BLeach

At the very beginning of the human story, when God blessed the first member of the human race, he gave him responsibility.  See all that I've created.  Work it.  And keep it.  God means for responsibility to be an integral component of the blessed life.

If you are pursuing a dream, then you are simultaneously pursuing greater responsibility. 

Responsibility is a funny thing.  Some people think it is the downside to dreaming.  But God's original blessing on humanity helps us reframe responsibility.  It's actually a necessary thing. 

Assuming of course that you want to live an influential life.

Last night I kept my promise to Leah and we started watching the original Pride and Prejudice.  We only got through the first two parts.  Normally we would have seen one full movie in that amount of time, but in this case we're only a third of the way there.  So with the fate of five sisters hanging in the balance, here goes.

What I'm Hoping is About to Happen: Mr. Darcy is actually a 007 working for British secret intelligence.  He is on a top secret mission, trying to get close to Elizabeth Bennet so that he can investigate her sister Jane Bennet, who is a double agent with the KGB.  The 27th ball of the movie turns ugly when Mr. Collins gets dehydrated and faints because of sweating too much.  It is just the distraction Darcy needs to take Jane into custody right before she blows up her two youngest sisters, their officer friends, and their most-annoying mother.

But I'm trying not to get my hopes up, because...

This is What Is Probably More Likely to Happen: The sisters continue to learn about life and love.  Some of them get married.  Some of them don't.  Mr. Darcy turns out to be nicer than Elizabeth thinks.  Mr. Collins ends up marrying one of his cousins.  They attend some more balls.  The end.

On Sunday I asked our church this question: What if we all reframed our chains?  The thought came from this verse, in which the Apostle Paul says that being imprisoned was the best thing that could have happened to him.

The art of reframing is a tool that's often used in Neuro-linguistic programming.  It is to reframe a problem that seems to be filled with negative ingredients by interjecting it with hope.  By putting your problem in a new frame you can actually see it through a new lens, against a new backdrop, within a new context.

Reframing involves changing your question from "How did things get so bad," to "Where is the activity of God in this situation?" 

What's He doing? 

What's He up to?

If all you see as you look around are negative problems, I'd encourage you to reframe some things.  What if God anointed your chains?  What if He chose to bless your singleness?  What if He has plans for your small apartment?  What if He wants to use this job transition? 

What if this problem might actually be the best thing that's ever happened to you?

If you're interested, you can listen to the message here, or subscribe to the podcast here.

Great day yesterday!  I finished the What If series in our morning service.  The tag-line for the series was something I've been praying for our church this summer: a faith explosion.  And it's been happening!

Yesterday our building was jammed with people.  The nursery was overflowing and reinforcements had to be called in!  The sanctuary was also full, including several first time guests and two people who made a decision to commit their lives to Christ! 

Last night we gathered for Current (our quarterly gathering for all leaders and ministry volunteers).  We shared a meal together.  Then we had several different breakout sessions with specific ministry teams meeting together.  We finished the night with vision and worship.

The growth we've experienced this year has introduced a good problem for us.  It's a space problem.  So we talked about some potential plans to create more space for growth this fall.  We're still waiting on Jesus to confirm his direction for us, but I know we're on the brink of taking another faith-inspired risk to see spiritual change happen in our city!

On Saturday Leah and I joined her family and attended her cousin's Greek wedding.  They tried to prepare me for the experience, and I was not disappointed.

Archbishop Demetrios came into town to perform the ceremony.  Greek Orthodox ceremonies are highly symbolic.  They repeat each element of the service three times to symbolize the Trinity.  I also found the elements of the service to be quite Christ-centered.

The reception was at Carnegie Music Hall, where I had my first experience with Greek dancing.  Let's just say I'm thankful that the video camera wasn't around at that point!  I also learned that it's always a good idea to stretch first:)

Opah!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to team-teach with my good friend Jeff Leake at Allison Park Church.  Together we kicked off their God of this City series.  Our vision at Church of the King is very similar to the vision of APC and I felt right at home preaching there and encouraging people to live as missionaries in their city.

