caffeine, please.

Report from Kenya

I tried to call Edward Simiyu via Skype today.  He is in Nairobi at this time.  Continuing to face the violence and chaos across the country.  I don't want to let people forget that this is still happening even though it has faded from the center cross hairs of much of the media.  Please pray for peace and healing in Kenya.

Steve Martin, preacher's coach

I'm a Bible communicator.  There.  I said it.  Notice there are no supporting adjectives to this statement.  Its taken my 3 years just to be able to admit this much.  I can now admit that part of my role in ministry is to teach the Bible every Sunday.  I began this journey of preaching 3 years ago--January of 2005.  I was scared to death then and I still am.  I wasn't sure if it would last then and I'm still not sure.  But for now...

Yesterday I was reading Born Standing Up by Steve Martin, my favorite comedian.  Martin admits to ignoring his stand up career for 25 years after he quit doing stand up--seemingly afraid and unwillingly to revisit the agony of live performance night after night.  I thought it was an interesting perspective from such an unbelievably successful comedian and actor.

He is uncannily open about his developmental years in stand up comedy--and they were many.  He talks a lot about his process, failures, personal struggles and breakthroughs.  (Sidenote:  did you know that one of Steve Martin's first true loves was Stormie (Sherk) Omartian before she became a Christian?  That's crazy!)

This quote from page 139 was powerful for me as a Bible communicator-in-training:

The consistent work enhanced my act.  I learned a lesson:  It was easy to be great.  Every entertainer has a night when everything is clicking.  These nights are accidental and statistical:  Like lucky cards in poker, you can count on them occurring over time.  What was hard was to be good, consistently good, night after night, no matter what the abominable circumstances.

I believe this applies almost verbatim to preaching.  Every blue moon (maybe a handful of times in the past 3 years) I've felt what its like to have "everything clicking."  Its rare and when it happens, I've almost had the feeling that I'm standing outside myself watching and thinking, 'where did that come from?'"

But from the beginning of the journey of preaching, my greatest struggle has been to be "consistently good" in any circumstance, every week. 

What is "good", you ask? For me it would be to truly understand the text (faithful), understand the congregation's needs at that moment in time (prophetic), clearly relate the text to today's world (relevant), manage to have people enjoy the process as its happening (funny), and most importantly, that the net effect would be that in the midst of all this, Jesus would show up and speak to people's hearts (empowered).

While this prize ("consistently good") continues to elude me, I feel a bit more relaxed knowing that I'm in a similar boat with other communicators of different varieties--or at least Steve sort of feels my pain.  I'm guessing if most preachers were honest, their struggle is the same.

Now who would have thought that comedian Steve Martin would help me clarify and focus my prayer and growth desires as a Bible teacher?  I guess that is the net value of reading stuff I like across different genres and disciplines.

"Uh oh... I'm getting Happy Feeeet!"

Risk is success

I'm a proud dad today.  Why?  My son took a big risk last week and again today--he participated in his school spelling bee.

Here's how it works--students choose to participate in the bee in their own class.  If they win in their class, they go on to the all-school competition.  The school bee is for students from 3rd through 7th grade.

Last week, Tyce participated in and won his class bee which qualified him for the all-school bee.  I arrived at 1pm today to see a gym full of students and 20 spellers sitting on the stage, Tyce among them.  He was cool as a cucumber.  I was impressed.

In the morning I had given him a pep talk before he got out of the car.  "Tyce, I'm really proud of you.  I'm proud of you because you took a risk last week and you're taking a risk today spelling in front of most of your school.  You are already successful.  Success always comes through taking risks."

My wife and I had one simple hope for our 3rd grader spelling against older kids:  make it past the first round.  And guess what, cool as a cucumber he spelled "bugle" and advanced to round two. 

In round two his word was:  "fatigue".  He spelled it "F-A-T-I- pause... -Q-U-E".  So close!  Gil observed:  "he's so visual--he saw the letter in his mind it looked like a "q" instead of "g".  I snuck up to him during a transition and told him how proud I was of they way he handled himself.  I think this is a milestone experience for him.

I'll just say this:  I think success always rises out of repeated risk-taking and lots of "early exits".  I believe successful people simply learn how to handle the repeated process of risk and failure without quitting or losing heart. And by their willingness to repeatedly risk, they experience breakthroughs. 

