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. 

change

we recently announced some major changes taking place in our church; in a couple of months we will make the move to unite our two churches under one name. we will no longer be named The Church of Wrigleyville or citichurch, instead both communities will be known as Missio Dei. (more on the name at a later time)

this announcement caught a number of people off guard (deer in the headlights!), as any significant change usually does, and it got me thinking about change.

for some reason we are leery of changes (myself included!), and yet i have begun to think that change is something that GOD not only helps us through, but something that HE wants for us on a continual basis, and something that HE will often force us into.

here is the deal:

- change causes us to learn full dependence on HIM.

when we are faced with the option of trusting GOD and trusting something else, we will almost always go with the latter. it is just our sin nature. we are infatuated with the here and now, what we can taste, smell, see, etc. sometimes GOD causes change to show us how temporal all those other things are, and thus learn complete and total dependence on HIM. it is called trust.

- change causes us to listen to HIS voice.

remember when GOD told Abraham to go, but HE didn't tell him where? Abraham was forced into a constant state of change. this caused Abraham to learn to listen for the voice of the FATHER. for he was to be guided by that VOICE and that VOICE alone.

- change brings something new.

GOD is always doing something new, something fresh.  there is a verse in Isaiah that i love (chapter 43 i think), where GOD says HE will do a new thing. that springs will bubble up in the desert and that HIS work will always be brought forth. i am always looking forward to the next thing GOD is doing. HE is always wanting to work is HE not?

- change is evidence of relationship.

people or churches that don't change are often  married to tradition. tradition breeds ritual and regimentation.  conversely, relationships are always liquid. evolution and change within relationship is always necessary, therefore change is evidence of relationship. i want to be in intimate relationship with GOD. i want to always be evolving in the rhythms of knowing HIM. ritual and regimentation is for the religious, not for those who are bound to GOD with the singular desire of knowing HIM.

my two cents...

may GOD bring us change always, 

j

i wanted to share this...

http://capturingtheinfinite.blogspot.com/2008/07/missio-dei.html