solid gold baby

"i'll never know what it is that could make someone dive off of a bridge into a frozen river to save a solid gold baby"
--Jack Handy

This post is about a call I got today from someone, telling me that their church was really interested in giving a lot of money, maybe someday, maybe somehow, to our ministry... It could be in a really big, way, which would be kind of sad because of how that would transpire, or it could be a significant kind of support on a regular, ongoing, relational basisi...

I gotta tell you, the first thing I think is, "oh man, not a lot of money, Lord" because that is DEADLY to people...
Then I thought of a little game we could play. I'd call it "get rid of a million quick!"

All you do is:
Get given an obscene amount of money
Get responsibility covered by a group of co-equal, godly, tested saints who can work together in unity through prayer and seeking God out of a pure heart
Get rid of money in pure hearted ways, until you're out...

It could take a lot longer than you'd think, since doing things of longterm impact can take a lot of prep and prayer... for example:

it might sound like a great idea to start a hospital somewhere... or an orphanage... but did you think of how the most faithful ones start? People...

Not buildings, funds, or projects... People... People with intimacy with Christ!
And no million dollars can cause the gathering of those people... only our prayers after John 4 "Father, send workers into your harvest field!"

if I had a million dollars

got a call today from a church that did a "city tour" with us a while back. they are wanting to support our work. They are a blessing, very encouraging about what their youth group got out of an hour and a half with us in the streets, here. We aren't interested in building a lot of financial stuff, but the love and sharing of the load would benefit us all , as well as those who haven't tasted, yet.

News

Well, things are continuing to shape up around here. The house across the way is getting moved into by Danielmatt and Christine, downstairs; JP, Zach, Staas, Chris, and some others upstairs... There are now 3 dogs in the mix, as well as one very light sleeper, so keep our conversation and communications in prayer this month...

Sunday night was wonderful... There are lots of new faces among us. We're perfectly "packing out" our big room. It fits about 20 in seats, and we were somewhere around there... The Message came to us around the Nature of Christian Perfection.

"Christian Perfection" is a difficult term. I bet it's been around a while. I'll write a post on it...

Visits to Tom, in County Jail down in Boone County, KY, have been good for us. Dr. Eric, JP, Prari, Zach, and others have all been down to see him. If you want to go, get to Chase House around 645am and we'll head. That's on Saturdays and Tuesdays.

Tom will be moving any day. Where he's going will be a mystery until after he gets there, and it's possible that he might be "incommunicato" for a month or more around that move...
He has been safe, and peaceful. He is transcribing the whole New Testament (he's alread at John 18), doing a lot of exercising, and spending time reading and getting to know other inmates... Some are interested in baptism, and bible study.

I am still waiting on some paperwork (credential stuff) so I can "get into" the jail and visit Tom past the six-inch glass.

More news soon...

I love TV

just posted on Justin's blog about how much I love to watch tv.

As a younger man, I lived in a community where the local Christian College set the scene... During that time I struggled with herculean effort toward fastidiousness in conformity to Christian Culture...
I fasted regularly...
...talked about Jesus incessantly...
spent time in prayer every day...
...read TONS of the Bible...
and spent my time and money and effort trying my best to be a good Christian...

and it was surely no waste. I love what I learned, who I became, how i've been formed, by all those efforts and disciplines... And there's no but to it... I love that I lived there. That I was me...

and today, I'm the same guy, older, understanding deeply that I am in christ. That every moment is prayer. That the Word is much more than the Bible, that talking about Jesus goes easily with serving Him, moment to moment... that fasting seldom works, since mercy is so short in supply.

and i'm in love with MERCY. mercy is the perfection of the soul. Mercy is the highest goal of service to Christ. We must engage the mercy of God, that we have mercy in the world... then our words drip grace adn salt the world... then our tongues bring healing...

foolish words
often true
bring a cut
a switch, a blade

healing words
so rare on earth
break the wound
that sin has made

Save us O Lord, from true words spoken devoid of love...

Open email to wednesday guys...