I'm praying that "risk" is an embraced concept in all my children.

A worsening situation

An alert reader emailed me a report from a missionary friend in the Naivasha region of Kenya yesterday.  The report makes clear that ethnic hostilities are dismantling the peaceful coexistence of Kenya's many tribes under one national banner. 

We just wanted to send you a little update on the current situation.  Things have taken on an alarming twist.  No longer is the fighting in areas outside of Nairobi about politics.  Now, it is strictly retaliation, upon retaliation.  The Rift Valley is in chaos and
now we have some trouble in Limuru.  The Kikuyus have given all non-kikuyus 72 hours (midnight on the 30th or 31st depending on who youlisten to) to get out of Limuru (where we live).  This has happened in the neighboring towns of Nakuru and Naivasha where well over 225 peoplehave died in the last three nights.  Our non-Kikuyu friends that live on
the same compound are terrified.

We, as westerners, are still not very at risk.  They may come to our compound searching for our friends, but we are still not the targets.  We called a compound meeting this afternoon to discuss security, contingency plans and to pray.  Because of the 72 hour time period, we
feel like we have a window of time to better assess the situation and make some decisions.  For now, we are helping the people we love to get to a safe place for the time being.  I have no idea what our area will look like after this.  It's heartbreaking to think about.

On our compound we have friends with the International Mission Board (Southern Baptists).  They have been through this situation several times in their 30 years of being in Africa.  Their perspective is that we can do two things:  1) we can leave before the 72 hours is up until things settle down a bit or 2) we can hunker down and wait out the
storm.  They said that is by far too dangerous to leave in the midst of the ruckus.  They have a container FULL of food in their yard.  By container, I mean those huge containers you see on trains.  We have been feeding the displaced people in Tigoni and Limuru with this food and that is why it is there.

We are unsure about what we are going to do at this point.  Our evacuation bags are still packed, the car is full of gas, and we have plenty of food for staying here or for a long car ride.  We are still considering all options.

We are asking you guys to pray.  We want to make wise decisions for not only ourselves but for the people that we've been called to serve.

Our town is small enough that it doesn't get media attention so we rely on word of mouth.   We have befriended people of many tribes here and they trust us.  They often tell us things that are happening WAY before everyone else finds out.  We are so thankful for these relationships.

Please know that we are doing our best to do the right thing and to make wise decisions.  We will keep you informed as much as possible.  If we decide to leave Limuru/Tigoni, we might not have internet access for a while, so don't be alarmed if you don't hear from us right away.

We'll try to keep you updated as we go.  Thank you for continuing to pray for us as well as the people of Kenya.

Product/marketing alignment

I'll admit it.  I am a raving fan of Apple.  Call me a sellout.  Call me snotty.  Call me annoying, elitist, call me whatever you want.  (Just don't call me via VOIP on a PC.) 

I don't think there is a company out there who aligns the quality of their product with the quality and feel of their ads like Apple.  They're production and marketing departments are absolutely locked together.  I think that's pretty rare.

So in the spirit of Friday fun and because I'm a big fan, here's a little video for you...

The winner

So a couple nights ago, for no apparent reason, I got defensive and caused a fight with my wife.  It wasn't anything major--cross words, raised blood pressure and not resolved.  I took my toys and went downstairs to "my", I mean "our" room, with that nasty feeling in my gut.  Even though I was wrong, I was still horked.  Grabbed the spiritual biography that I've been reading about C.T. Studd and stewed while reading.

Let me tell you, reading about a spiritual giant and his obedience to God in China as a missionary and how much he loved Jesus while stewing with anger after a marital spat is very conflicted behavior--or so I've heard.  Before long I was feeling humbled in my heart and thinking that I should probably, maybe, go upstairs and repent for being such a dope.  The idea rattled around in my head for a bit but my feet weren't cooperating, yet, so I kept reading. 

Suddenly, before my very eyes and with no effort on my part, my bookmark is being placed in my book, my book closed and then set aside.  Not able to see the face behind these hands and being pretty sure it was my wife, I think to myself, "now you've done it--she's going to tell you what for.  Better get ready for some fireworks.  You should have gone upstairs and repented when you had the chance."

I look up and she's smiling broadly.  "Let's not fight.  Its pretty silly.  I love you.  Sorry."

