What is a convert?

This semester I'm taking two classes. One of which is with one of my youth ministry heroes, Dr. Chap Clark, Author of Hurt: Inside the World of Today's Teenagers (Youth, Family, and Culture). 

In our first few weeks we have been reflecting on something called Incarnational Witness. The basic idea is that our methods of evangelism should reflect the life and model of ministry Jesus practiced. This model dictates that evangelism should be motivated by the same things that motivated Jesus, like being sent by the Father. We should model our evangelism after Christ's example, leaving our place of comfort to go to the broken, the hurting, and the forgotten.

• These lectures are invigorating my love for youth ministry!
• The course material is also solidifying my belief in relational youth ministry as opposed to creating a class or a program for every kind of problem teens will face. When I look back at my adolescence, it was people who journeyed with me that made the difference and not classes or even sermons! I remember the way my youth pastor and youth leaders listened to me, came to my games, and took my questions. I pray that I can be that for our youth and train others in the same model. 

When you think back to your teenage years or even a recent crisis, what made the difference for you?

I want to be missional.

I've been a way a while because of work and school, but I have been reading a lot and I'm ready to start posting again. This one is longer than usual, but it encapsulates what I've been chewing on and wrestling with in my life and calling. I hope you enjoy!


The missional church is incarnational, not attractional, in its ecclesiology. By incarnational we mean it does not create sanctified spaces into which unbelievers must come to encounter the gospel. Rather, the missional church disassembles itself and seeps into the cracks and crevices of a society in order to be Christ to those who don’t yet know him.

The missional church is messianic, not dualistic, in its spirituality. That is, it adopts the worldview of Jesus the Messiah, rather than that of the Greco-Roman empire. Instead of seeing the world as divided between the sacred (religious) and profane (nonreligious), like Christ it sees the world and God’s place in it as more holistic and integrated.

The missional church adopts an apostolic, rather than a hierarchical, mode of leadership. By apostolic we mean a mode of leadership that recognizes the fivefold model detailed by Paul in Ephesians 4. It abandons the triangular hierarchies of the traditional church and embraces a biblical, flat-leadership community that unleashes the gifts of evangelism, apostleship, and prophecy, as well as the currently popular pastoral and teaching gifts.

Frost, Michael; Hirsch, Alan (2001-01-01). Shaping of Things to Come, The (Kindle Locations 346-356). Baker Book Group. Kindle Edition.

Flowers don't lie: We are loved.

     Barak and I grew up in the same youth ministry. He was my theatrical mentor in middle and high school by example. I learned the art of improv from him and it was so encouraging to have an upperclassmen affirm me at such a young age. He really left a mark on my life.
   
     I did and do now look up to him as a good buddy of mine and a wicked talented artist, actor, and comedian. I go to his site often for inspiration and often wind up procrastinating there for a while, but it is time well spent. This video made me realize that I extend grace to other people but not myself.  Hey, if a flower says it, it must be true!

Let's realize that We really are loved!

Flowers Don't Lie from 50YearPlan on Vimeo.

heartbeats & home

I'm in Palm Harbor, Florida. I grew up here. This is the first time in 14 years I've done more than drive by my home town. My grandparents returned here a year ago, and I came over here for a visit because my (Pop) grandfather's health isn't so great. I'm processing an adolescence cut short from moving away from home and coming to grips with the beginning stages of grief for the man who plays a major role in my life.


After a laundry list of health challenges and falls, Pop is in a rehab facility for several types of physical therapy. Quite honestly, my family doesn't know what's going to happen. Knowing him, he could be around another 25 years, but I decided to come down anyway to avoid regrets.
Last night, before we left his rehab facility Pop asked if we could pray together as a family. We happily agreed.

My family took turns in prayer, but while we did I got down on my knees in front of Pop's wheel chair and put my head on his chest, just like I used to when I was a boy. We had an evening ritual. We'd play baseball. He'd pitch and I'd bat. I'd break a lot of stuff. He'd cheer. We'd wrestle. I'd win. Then we would settle down on the couch. Pop would stand me up in front of him and smile upon me. He'd call me, "Michael Joseph." That's not my legal name, but he didn't care. It had deep meaning for him, a destiny that he spoke over quite often. After a while I'd put my head on his chest as he read the paper. With the beat of his heart in one ear and CNN in the other, I'd drift to sleep nightly.

