things to learn from a funeral

this last week we buried a friend of Missio Dei.

Zhya is an amazing soul who is even now enjoying his JESUS.

here are some things i learned from his funeral this past sunday:

1) let's get it out on the table nice and early: life is extremely frail. none of us are promised tomorrow.

2) i need to tell those close to me that i love them more. can it be said enough? can they hear it enough?

3) people need to be hugged. there is something beautiful about human touch. words are important and needed, but the warmth of touch is irreplaceable.

4) the gospel must be reached at every funeral. people are keenly aware of the delicacy of humanity. their faces are turned toward eternity, even if only slightly. if JESUS is not preached in these moments how can we call ourselves ministers of HIS good news? any minister that does a funeral and does take advantage of the opportunity given should resign and go do something else.

5) you can see who people really are at times like these. facades come off. masks are done away with. some people i saw this week frightened me a little, others blessed me beyond measure.

6) 'be often where men die'. spurgeon said that and i understand why. as hard as last weekend was, i am better for it.

7) it reminded me again to preach every sermon as if it might be my last.

8) it reminded me to preach every sermon like it might be someone else's last

9) satan sucks. his power is real and he is dangerous. he wants to destroy all those in his path. he is not to be trifled with. we must pray often. we must put on the full armor of GOD. we must cling to JESUS.

10) Chicago must be won for JESUS. the sad truth is that people in this city die everyday. i am immune to statistics. this has made me feel again. may this wound sting long and hard. may it cause me to be not just a pastor, but a minister of the gospel of JESUS CHRIST. may GOD have mercy on our city.

consumers or christians?

i have been a little frustrated as of late about the way some christians view church...

i have had the privilege of coming across and getting to know some amazing people during my ministry in chicago. i mean really phenomenal people. men and women with great hearts and innovative ideas. for the most part i love dialoguing with them about their insights of how to improve our church and further the KINGDOM work in our great city. they have challenged me and excited me to the core. with some though (not all), i have observed a troubling pattern:

opinions are easy to come by, but folks who are willing to dive in and get their hands dirty are few and far between.

don't get me wrong i know they mean well, but it has been apparent to me that if their ideas aren't something that you jump on immediately, they will gravitate to another church to try and find someone or someplace that will suit them. i understand that these people are passionate about what they are talking about, but what is troubling is that the majority of these folks aren't willing to do the work themselves. you see they have brilliant visions, but they want you to execute their ideas for them. they treat the church like it should come beckoning at their every demand. there is a dangerous sense of entitlement that comes with many of these people. generally, they want to lead with their ideas but they are not willing to be led. additionally, they usually exhibit the patience of a four year old.

you see the fundamental problem is that they view church as something that is supposed to meet their needs. whatever happened to christians coming to church to offer it something, and not the other way around? it grieves me that we live in an age where people leave church because they don't like the decorations on the wall, or the style of music played. what b.s.

the church is the body of JESUS. we worship together, take communion together, proclaim the gospel together. where in that equation is the church suiting me or the individual agenda? last i checked there is no 'me' in 'church'.

i guess i would love to hear these same folks voice their innovative ideas and in the same breath say; 'this is quite a task, but i am going to go for it no matter what the cost.' with that attitude and commitment to 'do' church instead of 'go' to church, i believe a spirit of unity will sprout. we will pray together, share resources together, and work together to see these GOD given dreams come to fruition.

i hope this doesn't sound overly critical. i just pray for a day when the consumer christian is so fat from feeding off of the 'church buffets' they can't get out of their bed and come to my church.

JESUS save us from ourselves!

peace,

j

sunday thoughts:

i haven't done this in a while so i am going to try and get back in the groove:

- overall it was a great day!

- attendance was strong at both sites: 350+ at Wrigleyville & 75+ at Wicker Park.

- Jameson did a great job leading us in worship. He is a stud and I appreciate him greatly.

- we have been kicking the idea around of introducing art stations in Wicker Park... i really am interested to see if this will resonate with our peeps down there.

- it was cool to have John Stockman share in Wrigleyville. Just to have him on stage with his tattoos and piercings, saying 'pissed off' was amazing... but then to hear him talk about how GOD is building him; it was tremendous. i am proud of our community :-)

- we introduced our membership process this week... our prayer is that people 'get it' and hop on the bus.

- one of the hard things about being a pastor: 99% of the time I have a deep restlessness. I never feel like we have arrived. No matter how great the victory, it isn't enough... I just want ALL that GOD has for us. i don't want to settle for anything less. I wonder though, if I am guilty at times of idolizing the move of GOD'S SPIRIT. is it GOD i am longing for or is it GOD moving that i am longing for? I pray that I learn to rest in JESUS... to be fully satiated with HIM and HIM alone... only to know HIM, and be found in HIM!

j

'PAPA, please don't remove YOUR hand from us.'

sept. 7th we officially launched as: Missio Dei... a community of JESUS.

i have to honesty say, that the past few weeks of our church's history have been nothing short of phenomenal.
it is hard to even begin put into words how GOD is moving in our midst, drawing us unto HIMSELF. i feel completely humbled and filled with deep appreciation for what HE is doing. so many have been touched. so many are coming alive in HIM.

the past few days as i have been thinking upon SPIRIT'S movement, i find myself praying fervently for our church;

'PAPA, please don't remove YOUR hand from us.'
for one of the first times in my life, i am literally frightened not to have GOD'S blessing continue with us. it scares me. it keeps me awake at night.