I'm sitting there thinking I should have obeyed the Spirit earlier.  That I should have gone first since I was pretty much the wrong party.  And then I'm thinking how blessed I am to have such a godly wife.  As I'm thinking all this, she sidles up to me real close and says quietly in my ear, "I win!"  and then she cracks up and so do I.  I knew immediately what she meant:

As Pastor Asa App is fond of saying, "First one to the Cross wins!" 

And she was first, no question about it--and because of that, the winner. 

And it occurs to me that with Jesus, sometimes, even when you lose, you still win.

Breakthrough in Kenya

Praise God that there is finally some realistic movement toward resolution in the ugly political stalemate in Kenya.  Healing the wounds of ethnic hatred will a lot of grace and time, but the bloodshed and fighting needs to stop for the healing to begin.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7206995.stm

Two good articles from FC

I'm a big fan of Fast Company magazine.  I tend to find instigating ideas from its pages--ideas that can be translated into the church realm.

So with no further ado...

Make Goals, Not Resolutions
Is the Tipping Point Toast?

Structural reformation

I got a free copy of a new-to-me magazine called REV! a few days ago.  Tore out a couple articles for my files--one was a column from Rick Warren called The Five Renewals.  Renewal #4 was called Structural Reformation and it struck a chord with me:

There comes a time (most likely several times) in the growth of a [church] when we have to assess our structure and determine if it helping or hurting our growth... Structural renewal may mean new teams, new staff or new systems.

As a pastoral team we're working on revamping one of our systems--we're doing Structural Reformation and we didn't even know it.  Our "Growth Path" (interestingly enough, patterned largely after Rick Warren's system proposed in Purpose Driven Church) has been in need of a major revision for a while.

So this morning we locked ourselves in a conference room at our Little Village location and worked through ideas for Growth Path version 2.0.  Early in our conversation we all felt like we had an "aha" moment when Pastor Mark through an idea out there for the defining image of GPv2.  I believe we will be able to clarify and roll out the first stages of GPv2 in the very near future.  Stay tuned for more details.

If you want to make sure not to miss the rollout of our GPv2 then register for Ignite today!  We'll be debuting it there.

High Low

Sometimes in our family we do this thing called High Low at the dinner table.  Everyone shares their high point of the day and their low point.  It becomes a good conversation starter and gives a glimpse into what matters to our kids.

So in the spirit of High Low (now please imagine yourself now sitting around our dinner table--we're having "breakfast dinner", as far as you know), I'll share my High from today...

This morning, as I was coming into the mail room on the way from our pastoral prayer meeting to our message prep meeting at our Midway campus, I overheard two of our pastors--Paco and Matt--chuckling as they read over a piece of paper.  I peaked over their shoulder to see what the yucks were about and...

I need to digress a moment and tell you that we have had an ongoing "crisis" at our house since Christmas.  All 4 kids received a Webkinz pet as a gift and 3 of them have been "logging in" and playing with their Webkinz pet online.  Feeding it, buying clothes for it, decorating its room, etc.  (If you have no idea what I'm talking about right now, its not worth me explaining further.  You may just be better off not knowing.) 

When I registered our youngest, Olivia, I somehow had lost the login info and she has been locked out of the joys and pleasures of Webkinz world ever since.  Now this has caused a considerable amount of consternation on the part of my oldest, crusading, justice loving, mother-the-youngest daughter, Jaley.  Its been a sensitive subject and I have been thus far unable to solve the problem.

Okay, back to my original story (as if you don't know where this is going already.)  So I look at the page Paco and Matt are reading and there before my very eyes is--drum roll, please--Olivia's printout from her original Webkinz set up!  It has her username, password, pet name, rank, serial #--everything she needs to enter the delights of the virtual Webkinz universe. 

I'm so pathetic that I immediately called home.  Never mind the start to the meeting--I've got important Webkinz business here people! 

Jaley answers.  (Bonus point for me.)  "Hi Jaley.  Guess what?  I found Olivia's Webkinz stuff!  You can log in now!"  Rejoicing and ecstasy, in understated Jaley fashion.

I hung up the phone after talking with my happy eldest feeling like a conquering hero!  If you are a man and not yet a father, buck up pal--this is what is in store for your future.  If you are a father, you know exactly how I felt (even if you won't admit it in a roomful of men.) 

