remedy

i watched the presidential debate last night. i am impressed by how much knowledge the two men have. it is particularly impressive how they know so much about so many topics. i guess when you are passionate about something, learning is not an obstacle.

one of them made a statement that i think applies to where our generation finds themselves.

the two candidates were debating the war in iraq and one of the men said that the next president of the united states would not have to decide whether or not to go into iraq, but decide how to remedy the situation.

it seems like a simple idea and one that really would not require much thought.
it is true.
our troops are already in iraq. we have already gone in.

i think many times, we can find ourselves in a similar place in regards to the church.
our generation, and others, are quick to judge what has happened. they are quick to judge and criticize where we find ourselves today.

but the question is not whether we should go in. the question is how are we going to remedy the situation.

essentially, it is what it is.
we are in a place where many have turned away God because of the behavior of His church.
we are in a place where being a Christian is determined by how you vote on abortion and gay rights rather than how you live your life.
we are in a place where being the church has tragically been replaced with going to church.
we are in a place where churches are growing because Christians are unhappy at one church and move to another one.
we are in a place where a critique of Sunday morning becomes the centerpiece of Sunday lunch rather than the lessons learned.

i am tired of my cynical perspective.
i am tired of saying i would have done it differently.
those things do not help the current situation.

i fear that we have spent to much time discussing and debating how we got in, rather than how we will fix it.

it is in our debating and discussing and arguing that we have gone from being in captivity to now holding others captive.

yes, we are far from where we need to be.
good observation.
now, let's do something to get back to where we need to be.


peace.

react

this weekend we hosted a conference called react.

it turned out to be a pretty cool weekend.
we centered the whole weekend around 6 verses: acts 2:42-47.
a bunch of my friends (go orange crew!) helped out and made it a weekend i hope many will never forget.

a good friend of mine, richard durbin, did an amazing job setting up and leading our worship through music as he played with blake moore, chris spinks and others.
josh abernathy, one of my very best friends, also did a lot to lead us in worship while another friend, jared gunter, of canvas church ran the board and created an environment that presented a chance to worship without distraction.

my good friend doug garvin, who is the lead pastor of canvas church, did the teaching for our first main session on friday night and did an incredible job of setting the tone for the weekend. he talked about how great things happen when we find ourselves in awe of God, when we are struck with such great respect and wonder.

saturday morning, one of my best friends, mike thompson did the teaching. he talked about sacrifice. he essentially reminded us, from acts 2:44-45, that community is built through sacrifice. mike did such an amazing job of getting us clued into this idea of sacrifice.

saturday night, we wrapped it all up by talking about communion. we discussed verses 46 and 47 and came to the conclusion that communion, or the eucharist, is more than a monthly thing we do.

it should be a lifestyle.
we should live a life of communion.
of breaking ourselves open and pouring ourselves out for the healing of the world.
we can and should be the answer to the world's prayers.
reacting to the influence of God can happen in many ways, but it must always be centered around that one thing.

we had a really cool experience saturday night. we all walked silently outside and gathered around a long line of tables with bread and a cup on them. the tables were set in the middle of the street. we stood around them and sang and witnessed communion in a new fresh way.

i am interested to hear what those of you who attended thought...more importantly how you were affected and in turn, how you have reacted.
[we are working on the podcast - www.react.mypodcast.com - it is giving us problems.]

i am blown away.
peace.