These past few health challenges have slowed Pop down quite a bit. His feet shuffle, his voice is soft, and he has trouble doing things he used to. However, when I heard his heart I was connected to him...the real him.

I'm not quite sure of what to make all of this. I'm walking and driving these streets that look so familiar, but I get turned around. The salty Florida air invigorates my lungs and I am breathing deeper than I can in Texas. I sit with my hero and talk, but then there are moments when I loose him...just for a second and then he's back.

I'm so grateful for those heart beats. I can hear them now.

God, I know you love Pop. I know you will be the God we know you are.

Update: I have a new job

Things have been busy around the office lately. Our church has been moving people around to position our staff for the next season of ministry. We're starting a West Campus and our South Campus is moving into a permanent building location.

Our high school youth pastor, Ben Calmer moved up to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma to take a fantastic ministry opportunity. I deeply miss him. He's one of my truest and best friends as well as some one I deeply respect. We did ministry together for five years and there is no way I can begin to articulate what I learned from him in the area of youth ministry.

I'll be adding his responsibilities to my own. So that leaves Marie and I with 6-12th grade groups of Shoreline Church's youth and Shoreline Leadership College. It's a little disorienting ministering to the 12 year olds on Sunday and adults 18-65ish on Monday, but it's really fun!

In addition to our new responsibilities, I officially began Fuller Seminary's MAGL program two weeks ago and we're expecting our second child in July. Every thing seems to be happening at once.

How do you balance your time between your family, job, and personal developement? I'm open for suggestions!

Messy

I came across this in my drafts folder. I have no idea where I captured it from. What do you think?


* A farmer had a good field and uprooted it of weeds. He showed it to God who said, ‘Well done, the field looks good and it is cleared of weeds. But there are no flowers, no vegetables.’ Even with weeds, the field would have been productive. Our lives are something similar. In the middle of our sins, faults and failings is the love we try to share and live by. God sees that, and oversees and overlooks our sins and weakness and knows that the love of the life of each of us bears fruit in ways we do not know.

There's always a fight.

A few weeks ago Bobbi Houston said something in a sermon she preached at Shoreline that really hit me. "There's always a "darn" fight. She forgot that Austrailians can use stronger language than thier more conservative American cousins do. After the laughter died down, the truth of that statement really hit me.

There is always a struggle isn't there?

Up until that moment I held on to an unconcious expectation to hit a platau someday. If I just worked hard enough or recruited enough leaders, then I would finally be able to set the ministry on auto pilot and it would run itself. Problems would simply ricochet off my to-do list. People would disciple themselves etc etc. Of course if someone said the same thing to me, I'd tell them it doesn't work that way, but I still kept that false expectation in the back of my mind my whole adult life.

I don't always expect to struggle with the same projects, relationship problems, and challenges, but now I do expect to struggle. Perhaps struggle is too harsh a word. I expect to surrender. My family, my job, and my ministry all take upkeep. I like the metaphore of farming for ministry. Jesus seemed to. It would be madness for a farmer to expect to plow his field so well that the seeds didn't need to be sown, or to harvest so well that the next years crop planted its self.

Today, as you "tend your fields/vines" I pray that you find strength for the struggles you go through and that you struggle well.

So I had a dream about Japan the other night..

Seeing this video today reminded me of a dream I had the other night about living in Japan again. I think subconsciously I'm realizing the need to properly debrief from my time there.  Marie and I experienced many surreal moments there because of the mix of ancient culture, technology and an obsession with all things cute.  Watch this, and you will understand why it's easy to have strange dreams about this country.  

(ht to relevant for the vid)

Facing My Dragons: A Messiah Complex

I've been reading a great book by Peter Scazzero called The Emotionally Healthy Church: A Strategy for Discipleship That Actually Changes Lives. This book is at the same time causing tension for me and provoking me to move towards emotional health. He defines a few key areas of emotional maturity equally applicable church bodies, pastors, staff, and congregation. There is also a fun emotional inventory in the book to give the reader a better idea of their own emotional health.

I scored lowest in the area of Accepting Limitations as a Gift. On the surface it seems like a good thing to ignore limitations, to exceed one's weaknesses, to accomplish in spite of inadequate resources. For me that exemplifies the American "can-do" spirit! Peter Scazzero is not suggesting that we become pessimistic fatalists. I think he's saying that people need to acknowledge our weak spots and manage around them. To ignore weaknesses hints at a messiah complex. There is no way to be all things to all people, as a person or as a church. This book challenged me to discover what kind of person God's made me to be and what kind of Church he's put me in.