Funny thing is there were a number of other great things about today.  But this one still sits on the top of the pile.

Encounter Retreat

John Palmieri, pastor of our Melrose Park and Mont Clare locations, has an entry reporting back on this past weekend's men's Encounter Retreat. 

Its exciting to see and hear the fruit from the retreat especially amongst the Lakeview men who attended.  Men were buzzing on Sunday.  Many men felt a sense of freedom through bringing things into the light and also through connecting with other men on similar journeys.  I sensed a rebirth of hope in men's hearts as I spoke with them.

I praise God for these types of all church events--they bear tremendous fruit in people's lives and really evidence the value of the multi-site model in a very practical way.

No, actually I'm a giraffe

My google home page quote generator had a priceless gem today; a pearl of wisdom; even, dare I say, a Confucian thought.  Our profound thought/quote hails from the 2nd most famous Buddhist in America, the lovable and cuddly Richard Gere.  He was quoted in the Guardian (UK) in June of 2002 saying:

I know who I am. No one else knows who I am. If I was a giraffe, and someone said I was a snake, I'd think, "no, actually I'm a giraffe".

In the communication business, this is what is known as an illustration gone awry.  I suppose I've had more than a few myself.  So Richard, I feel your pain.  I too, am a giraffe.  And I am the walrus.  Coo coo cu choo.

Good well

No I'm not grammatically challenged in the title of this post (though I am grammatically challenged.)  But I have a habit of returning to good wells.  I've learned there are spiritual wells for me that I always come back to and that always refresh my heart and deepen my walk with God.

One favorite deep well:  I try to be back in a Gospel in my daily bible reading at least once a quarter and usually more often.  Luke is my favorite.  (Is that like saying I have a favorite kid?  Not sure.)  Luke has some of my favorite parables and teachings of Jesus.  And arguably, Luke 9 is the most discipleship-packed chapter in the New Testament.  I've been, to use my wife's word, "steeping" in it for the last several days.

Another favorite refreshing well:  spiritual biographies.  My sister just gave me the biography of C.T. Studd for Christmas.  Just started digging into it and already feeling challenged and stirred.  Hearing of the ministry of DL Moody in CT Studd's life (BTW--what was it with all these guys using initials for names during the late 1800's?) and of the simple passion for Jesus' gospel and for people is just the right drink of water.

Another is fulfilling well:  silence.  I fight this all the time.  I'm not a big fan (in my flesh) of silence.  I like noise, loud music, activity, conversation.  But I need silence.  Turn off the radio.  Sit quietly in the early morning.  "Cease striving and know that I am God"--that's what the Psalmist calls it.

What wells is God drawing you to lately?  Drink deeply.  Be refreshed by the living God.

Simple stuff

I like simple stuff.  Things burned down to the shortest possible version.  Not sure I'm often very good at it and I believe its extremely hard work to be effectively simple, but I know it when I see it.

Ray Bakke and Sam Roberts achieved simplicity in a couple great definitions offered in their book The Expanded Mission of City Center Churches.  These definitions are ancillary to the point of the book but valuable, nonetheless.

Mission:  everything the church is sent by God to be and do in the world.

Ministry:  that loving service of all believers done for God in the church and in the world.

The book examines the factors bringing decline to historic city center churches and offer research, theology, methods and examples for reviving these historic churches.  I have Pastor Paco to thank for giving me the book--muchos gracias, brother. 

The authors had this to say about the dissolution of church property in city centers:

This is the era when some judicatories and churches in association feel absolutely no responsibility for "Old Mother" churches.  In many csaes they would just as soon close her down, sell the place, and divide up the profits for the young and the strong.  Perhaps this image is too strong, but in some denominations it looks like the vultures are circling over Old First.

So, for the record, in the future I will be shamelessly hiding behind noted urbanologist, Ray Bakke when I spout off about churches getting sold and converted in the city of Chicago.

The power of surrender

I'm just finishing up The Last Full Measure by Jeff Shaara--a great Christmas gift from my wife.  What a powerful book about a critical period and event of American History. 

I had listened to Killer Angels unabridged on cassette, about 2.5 years ago.  Had the tapes in my car.  It was so riveting that I found myself routinely sitting in my car long after I had arrived at my destination.  Killer Angels tells the story of Gettysburg and is written by the elder Shaara--Michael. 

