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