There are two strong things going on inside me lately. On one hand I'm fully embracing ambition to make my life count. The tricky part about this ambition is that it needs an appropriate focus! I will probably struggle with thinking that success is bigger, richer, and more famous. I don't like this part of my thinking, but I'm safer if I acknowledge that it's there. I want to live a life of significance with family, Church (big and little C), and community.

Are you aware of your limits? Do you embrace them as something to be welcomed so that God can be strong for you? What if a low self concept and a messiah complex are closely linked? If you are threatened by people saying what other people, pastors, youth groups, or churches do, then perhaps you have not learned who God has made you and your to be. This book is a great resource and I highly recommend it to those involved in spiritual formation of others or for those just wanting to grow. 

Killing the "Glittering Image"

To some extent everyone manages their public image. We shape statements or the stories we tell to make ourselves look better than we actually are. Some times we are completely unaware that we are maintaining a false image of ourselves. The main character of Susan Howatch's book fell into that trap. I recognized myself in the this story when I read it a few years ago while riding too and from my school teaching job in Japan.

A few years ago, my counselor pointed out to me that I am an image manager. In my relationship to Marie, my family, those I work with, I must guard against managing my image. At it's deepest level, my image management speaks to a deep down fear that I am not unconditionally lovable or valuable to God or anyone. That statement is very pronounced, and I do not feel like that constantly, but that thought has always been with me as long as I can remember. Of course I haven't been able to articulate it that way in my teens and early 20's, but that's the recording playing in my head.

Image management drove the way I ran from conflict, tried to please people, and even the activities I involved myself it. I loved acting because I could create a completely different person and it helped to relive some of the pressure I felt in my own emotional life. The problem was not theatre classes. The problem is that I was creating a character on and off the stage that people were loving. I could talk to many people and connect with them. This kind of people pleasing addiction was/is exhausting. It's not really me.

I'd like to say I'm free from it, but every couple of days (hours) it pops back up again. However it doesn't rock my life like it used to. I can recognize it. Sometimes, I even prayerfully "deconstruct" my "glittering image" in front of people. I'm consistently surprised that people love me, not a manufactured image of me or some carefully manacured surfacy representation of me...people love me. I know I'm loved because God says I have value. I know I'm loved because people close to me embrace my weakness. I know I'm loved because I'm learning that it's no longer necessary to tediously keep up my image in front of others.

I write this in my journal every day after hearing that my Pastor does the same thing:

I am loved by God

I am a child of God

I cannot earn God's love

My value is not effected by my performance.

What God says about me is more important than what people say about me. 

I perform for an audience of one.

He equips.

He supplies

I'm Back With Bike Thoughts

I promised a thought or two about a recent spill I took while cycling Saturday night.

A little background: 

Recently some good friends began upgrading their bikes. That's good news for me because I got their hand-me-downs. They gave me nice pedals that clip onto special bike shoes. The first few rides with the new pedals felt counter intuitive because I am not in the habit of attaching myself at the feet to moving objects. The transition was not difficult though and before long I was clipping in and out with no problem.

My Progress:

It's only 5 or so miles to work from my house. That means I get to and from my commute in 20 minutes or so when considering traffic lights. My new pedals and shoes help shave off a precious few minutes off of my morning and afternoon rides because now I can pull up on the pedals as well as push down.

The Lesson:

In the several months since using my new pedals, I have only fallen twice. The most recent of which was a couple of days ago. I was exploring a park I've never been to. I was ridding through the park, not sure where I was going or where the train would end. I was smelling honey suckle, observing how green everything seemed, and listening to the birds. Before I knew it there was no more trail. While still on my back, disoriented, rocks poking me, I thought "there is a lesson in here somewhere."

So here is what I have so far. I think it is interesting that I've never fallen while moving. I've been on busy roads, dealt with traffic lights that changed quickly, and even had my handlebars fall off while still managing a safe upright stop. However, if I'm distracted, not committed to the direction I'm going, or just spaced out, I fall. Hard.