Both father and son tell the story of the Civil War in compelling and emotionally-engaged prose.  I feel as though I am wandering the fields with the generals and officers of the blues and the grays.  Both sets of officers have become like friends to me--I know it sounds corny but I think good writing does that to you. 

I'm a particularly big fan of the hero of Little Round Top--then Colonel and eventual Brigadier General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.  Much could be said of Chamberlain as a citizen-soldier and leader.  My two favorite accounts in Last Full Measure are Chamberlain's advance at Gravelly Run and the account of the dignified surrender of the Confederate Army at Appomatox. 

When Chamberlain gives the impromptu command to the Federal soldiers to, "Carry... Arms" in the face of the Confederate soldiers' surrender, I was close to tears.  General Grant was certainly right to commission him to receive the surrendered arms of the Confederate army.

And Grant's demand for dignity in handling the entire matter of the surrender and his complete pardon of all the soldiers and officers "paroled back to their homes" in his hastily written terms given to General Robert E. Lee is a powerful example of grace and the seeds of reconciliation between countrymen.

Surrender can be a solemn, dignified, moving start to the arduous process of reconciliation.

 

Guest blogger

Today, I give my wife the blog.  She wrote a devotional recently for the MOPS Lakeview newsletter and I just had to share it with you.  (BTW, this would be reason #749 that I am married to the greatest woman in the world.)

Tending the Garden of Your Soul

As the new year begins, many of us, probably all of us, find ourselves contemplating the previous year and how we could have done things better or differently.  The start of a new calendar year offers us a fresh start at doing life.

Though I resist making resolutions, knowing that resolutions eventually get broken, I do find myself secretly resolving to do things differently, take on new things, and in general, take better care of myself this year.

With all of the calories and fat grams adding up over the holidays, my first quasi-resolution is to eat more fresh vegetables.

I’ve also decided to take on that ministry I’ve put off starting up for the last four months.

My bulletin board that holds everything --  and I do mean everything -- from the kid’s hot-lunch menus to baseball and dance schedules, got a thorough cleaning.

I even started reading a novel this month. Something I haven’t done in YEARS!

But the one thing that I know will have the most lasting benefits, not only for me, but for everyone around me as well, is the resolution to be a better gardener of my soul this year.  Why is it that we mothers continually neglect ourselves in the midst of mothering – the most important and draining season we will ever be in?  Finding quiet moments to talk and listen to God and to read and reflect on His Word can seem so elusive.

I don’t have the latest and greatest “Read the Bible in a Year” plan to recommend to you.  No, not even the newest Bible study on the market for women and mothers.  I just know in my heart, that I NEED more of God this year.  Without Him, my soul is dry.  So far, I’ve been steeping in the book of Galatians.  I’ve read through it – some passages more than once.  I’ve prayed parts of it over my children.  Today I even began memorizing it.  As I steep in God’s Word and His presence, my soul is refreshed.

I’m thankful that God gives me opportunities over and over again to make things new.  I fully expect that days will go by without my Bible opening.  I may be a pastor’s wife – but I’m human too!  And every prayer for my children may not come from scripture.  And, I may go overboard with my requests and not stop to listen to God everyday.  But I resolve this year to be a better gardener of my soul. To treat my soul with as much love and attention as I give to my children and my husband.  This year, I want my soul to overflow with fruit that is worth picking.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22, 23 & 25

Thank you...

...to those of you who participate in this forum via "comments".  I love the dimension you add to the dialogue.  I've never really said it before, but I welcome people's participation via comments.

Those of you who are reluctant to comment (like my wife, for instance), give it a try!  You're voice is valuable and makes this blog more dialogue than monologue.

And for the rest of you who even choose to take some of your precious time to read my ramblings (let alone comment), thank you too.  You clearly need something else to do with your time.  However, as long as I'm still aiding in your pursuit of avoiding doing the things you actually should be doing, I'll keep rambling. 

Oh, and Happy New Year.  Forgot to say it earlier with all the Kenya hubub.

Excited that we'll be hosting this conference!

Private Sanctuaries?

Alert reader Nate C. gave me a link to an article in today's Chicago Tribune.  It focuses on the conversion of churches to condo/living space here in the city of Chicago.  If you read this blog regularly, you know that I call this Dechurchification.   

