i wonder how obvious i am?

i wonder what is obvious about me?

i wonder how obvious we are?

different, devotion and dependence... it seems more like i know all to well words like dry, drained and distracted! lets move from here... from this all too comfortable place and known place that has become usual.

F

the greatest callings we have given us in genesis 1:26-28 are to create people, YES... but to bear the responsibility as artists to create the culture at large. the momentous transference of giving us the mandate to love, serve, and create as image bearers of god himself... in essence, passing the torch to us to pick up where he had left off, to partner with him in creativity, ingenuity...

i cannot think of anything more significant and important in our lifetime, than to be part of the movement of the church recapturing its role in shaping culture, and grasping onto the centrality of the gospel as our identity.

tonight we move!

F

...check out fermiproject.com for cultural shaping issues.

anyways, i was at starbucks when i sent out this tweat today about being aware of the world around you. i asked you to stop and just pray for the random people that were around you... what better way to be aware of people than praying for them. i had my ear buds in, yes noise canceling ear buds for people with A.D.D. like me... when an inconvenient conversation walked in to starbucks follow by his father. i began thinking of ways to ensure that this person would not engage me in what i know would be a conversation of some length and time...

hmmm, head down in my bible? no to convicting. eyes glued to my computer? no, too much A.D.D. pretending to talk on the phone and give a polite head nod of hello and stay away? no, too rude and risky, my phone could ring while i was pretending to be on it.

so... i said hello and engaged in the conversation that i knew would happen. there's no convenience in love and obedience... but i would have missed out on a blessing by being self absorbed!

we are not allowed to IGNORE the world around us!

how are we supposed to be culture makers if we cant even be people engagers?

engage, embrace and invite the world around you into your world... that is you... that is who we were meant to be.

F

it continues to amaze me to think about the power of an IDEA... the anxiety and excitement that mix together when we stand on the edge of the future, on the verge of something bigger than we can imagine, on the brink of what COULD be!

stlouisone.org is up and running and active. it is built on a blog platform where we will begin to discuss and build conversations that will continue to create, explore, dream, nudge, experiment with what will be...

i will be posting there along with several authors on the blog from the st louis metro area and beyond that will add their voice to the concoction... more details to come.

here we go...

F

amen.

tonight i visited my buddies over at matthias lot for a night of refreshment from my norm. with the gathering canceled last week and tonight with the purpose to refresh, re-imagine, re-think and re-new i feel blessed to have been a part of the movement tonight. the movement not known as matthias lot or the gathering or st. louis|ONE, but the movement known as the gospel... the movement known as the church.

the unique partnership that we have built together is indeed UNIQUE! to walk into a place and meet random strangers that say, "i have heard a lot about you" with no competition, no resentfulness but pure camaraderie as sojourners.

may the mannequins who call themselves followers of christ please hook themselves up to life support and join the movement known as the gospel, known by the church and breathe in the freshness of life together...

welcome to the future of the church...
welcome to reality...

F

good stuff!

F

this is a tough concept to grasp yes, but even more tough to accept, maybe. luke 6:48 jesus describes and connects the image of a house built with a solid foundation to that of a life built on a solid foundation... him! this image brings into focus and further highlights the importance of our identity and what we were intended to be... if adam and eve were naked and had no shame, knowing that shame is linked to understanding our identity, resulting in them ultimately understanding their identity as their foundation.

for us now... intimacy comes with understanding who we are... understanding who jesus is... and understanding what we were meant to be.

there is more to us... to you... to me...

...not because of who we are, or what we can do... but because of who jesus is and what he did and what he wants to continue to do in and through you and i.

if and only when we grasp this truth will we begin the journey toward intimacy... toward understanding who we were meant to be... otherwise our insecurities will always win out because we on our own will always fall short... on our own we just don't have what it takes!

self discipline can only take us so far...

F

i was at st. arbucks last night with a couple that i am giving pre-marital counseling to (i know... pretty scary, marriage counseling from me... lots a images coming to mind) and i swear that every time i go to starbucks something cool, crazy or really random happens. now, i have been going to the same starbucks since i moved here and several of the same people still work there from the beginning so it really has a great ethos and atmosphere at this specific location.

i have never given pre-marital counseling to date and honestly i have looked at what several other guys use and nothing really resonated with me... so i just started from the beginning... gen. 2:25 (adam and eve knew that they were naked and had NO SHAME).

what would your life look like if you had no shame?

the difference between guilt and shame is external vs internal. guilt happens on the outside while shame drives deep within the walls of our hearts. shame is an identity issue. shame stems from a lack of knowing who you are and who you were meant to be. adam and eve at this point knew who they were because they knew what they were created for... INTIMACY!

intimacy happens when we know our identity. i think that i am comfortable in saying that all relationship issues and problems are identity issues and problems. imagine if you had such a sweet intimacy with god and your friend/spouse had a sweet intimacy and closeness with god... you cannot NOT have intimacy and closeness and serenity...

relationship problems are identity problems...

we are in the middle of the biggest identity crisis the world has seen... the church is following in its pursuit... and few are talking about it, if any!

foundations to come!

F

these moments...
these glimpses...
this is the church...

this is what i dreamed about being a part of one day. i know of at least 4 churches that were represented at the candle light prayer vigil tonight for jake gregory, and that was just the pastors! united by a mission and not divided by the barriers that have separated us for so long.

imagine what could happen if this were our norm?

i don't think that we are far off from seeing this more often... we have to... there is no other choice...

tonight i rest satisfied in who he is... what we has done, is doing and will do.

even when we are faithless, he is faithful!

F

F

there seems to be so much right now in life that i feel grossly inadequate... i need to remember that he is not and his adequacy is more than enough to cover for my lack of...

good reminder...
take rest in this promise!

F

this is the phrase that keeps coming to mind when i think about sitting in the waiting room at the hospital tonight with over a hundred people... several different churches represented between the students that were there showing support for a friend that is in the ICU fighting for her life.

these are the times that communities are defined... these are the moments that people see and understand.

no cute cliches or lame one liners... just raw life!

peoples lives WILL change in one way or another in the days to come... some people will need to be shoulders, others ears... some wide open arms, others on their knees.

we all have a role, we all have a responsibility!

time to BEcome what we weren't meant to be...

i wonder what god has up his sleeve?

F

so... i will attempt to write this again... in a more "me" way... without the lyrics from grease and all... (what in the world is wrong with me... now i am talking to myself... stopping!)

(deep breath)

alright...

time waits for no one! (brilliant i know...)

what will you do with what you know?

for many of you... there have been moments, conversations, interactions, leaps of faith, journeys, start overs and stops and start overs again... you've seen, you've tasted, you've heard, you've experienced... you've asked questions, sought answers, helped someone in need, hugged someone in love... you have prayed more authentic and deep than ever before, you have felt intimacy more free, sensed freedom as the norm, stepped away from the status quo, de-constructed and built, trusted and followed, failed, fell, slipped, tripped, stumbled, stubbed, limped, got up and tried again, learned, forgave, walked, stepped into the unknown, grew, risked...

CHANGED!

what will you do with what has been given you to?

F