This reminded me of the many times in scripture when God's people are instructed to go or move. Abraham was told to "go to a place that I will show you." Moses was instructed to help set G-d's people free. Many others received similar instructions. In the book of James, the author instructs readers to let God's grace and mighty works motivate them to action...movement. I know that the Psalms instruct peole to "be still and know that I am God." The idea of movement is does not cancel out stillness. These ideas must be held in tension and compliment each other. I can't use the Psalm as an excuse to sit on my back side, and waste away. When it comes to the will of God, depending on Him, and partnering with what He's doing in the world, I want to give Jesus something to work with.

Are you making an important decision? Are you searching to find "the will of God?" Have you prayed about it? Did you get input from wise people? If so, go! Move! Put yourself out there. Do something! Our Father, in heaven will direct you, give you wisdom, nudge you, guide you, and get you where you need to go.

Looking forward.

We Are The Church - Part 1

Earl McClellan, spoke in big church a few weeks ago and delivered a sermon called: We Are The Church - Part 1you can listen here. He lays out the strategy of how our church is going to reach our community and I've never been so excited to be a part of what's going on here.

Our hope is to shift away from a professional clergy based church model. We want our congregation to see themselves as priests. We want people to think about church as something so much bigger than what takes place on Sunday. I'm guessing that this is the sort of thing that lots of churches talk about and kick around. We've talked about this paradigm for years now, but something is different now.

The people we work closest with are youth workers, young adults, and singles. They are getting it. There have been numerous occasions of them beating us to the hospital when someone is sick, having a baby, or going through a hard time. Personally, I'm realizing the work of a Pastor, to train and equip the saints for ministry. It's happening and it is beautiful. I can't wait to articulate some of these ideas to our middle schoolers this Sunday.

The big idea of the sermon comes from Jesus' words to Peter, "the gates of hell will not prevail against you." Jesus is in a sense calling a play for us, the Church (with a big C). He's saying, "beat back the gates of hell, beat back the gates of hell." It's up to the team and me to train these kids to be "Jesus with skin on" to their families, schools, and neighborhoods.

I'm not going to talk long, just set up this idea. Then we're going to do it. We had planned to have someone donate 10 inches of their hair on stage to locks of love, but the hair stylist fell through. Instead, we're having a Funraiser (yes FUN raiser) for Caleb's Place - an orphanage in Caleb Koke's memory. We'll also have a station to get them in a connect group and another for them to fill out cards for kids in Dell Children's hospital. Should be fun!

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What Am I?

I've been thinking today.

Am I my body? Am I my thoughts? Am I what I do? Am I a soul? Some thoughts from Dallas Willard's book The Divine Conspiracy. If a soul cannot be confined to a specific point in space, where is it and what is it? By confined to time and space he means that if you cut me open in order to find "me" then you'd have a hard time finding anything but cells, bacteria, and my dinner. The eyes, face, and hands of a person can make us present to another person, but those parts alone do not make up our soul. Saint John of the Cross describes the soul as a prisoner to our senses. It is a clean slate drawn on by what we allow into our body and mind.We all have a soul. It needs to be fed. It needs to be rested. It needs to be connected to G-d.

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LIFT Style & Galatians: So, Mike's Talkin' In "Big" Church Again

I really enjoy my job. Late last year, we merged our youth and young adults/singles team to have a more 'all hands on deck' feel for the programs, services, leadership, and most importantly, the relationships of both teams/ministries. I'm excited about this upcoming weekend because we get to lead our congregation's worship services and we are doing it in true lift fashion. Instead of having one person from our team teach in first service, drive to our south campus, and then race back north for second service, we are splitting up the teaching duties. Not only does each campus have its own speaker this weekend, but each service has a different teacher. Ben is down south. I'm north first service and Earl is north second service. It's going to be fun and a nice statement about the way we can do church (not personality driven).

This service comes at a crucial point in my development as a 'preacher.' Last week, I asked some trusted friends, and ministry peers to review my speaking style, delivery, content, and structure via an mp3 file shared on facebook. The common thread to the constructive criticisms they gave me centered around not saying too many things or using too many texts. For instance, they encouraged me to use one Bible verse and then get really specific examples of what it meant to the people it was written to and then share examples of what it means for our specific context.

