missio dei

things to learn from a funeral

2008-11-18T17:50:00.000-08:00

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?

2008-10-17T20:05:00.000-07:00

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:

2008-10-06T13:56:00.001-07:00

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.'

2008-09-23T15:28:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-08-06T18:35:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-18T20:26:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-14T18:28:00.003-07:00

- 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

2008-07-12T17:16:00.000-07:00

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,

i wanted to share this...

2008-07-12T16:56:00.000-07:00

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

what a weekend!

2008-06-09T17:05:00.000-07:00

this has to be one of the best weekends for our church since we moved here to chicago:

we kicked the weekend off with our second BaseCamp (leadership gathering) on saturday morning:
attendance was great. we had around 67 people taking time out of there saturday to hang with us!
we took the opportunity to break down 'missional church'
this was easy to talk about because it is my passion.
it was fun to see people really 'get it'. i think this is going to be foundational for us as we move forward on the mission of GOD.

our sunday services we're amazing as well
it was hot and sweaty at both locations (in wicker park we handed out popcicles!) but people turned out to meet with GOD. we had 278 @ the wrig and 67 @ wicker!
i felt like even though it was hot and somewhat hard to focus people were really engaged. the response time in wicker was really intimate and beautiful. it made me proud to be a part of this community.

if that wasn't enough, we also hosted a kid karnival for wicker park on sunday morning!
it had the works: face painting, giant slides, bouncy houses, etc.!
the neighborhood kids had a blast :-)
our volunteers were amaaaaaazzzziiiiinngggg! they were really phenominal. we had over 40 comprised of folks from both our locations. they really displayed great hearts; serving this neighborhood on behalf of JESUS.
even when the rain came (in a big way) everyone stuck around and served with amazing hearts.
i was extremely proud to be a small part of this event. YOU ALL MADE IT HAPPEN!
p.s. - david wagner kicked butt on this one. way to go waggy!

here is to many more weekends like this! thank you JESUS.

thoughts on sunday

2008-06-03T11:57:00.000-07:00

overall it was a great sunday!
good attendance @ both locations
we passed the 2008-2009 budget
during the budget meeting some folks asked some great questions! i love this time to dialogue about our heart and soul. we need to provide more opportunities like this...
jonathan colon did a great job leading worship!
the bbq in wicker park was awesome! i love this chance to connect with one another and connect with our neighborhood. we're praying GOD gives us a real opportunity to make a difference in Chicago this summer.
teaching on money was a lot more fun than i thought! it was challenging for me personally so i was that much more connected to the passage.
busy week ahead: BaseCamp on saturday and Kid Karnival on sunday... should be great.

so i got this e mail yesterday. you know the kind...

2008-05-16T18:37:00.001-07:00

so i got this e mail yesterday. you know the kind...

Well, it's final. Gay couples can now officially marry in the state of California. The ban was lifted on gay marriages today. And yes, their staunchest supporters were in the streets hugging and kissing publicly.

Among all of the other tragedies in the world this week, this must grieve the Lord the most. Our nation is fallen, and has fallen. A once great nation were we...

i have to say, this was a tough one for me to swallow. i mean, i get my fare share of "Christian" e-mails that tend to be diatribes about the latest and most horrific ills in the world. you would think that i would be used to them by now; the 'W' rants, the 'Barack Hussein Obama is an Islamist extremist' lies, the 'pass along to 10 other people and they will be blessed' forwards, etc. you would think i would be numb to it all. this one though, struck a chord. (i only included a portion for our discussion)

among all the other tragedies in the world this week, this one must grieve the Lord the most.

lets just take a moment and consider those other tragedies. a hundred thousand dead in Myanmar, and many more missing. another cyclone bearing down on this already grief stricken country filled with people who may not know HIM. some forty thousand people dead in China. bodies lining the streets, entire schools caved in killing hundreds of children, many more homeless, parents worried about how they are going to feed their children.

to compare what happened in california to these tragedies is simply astonishing. to think God is grieved more over some piece of legislation than these calamities is ludicrous.

why are gay marriages particularly worthy of our mourning? is this human condition some how any worse than the many others that plague us? do we mourn the same over the thousands of people in this country who drink away their sorrows every night? do we mourn the same over the self absorbed who run to cosmetic surgery to cure their insecurities? do we mourn the 'self medicating', or the 'dollar worshipping yuppie', or the dead beat parents, or the corrupt politicians, or 'fill in the blank here of the many things that we could list'?

for the record i think GOD heavily grieved the losses in Myanmar and China this week. i believe He wept over so many that are experiencing the effects of sin death. i believe HE cries for the beautiful people without food, water, and shelter. does He weep for california and our country. i believe HE does, but it is not over what you might think.

He grieves in california and in the rest of the U.S. for HIS people. HIS people that fail to see who HE is and what HE wants to do. HIS people who cry foul over laws passed in california, but sit idle as a world away is broken. HE grieves as HIS people collect their stimulus checks from the good ol' US of A, and watch charlie gibson report on the tragedies on the new flat screens TV's they just bought. HE grieves over so many who call themselves HIS followers but cannot even apply HIS only sermon to their lives. He grieves over those who forgot that love is the greatest commandment. He grieves over those who have never allowed HIS beauty to be fulfilled in them so that that beauty can be displayed to a world of shadow and darkness.

HE grieves.

Peter once said that 'judgment begins with the house of GOD'. may HE judge us and refine HIS church. may HE have mercy on our souls.

thoughts on base camp

2008-05-03T20:41:00.001-07:00

saturday was our first base camp at the church (TCOW/citichurch). this is a leadership gathering that will take place every 1st saturday. it is designed to better communicate our vision and strategy as we participate in the missio dei here in chicago. here are a few thoughts from saturday:

- great attendance! we had around 67 people show up. it is exciting to see what GOD is beginning to assemble.

- pancakes were fun... nothing like food to bring people together

- the people of our church are amazing... wonderfully gifted and talented individuals. GOD is assembling quite a team.

- talking vision gets me fired up... it reminds me of why i do what i do.

- talking vision makes me grateful... it allows me to see what GOD has already done.

- talking vision stirs my faith... it helps me dream big, knowing that we have a big GOD.

- it was neat to see our two sites interact... we need more of this, to communicate one church, two neighborhoods.

- our team did a great job.

- it is only going to get better... i am already getting excited for our 2nd, 3rd, and 4th camp! i know GOD is really going to use this for HIS glory.

bloggin' baby!

2008-05-01T18:29:00.000-07:00

so... i am taking the plunge. i have been trying to push off this day for some time; the day i entered the blog world. blogging just felt kinda strange to me. i mean, who has time to write all these silly things? also, who really cares what i have to say? well, both of those statements phrased like questions may be true, but we are gonna take a stab at this thing and see how it goes.

maybe it will be a good place for me to work some things out that are going on inside this noggin' of mine. maybe it will be a symphony of wisdom, or a gourmet buffet of astute life-changing observations. then again, maybe it will just be some rambling non-sense... (case in point)

nevertheless, blog world here i am! open your arms and welcome this baby covered in amniotic fluid! just be careful not to spank too hard :-)