The following is an email i just wrote... it's a good snapshot into my mind on the ministry... and community life in the Spirit...
Sometimes in our church/family/community we wonder where it's all headed...
It seems to lack direction/leadership/focus...

Well, some of the things in this email will help you see what leadership in our group means to me... can you see it?



THE EMAIL

summer woke me at 6:19... I was confused. I knew that the Lord was waking me, but for
the life of me I couldn't remember why... So I scratched her belly, got up, and REMEMBERED.
ITS WEDNESDAY MORNING!!!

I was up late playing Halo 2 with Zach, after a wonderful and taxing day of Christian
Community... Like marathon! Like so wonderful to be part of all these lives... I'm honored
to be in the place/with the people I am..

i booked.
I arrived just seconds after your (Justin's) (very reasonable) 6:30 departure. (JP was still
asleep) (Danielmatt is freshly married and hasn't come since fall) (Zach had PT) (chris
deering doesn't come because he's from out of town)

So, you can see that I see there's potential for a serious confab, if I pull it together, eh?

First, my sincere apology for despising your guyses committment. Youse have sacrificed for
time in
fellowship and the Word. This is at least the second time this spring that youse have been
"stranded" to some degree at Starbucks... For this, I am deeply sorry. Please brothers,
forgive me this, and all other such offenses of late. Such mistakes are wrong, and impactful
to your spirits. They grind you with discouragement and disappoint you. Please rest
assured
that I deeply care about such small things. I am serious about not standing you guys up or
inconveniencing you.

And when I am asking for forgiveness here, I mean, "may I please get off the hook
completely?" I realize what a danger such offenses are in the church. They are more serious
than they look, and often go unaddressed. But when addressed, they often get "glossed
over". It is my sense right now that we mustn't "gloss over" anything. And I would hate for
you to give me verbal forgiveness, but still carry any "issues" in your hearts. So if there are
any other things I can confess/change/work on/fix, let me know. I'm listening... tell me
how you're feeling...

short accounts make easy reckonings.

So that's the first thing...

The second aspect:
During our time on Wednesday mornings, I used to TEACH. Flat out, teach. That was for a
while... You see, our fellowship is "relatinship-based" (please God, that we would LOVE)...
This means that we focus on abandoning ourselves into maturity in Christ, realizing the
realities of the Body--that we are deeply interconnected when in unity with Christ... All this
is faith working itself out in love...

Anyway, So, when we meet on Sunday nights, there is a heavy emphasis on being able to
share our hearts in worship songs, to the Lord. There is also a heavy emphasis on having
the opportunity to be "at table" with each other. We also try to spend time praying with the
Lord over each others' lives...
But as the Spirit grants, I also do teach on Sundays. Just, you can't very effectively get deep
with so little time/so "many" people/such varied backgrounds; and the work we have to do
in teaching is so very deep, since in this generation the "gospel" that has been believed by
many isn't the real Gospel, at all... or we are ill-equipped to healthfully/faithfully engage the
Message and respond to its claims...
But we're really working with renewed vigor to make Sundays a night to remember, where
the Spirit is in control, where the Body comes to life, where ministry is more than a show...
Please pray for the development of our multimedia and written song resources. I've taken
steps this week to really develop the musical aspect of Sundays...

So, Wednesdays and Thursdays had been, until around January, a time for teaching. There
was a dynamic quality in it--sharing the Word and getting all our minds blown at the table.
For me, this was really transformational... I have been changed through contact with the
lightningbolt teachings of the Scriptures, watching the faces around me feeling the same
way...
But around January, the focus shifted to "relationship" in our Wednesday times. Sharing
around our lives was prioritized so the "hardcore" teaching philosophy was kind of set
aside... It was intentional, and I think it was wrong.

I think/feel/wonder if I need to press into the Word, again. i mean really put effort into it,
together... Surely, I've dropped the ball in the last 3 months, in terms of intensity, here...