A couple of quotes stood out to me in the article:

1. I love the idea of turning a church into a residence. The developer is keeping all the windows, the front facade, and it still looks like a church. He's definitely keeping the charm of the church.
2. From near-in city neighborhoods to outlying suburbs, shifting population patterns and evolving congregations are resulting in older churches becoming available for other uses.
3. The Chicago Archdiocese converted Our Lady of Good Counsel into a drug prevention center earlier this decade, then turned it into offices for the archdiocese.  In August 2006 the archdiocese put the building up for sale, leading about 30 developers to make offers, Kapudija said. His was accepted.

In response to quote #1, I hate the idea of turning churches to residences (big surprise).  This city has plenty of space for condos and not nearly enough space for medium-sized churches (200-500 people) to meet. 

And beside that, churches should not be charming.  Ever.  Charm is for a summer cottage or a kindly gentleman, but not as a description of buildings used for the gathering of the followers of Jesus Christ.

Now regarding quote #2--I think the author has stripped all the tension from dechurchification and made it sound something like the removal of the last remaining hitching posts from modern towns.   "Well, we don't certainly don't need these anymore." 

The problem is not as the author states:  the "shifting population patterns and evolving congregations"--make no mistake about it.  The problem is instead the converse: "shifting population patterns" and the failure of congregations to evolve.  Churches close when they fail to stay on mission.  When they fail to shift their modes of connection with the surrounding community.  When, instead of  reaching today's residents, they're still trying to connect with long-departed residents of 30, 50 or 100 years ago. 

And then a comment on quote #3.   Two things  frustrate me about what is shared here:  #1--the Archdiocese just put the property on the market.  It does not seem that there was an attempt to contact other churches to take possession of the property.  And this is a common trend.  When churches close, local or denominational groups often just list the property for sale and hope to make a good chunk of money on the sale to use for other ministry ventures elsewhere.   While this may help the group receiving the money, it strips our city of spiritual opportunity space.

And the other side of my frustration with this quote is "30 developers made offers".  30 developers?  Not one church or Christian non-profit made a run at this building?  Shame on us and other churches that are sleeping while property slips through our hands.  Apparently, the only folks motivated to grab hold of closing church buildings are those who can stand to make financial profit.  Meanwhile the kingdom of God is asleep with too small faith and too small vision. 

As I see it, the Church in Chicago has two choices--wake up now and start taking action on vanishing worship gathering space or wake up later with a bad hangover and a lot of regret.

Welcome to my neighborhood

This is my neighborhood.  West Logan Square.  The one featured on the front of the Red Eye today. And no, its not all gangs, drugs and shooting.  We've been raising our kids in West Logan Square for almost 10 years.

I've noticed this interesting trend in Chicago news reporting--the only communities that seem to get featured with extreme alarm for their crime problems are the ones collared near to affluent communities.  In other words--"how could it happen here?  We thought this neighborhood was full of nice, wealthy, comfortable people." 

I haven't researched this, but I'll bet there are at least 6 other community areas in our city that have had 4 murders this year.  But Logan Square is featured because its near to affluence.

Violent crime in our city should bother all of Chicago, regardless of where its happening and who's involved.  The murder of poor people is every bit as shocking and ugly as the murder of wealthy people.  Murder in gentrifying communities is no more shocking than murder in "the ghetto". 

As followers of Jesus, lets not follow this worldly system of value that is placed on life based on bank account and address.  God values every life the same.

Confirming your worst suspicions

Look familiar?  No, its not your worst nightmare.  Its just an average day parking in Chicago.  (No actual drivers were harmed in the downloading of this picture.)

And haven't you always wondered if the folks writing those friendly orange notes stuck to your driver's side window had ticket-writing quotas to fill?  Well wonder no longer.  (Consider this a public service of caffeine, please.)

I was sitting in a Lincoln Square cafe this morning at 9:19am sipping coffee and preparing for Sunday.  In walked two Department of Revenue, orange-vested employees to rest and warm up.  Hey--who can blame them?  And in my book, the best kind of meter-reader, ticket-writer is the one resting in a cafe.   Can I get a witness?

Quoth ticket-writer A to ticket-writer B:  "How many?"  Now remember--its 9:19am. 

"Two hundred and five."  (For those of you who went to public school that's 205 tickets written so far today.)  Yee-gads!   That's a lot of tickelletos.