When I read their comments I had to laugh at myself. I paid lots of money in undergrad and grad school to learn that stuff, but working for a while in certain circles leant me to picking up a few bad habits. However, not all the things I caught have been bad. So, this weekend I will endevor to only use one text, Galatians 2:20. I will spend more time in thei whole letter to the Galatians and getting to know what it says, rather than making it say something I want it too and finding other verses that say the same thing. I know that everything on the internet isn't true, but it's amazing what you can find on google as far as Bible research goes. Which reminds me...I was prepping for this sermon...

Theme: Galatians has been called “the Magna Carta of the Reformation” and Luther’s “Katie von Bora.” It is the book on which the Protestant Reformation was founded. The key to this epistle is seen in 2:16: “Know that a man is not justified on the basis of the works of the Law, but on the basis of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified on the basis of Christ’s faithfulness, and not on the basis of the works of the Law—for no flesh will be justified on the basis of the works of the Law.” Paul thus links Christ’s complete faithfulness to the old covenant as grounds for the abolition of the old covenant and as the basis for our salvation. In a nutshell, we are justified by faith in Christ because Christ was faithful.

Bible.org: Galatians:Introduction, Argument, and Outline

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Letting Go

"A thick and shapeless tree-trunk would never believe
that it could become a statue, admired as a miracle of sculpture,
and would never submit itself to the chisel of the sculptor,
who sees by her genius what she can make of it." (St Ignatius)

Luke 7:1-10

How much did the Centurion have to let go in order to tell Jesus not to come to his house, but only speak the words and heal his beloved slave.

It seems that this powerful Roman loved his slave very much. It also seems that it would be easy for him to obsess about the slave and try to control the situation by showing up personally or trying to have Jesus come to his house personally.

No, he realized that Jesus had the authority; he even called him L-rd, something that was totally unheard of between Romans and Jews, much less a Roman of authority. The Centurion was willing to let the master carve him into whatever he was supposed to become.

I am asking myself, "what areas do I obsess over?"

How about you?

May you have the courage to let go of your plans and allow G-d to carve you.

Pop

Yesterday I spent some time with one of our Juniors in High School. He calls me "pops" or "Dad." At first it started as a joke because we are completely different races, and I'm barely old enough to be his biological father. He is like a spiritual son to me though, and yesterday I began to see the deeper truth to the nickname he calls me. The name Pop has significance to him and to me.

My Pop is an influential man, who commands the attention of a room. He has friends all over the globe, yet he took the time to describe to me the finest things in life when I was younger. He patiently taught me about the things that most people skip over or deem unimportant. For instance, he painted fascinating word pictures about baseball and its history that kept my attention despite my seven years of age. He discipled me. I would tag along to an important meeting with an associate or an old acquaintance. He taught me how to shoot a basketball. He made sure that I knew I was his first priority. His example guides me as a husband, father, pastor, and some day I hope, a grandfather. A Pop.

Get well soon, Pop. I love you very much.

On the Town with Mandy!

Marie and I are so excited that her sister, Mandy is here! Right now we are finishing up a little snack at 219 West, a cool hangout spot in down town Austin. I love showing people around our great little town.

Say Hello to DJ!

The Luke's had their little boy this morning!

Invisible Lines of Connection

This book inspired me. It changed the way I teach and look at the world. Here is something that I remembered from my life because of reading this book.I picked this book up again the other day.

I usesd to be an avid baseball card collector. Recently I was looking through the pages of the albums that I had collected. I realized that these cards were more than money value. These cards were a tangible connection to different periods in my childhood and adolescence. Looking at them brought back a flood of memories. I laughed at the thought of some of my buddies. I got a little nostalgic thinking of the times I spent in my friend Zach's living room trading cards. I remembered going to a junky baseball card shop with Kyle and Ryan in Safety Harbor, Florida and the excitement I heard when my mom said, "yes" to my inevitable question, "can I buy a pack?"

Perhaps that is why my cards sit on the top shelf of my closet collecting dust, even after nine moves. They sit there as a physical representation of all the memories that are stored inside me. They are a portable reminder of a time when I felt safe and the world made more sense. In the scriptures, God instructs the Hebrews to set up stones when they are to remember things. Perhaps some of those cards are my stones?

Mother's Day Video: Never Underestimate The Power Of Cheese...or Celine

Hi Moms, Memeres, Mimi's, Grandma's and Lola's!
Marie and I are wishing that we could be with you all today to let you know how much you mean to Ella and us! We made a little something for you to enjoy on your special day. We love you so much!