So, Let's converse a bit around a renewed committment to the Word together. Any format
change suggestions would be welcomed. For example, I'm wondering about meeting twice
per week, instead of just once... I'm prepared to commit to 2 or 3 mornings per week. Lord
knows, I don't have anything else going on... It's too darned early...

Gotta end this a bit abruptly, as my time is up. Let's talk soon about all this...

This email is the beginning of a conversation that we all can have; one that will provide us with grace and understanding for the journey ahead...

Lew

Eager to do good works

In the book of Titus, Paul tells Titus to work hard in teaching and leading so that people will be "eager to do good works".

In response to this:

"...it is not for man to lay down the formula for "what a Christian looks like..."

This stuff isn't formulaic. It's relational. And its nucular... It's a call to total abandonment... There's nothing formulaic in it. Abandonment to trust... Abiding in the Vine... Bearing much fruit...

His eyes are searching the land, brothers and sisters. When He returns, will He find faith on the Earth? Faith that's alive, with works to prove??? As surely as faith without works is dead, we need to press in to Jesus in a total heart-abandonment...

"Formula" isn't what this discussion has entailed. The whole thing results in an increased intensity of focus on abiding in Christ! ...of being in relationship with Him...

Sunday night Notes

Last night, we had a discussion that'd burn your face off, it was so intense and "where we live". I think that Zach would write it up better, but the basics of it ran with the following scriptures:
James 1: 9 and following
1 John 3:16 and following


There was basically this: that Jesus is laying claim to our lives. Not our pastor or people laying claim... but a living relationship with Jesus, who is laying claim to our lives... And this is something that's gonna really lead us down to the lowly...

Matthew 25 "least of these"
Romans 12 "the lowly"

Where are they? In our lives? If we claim to "know Jesus" and don't know any of them, are we right?

2 Cor. 13:5 tells us to examine our communities and ourselves to see if we're really "in Christ"... If we fail that test, we can burrow into Him and He'll lead us on...

there were all kinds of questions that came up... The answers were... like Jesus was pulling the string at the bottom of our sweater...

One of the questions was like, "When Jesus says to sell and give to the poor, what does he really mean?" because that can't be literal, can it?

but how many of us have tested it out with actual behavior? Who has tried it out to one extent or another? And of them, how many regret it?

So this has been some of what we've gotten into...

Zach, JP, chris, and the house across the way...

I'll post pics of these goons soon. They're moving into a house across the corner from us. It'll have them in the upper duplex part, and Danielmatt and christine in the bottom part... The start of gracious christian community in our neighborhood...

there are like a hundred churches full of folks who look down on each other, with lonely souls mixed in between, longing for a touch of God... We're on it...

Watching Bambi with Seth

It's been too long since I've posted pics. Right now I'm watching Bambi with Seth.

Lately, I've been skating at Ross Park, in St. Bernard, Cincinnati, with a lot of really rough characters... I like rough characters. I see Jesus hanging with us... They smoke weed and are really ANGRY. And God loves us all so much. and I kknow tha tthere aren't a lot of pastors in their lives... So, I'm there.

On the Outs

I met a woman this week who was kicked out of the United Methodist Church in 1971. She was a pastor at the time. She had to leave because she practices a lesbian lifestyle...

Now she refers to herself as something of a heathen... She says her mind is open to different concepts of who God is.

I had seen her before and was really excited to meet her. From the bumper stickers on her car, I pretty much knew that she was:
Socially active for Women's issues
In a Women's Choir
Against Bush and the Right

So I liked her before I met her. Not because I'm active on women's issues, or in a choir, or against specific politicians and agendas. I'm not. my life is increasingly defined by what I'm FOR, or more specifically, who is FOR ME... That'd be Jesus...

You know about him? The guy who people who lived under the condemnation of religious institutions FLOCKED TO???!!
And here I am, honored to learn about this awesome, passionate, articulate, intelligent, brave woman's life and journey... How often do I get to learn about that journey from someone like her? She's a top figure in the communities that are called "deviant"... Communities that might have some "flockers to Jesus" among them, if He'd show up there...