Now the cool part for me--the part that makes me feel like I'm sticking it to the man--is that I'm writing this post sitting about 8 feet away from my ticket-writing friends.  Having written that, I'm quite sure I'll have a friendly orange ticket on my window within the next 72 hours. 

I say, "God bless the city of Chicago!"  They don't call it the Department of Revenue for nothing!

Team, team, team!

Its been a busy season with the coming launch of our newest location at Lincoln Park.  I spent a couple of long mornings at the new building this week going over logistics as we work on the building and at the same time prepare to start weekly preview services on Sunday. 

This morning was spent with our Lincoln Park core team and several of our key construction people.  Everyone has thrown themselves into their particular piece of the puzzle and has contributed as needed to other areas as well. Things are coming together well and it is exciting.  The work feels light because we're all pulling in the same direction and no one is fighting for their own agenda or so that they can get the credit.

Then this afternoon we had our bi-weekly "cluster" staff meeting with our combined Lakeview and Jefferson Park teams.  Pastor Asa led worship and shared some gleanings from a prayer retreat he had taken earlier this week.  It was a powerful time--God time.

It reminded me again how much I love serving Jesus in a team environment.  We have great people but even better than having great people is having great people who make a great team.  Serving Jesus is great.  But serving Jesus in a team with other people--fighting to love each other, serve together, grow close, stay in it through thick and thin--that's what's best. 

Team doesn't come for free but team is worth the effort and work it takes in order to build, maintain and grow it.  I guess that's why its one of our New Life core values--we value doing ministry in teams. 

Alright, I'll stow my cheering megacone and put away my stretchy cheerleader-man pants...for now.  But I'm still cheering on the inside.  To quote Albert Brennaman:  "You cannnnnot stop this."

Dumbest criminal in South Africa (so far this year)

This is priceless.  Seriously.

Two more Chicago churches just closed their doors

On December 30, 2007, an Episcopal church on the southwest side that has been in the community for 129 years closed its doors.  And there is no clear plan for what will happen next.  In fact, the church officially "secularized" the building (whatever that means) in its closing service.

St. Paul's in Wicker Park on North Avenue also had their last worship service on Sunday.  The church has been there for 115 years!

[article link]

What is happening with the Episcopal church building now?  Do these communities still need to be reached even though this churches have sadly ended its ministry?  Who's telling the hopeful story that other churches are being revitalized in Chicago?

I want you to see and realize that Dechurchification is not a past tense issue--it just happened again a week ago in two places here in our city, Chicago.  And with every church that closes and does open again, revitalized, Chicago loses.  I want Chicago to win.  I want Jesus to win in Chicago. 

Breaking Through

I've mentioned it before but I like to read magazines and books in other disciplines for ideas and insights.  One of my favorite mags is Inc.  The January issue had a great interview with Keith McFarland (not to be confused with Booger McFarland of the Indy Colts) who recently wrote a book called The Breakthrough Company. 

Here are some gleanings from the article:

What about people who run [breakthrough] companies?  What are they like?
The high performing companies we looked at had one thing in common--they were almost all run for many, many years by their founders...  They seek to create an environment where people understand the strategy and and can spot strategic opportunities as they crop up...  The founders of breakthrough companies appear to be good at getting out of the way.  In every case we looked at, the leader was proud of the organization but decidedly humble about his role within it.

Are these companies great at hiring people?
Yes, but more to the point, they are great at developing people.  One statistic that blew me away came from Fastenal, the nuts and bolts distributor.  The average tenure among the top 25 employees there is 23 years, wich means that the people who ran the company in 1985, when it was small, are running it today, when it has $2 billion in sales... they have to creat a culture that is so easy to learn and live by that ordinary workers can thrive.  Fastenal, which is a pretty frugal company, spends very lavishly on rigorous employee training.

This article and MacFarland's observations about breakthrough companies connects well with planning we're doing as a pastoral team to revamp and clarify our "Growth Path" for New Life.  The whole point of our Growth Path is summed up well by MacFarland's statement:  "create a culture that is so easy to learn and live by that ordinary Christians can thrive."

The other component of breakthrough companies--long-tenured leaders who grow with the organization--is one of New Life's greatest strengths in my opinion.  There is a family devotion to the nurture and growth of the church and its people that can't be matched by constant leadership turnover. 

Excited about this season in our history as a church movement!

