Hey people. Until things get sorted out here in the city of voices, I will be posting here:
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Day One of the “Q“. Modern technology continues to amaze me. I slept in my own bed last night and was in Manhattan for an 8:30 AM cup of coffee (it was an early flight).
This day was filled with some inspiring, challenging, brain stretching and heart touching presentations. Here was the line-up so far today (worship and Tim Keller this evening):
Jon Tyson
Gabe Lyons
Bill McKibben
Francis Collins
Chuck Colson
Leroy Barber
Eboo Patel
Andy Crouch
Here are a couple of quick thoughts. Jon Tyson challenged us to “go beyond seeking to rescue people from the systems of evil and instead unleash new systems of good in the world.” Gabe Lyons said, the church is the only entity that can bring together people from the seven channels of cultural influence. Bill McKibben stated that instead of acting like stewards over the creation we have behaved like arsonists. Francis Collins presented signs of God from both the good book (Scripture) and the beautiful book (creation). Chuck Colson reminded me that Christianity is the best explanation for reality. Leroy Barber called us to be the beloved community. Eboo Patel asked us if he as a Muslim was welcome in the beloved community. And Andy Crouch reminded us that we can’t change the world - but God already has.
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It is a glorious spring day in Pittsburgh. I am loving it and trying my best to take it all in. One of the things I am doing to celebrate the day is listening to some great “spring” music. Jon Foreman, lead singer of Switchfoot, has released a series of EP’s based upon the four seasons and today I downloaded, “Spring.” These EP’s are unlike anything you have heard from Switchfoot. They are acoustically based and formated songs with simple instrumentation and vocals.
Spring includes these six tracks:
- March
- Love Isn’t Made
- In My Arms
- Baptize My Mind
- Your Love Is Strong
- Revenge
My favorite is “Your Love is Strong” which is Jon’s take on the Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 62:11-12 (”One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong and that you, O Lord, are loving…”):
Heavenly Father
You always amaze me
Let your kingdom come
In my world and in my life
You give me the food I need
To live through the day
And forgive me as I forgive
The people that wronged me
Lead me far from temptation
Deliver me from the evil one
I look out the window
The birds are composing
Not a note is out of tune
Or out of place
I look at the meadow
And stare at the flowers
Better dressed than any girl
On her wedding day
So why do I worry?
Why do I freak out?
God knows what I need
You know what I need
Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong.
So, what are you dong on this spring day?
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For Dr. King…
Sleep
Sleep tonight
And may your dreams
Be realized
If the thundercloud
Passes rain
So let it rain
Let it rain
Rain on him
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I’m spending the day hanging out at the “A.” For those of you unfamiliar with the “A,” please allow me to introduce you. The “A” is actually Affogata Coffee Bar, located in Bellevue, PA just outside Pittsburgh. It is a funky, eclectic old/school/new school coffee house. The “A” has a real coffee bar that seats about dozen people and features an array of tables and chairs that look like they were collected from the curbside. While the coffee served up is great, my favorite treat is the daily special muffin, buttered and grilled (if I lived any closer to the “A,” I would weigh about 300 pounds). Today it was blueberry – amazing! As an extra bonus, parking is only a quarter for 60 minutes – the parking authority in Mt Lebanon should learn a lesson from Bellevue.
Here’s the deal: I spent quite a bit of time working in coffee shops like Aldo, Uptown Coffee, and Mojo. I love these places and am thankful we have some great coffee spots right in my own backyard. But the operative word here is work; the majority of my time spent in these places is doing stuff. My relationship with the “A” is different. Once a month or so, I escape to the “A” simply to be. To be refreshed and renewed - to be opened to God’s presence and activity in my life in a fresh way. To clear my head and to dream. To be still and to know.
Recently, I came across a formula coined by Mark Batterson of National Community Church. He says:
change of place + change of pace = change in perspective
The change of place and pace today has been energizing. My perspective perhaps hasn’t so much been changed but enhanced, shifted, expanded, and enlivened (and it’s only 1:30 PM – who knows what else might happened). Today I read a chapter from Margaret Feinberg’s book, Organic God, reflected deeply upon John 10:1-6, viewed a talk by Chris Seay on consumerism, had my heart touched by a song from Eddi Reader and another one from Brooke Fraser. My soul has been enlarged and I have been renewed.
It’s been a great Monday at the “A.” You should stop by someday. Perhaps God will meet you here as well. Tell Vicki I sent you.
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Margaret Feinberg asked me a great question the other day (no, I don’t personally know Margaret, but she did ask me the question as I was reading her wonderful book, The Organic God. She also went as far to say that she wanted me to email her my response. That will come a bit later today.) Here’s the question: “what do you love about Jesus?”