After the service a woman approached me.  She was crying and said, "Don't take this the wrong way, but I hated your message!"  I told her that I knew what she meant, and then listened to her story.  She wound up in Pittsburgh because her husband was relocated there.  But ever since her painful divorce she has hated Pittsburgh.  In addition to reminding her of the pain she's been through, she misses her old home in Virginia, hates the cold winters, and feels isolated and lonely at work.  Yet God has closed the doors on all of her attempts to move.

She also told me that she has had a dream for many years to be a missionary.  Yesterday Jesus released something in her as she realized that God was fulfilling her dream by calling her to love and serve a city that didn't always feel like home.

With her permission I wanted to share her story as a reminder that missionaries come in all shapes and sizes.  One of the greatest adventures in life is to learn to love and serve the community to which Jesus has sent you.

Hard to believe that tomorrow will be six months since my wedding day!  Other than a few extra pounds that I need to lose, these six months have been filled with so many unforgettable memories.

To celebrate I promised Leah that I would watch all six hours of the original Pride and Prejudice with her next week.  It's all a part of my learning curve as a new husband.  Lesson #133: Never agree to a bet with your wife, because even if you win, you lose:) 

Once the Red Wings finished off the Penguins to win the Stanley Cup, I let out a sigh of relief.  That's when Leah calmly remarked, "Now it will be even better.  You can watch it with me simply because you love me!"

But the truth is, I would watch 24 hours of it if it would make my bride happy (typed with confidence since I'm pretty sure Jane Austin have any 24 hour movies out there):

It is my joy to see Leah continue to become the gifted, selfless, woman of God that I knew I was marrying.  She still surprises me with her ability to listen to me when I'm processing, celebrate with me when I'm rejoicing, comfort me when I'm hurting, and challenge me when I'm missing it.  She is keeping every word that she vowed to me six months ago.

Thanks babe!  Let's get this movie started!

Pastor Max Yeary spent the day with our cohort.  He began pastoring Christian Life Center the year I was born (1978).  He's been there ever since.

Today he put his life into his lecture and I observed something meaningful.

Max loves his staff members like a father loves a son. 

Almost all of them were saved at CLC and have been discipled through Max's life. He honors each of them with his words (even though none of them are here). And he speaks with pride about former staff members who have gone on to lead great churches.

During one of our breaks I thanked him for giving me such a vivid picture of servant leadership. When I did tears filled his eyes.

There's something compelling about a leader who wears his heart on his sleeve.

I wish it weren't true, but conflict is an inevitable part of life. I'm back in class this week learning how to manage conflict in the church. It's helped me to realize that everyone has a preferred style for conflict management, as well as a fall back style that they revert to as tension increases. Here are the styles:

My natural style is competing, and my fall back is accommodating. In other words, my personality leads me to pursue a decision that I think is right, but then I tend to pull back if I sense that relationships are being affected negatively. I know, it's a little schizophrenic:)

None of the styles are appropriate in every situation. That means it's helpful to learn how to function in each of them when necessary.

What's your style?

Had a great phone conversation this morning with Sebastiaan Van Wessem. Sebastiaan planted a church in 2006 just outside of Amsterdam. He's had tremendous success and has his sights set on expanding into Amsterdam in a few years.

I've been in Amsterdam several times and have a deep burden for that city. It started in 2000 when I was there for Billy Graham's World Evangelism Conference. I stayed in a hotel just a few blocks away from the red light district. I remember walking through those streets in the evenings and praying for God to do something radical. Since then I've had a dream that at some point I could be a part of a partnership to see a church planting movement take hold in Amsterdam.

Yesterday I preached the third message in our What If series.  This week's question: What if we turned our city upside down.

We looked at the Acts 19 account of city transformation in Ephesus. Ephesus was the Amsterdam of the Roman Empire. Large, influential, difficult...Yet a core group of 12 planted a church that disrupted sinful systems and indirectly shut down businesses that profited from the occult. It's one of my favorite stories in the Bible, and my dream for Metro Detroit.

It's so encouraging to see God calling young men to give themselves to transforming the great urban centers of our world.