A 'Man of Peace' with a plan

Dwayne and I spoke with Edward Simiyu this morning via Skype (love that technology!) 

Edward is currently putting together a plan to rent two white Land Rover vehicles clearly marked for relief and then wearing his pastoral collar, to travel the road west out of Nairobi, stopping at each of the informal roadblocks to appeal to the people to disband the ethnic-targeting.  Edward has a track record as a peace maker in Kenya--this is not unfamiliar territory to him.

It is, however, a somewhat risky mission.  He and his team also plan to carry relief supplies as an offer of help and goodwill. 

Currently, the roadblocks are severely impeding the shipment of goods and relief to areas with ethnic strife.  Before things escalate further Edward's hope is to be an agent of peace.

Continued prayer is needed.  I'll keep you posted on further developments.  Also, check out www.zaleza.com, a blog/news aggragator from Paul Zaleza of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Answered prayer

Headline from CNN this morning:

Odinga's Party Postpones Kenyan March

Thank you God for turning the tide of violence and bringing mediators and humility into the picture.  You are good.  Please bring justice and finality to the vote count.

Please pray tonight for Kenya

Tomorrow will be a turning point day in Nairobi, Kenya.  (Tomorrow morning comes at about midnight, Chicago time.)

Pray tonight that as President-elect Kibaki sleeps he would be visited with visions from God to humble himself, call down his troops and meet with Odinga and his supporters to avoid great bloodshed in Kenya.  Odinga has summoned 1 Million of his supporters to a rally tomorrow in Nairobi's Uhuru park to "swear in the People's President."  Unless these men humble themselves, many could die and further chaos be set in motion.

C'mon, ring that bell!

Glad to be back to work

I don't know about you, but after the holidays, I'm happy to be back in the saddle and full speed ahead.  Down time is great but soon enough I need to get back to the work of ministry.

Here are some highlights from the Bruursema clan's Christmas/New Year time:

• Making and sharing Christmas Eve donuts with Ged & Cathy and fam and our widowed neighbor, Alice
• Ringing the church bells 13 times (oops--meant to ring them 12 times) at New Life Lincoln Park on Christmas morning with the kids
• Driving to Michigan on Christmas day and eating steak at mom and dad B's
• Visiting with our friends Chris and Kristi in Hudsonville and hearing the news that Chris will be the new youth pastor at his church in a few weeks
• Having a fun and fancy dinner out with mom and dad E (Gil's folks) and no kids at Reds on the River in Rockford--good times
• Sledding with the kids on my old sledding hill at Johnson Park in Michigan (Olivia was going solo on the sled before 20 minutes had passed).
• Having dinner at my high school buddy Scott and Denice's place--haven't seen them in about 7 years.
• Calling my brother-in-law from a cafe on Saturday morning and having him think I was calling from bed in the guest bedroom of his house to see if "the kids were fed and watered yet?"--ha!
• Playing basketball and visiting with my cousins and extended family on mom B's side
• Having the worst fast food restaurant experience of our lives in the worst fast food restaurant town in America (Chesterton, IN--seriously, we've tried about every fast food joint in town and none of them can seem to get things right) on the way back to Chicago on Saturday evening.
• Losing badly in rummy on New Year's Eve but enjoying the rebroadcast of the New York New Year's on NBC instead of the lame Chicago New Year's celebrations.  Thanks, Brian and Erin.
• Having extended hang out time with my wife and kids over the last 8 days.

Now its back to work!  We've got a new location coming on line this Sunday, Ignite happening in a little over a month and I've still got assignments due from my last grad school class so its full speed ahead now, Mr. Sulu!

Praying as we enter the New Year

If you have not seen the news lately, Kenya's election crisis has brought fighting, violent protests, arson, killing and great unrest to Nairobi's slums and to the Western region, especially Kisumu.

While I normally prefer to start the New Year with something positive, the situation in Kenya is urgent, dear to my heart and needing much prayer from us in the West.

I spoke with Edward Simiyu, my friend at City Harvest in Nairobi about an hour ago.  He told me that the city was calmer today.  He also said that the Kibera Transformation and Development Project had been spared in the fighting and fires that swept through Kibera the last several days.

He urges prayer for the nation--for peaceful resolution to the election crisis and a subsiding of intra-tribal anger and violence.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1699123,00.html?imw=Y