One of the things I love most about Jesus is His heart toward people. I love His commitment and desire to do whatever it might take so that everyone He encountered would know that they were deeply loved and valued by God. No matter where people came from, no matter what their background, gender, socio-economic status, or religious preference was - Jesus, through His deeds and words, demonstrated the amazing love of God. Sometimes he reached out and touched people, other times it was the right word at the right moment. For some it was a challenging teaching or even a strong rebuke; for some it was a meal of bread and fish. For all, it was the in-break of God upon their lives.
Today’s my birthday - leave me a gift if you would. What do you love about Jesus?
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Yesterday I accepted an invitation to participate in the Fermi Project’s Q. Q is the brainchild of Gabe Lyons, co-author of unChristian, a must read book for people in ministry leadership. The big idea behind Q is simple: Q is a place where innovators, church leaders, social entrepreneurs, and cultural leaders come together to explore the church’s role in positively contributing to culture.
Q was created as a gathering place for leaders in the church to become informed and exposed to future-culture. In a three-day experience, Q introduces participants to twenty-five presenters on a myriad of topics selected to heighten their awareness and challenge their creativity as they consider their role in shaping culture. No other gathering exists that attracts pioneers of the church and the most innovative thinkers into one space for conversation, learning, invention and collaboration. Q brings together key voices in the church and exposes them to the fundamental cultural, social and environmental shifts taking place in the world. By exposing church leaders to current realities about our culture, they can re-imagine how the gospel can be expressed in this context – forever changing their approach in their cities and communities (from Q website).
The last month I have been praying and searching for some space this year to learn, grow and be stretched. My community of faith encourages me to take time each year to leave our community and plug into something that will renew, refresh, and challenge me. I thought about heading out to Origins in So Cal, or perhaps a worship conference somewhere sunny and warm (it has been a long winter in Pittsburgh). Instead I will be spending three days in April in New York City with 500 other leaders at Q. Presenters like Louie Giglio, Dr. Francis Collins, Diane Louise Jordan from the BBC, Ruth Padilla Deborst from the Latin American Theological Fellowship, artist Makoto Fujimure, Jim Wallis and Chuck Colsen. Let me tell I am pumped.
When I submitted my application I was asked why I desired to participate in Q. Here was my response:
As a leader of a missional community of faith with the opportunity to serve with leaders in the marketplace, education, and the arts, I want to become more and more aware of what God is doing in our world and discover fresh ways to empower, inspire, and stand shoulder to shoulder with others to bring the kingdom of God near in our world. I am committed to being a life long learner and Q is an environment where my passion will be fueled. As well, as I enter the second half of my life and ministry, I am looking to invest more of myself in emerging leaders and Q will help me connect with others who have a similar passion, call, and intention.
Please pray for for my journey toward Q.
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This weekend U23D hits the screens in Pittsburgh. Filmed over the span of seven shows in Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina, U23D puts you right in the midst of a stadium concert experience from the band’s 2006 Vertigo tour. My plan is to take this in sometime over a very busy weekend, knowing full well this film is going to take me back to my own amazing experience with the Vertigo tour at the Mellon Arena here in Pittsburgh. For those of you interested in reading more about the film here is a thoughtful review from Christianity Today.
U23D is a film that is larger than life. For those of you who think the movie is designed to match Bono’s ego, here is one of my favorite U2 performances. It is from the Miami Elevation tour. Simple and scaled back musically with an important message for all to hear: there is a God who is big and His love is big, much bigger than us.
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Two recent additions have been receiving pretty heavy play on my iPod these days. They are fairly diverse but I have been enjoying both of them both sonically and lyrically.
The Passion band’s latest release is called “God of This City.” This is a live recording and it captured some of the heart and spirit of the Passion ‘07 Atlanta gathering. As is typical of other Passion recordings, it features a number of different worship leaders like Tomlin, Redman, Crowder, Hall, and Christy Nockels. A nice addition to this release is Fee who brings “We Shine” into the mix. Steve Fee is a dynamic worship leader (7:22) who has a powerful album of his own entitled “Burn for You.”
Honestly, not a ton of new stuff, but that’s ok. One of the new tracks that is speaking to me is Matt Redman’s “God of Our Yesterdays.” The chorus makes this declaration:
Praise You, God of our yesterdays,
Praise You, God who is here today
Praise You, our God as tomorrow comes
Thank you, for grace in our yesterdays
Thank you, for peace in our hearts today
Thank you, our joy as tomorrow comes
We will trust you, God.
Another song is the title track “God of This City” (Greater Things). This song was written and originally recorded by a band from the UK, Bluetree. This too is a song of hope.
Greater things have yet to come
Great things are still to be done in this city
Where glory shines from hearts alive
With praise for you and love for you
In this city …
Do you believe it?
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)
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…being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have endurance and patience” (Colossians 1:11).
The power of God makes great works possible, but is just as operative in the small, perhaps unnoticed things of life (The Celtic Book of Daily Prayer).
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current iMix
