July 2012
8 posts
Darkness, Depression, and Creation
From my journal. Good luck reading the handwriting. I failed penmanship in elementary school.
8 Cans, 2 boxes, 1 Bag, 1 Jar!
Here’s our Whitney hanging with the kids from Monroe Circle a couple weeks ago.
This is a picture of what the Kingdom looks like. We’ve been painting that picture alongside our friends in Monroe Circle for almost 10 years now. Thousands of us adding a brushstroke here or there, for the glory of God.
We all have an opportunity to add to the beauty again. How? 8 Cans, 2 boxes, 1 bag, 1 jar!
Let me explain.
Urgent Request and the Greatest Gift
Last night, at 11:17 pm, I received one of those text messages that make your stomach hurt. It said, “Zion Carlstrom was hit and run by a car. They’re heli-vacing her to Memorial. We’re in route to meet Blair and Traci.”
The message was from Jack Magruder, one of my best friends and staff team member at Granger. Blair and Traci were members of GCC for years, a good portion of that time Blair was on staff. In recent years, he has become the lead pastor at Waypoint Church in Middlebury, IN.
The Trifold Rhythm of Jesus
After a long break where I was focused on finishing Missional Moves (which Zondervan releases in September!), I’m blogging again. So, I thought I’d start with some thoughts that have been percolating in my journal.
One of the things that Luke emphasizes as he writes to a Gentile audience is the rhythm of life Jesus embraced. With greater clarity than the other gospel writers, Luke intentionally shows us how Jesus navigated a life FULL of demands with practices that fed his soul. Luke conveys thoroughly the way Jesus engaged and disengaged, the way he would pour himself out with the crowds and then pour in through soul care.
If Luke is a snapshot the Jesus playbook, then Henri Nouwen posits that Luke 6:12-19 is one particular play he ran over and over again. In this passage, Luke’s timeline of one day in the life of Jesus reveals his overarching pattern of soul care. That day involved solitude, then community, and then mission. These are all layered on top of each other, woven together into a way of life. Solitude feeds community. Solitude and community feed mission. Solitude, community, and mission woven together are the Jesus life. Here’s how I pictured it in my journal.
That’s the essence of missional community. What do you think?
