Chicago was very encouraging.  We found an AMAZING home in the city, close to the train, a wonderfully diverse neighborhood with a university nearby, not to mention the beautiful Lake Michigan only a few blocks away!  Our new friends in the CDEA were very affirming and gracious, and we were surprised by their ability to boldly consider this opportunity for an exciting, innovative, church plant in the city.   They also committed to supporting us financially in a big way and hope to help out even more in years to come.

We’re super psyched!!!

We’ll be moving to Chicago at the end of May.  Until then, we’re just waiting to see what God has up his sleeves!

Here’s a great shot of Katrina and our buddy Annie in a magnolia tree…g-e-oORGEOUS!

Katrina and I just returned from our survey trip to Chicago. We connected with a bunch of leaders involved in different ministries and job opportunities up there - just about everyone I’d been connecting with for the past two years were on our two week schedule.

As a church planter, there’s only a few ways to make a living (in no particular order):

1. Work for a church planting organization.

2. Work for an established church, either as a “church planter” supported by the congregation, or doing church planting as part of your pastoral duties.

3. Get a job in the workforce.

All of these have pros and cons. All of them are being considered/prayed through right now by yours truly and my beautiful bride. I’m waiting on hearing back from several groups, and I know that now this whole thing is in the Lord’s hands. For three years we’ve worked toward what I’ve described as a “calling” to Chicago. If everything fell through right now, I’d be okay; I’d know I worked hard to check every “open door” we felt drawn to.

I’ve heard that sometimes one spouse hears a specific call, but the other spouse hears the timing for that call. As we’re considering all this, I’m really listening carefully to what Katrina is saying regarding timing.

What makes sense in the midst of all this discernment? I KNOW that the Lord has called me to Katrina. Before Chicago, before jobs, before ministry…she comes first. My calling to her is real, and now. This process of discernment has propelled me to love her more than ever, and to appreciate how the Lord has gifted me with an amazing woman. Everything else could fall through, and as long as I was still with her, it would be enough.

Please be in prayer for us during this important time of waiting and listening.

If you’d like to see photos of our trip, you can check them out here:

The Illinois Senate recently met to discuss options for bailing out Chicago schools and public transit, both of which are necessary commodities in a global city like Chicago, and both of which are in dire need of financial aid. Story here. The Senate approved a bill (HB2035 and SB1110) that would allow for 3 new casinos (one built right in Chicago City proper) that would offer the $200 million dollar break RTA (Regional Transportation Authority) needs to get back on its feet (er…rails).

I take issue with this “solution” for several reasons.

First - its just buying time. The Chicago transit system is still going to need to find a way to make a profit after its loans are paid off.

Second - this gambling expansion plan will hurt the working poor who are more susceptible to gambling.

Granted, senators were divided 37-15 on the vote, and many voiced similar concerns and Governor Rod Blagojevich seemed to make it clear that this was a temporary solution that may or may not ever come to fruition. The RTA still hasn’t even taken a position on whether or not they approve of the plan!

I’m writing to voice my concern against this bill and am adding my voice to (hopefully) myriad others who find exploitation of the working class to be a crime. Instead, I suggest we end a variety of tax breaks for businesses (especially larger corporations) to free up tax money to help public transit, and Chicago schools. Why let Big Business get bigger, if the working class is spending all their money at the casino or on a train ticket and not on the market?

This is a chance to work for those working for you.

Illinois Senate - reconsider.

Trina and I spent our Saturday down in Waco, TX with Kent and Karen Smith meeting up with Homestead Heritage, a community of about 30 years that has sustained an alternate way of living to the larger American culture. They have about 900 people in their community that participate in the simple life of raising animals, barns, crops, and their own children. In fact, everything at Homestead was focused on growth.

Their story: they started out as a couple of guys as converts to Christ (one of them with Anabaptist background) through the Jesus Movement that swept through the nation in the 70’s. They moved up to New York City and began an inner city ministry of sorts. Over time they felt the need to create a residential community that gave people in the oppressive urban centers a place to identify with God through nature, working with their hands, and shared projects. They moved first to Colorado, and then to Waco, where they have been for the last two decades.

We met with Howard and Jim, two of the 22 ministers for this group. Throughout our conversation, I kept being surprised by the modern day conveniences like cell phones, lights, central air…the works. While we WERE in the main visitors center (where 40,000 visit every year), I had admit - they weren’t Amish, or Mennonite…they were something new.

They talked to us about their journey, and about the TRUE struggle of being “in the world, but not of it”. They mentioned the many visitors who see their strange, “antiquated” way of life lived, not just a historic village reenactment. They regularly go into Waco, and have a urban ministry outreach there. Through their contacts in the city, they work diligently to extract those imprisoned to the culture and show them a new way of life.

They have a “School for Essential Education” that many in the Waco community respects. Apparently, back in 1999, Waco officials announced that if anything devastating happened in Y2K that Homestead Heritage would be the ones to teach people how to grow their own food, etc.

Makes me think some of the 411 Project - 1 Thess 4:11 - “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, working with your hands just as we have told you so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders…”

Isn’t that what the Christian culture is missing? ANYTHING that is respectable to outsiders? There is nothing tangibly different in the world of Christianity from the world’s culture. The stats are the same. There is nothing to respect there. But what about a whole culture that allows people a chance to find grace and time to grow? What about an extended family that has opportunities for you to work with your hands; to feel the accomplishment of a job well done?

To answer Leanne’s question here, I think that Homestead Heritage is trying to be VERY different, and yet be VERY much on display before the world. While, I think there are downsides to extracting someone from their circle of friends (possibly a new convert’s best audience to display the Gospel before), I have to admit that when I participate again in Christian communal living, I hope that it would be situated in a context where people could visibly see a radically different culture being lived out.

———

To do a little brainstorming here: What if there were a community like this just outside of Chicago? Or better yet, a network of communities of about 30 or so each that focused on family, God’s family, with deep appreciation for work, rest, and sustainability? Many of these families had committed on living “out on the homestead” while other preferred to live as missionaries in the urban center. These missionary families look for those desperate for Jesus and to kick their addiction to the world’s poisonous culture. Missionaries discerned whether or not to send them to this Homestead as a “retreat center” where they could find some perspective. Upon returning to the city (or staying in the community on the farm), these new believers could grow in their own giftings and learn new skills for life living; centered on Christ and sharing Him with others!