'PAPA, please don't remove YOUR hand from us.'
i have a deep unsatisfied restlessness for GOD to fall on us in FIRE. a dead church is without GOD. people without GOD are hopeless.

'PAPA, please don't remove YOUR hand from us.'
we have come so far, it is hard to imagine where HE will take us. could it get better?

'PAPA, please don't remove YOUR hand from us.'
HE has already parted seas, now HE leads us into the good land flowing with milk and honey. i hope to see fortified cities crumble and giants fall face-down in the mud.

'PAPA, please don't remove YOUR hand from us.'
would a harvest be reaped? would hundreds upon hundreds confess JESUS as LORD?

'PAPA, please don't remove YOUR hand from us.'
i have been freed from religion.

'PAPA, please don't remove YOUR hand from us.'
may every chapter be as good as the first.


'PAPA, please don't remove YOUR hand from us.'
we trust in YOU.

at the end of my rope...

so i have been stressed out a little...

actually that is kind of an understatement. i think i have been more stressed out these past two weeks then at perhaps at any other time in my life. i have been consumed with some stuff at work, and since i work for a church it kind of permeates every part of my life. at any rate, it hasn't been pretty. i have been quite a piece of work to be around. those close to me can testify to that. by the way, if you haven't heard pastors aren't supposed to get stressed out...

so the other night me and my family are watching some really bad summer t.v.. we are right in the middle of some show that has 'c' list celebrities when it got interrupted numerous times by a severe weather alert. these are pretty normal in the Chicago land area so i all but ignored it. As our show progressed though, so did the warnings, and as the warnings grew so did the fear in our children's eyes. by this time the wind was howling. finally the weatherman broke in again and this time he named our neighborhood as being one to be in the direct path of this near tornado. my wife and i glanced nervously at one another, trying not to let our kids see our own fear. we sat on the couch the five of us, arms intertwined so that you couldn't tell where one began and the other ended. we sat together.

rain was blowing horizontal, branches were being broken off, and the sky flashed like a light bulb on its last leg. i text close friends to see that they were under cover. later we would hear that the winds were in excess of over 60 miles per hour...

out of the wind, rain, booming thunder, and crackling lightening came a still small VOICE. i knew who it was before it was finished speaking. it was the VOICE of THE MAKER. HE who spun this globe into existence. HIS VOICE threaded the storm that had pounced upon chicago and made its way to my heart; 'I AM' was all HE said... 'I AM' was all HE needed to say.

everybody needs a storm once in a while for GOD to speak to them. to remind them of HIS power, to remind them that HE is the GREAT ONE. once in a while everyone needs to sit on a couch tangled up with the ones you love to remember what is really important in life, and to remember that in every lightening storm is a chance for great illumination.

my city

I often have these moments... i call them Chicago moments. these moments strike me when this great city calls out to me and reminds me why I love living here:

a cool breeze at the lake front, hipsters in Wicker Park, goosebumps at Wrigley, corn hole (bags for some of you) with my boys, paddle boats with my little girls in Lincoln Park, walking hand and hand with my wife down a tree covered street, the skyline in the evening, riding my bike to the office in the cool of the morning, a BBQ after church on sunday night, standing on stage at the Brixen Ivy Community Center and hearing people's voices rise up in worship over my own amplified voice, and on and on they go....

i have these moments frequently (especially in the spring and summer!), but a thought struck me the other day:

do i love the people of this city as much as i love the city itself?

ouch. that one stung a bit. you see the city doesn't talk back, it accepts me for who i am. the city doesn't cut me off when i am driving, it always has room on it's streets for me. the city is easy to love because it almost always gives back. the people on the other hand... well, that is a different story.

suffice it to say, that i am convicted of my lack of love toward the people in this city. Paul said that without love I am like a clanging symbol. last i heard, that just sounds like noise. Chicago doesn't need more noise. it has enough as it is. what it could use is love. maybe the Beatles had it right when they said; 'all we need is love!". love is all we need. but it isn't an earthly love that comes and goes like the weather in our fair city. it is the unending, unfading, unfailing love of JESUS CHRIST. that is the love that forgives every sin, and heals every heart. that love is all we need.

may GOD grant me a super-earthly love for the men, women, children of this city. no matter what neighborhood they are from, no matter what they might look like,  no matter if they deserve it or not. may HE grant me the ability to see them as HE sees them. may HE grant me the ability to share in HIS passion, and may we see the people of Chicago come to know that all they need is LOVE, for GOD is LOVE. 

thoughts on sunday

- we announced our intent to change the name of our 2 sites yesterday. i know this caught a lot of people by surprise, but i am convinced that it is the right decision. i am genuinely excited about the move to Missio Dei.

- worship @ wrigley was so much fun. it was great to see so many really engaged in connecting with GOD.

- attendance was great, especially for the 2nd week of july! we almost broke the 300 mark at wrigleyville, and the 80 mark in wicker park.

- i am learning a lot about leadership recently. mostly, that at times it is really difficult. that often you feel alone. this teaches me the necessity of staying close to JESUS. i cannot lead unless i am led.

- david taught yesterday. he really did good. when he was teaching, i felt i saw a glimpse of the future. he is going to be really used in this movement. how exciting to be a part of it :-)

- the bbq down in wicker was fantastic. i think almost 70% of the people stayed after service and hung out.  community was real and beautiful.

- now that we have the announcement over with, i am excited to dive into things. this is the final part of the transition to a multi-site church. time to stop talking, time to start doing.